Our London Visit Day 3 Part 2 – Meeting old and new Friends

At noon we met Savitri at Victoria Station. Savitri had been my landlady during my time as a secretarial student at Pitman College in 1987 / 88. Two years ago during our visit in London we stayed at her B&B in Lewisham which had not been possible this time.

With her and three or four other women who accompanied her we took the tube to Embankment Station and from there had to cross the Thames on Hungerford Bridge (we had a great view from there as you can see on the photos) to get to our destination, the Southbank Centre.

Obviously a lot of people had the same idea, as many events were taking place there over the Easter weekend. Hermann and I decided to visit the “Real Food Market” where food from all over the world was sold. As the weather was fine we were able to sit outside on stairs – along with many other people – and eat lunch.

After a little rest in our flat we set of to Oxford Street for a little souvenir shopping.

Later in the afternoon we met with a new friend who before I had only known from Twitter and Facebook – Laura Porter from About.com London Travel. Even though unfortunately the sky had darkened and it got colder we took a long walk in Hyde Park – Hermann and I didn’t have an idea how large it really was. It is one thing to see it on a map and another to “conquer” it – or even parts of it - on foot.

We had an interesting conversation with Laura on different aspects of London and Britain and some other topics. It was such a pleasure to meet her in real life :)

After this walk we were really done for that day, so it was time to return “home”, as we already called the holiday flat by then ;)

Our London Visit Day 3 Part 1 – Platform 9 ¾ and St. Sarkis

We only had to go two tube stations on Piccadilly Line to reach our fist destination on that day. It was the famous Platform 9 ¾ at King’s Cross Railway Station. This was the platform from which Harry Potter took the train to Hogwarts. Not the real one, though, but just a sign and a luggage trolley “disappearing” in the wall, so that people can take photos in front of it. The actual filming location was situated between platforms 4 and 5.

Our next destination took us to Kensington, one of the most expensive parts of London. We took a Circle Line train to High Street Kensington. Here even the tube station itself is worth a look – it even has got its own little shopping mall inside.

From there we didn’t have far to go to reach Iverna Court and Iverna Gardens in the centre of which stands a church of the kind we had so often seen during our visit to Armenia in 2009. However, St. Sarkis is in London and in one of the best places in London, too. It had been built in 1923 for the survivors of the genocide in the Ottoman Empire which had taken place during World War I and in which more than one million Armenians, Aramaeans and Greeks were murdered systematically and with the utmost cruelty.

The church is surrounded by houses which at least partly seem to contain flats, and we wondered what it would cost to buy or rent such a flat. Far too much for us, at least ;)

Our London Visit Day 2 - Excursion to Bath

For people who want to visit Britain and travel by train there are several rail passes which one can book in advance. As we knew we wanted to go to Bath we bought the London Plus Pass (just like the Travelcards for London) online from the Visit Britain Shop in Germany where it is much cheaper than in Britain.

We took the train from Paddington Station. It was a very modern train, it even had a screen in front of each seat where you were able to watch films for an additional fee. For free you were able to follow the way of the train on a map which was very interesting. We also enjoyed looking at the beautiful landscape we passed by.

As we had set off rather late in the morning (guess why – because of my health issues again!) we arrived in Bath around lunch time. It was rather chilly and I suppose because of the humid climate I began to feel weak. Nevertheless I was determined to visit at least the Jane Austen Centre, so while I was looking for the shortest way through the rather crowded town, Hermann took many photos which I’m grateful for as I didn’t see much myself.

Finally we arrived at the Centre, and got a friendly welcome from the Greeter. We took a photo of me in front of it and then went inside. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to visit the exhibition or the tea room, so we only had a short look into the shop (my smile on the photo is half fake, I felt like death) and then returned to the station again. The annoying thing was that soon after the train had left Bath, I began to feel better again :/ Anyway, God willing we will be able to travel there again next year and to enjoy it more then.

Our London Visit Day 1 - Belmont Hall and Battersea

We took it slow on the first day of our London visit. We got up early (because we had been exhausted the day before and gone to bed early) after a good night’s sleep in the very comfortable bed in our holiday apartment, had a long breakfast and a little break afterwards – in which I took the task to wash the dishes.

At about 9.45 a.m. we set off to Harrow in the north west of London to visit Belmont Hall. This is a church which I had found on the internet a while ago and wondered since then whether it was similar to the brethren assembly churches in Germany we prefer to attend. At Belmont Hall they had not long ago started to offer open coffee mornings on Wednesdays – what a coincidence ;) – which was a good opportunity to learn something more about them.

