Easter Sunday dawned just as cold wet and blustery as the day before had been however we were'nt detered and not willing to let it stop us, we rugged up with almost as many clothes as we had taken with us and set off again for London town.
Walked (it seemed) for miles from the station to the Millenium Bridge where the wind was icy and cut through us despite the layers of 'woolies'! Stopped for a few seconds on the bridge to take a couple of photos while fellow travellers (mostly joggers in clothing not suited to the weather) passed us by. St Paul's cathedral in front of us we made our way as quickly as possible toward it. Again, being a tourist venue, and especially being Easter Sunday, hundreds of people were milling around. The most lovely cherry tree was blossoming right opposite this austere building and made a great photo.
We sat for quite some time inside the cathedral waiting for the service to begin. Just looking around and admiring the wonderful building was really enough. Wondered how such a landmark had escaped ruin during the second World War when large buildings just a few metres from it did not. What architecture and presence! It was lovely and warm inside - enough to start shedding the layers!
Mattins was very regal in procession. So much gold! My eyes goggled at the sight. Sounds from the choir as they snaked their way to their seats was glorious! I guess the actual service was rather surprising to me in its formality - not being used to such high church! (Ours - The Salvation Army - is very casual by comparison - and might I say, much happier). The Bishop of London spoke very well for about 10 minutes and the procession wound its way back again - I guess to get ready for the next service which was an hour away.
We walked to the tube station behind St Paul's, viewed the glorious daffodils planted in street gardens, and quickly boarded a train to Oxford Street. On finding The Salvation Army's Regent Hall corps (church) we stepped inside to catch the end of the message, then stayed for a welcome cup of coffee with other people attending. Found a small but very cosy restaurant where we ate excellent food and took respite from the bleak weather conditions outside.
Earlier in the day we had decided we would stay and check out a few more of the London sights but this plan was fairly quickly changed. Being Easter Sunday, the large shops were not open so after wandering down Regent Street for a short while, decided to head back to our accommodation to get out of the cold.
The train was warm, and a comfortable 40 minute train ride with a short brisk walk 'home' saw us back inside about mid afternoon. We were looking forward to driving to Canterbury tomorrow.
