It was, yet again, a rainy day in London. It wasn't quite so cold as it has been, but it is still quite wet. My feet have been aching all day and truthfully I shouldn't have walked as much as I did today, but sitting around in the dorm, even in such pitiful weather, seems like such a waste. So, I ate some breakfast (croissant, banana, fig rolls, and orange juice) then got a shower and made my way out to The Globe Theater.
I got there very early and spent about twenty minutes just watching London from the bank of the Thames. A lot of people were out jogging this morning. At 9 o'clock the building opened and I went through the Globe Exhibition before going on a tour of the building at 10. The tour was rather quick (only thirty minutes) although informative. I think that if they weren't rehearsing for a play today we may have been able to go backstage. Alas, we did get to go into the Globe and get a couple of photographs. It was a very impressive building. It was built out of the exact same materials as the original Globe. The roof was even thatch, just like the original Globe Theater. Of course, the Globe now sits about 200-300 meters away from the site of the original Globe.
After the Globe I made my way towards the aquarium. Anjelica met me inside (I had been running late) and we toured through the aquarium. It was not quite as impressive as I would have hoped (certainly not as impressive as the aquariums in America), but it was still fun to see. There were some interesting exhibits and we had a good time. It was, much like the Globe, a rather quick trip. Once we had finished at the aquarium we decided to head back to the dorms for lunch. I also wanted to lay down and rest. Like I said, my feet were still hurting from the previous day. Even as I write this, my feet are still quite sore. My toes are starting to callous over from all of the walking.
I took about a two or two-and-a-half hour nap in the afternoon then got up and decided to go to the Sherlock Holmes Museum. I ended up getting on the wrong train and I rode for probably about 30 minutes more than I had to, but I finally reached 221b Baker Street. The Museum was nice. It was a bit pricey (6 pounds, or 12 dollars) for how long it lasted (only about 20 minutes for me). But, it was fun to walk through a house completely fitted to resemble the home that Dr. Holmes and Watson did their famous case-solving in. The gentleman playing Dr. Holmes in his study was even kind enough to point out his opium stash to me when I asked. There were other rooms filled with mannequins representing some of the famous cases that Dr. Holmes solved. After I was done, I made a quick stop in their gift shop, which I now believe is the most expensive gift shop I have ever seen. A pipe key chain was 5 pounds--that's 10 dollars.
I continued down Baker Street and stopped in an Elvis memorabilia shop. I told the shop owner how surprised I was to see such a shop in London, which prompted him to tell me there are a lot of Elvis fans in the UK. He then went on to explain how Graceland sued him several years back because of his distribution of Elvis merchandise and won in the U.S. He still seemed quite bitter about this. He said he sued them in the U.K. and won though, so I guess he broke even. I mentioned to him that my grandmother is from England and a big Elvis fan, which in retrospect I think was a mistake for me to do. He decided to take the opportunity to give me his sales pitch for all of the "banned" Elvis merchandise that he sells and promising me that my grandmother didn't have this and didn't have that. Though frankly, I don't think there was much in there she would actually be interested in.
He tried to sell me some Elvis playing cards and even an "Elvis Lives In My Heart" coffee mug that, when filled with hot water will cause an image of Elvis to appear. I tried not to be rude and thanked him for showing me the items, but I'd wait and decide on what souvenir to give her. He kept assuring me that the prized Elvis memorabilia in his shop was something really to beheld. Not to say that it wasn't or anything, but if I bring my grandmother a souvenir back from England that is an Elvis item, I have the feeling she would be less than impressed and probably think I was stupid for spending 10 or 12 dollars on a coffee mug.
I got back to the dorm and read about the flaming truck driving into the airport in Glasgow. I was a bit concerned because some of the people here have gone up to Scotland this weekend although they are staying in Edinburgh. Just prior to leaving the Sherlock Holmes museum, there apparently was a bag left on a street corner nearby, which the man outside of the museum noticed. I saw it when I went into the Elvis shop but when I left it was gone. You would think people would not do things like that given the situation over here, but nonetheless.
I ate a microwavable dinner from the Tesco (which wasn't bad!) a few minutes ago and now I'm probably just going to take it easy for the rest of the night. I have to get up early tomorrow so that Dr. Ross and I can take the bus (coach) to Oxford to see Reverend Cooper. It should be a fun day and I'm really looking forward to it.
Pictures of today's wanderings around London can be found here:
http://flickr.com/photos/8494714@N03/
P.S. I found out that yesterday (Friday) Gideon got arrested while at Wimbledon. No real reason to worry, though, they didn't book him or anything. He was carrying a locking pocket knife (you know the kind, everyone back home carries them), which are apparently illegal in England. So, they took his knife and took him to a station and got his fingerprints and DNA. Apparently the police were very nice and they understood the situation pretty well. They did say though that if got in trouble here they would reinstate the charges as an automatic conviction. But, it was a simple mistake and really no big deal. Of course, I'm hearing all of this second-hand.
