Webbready

Below are a few more words from the journal I kept when I went to London. Aside from a few excised sentences, I present this text as it has been written, grammatical and spelling errors intact.

January 14, 2000

Today’s entry will be a short one due to three factors: sleepiness, length of the last entry, and lack of things I wish to write down. To begin, today was simply put, the coldest day that I have walked a considerable distance. The group took the same route as yesterday on the Tube, from Russell Square to Leicester Square. However, we kept to the left, walking past yesterday’s sites and entering the Banqueting House. There we learned of how it was the only part of the palace, which was set ablaze a long time ago, to survive. The Stuart monarchs used it quite noticeably, but it was a Stuart, Charles I, who was beheaded on the balcony of the House. The truly amazing thing about the room was the collection of paintings on the ceiling.

After this, we continued on our trek to Westminster Abbey, passing the Parliament building. I wish we could have gone in, if only for the chance to warm up…We then went to Saint James Street and by that time I was desperate to find some heat. There was a bookstore near the area, but that’s all I can remember. Cold had long claimed me as her victim; release was all I could think about. By the time we got to Westminster Abbey, the elusive dream of heat so long unrealized that the prospect of getting inside was unimaginable. I was right, of course, not to believe in the dream — we had to go around to the entrance, then go back to the group entrance, then go back to the main entrance…Only after my fingers were temporarily unusable did we get in.

Once inside the Abbey, I was torn between warming up and looking at the wonderfully beautiful gravestones. While the entire church was simply marvellous in design and detail, a lot of the words were written in Latin, a language I cannot read. However, the place was simply beautiful. On the other hand my hands, having been frozen so long, refused to work. They needed heat at any cost and while the air in the Abbey was warm, it wasn’t warm enough to do the job.

After this, I left for the hotel, but even after arriving back, I am still cold. All I can think about is warming up. I must elude winter’s grasp at all cost.