We strolled along the South Bank towards Blackfriars and the Globe Theatre chatting and catching up. We stopped for a picnic in front of the Tate Gallery. Cheryl and Jemma popped in to the free section to have a look. Unfortunately they are not mature enough to appreciate the poetic beauty of a white paint splotch on a beige wall or a slit cut through a piece of fabric. Probably sold for about ten grand a piece!
The picnic was lovely. Greek salad, falafel, taramasalata, hummus olives and pita bread. Yummy! Di, always was a great cook!
We had to stop a few times as the repeated beats of chemo that Diane has endured has wrecked her nerve endings and make it uncomfortable to walk. It didn't matter. The views were great and we're not in any hurry.
A couple English Bulldogs
St Pauls from the South Bank
The Globe Theatre
Nick in front of the Golden Hinde (Sir Walter Raleigh's Ship)
The White Tower, Tower of London
Tower Bridge
Nicky and Pippa Gumbell - Holy Trinity Brompton - Alpha
Harrods Sea Food Hall
We said our goodbyes at 3:00pm as Di couldn't go any further and Cheryl had to get home to the kids.
Jems and I rested for an hour and then headed out again to Knightsbridge and Harrods which is just down the road from HTB. More about that in a minute.
Selfridges is amazing but Harrods is impossibly even better. The architecture, the ceiling and wall sculptures and paintings, the merchandise. There were a lot of items behind glass without prices. That is an ominous sign that if you have to ask you probably can't afford it. I personally think that 3,500 pounds for a clutch purse is quite reasonable. We went into the food court and checked out the price of caviar. 325 pounds for 30grammes. Hmm, let's get some. Does that come with crackers or are they extra? 10 mouthfuls would be the equivalent of the purse. Seriously, who shops here? Oh yes, people who own countries and 100ft yaufhta. They don't even shop there. They send their butlers.
We bought a very expensive gift for a family member (not giving anything away here). We could have bout some nice tea for £20but decided against it. We fled and headed down the road for Holy Trinity Brompton (HTB) the birthplace and current home to The Alpha Course. In case you dint know Jen and I have been leaders in Aloha for about 5 years. We meet at our church for dinner, watch a 30 minute video about God and then chat about it in groups. The video presentation is by a vicar called Nicky Gumbel. We arrived early and were lucky enough to meet Nicky and his wife Pippa almost immediately. I didn't waste ant time, I made a very brief introduction and Jemma snapped a photo before they could change their minds. Awesome. Nicky and Pippa were on their way in to a room where the leaders were preparing for the evenings Alpha. There had to be 50 People in the room. We waited for a few minutes and decided to join in. After all, I am a leader in Canada! We prayed over each other and some leaders told us what to expect that evening. Nick then got up and spoke. Jem and I were in a room with Nicky Gumbel! So cool.
We went upstairs, paid our £4 and goy our dinner and joined some other visitors for the evening presentation. This evenings presentation was filmed and transmitted live all over the UK over the web. We will see if we can look it up when we get home. After the video we joined our small group and were able to chat and get to know a bunch of new people. It was awesome!
Afterwards, Jems and I walked up Knitesbridge to Hyde Park Corner and caught the tube home.
2 comments:
So cool! But how does English alpha dinner compare to Canada? I'm sure the veggies aren't chopped as nicely over there!
The dinner was VERY simple. Pulled pork over chopped potatoes and a couple mini corns served in a cardboard bowl. Delicious. Maybe a bit oily. Jem and I stayed for the small group. That was amazing! All of us we're complete strangers but after an hour we were praying over each other. It was awesome. You could feel the love.
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