What I did:
The end of my top secret weekend drew near and I wound up catching a ride to London, where I had planned to go. The guy who drove me, let’s just call him Naz, is a great guy and I was very blessed to get to know him. We had some really interesting conversations on the way. It was only about a 3 hour drive and we talked some about churches, engineers, American university fraternities (which really surprised him), and we listened to some Wimbledon on the radio. He works as a structural engineer, but recently got a degree in youth ministry (which he said he has not used yet). He commented on how things are so easily shared between the UK, US, and Australia along with other places.
We got into London and he explained to me some about the parts we drove through. We got to the Bank tube station and drove around to the church where Moot meets. We got there at about 4:30, so I still had a couple of hours left to kill. Naz gave me some contact info for some people and then said bye. I walked around for a while looking for a bathroom because I really had to pee. I found some that were closed and just there to taunt me, but finally found an open Starbucks. I got a tea and also managed to find some free internet. I got the number for the mayBe contact who I was supposed to meet this morning, but didn’t. I called him and after several tries finally got in touch and explained it and he said I could come on Thursday. I looked up some train times and found that I needed to leave by 9, which I figured was very doable, since the service was supposed to start at 6:30.
Then I walked around some and looked at the monument for the fire of London that burned down the whole area I was in. I had seen this monument before, but had no clue what it was. Then I walked over London Bridge and back and along the Thames path some. It got to be time to head over, so I walked back to St. Mary Woolnoth. I experienced Moot, which was a nice service around a theme with some time for meditation and responsive reading. The people there were very friendly and welcoming. I will be going back there on Wednesday hopefully, because they do something a little different, and I am glad to be able to hang out with everyone some more.
After the service we went to the pub, which was back over the bridge I think. We talked for a while, but I had to go very soon to catch the train. So I rushed to the nearest tube station and headed for the train. It looked like I would be fine, but then at the stop before the one I needed, the guy came on the intercom and said we wouldn’t be stopping at the stop I needed. I started to panic a little, but rode to the next stop and switched to another line and hoped it would stop where I needed. It did and then I literally ran through the station to buy my ticket (which was on the opposite side), then I ran up the stairs to the train platform and literally got on the train seconds before it left. It was crazy, but I made it. I then had about 3 hours to kill on the train and got caught up writing about all I had d
one this weekend.
I made it into Sheffield at 12:30 and got a taxi to Matt and Rachel’s. George was a little too excited to see me and I really hoped that I (or he) would not wake anyone up. I went to sleep very easily after a long and exciting day.
What I learned:
It is best to allow a good amount of time in order to get to your train.
St. Mary Woolnoth (where Moot meets) is an interesting church that is mentioned in a T. S. Eliot poem and because of that has a little corner dedicated to it.
British Starbucks makes good chai tea lattes too.
The fire of London was supposedly started by a Baker on Pudding Lane.
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