LONDON
February 19, 20
We arrive at the convent of the Sisters of Nazareth in Hammersmith, London at about 11:00 AM. We are greeted by Sister Catherine, a friend of Ann’s and former principal at the Nazareth House in San Diego.
The sisters had emailed Ann and extended an invitation to stay with them. Since Ann’s primary purpose in visiting London was to see the sisters, this worked out well. Sister gave us a bit of a tour of the 150 year old buildings, chapel and gorgeous grounds.
She escorts us to our room which is bright and spacious. Apparently when the Bishop visits he stays in this room. We are invited to tea and I decline, the wimp that I am, I was tired. I slept for about 3 hours and awoke with Ann by my side. I let her sleep another hour and then we took off ….bus right outside the convent door to the tube to
Trafalgar Square
. London is alive…people going in all directions…pedestrian streets, statues, sculptures, ____esque buildings from the ___ period, fountains. It was getting near sunset so we went to the National Gallery… 
a beautiful museum. We’re in a hurry. We bypass Titians, Goyas, Canalettos on our way to the exhibit, “Manet to Picasso”, where we see, believe it or not, Manets, Picassos as well as Seurats, Monets, Cézannes, Gauguins, Degas, Van Goghs. Ann is truly moved. She would later say that she enjoyed this museum more than the Louvre. As we exit the National Gallery,
Big Ben is chiming and Ann’s jaw drops when she looks up and sees it. We begin wondering why we didn’t schedule more time for London. We have drinks and dinner at The Old Shades where the people we met could not have been nicer. Back to convent by 9:00 PM (which was OK by us since we were still recovering from the bus trip) at which time the doors are customarily locked.
We went to Mass with the nuns the next two mornings in the chapel and received ashes on Ash Wednesday. Ann reunited with a soul mate of hers, Sister Rose, who told me that I took her away from them. I told her that Ann had boyfriends before me…Ann gives me the eye. We also spent time with Sister Gabriel who had a perpetual smile/laugh on her face. If you looked hard enough, you could see her halo.
On our second day in London, after an elegant, yet hearty breakfast in a dining parlor overlooking the gardens, we take the tube back into “town”.
On the way, we sit across from a stately looking 50ish couple. Ann, with something to dispose of, remarks to them that there are no waste receptacles in the tube. The man, who has a droopy right eye, replies, “It’s been that way since the 70s…the IRA…terrorism was much worse then…American funded…” His wife turned to him immediately and snarled his name to stop.
We took one of those open-aired, double-decked tour buses around London with a boat ride down the Thames. See all the well-known sights. We went to Harrods, as Ann wanted to tour the Harrods food
floor she had 
seen on so many travel logs. We were both impressed. I was also impressed by the Rock Guitar exhibit there with Rolling Stones prints done by Ronnie Wood (a minimum of 1000 pounds each…like he needs the money.) 
Note the picture of the doggie section with any type of outfit you could imagine....kind of looks like a children's dept.
February 19, 20
We arrive at the convent of the Sisters of Nazareth in Hammersmith, London at about 11:00 AM. We are greeted by Sister Catherine, a friend of Ann’s and former principal at the Nazareth House in San Diego.
The sisters had emailed Ann and extended an invitation to stay with them. Since Ann’s primary purpose in visiting London was to see the sisters, this worked out well. Sister gave us a bit of a tour of the 150 year old buildings, chapel and gorgeous grounds.
She escorts us to our room which is bright and spacious. Apparently when the Bishop visits he stays in this room. We are invited to tea and I decline, the wimp that I am, I was tired. I slept for about 3 hours and awoke with Ann by my side. I let her sleep another hour and then we took off ….bus right outside the convent door to the tube to
Trafalgar Square
. London is alive…people going in all directions…pedestrian streets, statues, sculptures, ____esque buildings from the ___ period, fountains. It was getting near sunset so we went to the National Gallery… 
a beautiful museum. We’re in a hurry. We bypass Titians, Goyas, Canalettos on our way to the exhibit, “Manet to Picasso”, where we see, believe it or not, Manets, Picassos as well as Seurats, Monets, Cézannes, Gauguins, Degas, Van Goghs. Ann is truly moved. She would later say that she enjoyed this museum more than the Louvre. As we exit the National Gallery,
Big Ben is chiming and Ann’s jaw drops when she looks up and sees it. We begin wondering why we didn’t schedule more time for London. We have drinks and dinner at The Old Shades where the people we met could not have been nicer. Back to convent by 9:00 PM (which was OK by us since we were still recovering from the bus trip) at which time the doors are customarily locked.We went to Mass with the nuns the next two mornings in the chapel and received ashes on Ash Wednesday. Ann reunited with a soul mate of hers, Sister Rose, who told me that I took her away from them. I told her that Ann had boyfriends before me…Ann gives me the eye. We also spent time with Sister Gabriel who had a perpetual smile/laugh on her face. If you looked hard enough, you could see her halo.
On our second day in London, after an elegant, yet hearty breakfast in a dining parlor overlooking the gardens, we take the tube back into “town”.
On the way, we sit across from a stately looking 50ish couple. Ann, with something to dispose of, remarks to them that there are no waste receptacles in the tube. The man, who has a droopy right eye, replies, “It’s been that way since the 70s…the IRA…terrorism was much worse then…American funded…” His wife turned to him immediately and snarled his name to stop.We took one of those open-aired, double-decked tour buses around London with a boat ride down the Thames. See all the well-known sights. We went to Harrods, as Ann wanted to tour the Harrods food
floor she had 
seen on so many travel logs. We were both impressed. I was also impressed by the Rock Guitar exhibit there with Rolling Stones prints done by Ronnie Wood (a minimum of 1000 pounds each…like he needs the money.) 
Note the picture of the doggie section with any type of outfit you could imagine....kind of looks like a children's dept.
At 6:00 PM we met an old friend of ours, Sandy
, who currently lives here but has bought a condo in Turkey where she is going to retire. I’m intrigued by Turkey (Ann’s apprehensive), so I have lots of questions. I want to go to Istanbul before I leave Europe. 
We share warm, touching goodbyes with the nuns on Ash Wednesday before leaving for Paris. A priest gives us a safe journey blessing and we feel blessed on many levels. 
When you get off the tube you hear over loud speakers, "Mind the gap", there is aout a foot spacibg between the train and the platform at some stops.
This spire was the inspiration for the modern wedding cake. A baker was making a wedding cake for his daughter and modelled it after this spire which was in the neighborhood.
We’re off to the train station for our Eurostar trip to Paris.
When you get off the tube you hear over loud speakers, "Mind the gap", there is aout a foot spacibg between the train and the platform at some stops.
This spire was the inspiration for the modern wedding cake. A baker was making a wedding cake for his daughter and modelled it after this spire which was in the neighborhood.
We’re off to the train station for our Eurostar trip to Paris.
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