Magical Mystery Tour, part three

Day three Magical Mystery Tour

Heatwave! This is my island in the sun! (1)

Temperatures rise, but our welcome is warmer.

Meeting for Worship (don’t forget the fan!) (2)

A “Feast of fat things” followed by breaking (gluten free) bread and sharing (vegan) food with Friends who are friends. (3)

The big surprise! My favourite munchkins! So grown up and nearly as

  

as me. (4)

Eating, chatting, laughing, and hugging then time to say farewell. 

There were no monkeys on the train (they were undoubtedly on strike due to the heat) that took us to the Hot Hotel. (5)

(Have I mentioned there was a HEATWAVE???) 

Our room was at the tippy tip-top.

6 flights of stairs and 69 steps. 

I counted.

{Every time}

It was like a garret for starving artists. (6)

We left the heat of the room (69 steps down. I counted) and went to 

 for

 (7)

Then back to the Hot Hotel and its 69 steps (I counted) to the tippy tip-top for fevered dreams.

(1) Have I ever told you we were having a heatwave?

(2) Meeting for Worship is what Quakers call church. Our Meeting House has big beautiful windows where you can see trees and birds and feel at one with God and nature, but consequently, they let it LOTS of heat. A bit like starting a fire with a magnifying glass. Thankfully, Miranda saved the day and brought a fan.

(3) The words “a feast of fat things” come from Isaiah 25:6 and is often used by Quakers to describe a Meeting for Worship where the spontaneous ministry was good. Also, Quakers call themselves Friends of Truth (with a capital F) so we have Friends who are friends. They provided a delicious picnic and there were so many vegan and gluten free options we were spoiled for choice. Thanks to all those Friends who provided the delicious food. 

(4) Because our Meeting House has only a small children’s group, they only do Children’s Meeting (Sunday School) once a month. I used to oversee the Children’s Ministry when we lived in England, so I knew all the children quite well. This week was NOT Children’s Meeting, so I thought I would not get to see all my favourite kiddos. However, the families came from 12-1 so we could have a visit and my heart was so happy. Those little munchkins are no longer little!

(5) Our hotel was lovely, but it was an English hotel, so no air conditioning (but they did give us two fans) and toilets and showers down the hall.

(6) It was a tiny little garret room much like you would have seen in La Bohème or its modern-day counterpart Rent. Thankfully we did not die tragically from TB (or whatever starving artists die from these days.)

7) Tibits used to be our favourite restaurant in London. They have all this amazing, fresh, healthy, delicious food on a buffet and you pay by the weight of how much food you choose. Also, they have this delicious, refreshing ginger lemonade that is sharp and tangy and super refreshing on a hot day and now comes in a large size.

Stay tuned for part four of the Magical Mystery Tour.