Christmas in England Part Deux ... London and Stephanie and JESUS!

Ritz Carlton around corner from our hotel

We picked Stephanie up at Heathrow airport December 22, 2017 at about 12:30 p.m. and I had already booked a room at the Holiday Inn Mayfair, in the middle of the shopping district, not far from Picadilly, and right on a good bus route. (All places are on a good bus route) She had already seen most of the London tourist attraction, so it seemed as if Christma in London should include shopping, lights, theater etc.and we weren't disappointed. So we were off to the hotel, entering what we didn't know was the "congestion zone," without having prepaid. We knew nothing about congestion fees, so the "entering congestion zone" sign meant nothing to us. It does now! (more on that later) We found the hotel and I had made sure it had parking, which was wonderful and they would keep our car until we left not for just 24 hours or overnight. Stephanie was "dead tired" and

London lights

hadn't slept on the plane so she required a few hours of sleep before we set out. Steve and I waited patiently reading etc. In hindsight we could have ventured out, but we really didn't know the area well. Stephanie, having mildly recovered we headed towards Picadilly. We were not far from a lot of places but headed I think north, stopping at stores along the way, some of which I have never heard of before. One in particular had wonderful food gifts and specialty gifts and was packed. It was a good browse and would have been more if I permanently lived closer. Farther "north" I think Leicester Square where I relaxed and people-watched and Stephanie and Steve went in search of theater tickets.

After some good London shopping and dinner at the Slug and Lettuce in Leicester Square we walked (even though we had bus tickets for the day) to Old Dominion Theatre stopping at TKMaxx (instead of TJMaxx) and Primark (London clothes and London socks (stockings) for the missionaries Christmas morning. Old Dominion Theatre is a huge theatre and we saw An American in Paris, which is Gene Kellyish. It was good and is ending its run so I am glad we saw it. Finally a bus ride back to the hotel and a much-awaited nights sleep for all of us. I need to interject that just the Christmas lights in London may have been worth the visit. The next day Saturday we headed out after breakfast in the hotel to Harrod's to get an early morning Christmas visit. I did do some Cath Kidston shopping, but not a lot more ... but what is Christmas without Harrod's especially if it is just down the road. Next off to the highly touted Christmas markets at Hyde Park. Not really that good, but again I came off with a few early 2018 Christmas gifts. a few more short stops, dropping things at the car, and o ne final trip toTrafalgar Square and I had hoped to the National Portrait Gallery. I thought they had on display work of George Jamesone, a Gray ancestor, but in order to see the works you had to have an appointment and even ordering a print became a back and forth volley between sales people, so we left and headed back to get the car. One more circle around Buckinghamham Palace to see the Queen and her Christmas decorations, which on the outside were too minimal a nd we were on the road back to our Christmas decorations and preparation for Christmas Eve and Sunday.

Chichester Ward didn't disappoint. We held a very short Sacrament meeting and then Bishop Bowles got up and made an announcement and initially said he had a 45 minute talk, but he didn't and we finished with a song and a prayer and then set up the room for a Carol Service, with a three piece brass band and numerous Christmas numbers and readings. It was wonderful. After that, the Midnight Mass at Chichester Cathedral was a wonderful cultural experience, but lacked the spirit of the Mormon Church service. The Cathedral at 11:00 p.m. was packed and very traditional, but was canted and seemed devoid of feeling, at least for me. I did love at one point when we turned to our neighbors and shook hands. At the end the people at the doors really expressed appreciation for our being there, with our tags on and all. They also passed along collection bags for a charity, which I thought was a wonderful idea. But it was a lot of standing and reciting words in the program with "smelly" incense and candles, albeit some nice music and a short sermon, about diversity and accepting people. Outside the rain was almost sleet and coming down very strongly, but we did get home (about an 11 mile trip) and safe in bed, after a little wrapping and a little more in the morning.

Elder Connor and Elder Epperson Christmas morning

Monday morning was a Hewlett (and apparently Elder Robbie Epperson) traditional Piggy Sausage Souffle (recipe adopted from Brett and Valerie Taylor), even Campbell's Mushroom Soup .... not easy or cheap to find Campbells's soup in the UK. (There soups are not condensed ... just pour and ready.) The missionaries came over and we had soufflé with fruit, juices, milk, chocolate and white and Stephanie had her Lucky Charms Christmas cereal, which is still here and then we opened gifts. Oh, before we opened gifts I need to add that we read and studied from Luke 2, the birth of the Savior. It was a great discussion with Elder Epperson even going to Jesus the Christ for additional information. Elder Epperson and Elder Connor's London stockings first ... more stockings, Chex Mix for Elder Epperson, Goldfish from Elder Connor, deodorant of their choice, Star Wars toiletries of my choice, and miscellaneous other things. Stephanie - a sheepskin rug, miscellaneous decorations from my favorite store on Guernsey, Indica, a London tea cup, a London apron etc.I got a pair of walking shoes from Stephanie, my favorite dish detergent, new gray earrings and Dad got a new shirt and a new pair of jeans that fit him that he really needed. I should mention here that the kids also got me a new ipad for multiple celebrations and Anthony brought it when he came over. The rest of the day was very uneventful as there were no movies in theaters and I think we all had a good nap. Movies Boxing Day in Portsmouth (The Greatest Showman) with dinner at Nando's (supposedly a South African restaurant and the last day we had Stephanie here Stephanie and I went to the afternoon theater in Southhampton and dinner at a wonderful traditional thatched-roof restaurant east of our home, called the Gribble Inn in Oving.
We dropped her of the next day at Heathrow, overloaded with a couple of extra suitcases of my shopping and my shopping for her Christmas. Christmas close to London ... Cheers!