I had planned another adventure for this week, and I had a Whisky event to attend, but as the old saying goes, “man plans, God laughs. So, while my friends in Florida prepared for the devastation of Hurricane Ian, I had no way of knowing that I would have a visit from a nasty old friend too. My doctor calls it IBS, and let’s just say when it decides to challenge a hurricane for my attention, it wins. So, I have been out of commission for most of this week but am starting to feel a bit like myself again, thank goodness. From what I have been able to garner from the news out of Southwest Florida, my little piece of paradise does not seem to have been hit as hard as those right along the coastline. It appears that my house was far enough east and north to avoid the storm surge, which did make its way up Naples’ Fifth Avenue shopping district and apparently took out half of the just renovated fishing pier on the Gulf.

Above are two examples of the damage wrought by the hurricane to this usually idyllic city on Florida’s Gulf Coast. For many years, Naples was a small city that catered mostly to retirees from the Midwest of the US, New England, and Canada. As a Virginian/New Yorker of Pennsylvanian descent, I was a rarity. But since my grandparents were Napolitano from the original Naples and my parents before me had found retirement happiness here, I thought it a good place to relocate. In normal times its warm and friendly. In recent years, we have been found out and the real estate boom has hit us. Over development has followed. I suspect that many more will have been affected, not only by the strength of this storm, but by the density of the population. I pray for the doctors, nurses, and first responders in Naples and Collier County-police, fire fighters, EMS, and all those long-suffering technicians who will be working countless hours getting cables, satellite connections, mobile phone towers, etc. operational again.

I hope to be out and about again next week with something more enjoyable and positive to write about.

Leicester Cathedral has been on my list of English Cathedrals to visit since the remains of King Richard III, the last English King killed in battle, were found in a car park in Leicester on the site where Greyfriars Church had once stood. Richard was buried in the church after he was killed in the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. In 2012, the remains were discovered and reburied in Leicester Cathedral in 2015. To my surprise, upon arriving at Leicester Train Station, I discovered that the Cathedral was closed for renovations until 2023!

Now, what was I going to do in Leicester on a pleasant late September afternoon? I figured Jannick Vestergaard from Leicester City FC might not take my call, so I’d have to improvise. Luckily for any tourist finding themselves in Leicester it is a city that is easy to navigate, filled with lovely buildings and lovely folks speaking with a distinctive English Midlands accent. A quick google check showed that the Leicester Museum and Art Gallery was just a short walk away. On my way there, I did pass a couple of interesting statues and a nice Methodist Church. The first was a statue of Thomas Cook who founded a famous English travel company. It is just a few steps away from the train station.

After walking around De Montfort Square, the location of the statue of Robert Hall who was an 18th Century Baptist Minister, and the Methodist Church pictured above, I continued down the New Walk to the Leicester Museum and Art Gallery. This Robert Hall had nothing to do with the fondly remembered American eponymous discount clothing retailer of days gone by.

I can’t say enough positive things about the Leicester Museum and Art Gallery. From the charming young woman who greeted me when I entered through every docent and other staffer, there was a smile and a kind word. The museum has an interesting permanent collection of Victorian period art that, in my eyes was of as good a quality as the similar collection at London’s Guild Hall Art Gallery. The museum has an interesting collection of German Expressionism. The paintings were dark, using muted colors and to me seemed to presage the horrifying events to come in World War II. Happily, featured exhibition artist Eillen Cooper, (English, born 1953) seems to have a more energetic and brighter view of life and expression. I hope you enjoy these works as much as I did”

After a blissfully quiet and reflective time enjoying the Cooper exhibit, I went through the glass doors and down the hall into a world of energy and noise that can only be made by elementary school children. They were in a crafts room and transitioning into the Egyptian Mummy exhibit. The kids were amazing, though and when I crossed with them later, as they were leaving, they all thanked the staff member who had supervised the room I was in while they were visiting.

Above two examples of mummified remains on display.

Another surprise was a display of Picasso ceramics that were donated by Lord and Lady Attenborough (Richard Attenborough, the renowned British actor and his wife, actress Sylvia Sim) in memory of their daughter and granddaughter who were killed in the Tsunami in Malaysia.

Two other excellent exhibits are the Dinasaur exhibit that included the Rutland Dinasaur, pictured below and an interesting display of Arts and Crafts period furniture.

I will certainly return to Leicester to see the Cathedral, perhaps for the football match, or just to enjoy this lovely small city. The last Leicesterian I spoke to was the gentleman working the Costa Coffee stand on the platform of the train station while I was waiting for the train back to Saint Pancras Station, London. He was as friendly and kind as everyone I met that day.

