We are living in the oldest part of London, site of the original city, which has been inhabited by humans for some couple of thousand years. Granted, not quite as long as the Rolling Stones have been touring, but a right goodly amount of time nevertheless. At one time, the City of London had a hundred-plus churches, and remember, this is in an area of less than a square mile. Nowadays, there’s less than fifty churches remaining, but still trade is down and all the churches are making a real effort to attract worshippers, or even just get random passerby’s to stop in. It must be a little lonely being clergy in the City these days.
We saw this placard on a church outbuilding. Mary says it’s just an electrocution caution, but I think it’s an admonition that God may be in a smiting mood, especially if you don’t have the steak and ale pie special. Yeah, and this strikes me as totally bizarre, a number of churches have added side businesses like coffee bars, cafés or even full restaurants. Our favorite church so far is St. Mary-le-Bow, just a couple of hundred feet away from our flat, where you can dine in the crypt. We haven’t done that yet, but we will, because I firmly believe you should never pass up an opportunity to lunch in a crypt.
I got this picture just this Sunday, while passing by one of the other churches near our flat. I love the idea of refreshments before the service. Though it doesn’t specify, I am assuming that it isn’t alcoholic in nature. If you want to booze it up, and who doesn’t in London, then head over to the Restaurant at St. Paul’s, where the starters include cocktails. Like the ‘Britain in a glass’ – Apple & elderflower, and English sparkling wine, Hendricks Gin & Fever Tree tonic’. I fully intend to try this place out also, since although it isn’t located in the crypt, it’s probably the only opportunity I’m going to have to get liquored up in a famous cathedral, so carpe diem!
Speaking of the Restaurant at St. Paul’s, here is a link to the menu. How sad is it, that a restaurant located in a cathedral has a more inventive and interesting bill of fare than pretty much any restaurant in the whole of Colorado Springs? You’d think that the people who developed the Restaurant would say, ‘hey, we’re building a restaurant in a famous cathedral, we can pretty much coast on the menu. Who’s really going to really notice, because they’re dining in a freaking cathedral?’ Ah, well, those wacky, wacky Englanders.