London Day 4

London Day 4

Well I started today with a plan but the day didn't quite work out as I thought it might. But that was ok... it was good to have a cruisy day...

I knew I was due to go to St Thomas C of E School today at 1.30pm, so I thought I might  fit a few more simple  activities in during the morning.
First things first, I had to steel myself to face the washing machine. After all the good advice from my friends out there I realised there must have been a shorter cycle, and sure enough I found the 30 min cycle and it all worked!

So, my plan included maybe going to Westminster Abbey and/or maybe going to The Churchill War Rooms.

But neither happened! I was on the train on the way into town, and I really wanted to go to Mass today as my niece was having an operation. So I remembered from my visit here about 10 years ago  that there was a  Church called the Brompton Oratory in South Kensington, so I hopped off the train at Sth Kensington to see how good my memory was...

And sure enough I found it, and sure enough there was a Mass at 10am.

On the way to it though I passed another famous building but I didn't stop there...

Victoria and Albert Museum

Anyway, I found Brompton Oratory and I was a weeny bit late. Arrived at 10.10 and it was half over.... at 10.20 it was finished! Why can't we have masses like that in Australia????

The unusual thing was though that it was a blast from the past. It could've been anywhere in the 50s. The priest wore the old style vestments and had his back to the people and none of this sign of peace stuff.....At least it was in English... When the priest left at the end, he put his little black biretta back on  (his hat!)

Brompton Oratory

Outside of Brompton Oratory

I have a suspicion it has a strong link with John Henry Newman, but some of my more learned friends may be able to fill that out a bit.

Anyway,  at this stage I was thinking it would be a bit rushed to try and squeeze in some activities so I made up my mind to just go gently today. So, I also remembered that Harrods was a little further along Brompton Rd so I hopped on the nearest bus and hopped off a few stops later in front of Harrods. It was coffee time so I found a nice café (with free wifi) right opposite Harrods. Went in to Harrods just to have a look and use their loos! Got lost in the designer clothes dept.... some might say that would be divine justice!!! At least I knew I was in the designer label section!!! I've had some good tutors!!

Harrods

I've been using the Tube all the time and have more or less mastered what I have to do (hope I'm not speaking too soon!) but when you're  underground you have no idea of where you are geographically. You just pop up like moles out of the ground. So I  only had an hour or so to fill in so I decided to just hop on and hop off the red London buses, as my travel card allowed me free access.

So I went around Mayfair and Park Lane then hopped off and came back into Victoria Station. By this time I needed some lunch to sustain me for my visit out to North Kensington to see St Thomas' school. The  reason I was going there was I've always been intrigued by education in England. Certainly  in technology they have led the way for a while and I just wanted to see what one actually looked like.  My friend and colleague, Tia, has a friend who is principal of this school - hence the connection.

So, anyway, I followed the advice of the info people at Victoria and caught the Number 52 bus, but sad but true, it wouldn't be a travel story without a complication... I had looked on Google maps before I left. but of course my internet connection was no longer working, so I didn't quite get it right. Anyway, I got close, and a lady I asked told me I had come too far and would have to walk about 20 mins to get back there. So I just flagged down a cab and he took me there.

Got there eventually and it was a lovely little school - approx. 330 kids and it was only 5 years old. The unique thing was it was built within a building project and there were flats above it and around it. The area is quite poor with high unemployment. Will share a few pics, although my non-chalkie friends are probably a bit bored by now!!!

St Thomas school. Assembly hall on first floor - note flats to either side

School has 2 rabbits - Sugar and Spice

Principal Sarah and a student with Spice

Also has chooks

View of playground area

View of playground area

View of playground area

I enjoyed my visit there and I love seeing  how others do the same things we do at home.

Sarah suggested that, if I didn't mind a bit of a walk, I could go back through the Portobello Markets, and that is what I did...

Portobello Market

Portobello Market

Portobello Market

Thirsty work - all this walking...

The markets were a bit like Vic Markets in Melbourne, but as you can see in the pics, they are along the side of the road. In a road called Goldborne Rd which was closer to the school, they had a heap of food stalls and lots of people were queued up to eat from them. There was a lot  of cultural food available with lots of nationalities represented in the food mix.

So, my day today was a little quieter than some other days, but it was nice just to be low key for a while. I'll probably kick back into it tomorrow as I want to make  the most of that London Pass.

But for those of you who are working- it's the weekend!!! Yee haa!!!!