Hey everybody! I hope you are all doing well and that you are finishing up a great October. Happy Halloween this Monday! :) I have about three short weeks left in Romania, in case you were wondering.
One of the bonuses about being a somewhat long-term intern here at Stepping Forward is that you get to choose one non-ministry "vacation" in Europe. I found this out in May and my choices were between Paris, Rome, and London. Even before camp started, I chose London because it was the city I hadn't already experienced. I knew the trip would take place in late October (it seemed soooooo far away back then in early June) and I was so excited. Then, we had a British team of two families with a combined 7 children come and volunteer for two weeks of camp in late July/early August. We immediately hit it off and when they left, plans were in the works to visit them at their homes in Cambridge and Norwich when Cami, Rachael, and I went to London. We also were going to meet Ellie, one of the interns here this spring, and her boyfriend while we were in London, since she is studying in Ireland currently and that's close to England. :) So many meetups!!
So that is the backstory behind this great England adventure that happened. By the way, this post is just about England, not really any ministry I've been doing. I apologize. You'll hear more about my ministries during these last few weeks, though.
On Friday, October 21, we hopped on a plane to London! It is still just so amazing to me that I can be in an entirely different country in a two hour plane ride. We spent all day Friday and Saturday in London and then on Sunday afternoon we took a train to Cambridge. We spent Monday there, Tuesday we drove to Norwich, then on Wednesday back to Cambridge for a few hours and then flew home Wednesday evening. Here area ton some pictures. ;) If you're on facebook, feel free to skip these pictures. They are the same ones in my album.
One of the bonuses about being a somewhat long-term intern here at Stepping Forward is that you get to choose one non-ministry "vacation" in Europe. I found this out in May and my choices were between Paris, Rome, and London. Even before camp started, I chose London because it was the city I hadn't already experienced. I knew the trip would take place in late October (it seemed soooooo far away back then in early June) and I was so excited. Then, we had a British team of two families with a combined 7 children come and volunteer for two weeks of camp in late July/early August. We immediately hit it off and when they left, plans were in the works to visit them at their homes in Cambridge and Norwich when Cami, Rachael, and I went to London. We also were going to meet Ellie, one of the interns here this spring, and her boyfriend while we were in London, since she is studying in Ireland currently and that's close to England. :) So many meetups!!
So that is the backstory behind this great England adventure that happened. By the way, this post is just about England, not really any ministry I've been doing. I apologize. You'll hear more about my ministries during these last few weeks, though.
On Friday, October 21, we hopped on a plane to London! It is still just so amazing to me that I can be in an entirely different country in a two hour plane ride. We spent all day Friday and Saturday in London and then on Sunday afternoon we took a train to Cambridge. We spent Monday there, Tuesday we drove to Norwich, then on Wednesday back to Cambridge for a few hours and then flew home Wednesday evening. Here are
Our street where our hostel was located.
Me and Rachael outside the hostel Friday as we arrived.
We saw Wicked Friday night.
Saturday morning: excited to explore London
Tower Bridge
Southwark Bridge.
The Tower of London
Another view of the Tower of London.
London Bridge.
Millenium Bridge: this was the bridge used in filming Harry Potter.
Another view of Millenium Bridge featuring my shadow. Notice the sunny blue sky!!
Our whole crew.
Trafalgar Square.
Big Ben and the Parliament building.
The London Eye.
Cliche telephone booth picture.
The Harry Potter store!!
I got to visit 221b Baker Street on Sunday.
Krispy Kreme! Haven't seen these in a while. :)
Pancras Station.
The Beatles Store (I realize these captions are completely unnecessary)
Globe Theatre
The National Gallery
Saw the Rosetta Stone at the British Museum.
The British Museum
King's Cross Station.
Yay I'm in London! Now off to Cambridge on Sunday.
The Round Church, one of the oldest buildings in Cambridge (11th century).
There are 31 colleges in Cambridge and we saw many of them!
The American WWII memorial/cemetery.
This is Trinity College, where Isaac Newton studied.
On to Norwich! This is a herb garden at the Norwich cathedral.
Norwich Cathedral.
Norwich Cathedral.
The North Sea on Tuesday...we even saw seals in the water!
Tuesday night the sun set on my England adventure. :(
Just to quickly overview the next three weeks...this weekend we are carving pumpkins with our orphanage and apartment kids. And I have my other two ministries that I'm working with as well. Sometime before I leave, we are going one more time to camp for a few projects as well.
Look for my next update sometime next week! Love to you all, see some of you in 20 something days! :)
Maria
Wonderful blog as always. I enjoy your writing and pictures and your narration for each picture. And yes, I will see you in 20 something days. Love you!
ReplyDeleteWhat an awesome reward for five months of service!
ReplyDeleteLeah and I just went through all of your pictures. She wants to go there when she grows up just like you! She wants you to know that she prays for you every night during her night night prayers. We miss you!
ReplyDelete