Abri's Walking Tour of Beautiful Places

Hello all :)

Pictures added to Album II from Walkabout and of my dorm area:
http://wlu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2012659&l=62f42&id=19000059

My photographic adventure: http://wlu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2012903&l=a1992&id=19000059

Today was a lovely day. So lovely that I got to wear a tank top and flip flops and walk around the city taking pictures and embracing my creative side. I was in heaven. After sleeping in, I sadly woke up to an empty flat. Everyone else is gone this weekend to various locations around Europe, but I've decided to stay to see Caelah and to go to the worship conference tomorrow. Caelah arrived in London around 6 am, but she did not get to her flat until around 1:15 or so. I know because I went there to wait for her. :)

Caelah's flat is only about eight minutes walking distance from mine. I went around noon, figuring that they had to have arrived by then, but no. A plane was late, or something like that. So I ran some errands and then came back an hour later in time to meet her as soon as she arrived. :) And carry some of her stuff upstairs. She had to start her super busy orientation weekend pretty much right away, but we still managed to get four or five hugs in during the ten minutes we were together. As Rachel says, we are the "huggy family."

I spent the afternoon walking around London taking pictures. It was such a beautiful day that I knew I couldn't waste it. I decided to start in Russell Square, a park closer to Caelah's flat than mine that is really pretty. After that I took the tube one stop up to Kings Cross because I just had to find Platform 9 3/4. :) It's so close, but it's kind of confusing. There's a lot of construction around it. I did manage to find it, though, as the pictures will attest. :) After that, I took the tube all the way down to the Tower again because I wanted to get some pictures along the Thames. Along the way a musician hopped on my

I wasn't planning on walking all the way from the Tower Bridge to the Millenium Bridge, but I did. It took me about an hour. It's a pretty long walk, and parts of it are a little sketchy because of construction, but it was really pretty and I enjoyed it. What I did not realize was that the Millenium Bridge is literally right by St. Paul's Cathedral. I was very pleasantly surprised to see it when I turned around on the bridge!

It was around 4:40 by this point. I headed over to the church and took some pictures in the courtyard, and then made it inside for Evensong at 5:00, the evening service at the cathedral every day. It is a combination of Vespers and Compline written by Thomas Cranmer, the first Archbishop of Canterbury. It is a sung service, so it's more of a listening thing than a participation thing, but it was still really meaningful and I enjoyed it a lot. The ten or so men who sang the liturgies blended really well. I was one of forty-five people who got to sit in the front of the church near the choir, where everything was going on. :) So that was really cool. I also got to go into the church for free because I went for a service! Very exciting.

I was really hungry by that point so I came back to the flat, made some dinner, and then did picked up a bit. Talked to the family and Brian for a while, and now I'm going to get a good night's rest before my worship fun tomorrow! Wonderful day, sweet dreams to all...

Parliament and Westminster

First off, more pictures are up! From Stratford, St. James Park, Trafalgar Square, the Houses of Parliament, and Westminster Abbey. Access here: http://wlu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2012659&l=62f42&id=19000059

So, clearly, today we went to Parliament and Westminster Abbey. We had a tour of the House of Commons, House of Lords, the hallways in-between, and the oldest chapel part also that I forget the name of. But it's been around for a long time. It was cool learning about the political system again from British eyes and seeing how it worked in action. Then we had a class with Lord Geddes who was really interesting to listen to.

After that, Max, Michael, Lavinia, Becca, Robin, and I went to lunch at a Methodist church that has a cafe with really nicely priced, and very tasty, food. It was right across the street from Westminster Abbey, which is also across the street from Parliament, so it was perfectly placed. Westminster Abbey is AMAZING! It's really pretty, and it was fun seeing where all sorts of people are buried (Georg Friedrich Handel, Geoffrey Chaucer, David Livingstone, Elizabeth I, Mary Queen of Scots, Edward the Confessor...just to name a few...). No pictures allowed inside again. I'm beginning to think this is an awful English trend. Most places in Germany and Spain allowed photographs. I'm really sad. But, it was still really cool to see where every English monarch since 1066 has been crowned, and to see some really old church ruins from the 1000s. Quite intriguing.

I can't wait to see Caelah very soon. :) She comes to London on Friday. Not sure what the plans are for tonight. I'm going to go find some dinner. :) Hope all is well! Enjoy the pictures.

Windsor

Before I go into Windsor, here is the link again to that Facebook album: http://wlu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2012634&l=8e80e&id=19000059 I just added pictures from Oxford and Blenheim Palace. Sadly, that album is now full...so I created a "London, Part II" for the Windsor pictures, and whatever comes next. :) That link: http://wlu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2012659&l=62f42&id=19000059

Jack, Lindsey, and I left Princes Risborough around 9:30 to drive to Windsor, about an hour away. I like driving through the English countryside. :) It's really pretty. On the way we got to see part of a cricket match and lots of cars headed into the town for the Royal Horse Show. Pretty cool. I really liked Windsor because it actually looks like a castle. Between Spain and Germany, I've seen lots of castles, but most of them tend to look like really ornate palaces. Windsor looks exactly like how I picture a castle. :)

We got there just in time to watch the changing of the guard, though there were a lot of people watching with us so it was tough to get a good view. After that we went inside the cathedral for a while and saw the tombs for George VI and the Queen Mother, Henry VIII and his last wife whose name I forget, and some of the other monarchs/members of the royal family as well. :) I forget which ones at the moment. It is a very beautiful cathedral, parts of which date back to the early 13th century.

After that we walked through the royal apartments. We saw lots of beautiful drawings, paintings, chinaware, furniture, ceilings, swords, armor, and guns. It was definitely one of the bigger castles/palaces that I've been to. Sadly, again, no pictures of the inside were allowed. We went into the town for some lunch after we toured the castle and then we drove back to the house, just in time for the buckets of rain to start plumetting down again.

Jack has gone to pick up his sister-in-law, Donna, who is also spending the next few days with them. I'm sitting here resting a bit until they get back. We're going to an Indian restaurant tonight, and then afterwards I'm going out with Nicola and her friends to celebrate a friend's 18th birthday, a big deal here because that is when they're allowed to drink. By the way, I asked Lindsey...their dogs are English Golden Retrievers. :)

Rememeber, Remember the 5th of November

No trip to London is complete without a trip to the Tower of London. And that is just where I went today! With Dima, Max, Livinia, and Becca. Sadly, I am out of time at the moment, having used it uploading pictures to Facebook. Luckily, Facebook allows me to set fixed links so that others can see my albums, too! So, today you get pictures. I'll give you some stories soon. Tomorrow we're going to Oxford and Blenheim Palace, and then I'm going to stay with the Hazeltons for the weekend. I'll try to update while I am there!

Check it out: http://wlu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2012634&l=8e80e&id=19000059

PS the title quote comes from a poem about Guy Fawkes, who was part of a plot to blow up Parliament in 1605 and who was imprisoned and executed in the Tower of London...there was a big exhibit on him, and he's pretty cool, so Google him or something ;)