Accidentally went to Mass on a sunny day
Last Sunday, it was one of the many beautiful sunny days we have been blessed with since we got here. I have learned to tentatively trust the weather report here, but to nonetheless still bring an umbrella no matter where I go.
They have been implementing new train schedules over the past few weeks and there has been a lot of repairs that have been done on the Underground. Leaving early for meetings has been imperative. I attend church in the south of London in an area called Crystal Palace. With the new train schedule, it has been interesting trying to get the new timing down. In total, it takes about half an hour to get from South Kensington Underground station to Crystal Palace. Walking from the small train station to the church through Crystal Palace feels like you've stepped into a quintessentially English town. Brown brick victorian houses row the streets, which are so narrow that cars need to wait in order to pass when two meet heading in different directions. The little train station doesn't see much foot traffic on Sundays but during the week, many people will take the train to the City Center for work. There is something peaceful about a very quiet train station on a sunny day, which is how I felt last Sunday. I almost just wanted to sit and watch what would happen as people came and went.
I get home mid-afternoon which isn't too bad. With it being summer I still have many hours and where I want to go out and walk around. One of my friends went with me to the Natual History Museum which is about a 10-minute walk from our flat. Located on exhibition road about a block south from Hyde Park, it is a heavily trafficked area. It's one of my favourite places to people watch because there are tourists from all around the world that congregate there. All the different languages are fun to hear and to see how families and groups of all ages and types interact.
The museum itself is larger than I thought. We went in search of a T-Rex fossil. There is an advert on the side of the building that shows a T-rex saying "it's a pleasure to eat you." We thought that because of this there would be a large fossilised King of the Dinosaurs. Instead, they have a large animatronic version that looks like it does, in fact, want to eat you. There are so many interesting fossils that reside in the Dino section of the museum. The museum is home to the most complete Stegasorus fossil ever found, as well as a very intact Triceratops skull and a full-size Brachiosaurus. We skipped most of the other wings of the museum because we just really wanted to see the creatures that roamed the earth before humans did. One could spend the whole day in there though.
We continued our walk and found a large Catholic church. I thought it was a cathedral, but my friend noted that it was too small to be considered that. Since being in England, I have learned that the architecture style of a church can indicate whether it's Catholic or Anglican (at least the big ones). Domes and round arches are considered to be rather Catholic, whereas spires and sharp-pointed arches (that came from Anglo-Saxon building style) are more Anglican. Anyway, so we went in, thinking that we could look around, not thinking that it was Sunday... We walked into a heavily incensed mass. Some of the worshipers turned around to see us and I caught one or two of them giving us disapproving looks from having missed the first half of mass. Feeling rather awkward, we knelt down in one of the pews and waited to make our escape when the Eucharist was offered.
I find other religions very interesting, especially Christianity as there are so many types of Christians in the world. I know more about Judaism and Islam than I do other Christian Sects, so I tried to follow what was going on. I think if I had had a prayer book it would have made it easier. I think that each religion has so much beauty in it. Essentially, I think we are all trying to find answers to the same questions and being able to see how other people try to find their truths helps me to gain perspective to find mine.
They have been implementing new train schedules over the past few weeks and there has been a lot of repairs that have been done on the Underground. Leaving early for meetings has been imperative. I attend church in the south of London in an area called Crystal Palace. With the new train schedule, it has been interesting trying to get the new timing down. In total, it takes about half an hour to get from South Kensington Underground station to Crystal Palace. Walking from the small train station to the church through Crystal Palace feels like you've stepped into a quintessentially English town. Brown brick victorian houses row the streets, which are so narrow that cars need to wait in order to pass when two meet heading in different directions. The little train station doesn't see much foot traffic on Sundays but during the week, many people will take the train to the City Center for work. There is something peaceful about a very quiet train station on a sunny day, which is how I felt last Sunday. I almost just wanted to sit and watch what would happen as people came and went.
I get home mid-afternoon which isn't too bad. With it being summer I still have many hours and where I want to go out and walk around. One of my friends went with me to the Natual History Museum which is about a 10-minute walk from our flat. Located on exhibition road about a block south from Hyde Park, it is a heavily trafficked area. It's one of my favourite places to people watch because there are tourists from all around the world that congregate there. All the different languages are fun to hear and to see how families and groups of all ages and types interact.
The museum itself is larger than I thought. We went in search of a T-Rex fossil. There is an advert on the side of the building that shows a T-rex saying "it's a pleasure to eat you." We thought that because of this there would be a large fossilised King of the Dinosaurs. Instead, they have a large animatronic version that looks like it does, in fact, want to eat you. There are so many interesting fossils that reside in the Dino section of the museum. The museum is home to the most complete Stegasorus fossil ever found, as well as a very intact Triceratops skull and a full-size Brachiosaurus. We skipped most of the other wings of the museum because we just really wanted to see the creatures that roamed the earth before humans did. One could spend the whole day in there though.
We continued our walk and found a large Catholic church. I thought it was a cathedral, but my friend noted that it was too small to be considered that. Since being in England, I have learned that the architecture style of a church can indicate whether it's Catholic or Anglican (at least the big ones). Domes and round arches are considered to be rather Catholic, whereas spires and sharp-pointed arches (that came from Anglo-Saxon building style) are more Anglican. Anyway, so we went in, thinking that we could look around, not thinking that it was Sunday... We walked into a heavily incensed mass. Some of the worshipers turned around to see us and I caught one or two of them giving us disapproving looks from having missed the first half of mass. Feeling rather awkward, we knelt down in one of the pews and waited to make our escape when the Eucharist was offered.
I find other religions very interesting, especially Christianity as there are so many types of Christians in the world. I know more about Judaism and Islam than I do other Christian Sects, so I tried to follow what was going on. I think if I had had a prayer book it would have made it easier. I think that each religion has so much beauty in it. Essentially, I think we are all trying to find answers to the same questions and being able to see how other people try to find their truths helps me to gain perspective to find mine.
The cute train station near where I go to church on Sundays.
The most complete Stegasorus fossil anywhere!
I have no idea what the above fossil is but it's amazing!
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