As I mentioned in my last blog, I had visited a few churches prior to the passing of Queen Elizabeth. I visited another today. I will discuss them in historical order and then move on to a concert that took place on September 11, 2022.

Saint Ethelreda’s is a Catholic Church with a history dating back to the 1200s. Some say it is the oldest Catholic Church in London. I leave that debate to others. It sits in a now modern court of townhouses not far from Farringdon Underground Station and London’s jewelry district. It started as a larger, grander structure and a property with a Bishop’s mansion and gardens, but history, the English Reformation and World War II were not kind to it. The Church passed from Anglican back to Roman Catholic hands in the 19th Century and today’s church is a small but peaceful haven in the middle of the city. These first three

pictures show the upper church with a few of its lovely stained-glass windows. I am sure that the many people working nearby at the Inns of Court have taken comfort here over the centuries. The church also has an ancient crypt on its lower level, which like many churches is used for different purposes today. It retains religious symbols of old, while bringing opportunities for community to gather outside of the space set aside for worship and contemplation.

On the left, two of the lovely “Stations of the Cross” placed along the walls of this ancient space. On the right, a fresco depicting Christ Triumphant, after His resurrection, is relatively recent, but is made to fit with the ancient walls.

The next oldest church in this group is St Botolph without Aldgate meaning that it is outside the old City of London Wall, built in Roman times and basically marking the square mile of the City of London. The Church was joined with the Church of Holy Trinity Minories back in 1899 and is now known as St Botolph without Aldgate and Holy Trinity Minories. The earliest written record of St. Botolph’s Church dates back to 1115! However, the church, which survived the great fire in London, was rebuilt several times, the last being from 1741-44. Like St. Ethelreda’s it was damaged by bombing during World War II and restored, then damaged by a fire in 1965 and restored again! Today, it sits in an area that has been built up with skyscraper style office buildings. But it has a beautiful powerful organ, and it too is a place of refuge from the hustle and bustle of this metropolis. It sits just a few meters from the Aldgate Tube station, if you want to stop by for a quick visit, or if you are on your way to the Spitalfields Market, a few streets away.

The first picture below is “the man” himself, St. Botolph. Wikipedia tells us that he died around 680 and that he was an English abbot and saint He is regarded as the patron saint of boundaries, and by extension, of trade and travel, as well as various aspects of farming.

The second picture above is the altar, the third is particularly interesting. The dove that soars above the altar is where the Eucharist is reserved. The fourth picture is the beautiful organ. The reason people are gathered around it is that there was a midday organ concert that ended just a few minutes before. The fourth picture shows how the cherub theme on the organ is carried around the ceiling of the second-floor gallery.

Below is a selection of pictures of the stained-glass windows in Saint Botolph’s.

As you can see, these are dedicated to individuals, rather than as teaching tools, with biblical themes as traditional stained-glass in older churches were. Still, these show craftmanship and are interesting to view.

Finally, a delightful favorite of mine, a church known as “the Italian church.” Its formal name is “St. Peter’s Italian Catholic Church.

Saint Peter’s is one of the few remaining symbols of the once thriving Italian immigrant community, a second or third wave of Italians (not counting the Romans ones that encountered a lady named Boadicea, quite a while back). The group that built this church came to London at the same time as the great Italian diaspora that saw thousands of their fellow citizens leave for America, as well. Walking into this church gave me a feeling of immediate familiarity. The paintings reminded me of those found in churches in America in my youth if a parish had a large Italian American component.

A local friend tells me that even though the Italian community has largely left the area, this church thrives with families returning for weddings and to celebrate other special occasions and its Sunday schedule still includes an Italian bi-lingual mass.

And finally, the Sunday after I visited the Italian Church, I paid my first visit to Wigmore Hall for one of the

always special Sunday morning concerts. This one featured the Heath Quartet. Above is one of the incredible bouquets that always adorn the sides of the stage at Wigmore Hall. The Heath Quartet, two violins, a viola, and a cello, played Benjamin Britten’s String Quartet No. 3 Opus 94 and Fannie Mendelssohn’s String Quartet in E flat.

The music was sublime. The crowd at Wigmore Hall is always composed of classical music lovers and the crowd went wild. This quartet deservedly received three call backs to the stage (there is no curtain, so I really couldn’t call them curtain calls.) I recommend Wigmore Hall’s program of Sunday and Monday afternoon concerts as well as their evening programs.