Saturday Farewell to Dublin

Saturday--Farewell to Dublin!

Today was an all day travel day; first by ferry, then by rail, to London.

The alarm went off at 0500; almost like a Sunday at S. Bride’s! The coffee was prepped and only needed turning on the gas range. My essential packing being done, Owen my cabbie, picked me up at 0700. I checked in and got situated, having scrambled eggs and salmon for breakfast in their Business Class, which gave me a Titanic view of the sea ahead.

Soon we were underway across the Irish Sea. Like most people, I dozed, read and dozed some more. At 1130, we pulled into Holyhead, Wales, and piled into a bus for baggage claim. There I cleared Customs and went to the train station. I caught a local train for London, and changed at Chester. Along the way, I must have passed into England, for the signage was no longer in Welsh and English, but only in English.

Changing at Chester, I hopped a Virgin Rail train to London. All along the way were farms, where sheep safely grazed. I think this is simply a standard train, but in the open stretches, it seemed like we were hitting extremely fast speeds; I can’t wait for the Eurostar into Paris under the English Channel. It is supposed to hit speeds of 187MPH.

We pulled into London shortly after 5PM, and I got a new Oyster Card (pass for London Transit), but with a large suitcase to last me for 3 months of travel (still, I took too much stuff), elected to cab it to where I’m staying: the Union Jack Club across the street from Waterloo Station. This is a private military club, but they have reciprocal club arrangements with my club, the Marines Memorial Club in San Francisco. Most clubs here are strictly for Officers; the UJC is like the MMC, in that it is open to enlisted and officer alike, including families.

This room is a basic room; which means my Master Bathroom at the Rectory is larger. It is also not en suite, meaning the bath is down the hall; unusual by American standards, but not that great an inconvenience. It also has the advantage of being one of the few smoking rooms, so I can have a puff on my new Peterson pipe, and my writing desk has me looking over the London skyline, with a full on view of S. Paul’s Cathedral. Really not so bad for $70/night in central London!

Tomorrow is Sunday, and plans are to attend one of the great Anglo-Catholic London parishes: S. Magnus the Martyr, by London Bridge; http://www.stmagnusmartyr.org.uk. I was there for a weekday Mass several years ago on my Continuing Ed time, but this will be the first Sunday Mass there.

If the weather clears, I might just try going up the Eye, the Ferris Wheel. Then off to our sister Church, S. Bride’s Fleet Street, http://www.stbrides.com
for their Choral Evensong, which is always excellent. Be assured I will light many candles for you.