London: Westminster Cathedral
It was Sunday morning and after a failed attempt at a nap I jolted up in bed and picked up the phone. I had intended to meet up with a friend from high school who was studying in London. Had some phone trouble which was frustrating but ultimately was able to leave him a voicemail to ring me.
Now what to do. It was to be my one and only full day in the city and I thought it necessary that I take advantage of it. Furthermore I was alone, and wanted to do things conducive to that. It was the first Sunday of Advent and reasoning that I wanted to go to church and had an interest in seeing an old Cathedral, decided to kill two birds with one stone. I looked up the nearest Catholic Cathedral’s mass times, glanced at my Tube map and hurriedly rushed out of the hotel.
I walked quickly towards the Tube station, a block from my hotel. I think I walked so quickly because I was nervous at what I was about to do and wanted to get myself familiarized as quickly as possible, trying to ignore the sinking feeling of potentially getting lost in the streets of London.
I bought a day pass, picked what line I’d ride and headed to the platforms. The ticket stations reminded me of the NYC subway. I took the line to the Victoria station, which was only a stop away. When I exited I looked around for a way out of the tunnel. Bright yellow “WAY OUT” signs guided me and I popped out of the station on the ground street.
“Westmintser Cathedral is just down that road,” I overheard a guide say to a group of tourists. Without stopping I headed in that direction, glad to hear what direction I should be heading. I looked back at the station, trying to remember its location so I’d know where to head back to.
Four blocks down there it was: big and red. I ran up to the mass schedule at its entrance and found I was 20 minutes early for their “solemn mass”, which meant it was the more traditional mass–typically completely sung. I was a little hesitant, I was never huge on the formality of a Cathedral mass, but figuring I was here and solemnity might do me some good, I decided it’s what I would do.
However, I was hungry and had about 15 minutes to find myself something to eat. I looked around and no cafes were to be seen, but right next to the Cathedral was–a McDonald’s. Yes, my first meal in the UK was at a McD’s. Eh well. I went inside and ordered a McMuffin meal and found myself surrounded by–Filipinos. A little random. Nearly half the staff and the finely dressed couple beside me were Filipino. I sat there eating my sandwich thinking of the irony that here I was in London, sitting in a McDonald’s surrounded by Filipinos speaking Tagalog, on my way to mass.
Anyway, that aside I proceeded into the cathedral and as expected, it was quite impressive inside. It was weird having tourists mill about (myself included) but soon the place was settled for the mass to begin. During the service, I sat near an Italian family. At the “Peace be with You” time of the mass where you turn and shake hands with those around you, they all smiled after I spoke and mumbled “American,” to each other. It made me laugh remembering that I was the one with the accent now.
It ended up being a beautiful mass. The sun was beginning to come out and it had a great effect through the stained glass. Most notably, the Westminster choir was amazing to listen to. They sung entirely in Latin and it really was quite an experience. Even the priest’s sermon was good. It was a definite nice way to start the day.
