Our Spring Break started with a trip with all Calvin students to London and Oxford. We stayed at Palmer’s Lodge, a recently renovated children’s sanatorium near Hampstead. Despite an acute shortage of sinks in the bathrooms, it was a relatively comfortable youth hostel, and the proximity of several tube stops made it a good location to explore the city. It was also close to Hampstead Heath, and we took a short evening walk there the first evening. A red double decker bus (Thomas had wanted to ride one for a long time!) took us back to the hostel.
The next morning was Palm Sunday. We attended the festive service in Saint Paul’s cathedral, which started with a festive procession of palms into the cathedral, according to the program, "accompanied by trumpets and a donkey, singing." We regrettably never heard the donkey sing, but even without that, the service was beautiful.After the service, our group walked along the newly renovated South Bank, and over the Tower Bridge to the Tower, which was fairly crowded with tourists. A trip to Greenwich, where we enjoyed another beautiful view of London, concluded the Sunday. The picture to the left shows Walter raleigh's work desk in the Tower, where he worked on his "History of the World". To the right, Kees and Thomas straddle the Zero meridian at Greenwich.
On Monday, we took the train to Oxford, where Jenny Lewis showed us around Merton College, and we enjoyed a tour of the Sheldonian Theatre and the Bodleian Library. A scenic walk along the River Cherwell (picture, left) led us back to the station.Tuesday morning I had scheduled a visit to Westminster Abbey and the Cabinet War Rooms. Both were predictably crowded. I was instructed to "keep our group together" during our visit of Westminster Abbey, which proved quite a challenge. Our visit to the original Bedlam, now the site of the Imperial War Museum, was a much more rewarding experience. An evening in the theatre (at Richmond Theatre, showing "Brief Encounter") with the entire Calvin group was a nice conclusion to our visit. Next morning, we packed, and went on the way to Rome. We would be back for a day after that trip, to fulfil one of Kees and Thomas's dearest wishes: a visit to Legoland Windsor (pictures below).
