London Daze

Today is our last full day in London. We have been unable to post because there is no internet in our hotel. Friday after we arrived, we went on to the Holywell Music Co. (the harp store) and then to the Tate Modern where we saw a wonderful show on cities and had a tapas dinner. We then walked from Blackfriars all the way down to Big Ben along the Thames and it was a wonderful evening.

Saturday, we hooked up with Lissa and Cordelia again and it poured for most of the day. We hoofed it to Oxford Market, then onto the National Portrait Gallery. We then went to the Methodist Center for a very inexpensive and great meal, and back to the hotel for a rest. Lissa and Kathy Lovin went to Regent's Park for a Shakespeare play (which was rained out) and I took the harpists to the Ghost Walk of London which started at St. Paul's Cathedral and wended through the streets of old London City - very scary and well done by our guide. We went on to an Indian feast at the nearby Masala before retiring.

Today, the news of the Glasgow terror and the other recent developments hangs heavy in the air, but there is a block party in Earl's Court (our neighborhood), the Concert for Diana is tonight at Wembley Stadium, the Wimbledon tennis championships continue, and it's the first day London is banning smoking in public places. Our first trip today was with Lissa and Cordelia for a walk up Sloane Street where we bid them goodbye before they left for New York. We continued on to Buckingham Palace to see a very busy and not too interesting changing of the guard. We went on to have a light lunch and some of us continued to a Punk Art exhibit at the Barbicon, with another group going up Oxford St. shopping. We reconnected at a Bangladesh Festival in Regent's Park which had fabulous food and beautiful clothing and jewelry. Just now the teams are tired and resting before we find some food for our last dinner in London.

Susie

Lissa had her molar pulled. She had to stay home from our trip to the Castle. We didn't try to smell the tooth.

Group in front of Arundel Castle, home of the Duke and Duchess of Norfolk.



The view of the countryside from the Castle Keep staircase.

St. Cecilia, the patron saint of music, with her harp, is one of the stained glass windows at St. Peter & St. Paul's Parish.

http://www.sspeterandpaul-rustington.org.uk/

A very historical site, it is surrounded by an ancient graveyard. Unfortunately we were unable to get up to the stained glass window and advise you of its scent.

The composer Sir Hubert Parry, who wrote several hymns including 'Rustington', lived in Rustington right down the street from this church.

Jillian Risigari-Gai and Nicole Warburton in dress rehearsal at St. Peter & St. Paul's

Our concert on June 27th raised more than 600 GBP for the Chichester Diocesem Association for Family Support Work. The church was full of a very appreciative crowd, and there was a lovely reception in the parish hall afterward. FYI the church smells a little like the window, below, as it was built in 1170.

Kathy with Ancient Window at Elm Farm

Elm Farm, our house, was built in the 1640s. At that time, Medieval builders made windows by creating an opening covered with wooden slats that are bevelled so the wind glances off of them at an angle. The house was updated and additions were made in the front and the back so the Medieval window was preserved in the wall of the music room. FYI, this ancient wood stinks if you put your nose right up to it, which of course, we all did.

Karen Vaughan Master Class

Today, Monday, June 25 we had a wonderful four hour Master Class with Karen Vaughan from the London Symphony.