Here’s a rough map of our walk …
or visit Rick Steves’ book to read about the source of this part of my itinerary…
After Westminster Abbey, we walked up Whitehall – around lunch time – to Trafalgar Square … passed #10 Downing, and the Horse Guards …
we entered Trafalgar Square … which for some reason was a lot bigger than I imagined. Unfortunately – damn Olympics – the fountains were being worked on. Big wooden boards or something built up around them.
That’s OK. Our aim was the church, St. Martin-in-the-Fields … great name for a church, doncha think?
A few days each week (including Mondays) they have a free lunchtime concert. My plans were to go if we had time – and since we decided to drop the other museum that day, we ended up having time….
We actually were about 45 min or so early for the concert. … which was just ideal, because it meant we had time for lunch!
in the crypt!
That’s right. One way that St Martin’s makes $ to stay viable and offer free lunchtime concerts is to house a cafeteria BELOW the church … IN THE CRYPT.
And the food … was soo yummy. Not like, macaroni-and-cheese, corn dogs, meatloaf type cafeteria. … more like roasted chicken with steamed veggies and golden potatoes. … so good. I don’t remember exactly what it was that I got but it was great. Ask Miranda. she had some.
And lest you have forgotten … we were in the crypt. Tables and chairs on gravestones. Where, I assume, people are still buried.
In this pic, top left is someone eating lunch. Her chair resting on the top of a gravestone.
the stones around where we were sitting were from the late 18th cent.
The archways/columns supporting the church above us.
After lunch, we went upstairs to claim our seats for the concert ….
This church is …. so white and clean and open. … with some gold accents … and a bit of a rich dark wood …
Read about the history of St. Martin-in-the-fields … centuries and centuries old …
The present church was actually completed in 1726 … which is probably why it reminds me of New England for some reason. … I feel like I’ve visited some colonial church around D.C. or so with a similar feel….
I don’t know. Could be my imagination …
full shot of the interior – borrowed from the internets:
(while we waited for 1p, I caught up on my postcard-writing)
When we entered, we were given a program …. turns out Monday’s concert was going to be an Organ performance put on by the Director of Music for the church …
This is the organ … located in the back(?) of the sanctuary, above the entrance door …
to get an idea how big this is … the organist was sitting/playing from behind that bit in front …
if you can picture it …
This was one of those experiences that I’m so so glad I had … because it wasn’t a museum, and it wasn’t a plaque or a guided tour. It was just sitting and listening to music in a still-active church that just happens to be a few hundred years old and located in London…
Eating in the Crypt is just plain weird. I’m surprised that no one gets upset that it’s disrespectful. The church reminds me a little of the Old North church in Boston, but you haven’t been there, have you? Maybe you’re remembering our pictures of it.