Monday, 12 June 2017: London Eye

Katarina Gerrard has been my FaceBook friend for a couple of years now. We met in person last summer, and I had planned today to be spent with her and her daughter, Amy, visiting the London Eye and other sights.

They live in Mottingham, south of the Thames. I took the train there, arriving around 9:00 am, then we took the bus and train back into the city. They (like many Londoners) had never been on the London Eye, and they were very excited!

We also took the London Dungeon tour, which doesn't allow any photos or video. It was an interesting take on many of the more colorful legends and history of London. Afterwards, Amy wanted to go climbing at the playground.

(I think Amy likes cameras!)

Amy spotted the carousel and wanted to ride, and Katarina went with her.

Then we walked across the Jubilee Bridge to the north side of the Thames to find a pub for lunch.

We tried to make it up to the Zoo in Regents Park, but got there just after it closed for the day. But we fit a lot into the day, and took the train back home. It was a really great day!

Wednesday, 7 June 2017: Churches of Sacra Liturgia

All of the Liturgies this year were of the Ambrosian or Milanese Rite. They took place in a number of churches in the center of the city.

Chiesa di Santa Maria della Consolazione, Piazza Cairoli:

Sant'Alessandro in Zebedia:

 

Sunday, 11 June 2017: Tea at the Ritz, London

Any fans of "Downton Abbey" will certainly be fans of the Ritz Hotel in London, where some of the scenes were filmed. It is a legendary venue, especially for its Afternoon Tea. Here is an archive photo, before the renovations in the 1990's.

(Obviously pre-1990's with the horse-drawn carriages!)

Here is the facade today.

Notice the added wrought iron and lighted signage:

Now, please meet my good friend, Eve Farren. I met Eve one Sunday in Edinburgh, Scotland in 2010. We were both looking for St. Mary's Catholic Cathedral to attend Mass, and I had asked a local for directions. We went to Mass and chatted, and have been friends since. (Isn't FaceBook wonderful!) 

During my London visit last year, we had a nice picnic lunch one day in a park behind the Brompton Oratory. We chatted about all sorts of things, including family. She told me that her father had designed the signage at the Ritz, but that she had never been there! Eve recently received her MA from Birkbeck College and RADA. When I told her I was going to be in London again, she suggested we do tea. So I replied that we needed to do Afternoon Tea at the Ritz!

We had a really wonderful time. We met at Green Park tube station, went to 5:30 pm Mass at the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Farm Street, a historic Jesuit parish. Then, while waiting for our seating time at the Ritz, we sat in park/deck chairs in Green Park for a while.

Reservations are taken for Afternoon Tea at two-hour intervals beginning at 11:30 am with the last seating at 7:30 pm, which was the time we were waiting for. 

If you go to London, you really MUST plan to do "Tea at the Ritz"! You will never regret it! The service is wonderful, and the food is better than you can imagine. We just had to have one more photo with the doorman!