Keep Left

Today went at a nice pace.  With registration being canceled, my day was free except seeing my uncle play in a concert (though he ended up not being able to get in the country, so that didn’t happen . . .).  After waking up, I did some reflection over my day yesterday and took care of a couple of things.  Around 1:00PM I headed out to Westminster to meet up with some friends, and I traveled on the tube all by myself!  Intimidating at first, but it was actually kind of fun to pretend I knew what I was doing.  I felt like a young British woman, ready to take on the world!  Sort of.

I arrived at Westminster around 1:40PM and made my way to Westminster Abbey (as my friend put it, it is THE church).  After meandering my way in (also scoring a student discount with my UT ID), I was overwhelmed by the quintessence of the place.  Its grandness is absolutely stunning.  Intricate architecture fills up your eyes and pours into your peripheral, lights and stained glass adding a splash of color here and there.  The church is so rich in history that I couldn’t help but try to imagine who was standing where I was hundreds of years ago.  After getting over the initial shock of how captivating the church is, I wandered around until I ran into my friend Frederick!  Frederick belongs to my fellowship back at home in Texas, as do the two other people he is traveling with, Francis and Derek. It was so strange to see him.  His presence (along with Derek’s and Francis’) made me feel like we were back in Austin. We finished touring together, stopping to marvel at how many graves were inside the church and how amazing it was to be there.  We saw the grave of the author of the Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer!  And John Keats' grave.  And many others.

We made our way to Westminster Cathedral afterward, another very majestic and grand building.  It was a lot quieter than Abbey, and I found myself drawn to the peacefulness of the cathedral.  It seemed as though no one wanted to interrupt the quietness of the building.  I observed many people sitting and kneeling, praying facing the hanging cross with a picture of the crucifixion on it.  It was a moving sight, to be so little in front of such a majestic and grand building whose purpose is to bring glory to God.  I couldn’t help but think of how I’m still so young at 20, especially in comparison to these buildings that have been existing for hundreds of years.  It was definitely something to think about. 

I said goodbye to my friends around 5:30PM and headed back to Angel station.  Ate some yummy chicken at Chicken Cottage and decided to make my way back home. While I was walking back, I ran into my neighbor and decided to do some grocery shopping with her at Sainsbury's.  I made my way back with bags of frozen food to keep me for the next few days.  Got home, dropped off groceries, and now I’m typing this at a coffee shop/bike shop called Look Mum No Hands.  It’s quite the trendy place, and many bikers (or what I assume are bikers) are standing off to my left conversing.  This shop is quite cute, but I think it’d be better for me to come back in the afternoon.  It’s a little too noisy to focus on things at times.  About to head back home – hope I don’t get lost!

UPDATE: Totally got lost!!  Made it back okay, though :)

Also, random things to note:

1) Ice is not a thing here, but the weather has been cold enough so it has not been needed anyway

2) ALWAYS KEEP TO THE LEFT

3) The streets here are extremely confusing