London, Day 1
Had my first glimpse of England through a hole in the fog as we were coming down to land. I can't believe I'm actually here. I've wanted to go to England for so long, and now I've actually made it!
I'm not sitting in a Tube station at the airport. I've planned out my course as follows: take the Elizabeth line from Heathrow to Paddington (I don't have an accurate map of the Elizabeth line after that, so I'll get off there). Then I'll take the Bakerloo line to Baker St (yes, that Baker St). Then I might take a quick detour on the Jubilee line to Swiss Cottage to drop my backpack at the hostel. Then by the Central line I'll get to Liverpool St and either get off there, or ride another stop or two to Bank, or Monument, just to get me a little closer. My destination is St Helen's Church, which is a traditional Anglican church I scouted out a while back. This evening I plan to go to Metropolitan Temple, which was Spurgeon's church. I also plan to stop at Westminster Abbey for a service at some point, so I'll probably go to an Evensong there later in the week.
My other priority for the day is to get a proper map of the Tube. I have one from 2021, which, combined with wall maps from the stations, should be enough to get me around. But, I'd rather have a real up-to-date map just in case. My plan for this trip is to not use my GPS at all (except, perhaps, for the day I go driving in the countryside. I don't have a map for that). One difficulty with not having a GPS is that I have no idea how long trips will take. I know I have to be to church by 10:30, but will that take 1 hour? 2 hours? 3 hours? I have no idea.
Update: it took about 45 mins. Am now sitting in St Helen's Bishopgate Anglican Church. I successfully found Palmer's Lodge in Swiss Cottage, and honestly am very impressed by my hostel. It's in a magnificent old building, and they offer a full breakfast restaurant, resident kitchen, and other nice amenities. Also, I'm finding it hard to get over how nice the building is. Though, to be fair, this city is filled with beautiful buildings.
I stopped by Baker St to get an ussie with Sherlock Holmes, then tried to find Sandford bookstore to get a map (they're a big map store, I've heard), but got turned around and ended up finding Paddington Bear's statue, so I got an ussie with him too. (I only say "ussie" because a British person on Ted Lasso said it, but now that I think about it, I don't know if that's actual British lingo or not.)
After church it started drizzling, in what I understand to be true British fashion. I found my way to Monument Station, which is on the site of the Great Fire of London's start (1666). Then I walked the Thames riverwalk between London Bridge and Tower Bridge, saw the Tower of London from the outside (it's honestly less ominous or impressive than I was imagining). By then the jet lag was catching up (I'd only slept an h our or so on the plane), so I went to my hostel, checked in, and took a nap. I set my alarm for 5pm so I wouldn't miss evening church at the Metropolitan Temple.
I was impressed by how friendly people were at both churches: in each one people started up conversations with me. The worship style at the Anglican church was more modern, with a band and worship teams, but they did include their organ for the last song.
Spurgeon's old church, though, was very traditional. Only an organ, hymns from the 1700s and early 1800s, and preaching reminiscent of J Vernon McGee. I don't think i would want to go there full-time, but it was a good experience. It was full with people too. About 200 in the evening service, and they said there's 5-600 for the morning, and they have to overflow the sanctuary.
I'm getting very comfortable with navigating the Tube. It's really pretty simple. This evening someone asked me—ME!—for directions, and then after helping him my mind was distracted with how I could have helped him better. By the time I started paying attention to my own situation again, I had already walked down the right hallway, onto the right platform, into the right train, and sat down. I came to, and looked up at the info board, and was pleasantly surprised to find I was in the right place. It helps that the Tube is very intuitive.