Not much to report

Tuesday, Oct. 10, 5:13 pm.  Mary and Greg, Happy Anniversary!  Yesterday I woke up a few minutes after noon.  I did not leave the presbytery.  I did get my laundry done.  Could not get to sleep until some time after 4 am.  Today I woke up before 9 am.  (My room in the presbytery is very quiet.)  I wandered through bookstores in the morning.  There was a little rain.  The weather is unseasonably warm, in the 60s.

 

This afternoon I did what could be considered my first tourist bit.  You know, I had thought I had seen London pretty thoroughly when I lived here for nine weeks in 1982.  Then again, I had only one day off per week and at the end of my stay, I didn't hang around London and instead spent a few days in Yorkshire.  Now, what's the first thing that comes to mind when you think of London?  The Houses of Parliament?  I would say that that is the most universally recognizable symbol of London.  But I have to tell you that I really have no recollection of having seen the Houses of Parliament back in 1982.  I corrected that omission today.  The best view of the building is from the south side of the Thames (and I do remember for sure that I never made it to the south side of the Thames -- Southwark or "Sutherk" -- back then).  Well today I took in the whole beautiful vista.  Near Parliament is Westminster Abbey, which I think I visited in '82 (so then why wouldn't I have seen Parliament back then? -- maybe I do need to take pictures).  Over the main door of Westminster Abbey there are sculptures of ten 20th-century saints, including Martin Luther King.  I think I'll go inside the Abbey tomorrow; having read The Da Vinci Code, I am interested in seeing the monument for Newton.

 

Having done a lot of walking today, I hope that getting to sleep tonight will be no problem.  I think my 1200-calorie diet can be bent today.  Fr. Alan doesn't appear to keep much fresh fruit around.  I've bought some clementines and Braeburn apples.