Today I attended church in the London Hyde Park Ward. London must be by the most international city I have ever visited! Testimonies were borne by single adults from Brazil, Czech Republik, Canada, USA (2) Australia (2), New Zealand (2), China, and England (2).On the street I hear French, German, Spanish and |Italian, but those are in the minority. More common are other languages I don't recognize. Some of them are Japanese and Korean, but others seem to be Eastern European and Arabic languages.
Hyde Park Ward is located right next to 3 of the biggest museums in London, so after church I spent a couple of hours finding my way around the Victoria and Albert Decorative Arts museum. It was SO interesting! They have made plaster cast replicas of the most famous statues in the world, including several I saw in Italy last November. There was a full-size David and several of the other Michelangelo statues. There was a replica of the Doors of Heaven which are from the Baptistry in Florence.
There is a huge copy of Trajan's Column from Rome which they have cut in half to make it fit into the room (ceiling only about 75 feet up.) That was really good for me, because in Rome I couldn't get close enough to see the original because it's too high and it sits in the traffic around the Wedding Cake. So I really enjoyed the museum. By that time it was 3:00 and I was starving so went back to the hotel to change and eat and take a break. Then off again!
Hyde Park Speaker's Corner has been calling me, but I wasn't sure anything would still be happening over there because it was getting toward 5:00. I loved it! There were several crowds gathered listening to people on boxes or folding step stools just like mine in the laundry room. Bring your own box. The louder they talk, the bigger the crowd they draw. If someone in the crowd heckles them, they get a bigger crowd. I kind of felt sorry for the ones I saw with a step stool but no crowd. One was a lady who looked like a homeless person I saw the other day(?)
Headed over to Covent Garden to se if anything was still happening over there, and found street performers even in the rain. Heidi, I know how you love them! I bought you all the coolest bath bombs! They fizz and make a spa bath. Men too! I'm so proud of myself. They are homemade by Lush. Lush makes a whole line of beauty products that are organic and you buy them by the gram like vegetables and keep them in the refrigerator. Go to www.lush.com
Rick Steve's walks seem to be right on, so I decided to do another, this time the West End walk. It wandered through the Theatre district and Soho, which is not a G-rated place!
Tonight I wanted to find which bus goes from the hotel to Victoria station, so I rode it clear over to the station. I got the same African immigrant driver coming back, and he kept me from getting off too early because he remembered where I got on! His excuse for not noticing me earlier was that "All people look alike!" I laughed a little inside because of that.
In the morning I have to move to my next hotel. The purpose is accomplished in acquainting me with several neighborhoods, but it's aggravating in that it takes 2 hours of my precious time! I will not have enough time to check out everything I want to do here this week.
Well, they are closing, so I must send this.
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