Notes of Travel

New Zealand Tablet, Volume LII, Issue 8, 4 March 1925, Page 25

Notes of Travel

(By J.K.)

In the early hours of the morning or December 24 the Arawa passed from the wild seas of the western Channel into the calm of Southampton water, and we came on deck at day-break to see a forest of masts through the haze on the water, while the towers and rv domes of Netley Hospital arose on the right jg (east) hand. Then the bustle of getting mails and luggage on board the tender. Then the farewells to our friends of the voyage. Then the roujfne of the customs examination. And finally the London train and, after many years, fifty miles an hour and no more about it. A visit to the Bank of New Zealand was imperative, as we wanted to get away to the Sunny South as quickly as possible. Dunedin people need not be told that we were received with great kindness by Mr. Mills, who had our financial affairs quickly adjusted for us. Next to Cook's for tickets for dear old Rome. Here a hitch occurred. My passport was 0.K., but through some mistake the fact that my two companions intended visiting France, Italy, etc., had been omitted, and we were forthwith held up until the passport office opened again after the Christmas holidays. However the weather was good, and after our long sea voyage we were happy anywhere provided we could have a walk. Besides, a London Christmas was a new experience, even for a seasoned old traveller like the Editor. . Seeing the City. fcr An ancient, homely, quiet hostel near the Strand received us, and having deposited our impedimenta we sallied forth to join the •,.; crowds in the streets. All the evening merry ; shoppers moved before the gaily lighted win- : dows, and, for once, London was as cheery

lII—A LONDON CHRISTMAS.

as a Continental city. The shops had their best dresses on. The Strand, Oxford Street, Victoria Street, etc., were worth going a long way to see, and we could sympathise with many a male householder whom we saw stamping with impatience as his better-half lingered before some blazing window. People told us we should find London much changed. Some alterations had taken place in the Strand, in Regent Street, and Piccadilly Circus. But the old village was still the same. The old restaurants, we used to know in other days were still the —only a little dearer, as a result of the war "for small nations." Gow's was as unpretentious and as satisfactory as ever. Simpson's showed no sign of senile decay. Gatti's flourished and kept its style. The Trocadero's success might be gauged by the prices its patrons were willing to pay. And the "corner houses" of Lyons had the popular vogue at the moment. Perhaps some day New Zealand will have even one decent restaurant. But it will be a long day before she can hope to have one worthy of comparison with those of London and Paris, where one can select a luncheon

or dinner from a hundred items on a menu | card, at a very reasonable price. Our Christmas Masses. 'J When the shades of night had fallen we ■ wandered along Maiden Lane and interviewed

the good Irish sag art who has charge of the little church at the end of that lively little street. And thus it was that several of the Christmas Masses in the old church were said next day by the travellers from New Zealand. Of course you know that Maiden Lane's ihostelries are largely frequented by the "theatrical and artistic world. Now and then a special Retreat for these people is held in the church, and, mind you, it is invariably well attended. There are good people and bad people in every walk of life, and under their gay exterior many of the Bohemians have hearts of gold. They often have the

faith, and " they always have charity and loyalty, one for another. The weather on Christmas Day was clear and cold. The streets were practically deserted. Consequently it was an admirable

opportunity for a good walk round London. Sow we rambled off down the Strand, past Trafalgar 'Square, through Leicester Square, among some of the French and Italian streets, back to Piccadilly Circus, down Regent Street, across the Mall, over St. James's Park, round the Parliament Houses and the Abbey, along Victoria Street as far as Ashley Gardens, where we turned into Westminster Cathedral, just as ,the Cardinal was concluding Pontifical High Mass. We waited for a low-Mass which began at noon. We heard a rather prosy sermon in

which there was a maximum of words and a minimum of message. And after Mass we had a good look round the vast building, " which has made hardly notable progress during the past fifteen' years. Some of the side-chapels are finished, and here and there a blaze of gold and mosaic gives promise of what the interior will one day be—perhaps a hundred years hence. At present it is sombre and cold, and we doubt if it can ever be made beautiful., I send you some pictures of it, and if the' Tablet publishes them you can judge for yourselves. We had our Christmas dinner in one of the popular restaurants. There were literally thousands of people there, and they seemed to come and go all day. The habit has taken hold on London, and now many families go to a restaurant or hotel instead of eating their turkey and plum-pudding at home. I suppose home-life is going here as it has gone in New Zealand. But from what I can see and hear England has not yet reached the degradation of our cabaret dances with their attendant motor cars for the convenience of couples who have to sit out and drink, as the recent Hawke's Bay Anglican Synod complained. Off to Italy on Monday and hoping to get there by New Year's Day. Beannacht Be or rev go leir.