After all of the traveling and running around of London which was done Friday and Saturday, I slept great last night after FaceTiming with Eva and Micah!
My 5:45am alarm came all too soon, but I got up, put on my running clothes and ran 5k along the Thames. On Saturday, the same walkway I was on was busy and crowded with tourists, bicyclists and runners. This morning, though, this same route was barren. I only shared this river way with 3 or 4 other runners and a couple droplets of rain. Didn't break any records, but got a selfie with Big Ben (it's not a flattering one, but I didn't feel like taking 20 before finding "the one") and memories of now one of my favorite runs!
John and I went to the Eucharist service at Westminster Abbey at 8am. We followed the Book of Common Prayer's worship order. One thing I found interesting is that the service opened with the pastor reciting the Lord's Prayer, cutting short of the ending, and then was bookended with those attending worship reciting it in its entirety. I was surprised at how few people were there, though. I remember watching the series "Rev" on Hulu and finding it sad that he only had about half a dozen parishioners for services in this massive sanctuary. In a very surreal sense, I experienced that juxtaposition as maybe 2 dozen of us gathered in this historic and beautiful cathedral for the Eucharist service. Granted, the main worship would be later in the morning which no doubt will be packed - it just struck me as odd this morning.
After the service was over we headed back to the room where just a few last minute packing things needed to happen in order for us to catch a train to Salisbury for what we believed would be the beginning of our pilgrimage. That's when we realized that we had made a mistake... The pilgrimage would not start until Monday at 1, not today. Here we are, about to check out of our room, train tickets already purchased, and no place to stay for the night. There is an expletive that works very well for this situation which I am not about to type. As I write about this part of our day, John and I are on a train, rain just drizzling against the window, and wondering which hotel we will be in tonight in Salisbury. This should be fun!
Waterloo National Rail Station - time to head to Salisbury!
Well, John and I made it to Salisbury, and even managed to find a place to stay! Luckily, the room that we will be in during the Pilgrimage was open tonight so we've just moved in a day early. It's a great room with a view of an apple orchard and Salisbury Cathedral. In walking from the train station to Sarum College (where we are staying at) I found myself reminescing about my time in Stratford-upon-Avon. Seeing all of the shops, winding and narrow roads and the overflow of character in an old established city like this makes me tempted to move here! That's the fun thing about my trips to England - being able to see the charm all around.
Outside of our room is a view of a small orchard, and looking left, we see Salisbury Cathedral which is just across the street from Sarum College.
For lunch we headed down to The New Inn, and then we had a very late dinner at The Cloister. There are pubs after pubs after pubs here - it's rather remarkable. You can tell the atmosphere is so much more relaxed than back in the states - no one is in a rush to get somewhere. In a way, it reminds me of a coffee shop where people just go, sit on comfortable furniture and talk, sometimes for hours (seriously - it looked like a first date was happening 15 feet away from us).
It's been a full day between traveling to Salisbury from London, worship at Westminster Abbey, a run and getting settled into Sarum College which will be our "homebase" of sorts. It being 10:10pm, I think I'm ready to call it a night shortly. Tomorrow, the pilgrimage ACTUALLY begins - maybe I'll get another run in, this time along the countryside!
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