We took the Metropolitan Line to Harrow-on-the-Hill – past Wembley Stadium – and from there had to walk a little while. After a little detour, as we were confused by some small streets, we arrived there. What we didn’t know at that time was that we would just have had to follow the signs showing the way to the “World Sikh University” which is just nearby Belmont Hall.

When we entered the church building we were immediately greeted by a couple of about our age who introduced themselves as Gordon and Ruth. They invited us to sit down at one of the tables and served us tea and buns. We had a very good and interesting conversation and it turned out that I had not be mistaken assuming that this church was rather similar to ours. They had a guestbook which we also signed. Everyone at the church was very friendly and welcoming.

One week later, on the day of our departure from London, we went there again (with our luggage), as we had enough time before our plane would take off from Heathrow, to meet our new friends once more and make the day less depressing.

After the visit on day 1 we returned to our flat, ate lunch, relaxed, and then set off again for our second destination on that day.

The Battersea Dogs & Cats Home was this second unusual place to visit – at least for tourists. The reason why we went there was that I had knitted a blanket for the Blanket Appeal which I didn’t want to send from Germany as this would have cost a fortune in postage fees – much more than the blanket itself was worth. So we took the Victoria Line to Vauxhall, from where according to the directions on their website it was supposed to be a 20 minute walk. At the London rush hour pace, I guess, because for us it took about 30 minutes. Part of the way itself was along the Thames, so it would have been nice to walk – if the weather had not changed just then. It became windy and chilly and started raining. So we were glad when we finally reached our destination. The blanket was gladly received and we were invited in to have a look around, even though it was obvious we couldn’t take an animal home from there. What caught our eye most was that many of the dogs belonged to the typical fighting dog breeds.

On our way back we took the bus to the tube station as in the cold and rainy weather it was no pleasure to walk. The rest of the day we spent relaxing in the flat – apart from doing some shopping at the nearby supermarket.

Exploring London with a Chronic Illness

Travelling in general has become more complicated for me since I gradually developed adhesions as a result of a surgery in 2005. They are now part of my body and that for the rest of my life (unless it pleases God to free me from them). Most likely they won’t kill me, which is a good thing, but they are unpredictable, so I never know what will happen within the following few minutes. I can feel great in one minute and terrible in the next. They can cause more or less severe pain, nausea or bowel issues (which means I have to be careful what and how much I eat), low blood pressure and general indisposition and weakness.

Therefore planning the trip started with how to get to London. Hermann is very fond of going by train, so if I had still been healthy we probably would have taken a train to Paris and the Eurostar from there, but since I’m unable to sit for such long hours it was out of the question. Of course one can move around a bit in a train, but not enough for my needs. So flying was the better option. We took a flight from Stuttgart to Heathrow which meant a little more than one hour by car, about 1.5 hours by plane and from Heathrow another hour by tube.

As accommodation we booked a holiday apartment, so that I could take my time in the morning and was able to eat breakfast in the comfortable clothes I usually wear in the house and with my feet on a chair which helps my blood pressure remain stable. Of course I couldn’t have done these things in a hotel. Also we were able to cook our own food, so that we decided and knew what was in there. For several days we lived on pasta with tomato purée and salad. Not very original, but good for my well-being.

The apartment was quite close to the city centre and had a tube station nearby, so we were able to get back in a rather short period of time, if I started feeling unwell (which wasn’t often the case, thank God!). Also our daily schedule was not as full as that of normal tourists. We took our time in the mornings and sometimes returned to the apartment during the day to take a break before visiting the next destination. For some people this may sound like a terrible waste of time, but it wasn’t for us. We enjoyed just being in London and also in the very comfortable flat. Even though we wished we could have stayed longer we didn’t have the feeling that we had missed anything. Instead of visiting lots of museums and other typical tourist sites, we looked at rather unusual places and met wonderful London people like Gordon and Ruth from Belmont Hall in Harrow, Laura from About London, Lauren a.k.a. Deadly Knitshade and several others – which was worth more than anything else :)

I’m really grateful for having had the opportunity to get to know a different side of London and we are both looking forward to (and planning!) our next visit already which will most certainly not be a typical tourist visit either ;)

Free To Live by Guy Brandon - A Review

This book with the subtitle “Expressing the love of Christ in an age of debt” is about sustainable living (not only) for Christians. The topics are time and money, the impacts of our private sexual behaviour on society and our personal environment – and, yes, there are impacts -, the complexities of “fair” and “local” shopping, how we treat our natural environment, what to do with our money and how to keep our spiritual health. There are two appendices, one about how the current financial crisis started and the other one about the pros and cons of “Fairtrade”.

