Wesley's Chapel and John Wesley House

Wesley's Chapel

John Wesley along with his brother Charles were the leaders of the Methodist movement in the late 1700s that gave rise to the formation of the Methodist church.  Anyone who's grown up in the Methodist church, as we have, knows the Wesley name.  Along City Road in London is Wesley's Chapel, the church he built in London in the late 1770s along with a Georgian-style house that Wesley spent his final years until his death in 1791.  This house continued to serve as the parsonage for the minister of this church until a new one was built on the grounds in the late 1800s.

Wesley's Chapel remains an active congregation of the Methodist Church with services every Sunday.  In the crypt of the church is the Museum of Methodism outlining Methodist history, with a lot of Wesley artifacts including the pulpit he preached from prior to the opening of Wesley's Chapel.  Margaret Thatcher was married in this church and both of her children were baptized here.  In 1993, she donated the communion rail that is still in use today.

Victoria & Albert and the National Gallery

London has many great art museums, most of which are free to tour just like the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.  We've already seen the Tate Modern, so we chose to visit some more traditional venues.  First up, the National Gallery.  Unlike the Tate, the National Gallery is a more traditional museum showing masterpieces through the years.  We saw works by Michaelangelo, Cezanne, Van Gogh, and Monet.  My favorite was one of Monet's water lilies pictured here.  So peaceful and serene.  The National Gallery is at Trafalgar Square, making it a very popular spot to visit.

One of several screens from cathedrals
around the world

 The Victoria and Albert Museum is located in South Kensington, just a couple of tube stops from our apartment.  It is housed in a grand building along Cromwell Road.  The V&A bills itself as the "world's greatest museum of art and design."  Its focus is on architecture and interior spaces, and the collections are grouped by time period and location.  They have a huge collection of ceramic dishes from around the world.  We saw furniture, textiles, and sculpture, and large pieces such as choir screens and altar pieces once housed in cathedrals.  This was much different than visiting your typical art museum and seeing mostly paintings.  We had not visited the V&A before, but if we make it back to London some day, this will be one of the places we will visit again.

Several large galleries filled with ceramic dishes

Look Kids -- Big Ben, Parliament

Our obligatory photo showing Big Ben and Parliament from the south bank of the Thames.