One Return Visit, One Long-Anticipated First

~ mhbeard

10 september 2023, London

The last time we were here, which we think was nine years ago, we said that it’s not possible to run out of fun things to do in London, and at least some of them are free. Still true.

On Thursday we went to Westminster Abbey, knowing from experience that it would be crowded and overwhelmingly full of British history and tradition. It would be silly for me to try to take you through the giant space, but I did have some favorite sights.

Military glory is commemorated all over the place in London, and it can get a bit stuffy. But the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior is more moving, at least to me. It’s the only tomb in the Abbey that is never walked upon. I like that respect.

Partly because I love hearing choral music, I like seeing the Choir section of Gothic churches, or as the English spell it, the Quire.

Henry VII commissioned the building ot the Lady Chapel, dedicated to the Virgin Mary. He and his queen Elizabeth of York are buried there, as is James I. The ceiling is stunning.

King Edward VI (who died young), Queen Elizabeth I, and her half-sister Queen Mary I are also buried in the Abbey. The only Tudor monarch not interred here is Henry VIII, which shows what you get when you persecute monks and appropriate church properties.

I can’t begin to identify the nobles whose flags hang below that ceiling, except for one. I think it’s the House Of Tennis and Squash, whose flag you can see here next to the House of Birds.

That’s enough about Westminster Abbey. We went next to the church of St. Martin In The Fields, where we enjoyed a short concert of sacred music and hyms.

That night, we fulfilled a promise-to-ourselves whose origins were the Concert For George in 2002. We love the DVD of that fabulous tribute, and on our previous trip to London we tried to get a tour of the Royal Albert Hall, where the 2002 concert was performed. However, that day the tour had to be cancelled.

So this time, some advance planning got us in for a different concert — Mozart’s Requiem. This photo from below the nosebleed seats tries to capture the size (huge) and shape (round) of the Hall.