The book is not a classic guidebook which tells the reader what to do and what to avoid, but rather food for thought. This is why at the end of each chapter there are a few “discussion questions” which the reader can also discuss with him- or herself, of course ;) Even though the author’s statements are based on the Bible and he thus mentions several Bible passages, most of the book is worth reading for people with a different – or no – faith background as well. After all, living a sustainable lifestyle is something worth thinking about for everyone. There are a few passages in the book, particularly towards the end of it, which non-Christians or nominal Christians will most likely not identify with, but this is not something which should prevent you from reading the book. If these passages do not apply to you, at least they will help you to understand something of true Christian faith - which is most likely not the kind of “Christianity” which you usually come across in any country with a nominal Christian majority.

The book has been published by the Jubilee Centre, a Christian organisation in the UK. They are also offering many resources for free download on their website, addressing society issues from a Christian perspective.

Not a Book and Not Just for Playing

For a while I wondered whether it would be worthwhile at all to buy a tablet pc. I had a laptop and a smart phone already and didn’t really know what I could need “something in between” for. Also what I saw as a problem in tablets was the touch screen and all the fingerprints which would appear while using it. That was one reason why I decided for a BlackBerry Curve 9300 as smart phone. Choosing one with just a touch screen was out of the question.

It was really my curiosity and also the price and size of the BlackBerry PlayBook (much less than certain other well-known tablets) which made me try it. I got it not even a week ago and don’t want to give it up any more. It is ideal for someone like me who because of chronic health problems cannot spend a lot of time at a desk or with a heavy laptop on the knees. The tablet I can use while sitting on the sofa in a position which is the least painful for me.

I can browse the net via wifi, work on my novels and very much more (still have to explore). I was very sceptical with regard to the virtual keypad of the touch screen. However, typing works very well with two fingers, and the more used to it I get the faster I can type. It even makes a typing sound which I find very convenient. The PlayBook comes with two cameras (3MP and 5MP). I tried the 5MP camera and was very surprised at the quality of the pictures it takes. What astonished me most, however, was the sound quality of the PlayBook. I must admit I didn’t expect very much from a tablet with regard to that – the last thing I expected was that the sound was so much better than the one of my new and by no means cheap laptop! As a Christian I like to listen to online sermons and as a London fan my favourite radio station is LBC 97.3 – where many people are calling in by phone which is not always the best sound quality, of course. For the laptop I need additional loudspeakers to understand everything. For the PlayBook I need no such devices. So I carry it all around the house as my little radio while I’m doing housework ;) A little “Pling” sound still tells me when I received an email and thanks to BlackBerry Bridge it even shows me when I get a phone call :)

Of course it can also be used as an e-reader and for video chats. With regard to that I’m waiting for Amazon (Kindle) Germany and Skype to get their stuff together and provide apps for BlackBerry PlayBook and smart phones, too – please!

Walk The Lines by Mark Mason - A Review

The author walked the “London Underground overground”, as it is said in the subtitle. He “walked the lines” making his way on foot from one Tube station to the next following the respective lines. During this journey he met interesting people like a female cabby (black cab driver) apprentice and a “mind the gap” voice, and overheared everyday conversation. He also shares a lot of historical facts on buildings or areas he has been walking through. The walks include a night walk and one in deep winter shortly before Christmas.

The reader literally walks the streets with the author, seeing what he sees and hearing what he hears – all of course through the “filter” of the author’s eyes and ears, but nevertheless one gets a very good impression of the many different faces of the megacity and its people.

“Walk the Lines” is a real treat for everyone who loves London – not only the parts which tourists usually get to see, but all of it. As a “Londoner at heart” I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, giving me a little of the happy London feeling I miss so much during most of the time of my life, as I’m living far away and cannot visit the town even nearly as often as I would like (a London Tube station named “Stetten am kalten Markt” will sadly never become real and even the next airport is about 100 kilometres away from our remote little place in the south of Baden-Wuerttemberg). It was a good remedy for the symptoms of my londonitis – that is what I call the “illness” which makes me want to move to London and stay there for the rest of my earthly life. I think the londonitis comes from something one of the people the author talked to mentioned - that London was “full of misfits from all over the world … because [there] they can be themselves”. This was exactly my experience when I was studying at a college in London in 1987 / 88 (one of the best years of my life). I dressed in a way which would have taken me right into the newspaper or the nuthouse in the small town I came from – and even more in the village I’m living in now. In London nobody even looked at me because of that and I felt very safe in the anonymity.

The book made me want to do the same as the author did – walk (almost) all parts of London once in my life. On a rating of one to five stars this book gets six from me ;)

For the photo I wrapped it in my tubeline scarf (a scarf in the colours of the Tube lines), the pattern of which can be found in Lauren O’Farrell’s book “Stitch London”, another book for the London fan.