I've always heard that it rains a lot in London. We awoke to a rainy day! Our first quick stop was to see a John Wesley memorial - the Aldersgate Flame. This was across an elevated walkway on Aldersgate street - where John's heart was strangely warmed. This is the general area where the 18th Century Moravian religious society met. John's heartwarming experience was in May 24, 1738.
We then made our way to Bunhill Fields Burial Ground where Susanna Wesley is buried. We couldn't see her grave, but it was actually a lovely old cemetery. This is a nonconformist graveyard, which also contains the graves of
Daniel Defoe, Isaac Watts, William Blake and John Bunyan.
We were bundled up against the chill and rain.
The leaves were lovely!
We then walked across the street (not far) to Wesley's Chapel.
We actually arrived in time to participate in their short service of prayer. Here is a link to the prayer service that morning. You can actually see us as we moved into a pew at the 4:16 mark! It was a lovely respite to sit and pray for a few moments. Here is a link.
I wish I had taken a photograph of the restroom - it was from Victorian times and it was still in working order!!
Behind the church was the monument marking the gravesite of John Wesley (plus some other folks).
Since there were quite a few people from our John Wesley Sunday School class on the trip, we grabbed a quick photo. This is the class that I teach on a regular basis - probably at least 75% of every year. I've been teaching in this class since I was 33 years old . . .and I am much older than that now haha! Our class is very large so of course, we weren't all there.
We walked out the front door of the church and were able to tour John Wesley's house. It was small so we had to go in small groups.
This moved me - he spent so much time on his knees praying.
We took a group photo out front, but it is not on my phone. I need to get it from someone!
We were told to find some lunch or shop around for about an hour prior to our next tour time. I literally snapped a photo of this location (below) because this was where we were to meet! It looks so cool. Since it has to have a story . . .I thought I would share with you.
Here's the story (from Chat GPT)!
1. It was once the entrance to the City of London.
Temple Bar was built between 1670 and 1672, following the
Great Fire of London in 1666. It replaced an earlier wooden gateway and marked
the western entrance to the historic City of London.
It was designed in the style of Sir Christopher Wren and
built by master stonemasons Joshua Marshall and Thomas Knight.
2. Look at the statues!
The four statues represent members of the royal Stuart
family:
- James
I
- Anne
of Denmark, his wife
- Charles I
- Charles II
Charles II was the king when the gate was built. The statues
celebrated the restoration of the monarchy in 1660.
3. It has quite a travel story of its own!
This is my favorite part.
- 1672:
Temple Bar was erected at the junction of Fleet Street and the Strand.
- 1878:
It was dismantled because it obstructed London's growing traffic.
- 1889:
A wealthy brewer, Sir Henry Meux, purchased it at his wife's request and
had it reconstructed at their estate in Hertfordshire.
- 2004:
It was brought back to London, stone by stone, and reconstructed at
Paternoster Square, right beside St. Paul's Cathedral.
4. Why is it important?
For centuries, Temple Bar marked the boundary between the
City of London and Westminster. Traditionally, when a monarch entered the City,
the Lord Mayor would meet the monarch here and ceremonially offer the Sword of
State.
It was a symbolic way of recognizing the City's historic
privileges and independence
We headed down the street to a restaurant/pub. I can't remember the name of it! We only had a little time so we had to order quickly (which was confusing!) and eat quickly.
While we headed back to our meeting spot outside of St. Paul's Cathedral, Mark and Nathan headed off to a pharmacy. Have any of you used Voltaren cream? Well . . .in Europe, you could buy a MUCH stronger formula over the counter. Mark brought home several tubes - so did other people. They got back in time for us to tour St. Paul's.
Look at that ceiling. I always love looking up!
It was beautiful and Mark was able to sit down and rest his knee.
There are two of these huge crosses that commemorate the Great War - the "outcroppings" on the cross are models of cities ravaged by war.
I am looking up again - so beautiful.
About a year ago, our friend's grandbaby was born and he has had so many health problems. He was in the hospital having another major heart surgery. I lit a candle and sat down and prayed for that sweet baby boy and I texted this photo and a prayer to my friend.
It is so majestic.
The two photos below are in memory of Florence Nightingale.
Blessed are the merciful.
Our tour guide told us about this -- The man, whose name is below, was the first American killed during the war. He went to Canada and joined the Royal Air Force and was killed - before America entered the war.
In the evening, we walked to a Greek Restaurant - Vori.
I know that Mark's knee was bothering him, but I LOVE being able to walk to dinner every night.
Many of us ordered a traditional Greek salad. I love how different it is from the Greek salads we get at home. There was no lettuce!
I can't remember if I ordered anything other than the salad. Mark and someone else ordered the fish - it looks like the fish are kissing in the photo below.
We walked back to the hotel and everyone went to bed in our tiny hotel rooms!
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