London Diaries: Volume III

Leaving our luggages with our hotel, we hopped on the tube for St. Paul's Cathedral. Built by Christopher Wren, the baroque church was impressive, but what really took my breath away were the 4 paintings on the pillars by the cathedral dome. I was mesmerized by the unique depiction of the life of Christ, with its dark foreboding colors and emphasis on strife and weariness. I looked to the artist, a Russian, ah, that explained everything. The artist's name is Sergei Chepik and the painting I was absolutely floored by is "The Life Of Christ." I was pleasantly surprised at the discovery of a modern artist that I like, as most of my favorite artists are dead. Chepik was born in Russian in 1953, he no doubt have seen much of political strife in Russia and perhaps it is the pain and suffering of his people (and/or himself) that are readily depicted in his paintings. The sadness was overwhelming, even the depiction of Christ's baptism exudes an impending sense of doom. My favorite panel is the baptism, which depicts God hidden behind the white light as Jesus was baptized (not shown here). I am excited for my newfound love for Sergei Chepik, I can finally follow an artist's life as he is living!

After St. Paul’s, we crossed the millennium bridge and found a replica of Shakespeare’s globe. While we didn’t go into the globe, we did find our way to Vinopolis and had ourselves a grand ol’ time.

Vinopolis, a huge wine museum in London, had wines from all over the world. We bought our tickets which included a tour of the museum, five wine tastings, and a Bombay Sapphire martini. I tried a cab-merlot from Israel that was medium bodied and slightly peppery, which I wasn’t expecting from a cab or a merlot. I tried a white wine produced in England and immediately understood why the English are not known for their wine. I enjoyed the other tastings although I can’t now remember what all I tried, which could be an indication of my level of intoxication at the time. The Bombay Sapphire room was modern chic and very… blue! Ten bowls containing ten different spices were arranged in a circle, available for us to touch and smell. The ten spices are the various aromas infused into the gin, amongst them lemon peel, liquorish from China, and Coriander seeds. I had the tropical paradise martini which was made with pineapple juic, it was yummy.

After Vinopolis, Sondra and I found the church Shakespeare used to go to! To our disappointment, the church was closed, but we did get good pictures of the outside of the church. For our last stop we ended up at a bar called the All-One bar, or something like that. Maria had an interview there so Sondra and I shared a bottle of pinot gris, good times. We got to our hotel around 10:00 and proceeded to carry our (60 pounds…each) bags across town and onto the tube. We had to fly out from Standsted the next day and had reservations in the Travel Lodge nearby... an airport we had no idea how to get to. We got lost at least twice (I lost count somewhere on the road) and had a pissed drunk brit betting us on the tube that we’d miss the train. He was so confident that he bet Sondra 20 pounds, a bet we foolishly took. At the very last stop we understood the source of his confidence – we had missed our stop 20 minutes ago. Satisfying himself with our stupidity by pointing and laughing at us, he eventually pointed us to the right location and we proceeded onward. After getting off the tube we had to purchase tickets to the train, the “Standsted Express.”

When we finally made it to the right train station, we realized that there was no lift. So there we were, suitcase-Olympic-champions dragging our bags up and down the stairs, I swear it took half an hour just to get up the flight of stairs. Having finally made it onto the platform, the clock read 11:56 and the last train was scheduled to stop running at midnight. Uh oh... But oh blessed luck! A local teenage druggie stood right next to us (who eavesdropped in our conversation and proceeded to laugh at us hysterically… that’s happened a lot on this trip…) informed us that there was indeed going to be a train coming our way and helped us with our luggages onto the train. There we were, 3 gals with barely enough strength left holding on to our luggages, laughing heartily with our new found druggie friend. We must looked like we were having the time of our lives as a young brit walked over to us and asked us for beer. Beer we don't have, but 60 pound bags we've got a-plenty, want some?

Getting off the train was interesting, as the jaws of death called "train doors" went psycho on Sondra and almost ate her luggage (with her holding onto it). Maria had to pull on one side of the door, the druggie the other, with me pushing the “open door” button madly. We eventually got Sondra (and her luggage) out of the train. That was not fun.

Having finally made it to Harlow town (aka in the middle of nowhere), we dragged our tired bodies into our hotel room and collapsed onto our respective beds. It was fun getting tipsy, but man was it tiring to trek everywhere with 60 pound luggage! Moral of the story: PACK LIGHT PACK LIGHT PACK LIGHT!!!