Day 11- Chichester, Kim’s wedding

Today was the whole reason I came to the UK, so as such it was the most stressful day. Lynette and I got up early to try and catch the tube which we knew was going to be a problem thanks to several planned tube closures. It was a pain in the butt as we figured because we thought we just had to change at two stations, however the entire Victoria line was closed. Because I was so stressed we took a taxi to Victoria station. We arrived with plenty of time, and stood around waiting to catch the 10:32 train to Chichester. The train to Chichester divides so you have to make sure you get in the right car or you end up going the wrong direction. Of course our section was the farthest away from our starting point so we had to run to the end of the platform and Lynette almost didn’t get on the train because the door closed. Thankfully it closed on my bag so we both got on the train just fine! When we arrived to Chichester we had to walk for a long time down the main street of Chichester.

The town is soooo cute. I am so sad I didn’t have more time to enjoy it. The main street is full of super cute wares. We got to check our luggage but no one in Chichester seemed to know where the town of Clymping was so I left an hour early via taxi to make sure that I got there in time. I wanted to eat lunch quickly before I left though and I managed to wolf down a bowl of soup (cauliflower and nutmeg) which was delicious. I got there with half an hour to spare and that is when I was finally able to relax! The church Kim got married in was next to a HUGE prison which I found highly amusing. It was a very old church with a church of some sort standing on that location as early as the 1100’s. It was gorgeous! Sarah arrived and we sat together and chatted. Just before the ceremony started I met Kim’s roommate from Toronto Hannah. She was very nice and we chatted with her after the ceremony was over until Kim and Craig arrived. I hadn’t seen Kim’s dress so when she arrived I was absolutely awed. It was a cocktail length dress with a huge puffy skirt. Hannah thought it looked like an Alice in wonderland dress. She even had a wee little white hat that completed the outfit. I was so excited.

The ceremony had tons of beautiful readings including one from Madeline L’engle. There was also one from George Eliot and Captain Correlli’s Mandolin. I loved all of them. When the ceremony was finally done Craig put on a hat and had a cane. It was so great!
The reception was outdoors but the weather actually got nice for once! While waiting for Kim and Craig to come we had pimm’s which is some sort of alcohol drink (not ale, but a sangria-ish) type drink with fruit. The cupcakes for their cake had glitter on them…which made me so excited! I went with Hannah in her taxi to Little Hampton where I caught the train back to Chichester. There was an unsavoury crowd at some of the stations at night because I had to transfer at two. There was a middle aged man who was falling down drunk with a two litre bottle of some sort of alcohol who thankfully boarded a different train from me. Predominantly though there were a lot of youth and young adults with open liquor spilling into the train and talking loudly of their various exploits. Despite all this I survived and walked the several blocks to the George and Dragon where I found Lynette. I was still a bit hungry from the wedding so I got Chinese Takeaway from across the street. It was delicious. Lynette and I found a Miss Marple mystery so we watched that and then several Red Dwarf episodes (I used to watch that show a ton as kid….so cheesy). Tomorrow we had back to London for our last hurrah before our trip to the airport and our crazy ride home. Will be happy to rest a bit at home on the couch with some tea and a book before I head back to work.