Then I got an e-mail that gave it to me ... (I hope Darin doesn't mind me sharing, I'm sure it's fine ...)
Sent: Thursday, September 02, 2010 5:22 PM
To: Doug Beecher
Subject: unplanned visit to London
Doug-
I may get an unplanned visit to London. I already had a layover at Heathrow on Monday and I've got one again tomorrow. However, right when I'm supposed to be arriving in Boston, so is Hurricane Earl. I'm going to sleep on it, but there's a good chance I'm going to change my flight to leave Saturday morning instead of tomorrow evening. American Airlines will let me do it for free (because of the Hurricane), and I'll get reimbursed for extra expenses. Furthermore, Sarah and the girls are in Tampa, so there's only an empty house waiting for me in Boston.
So, I may be in your old mission stomping grounds (more-or-less) tomorrow evening. Do let me know if there's anything I must do or get you in the few hours I'll have.
The rest of the trip has gone really well and I've enjoyed it quite a bit.
Cheerio,
Darin
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My first thought is, wow, he must still be on US time -- it's 12:22am over there! Then it was what I can I send while he's still awake that will help. I decided to focus on what he could look at when he got up in the morning.
Around 7 pm, I got working on this in earnest, and had two very enjoyable hours putting together an answer. There are enough links with pictures, you could get somewhat of a virtual tour just checking them. And that two hours of "chill" time was just what I needed! Here is the result ...
Oi, Mate!
I haven’t heard Cheerio in a very long time. So glad you are enjoying your trip.
You are very kind to think of trying to pick something up for me. I’ve been gone 36 years now, and although I did correspond with several people for a decade or more, slowly they all disappeared. It has probably been close to 20 years since I got my last Christmas card back undeliverable because the people had moved longer ago than the post office wanted to bother with it.
So … even if there was something you could do for me (which would be for someone), well you get the idea.
I guess I’m down to the question if I have a few hours to spare in London, what would I want to do?
My best recommendation is simply to look up one of those brief overview tours like you did in Paris on that layover. London is spectacular at night, and I’m sure there is a good night tour available. The best possibility I found is: http://www.london-by-night.net/. Here is another site I found with 4 possibilities: http://www.city-discovery.com/london_tours/type_tour.php?theme=Night%20Tours%20in%20London.
If you would rather go to a specific place and really enjoy that rather than 15 minutes at half a dozen places like the tour would do, here are a few ideas, choose according to your interests. Many are only available in the daytime, but I present what would be my favorites just in case:
1. There are several wonderful museums on a very short section of Exhibition Road in South Kensington. If you liked “The Young Victoria”, this might be a good choice. The Victoria and Albert Museum and The Science Museum are among several others in close proximity to each other. If you are interested, this road has an official government sponsored website: http://www.rbkc.gov.uk/subsites/exhibitionroad.aspx or you can learn a lot by simply googling “Exhibition Road Museums”. Exhibition Road starts around the corner from the South Kensington underground (subway) station and goes maybe ¾ mile to Hyde Park. As a bonus, the Hyde Park chapel of our church is also on this road, it includes a stake center, the offices of my mission, a visitors center, and even a pipe organ.
2. London is very well known for the theater. I did see one ballet at the Royal Opera House while on my mission, and tours are available, see http://www.roh.org.uk/whatson/tour.aspx. There are also a large number of live theaters, this site lists many of them and what is playing if that is something you are interested in doing that evening: http://www.londontheatre.co.uk/
3. I would love to have you go to the temple, it is in one of the most peaceful, reverent settings of any of the temples. Sadly, it is not easily accessible by public transportation as it is located about 25 miles south of the center of the city in the rolling, green hills of the Surrey countryside (think Pride and Prejudice). If you do have sufficient time and if the temple is your choice, regular trains run from London Victoria and London Bridge to Lingfield. A taxi can be called from the train station, should take about ten minutes from there to the temple. Quite a bit of information on the London Temple is available at http://www.lds.org.uk/family-and-temples/temples/london-temple/ A little piece of (crazy) trivia is that I honestly felt like the tastiest fish and chips I ever ate in England were served in the temple cafeteria!
4. You could try to do something I always wanted to do and wasn’t able to … visit “Big Ben” – the clock tower of the halls of Parliament. There are tours, but they are pretty limited, check it out here if you like: http://www.parliament.uk/visiting/visiting-and-tours/bigben/. Or you could try to watch the changing of the guard or get a tour of Buckingham Palace. I drove by both of these countless times, they are quite close to the mission home. But getting inside is hard to do when time is limited. But these are the most recognizable symbols of London and England, so I thought I should at least mention them.
5. Last but certainly not least for an astronomer such as yourself is the Royal Observatory in Greenwich. There is both a museum and a planetarium, information on both is available at: http://www.nmm.ac.uk/explore/astronomy-and-time/astronomy-facts/history/the-prime-meridian-at-greenwich. I did visit here and enjoyed it very much. I also have a picture of me standing on the “Prime Meridian of the World” painted line on the ground and a sign behind it, which you are welcome to look at in the “Called to Serve” book Becca kindly put together of my mission in our living room during a future visit here. The easiest way to get to Greenwich is to take the tube to the Charing Cross rail station, then take British Rail to the Greenwich station. There is also light rail there, apparently under construction at this time. Sadly, this is just enough complication that in your time available, you may not be able to go there.
To summarize, if there is something you could bring back for me, it would be pictures (with you in them would be simply brilliant!) showing what it looks like today and the knowledge that you thoroughly enjoyed your evening in London!
Cheerio!
Doug
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Willyne literally walked in from her Relief Society training meeting just as I hit the "send" button. She asked me to come out to the car to help her with something, and she played me this song.
I got teary eyed. I could tell this song is very special to her, and it instantly was to me too. It was like the perfect companion to my evening. I heard the song twice. Once I was enraptured by the story it tells. The other time I was picturing myself back in London, and somehow two years of sweet experiences working with and loving those people flew through my eyes in four minutes of a song, including visual images in my mind of the people and places.
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It is six days until this becomes an invitation-only blog on Wednesday, September 8. Please see the August 25 entry and comments for more information.
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