Day 21: Sunday, January 24, 2010. Location: London (overcast); Major sites visited: London Eye, Westminster Abbey, Harrod’s; Meals together: breakfast.
Only a Whitworth study abroad student could say she went to a nightclub and two church services on the same day! For half of us, January 24 started at midnight while we were dancing enthusiastically to American pop music, enjoying a taste of London’s nightlife in the Theatre district. After a one am bus ride back to the hotel, we were grateful for a morning that started at 9:30 (a late start for travelers, which perhaps describes us better than “students” these days!)
Our first stop was a Ferris wheel of enormous proportions: the London Eye. Forrest scared us half to death by mentioning that for two years they could not take passengers, because in power outages the glass cells dangled upside down instead of remaining upright. Even that could not dampen our excitement for an incredible view of the city that did not involve climbing 500 stairs! 
The thirty minute ride was fun, but we still debated whether the four minute “4D” video experience before the ride was more impressive. It was a multimedia explosion of 3D glasses, smoke machines, snow machines, bubbles, and virtual fireworks to get us pumped for our impending “flight” up the London Eye.
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After a quick dash past Big Ben, we slipped into Westminster Abbey just in time for the high church Anglican service. It is still a strange experience to have soaring stained glass, marble sculptures, and gold trim older than our country as 
the setting for worship. Yet we certainly appreciated the English service and sermon after our recent church attendance in France. We stole glances at Newton’s tomb and Poet’s Corner on the way out of the cathedral, pausing to contemplate the prayer engraved on the outside of the building.
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The morning continued on a walking tour of the city. Annie and Morgan dashed off to see Freud’s house, while the rest of the group walked through the nearby parks to Buckingham palace, enjoying the quiet streets closed on Sundays. We oohed and ahhed at the queen’s residence, but mostly just appreciated the elaborate rituals of the changing of the guards with a few chuckles and a bit of envy for their warm, fashionable hats.
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After a quick lunch break at Piccadilly circus, we prepared ourselves for one of the most overwhelming experiences of the trip: a quick stroll through Harrod’s department store. Nothing quite prepared us for the impressive, slightly sickening luxury that made our shabby tourist clothes look worse than when we were in church services. The item that made me dash frantically out of the store was the plastic hair barrette for 415 pounds. I can only hope that the decorations were real diamonds to demand such a price. I’m not sure I could have handled seeing the 64,000 pound watch that Andrew reported!
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We spent the afternoon recovering in small groups, revisiting the museums we rushed through during our first visit to London: the Victoria and Albert, the Science Museum, and the Natural History Museum.
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The final event of the day was an evening church service at Holy Trinity Brompton, the church where the Alpha program began. Though it is also an Anglican service, there could not have been a more dramatic difference. The flamboyant gothic ceiling was painted orange, and we sat on cushions on the floor in the middle of the nave. The service felt like a combination of youth group, camp, and contemporary American services—complete with songs we knew and could sing along to. The powerpoint and guitar music felt a little more familiar, but the informal worship was a stark contrast to our morning service. The unexpected treat of the evening was the opportunity to hear the visiting speaker, Gary Haugan, the founder of International Justice Mission. I was moved to hear a message about being the representation of the body of Christ in the lives of those who have suffered injustice: especially because our message in Westminster Abbey this morning was based on Romans 12 and how we use our unique gifts to be the body. Though the crowds of the two services were made up of quite different types of people, they both heard the same message.
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The rest of the evening was for dinner (a grocery store conglomeration of goodies for the group I was with). A bit of studying for Tuesday’s exam and a low key evening to recover from our late previous night left us dozing early, dreaming of how we would spend tomorrow—our free day in London.
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--Heather Wallace