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Friday, June 29, 2007
Day Eight: Fear No Evil
Today was, without a doubt, an interesting day. I started my day right; I ate two croissants and some fig rolls for breakfast and finished off my orange juice. I then went to the streets first thing this morning and went to the Knightsbridge Station and walked, almost literally, a mile down to Royal Albert Hall. Guess what? Royal Albert Hall was closed today due to a private function. But that's okay--I was able to walk another mile to Kensington Palace. The Kensington Palace tour was quick, and frankly, not that interesting. It is a tour directed more at those interested in the fashion and court during Victorian period as well as people who are big fans of Princess Diana, though their Princess Diana exhibit is rather small.
After that, I made my way towards the Royal Mews, although something interesting happened while I was en route. I was passing by the Israeli Embassy and noticed a police line. Here, the police were also carrying automatic weapons. Well, when I saw the Star of David flying in front of the house, I pulled out my camera to take a photo. Immediately I heard "Hey! No photographs!" I was a bit startled, because just as I began to take a photo I saw the "No Photograph" signs. I immediately turned my camera off, put it in my pocket, and apologized. They nodded and said it was all right. As I made my way to the end of the police line, one of the armed officers approached me and asked if I had a camera. I figured I was going to be searched or something, but instead he was very polite and helpful. He said they've had to up the security at the Israeli Embassy and that it is a necessary precaution. He was very friendly and gave me directions to the High Street/Kensington Station.
From there I went on to the Royal Mews. Guess what? The Royal Mews is closed on Fridays. I found this out as it started to rain. So, I just made my way up the street and went to a place called Noodle Noodle. It was an oriental restaurant that was quite delicious and well-priced. I got a dish of rice, fried chicken fillets, and yellow curry (I think that's what it was) all for about 5 pounds. Once I was done there I made my way back to the dorms to check out my London Pass book and find something I could do, since obviously the things I had planned were canceled. I'm not too disappointed by this though, because I actually chose Royal Albert Hall and the Royal Mews mostly for filler anyways. Tomorrow though are the zoo, aquarium, Globe, and hopefully the Sherlock Holmes Museum. If those are not open I'll be a bit ticked off.
Either way, I was around the corner from the dorms when I saw Ashley, Brandy, and Anjelica heading to the train station to see Ashley off--she was on her way to an area just outside of Cambridge for the weekend. I rode with them and after left Ashley on the train at Victoria Station, we got off and headed for Green Park. Specifically, Anjelica wanted to go to a jewelry store that is owned by the parents of one of the actors in the Harry Potter films (Bonnie Wright, who plays Ginnie Weasley). So, we stopped in there and Anjelica had a look around while Brandy and I stayed outside.
The three of us then headed to Green Park, which is absolutely lovely. Once you get through Green Park, you arrive at Buckingham Palace, which was majestic and awesome. We took plenty of photos and looked around. There were no red royal guards in sight, which was a bit disappointing, but I'm sure there were some around there somewhere. After we had seen Buckingham Palace from the outside, we went and walked over to St. James' Park, which is simply spectacular. There were a huge amount of geese, ducks, pigeons, and even the largest pelicans I've ever seen (they are about three to four times the size of the pelicans in Florida and have beaks that are at least a foot and a half long, they're actually quite scary looking). The small waterway running through St. James' Park is crossed by a bridge called Blue Bridge which looks out towards the Cavalry Museum on one end and Buckingham Palace on the other. It's quite a site to see.
We each got some delicious soft serve vanilla ice cream (with a chocolate stick in it) and ate that as we made our way through the park. We then worked our way back around to Parliament Square and took a few more photos of the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben. We then crossed over Westminster Bridge and took some photos of Parliament from South Bank. The view there was spectacular. We then made our way towards Hungerford Footbridge and saw some of the street performers. Today there were a group of six guys break dancing and while I'm not very fond of hip-hop music: these guys were impressive. They danced for at least five minutes and really put on an excellent show of skill. After we viewed that, we crossed back over the footbridge, got on a train at Embankment Station and headed towards Leicester Square.
At Leicester Square we checked for theater tickets and tried to find our way to Tottenham Court Road to head back to the dorms. On the way I stopped at Waterstornes book store to check out the price on the British editions of the Harry Potter books. They had them at 3 for the price of 2 (being 6 pounds each), which was quite tempting. I still need to put a few dollars down on the British edition of the book, even though I'll also have the American edition of the book. I figured since I'm not much of a souvenir person, perhaps I'll just buy myself a set of the British edition as well as have the full American edition, just for the sake of having it. Who knows though.
Of course, we met our only delay of the day near Leicester Square, due to the bombs discovered today. Honestly I can't even believe I'm really writing this, because it seems so unreal. The thought that I'd be in a city where the actual potential for a bomb going off just seems so--strange. Nonetheless, they had a few streets blocked off, so we had to walk around. I completely ignored the news signs I had been seeing about a bomb being located, and it wasn't until I got back to the dorm and read an e-mail from my grandmother about them that I actually went online and read all I could. I did call my dad and let him know that everything was okay and that all is well here. I would ask that anyone reading this please continue to pray, not just for myself and the people here in London, but for all of the people around the world as we fight against this horrible menace. The idea that there are people out there who want to kill us for no other reason than their own personal hatred is a rather awful though. May God have mercy on their evil souls. I really pray though that they would realize the error in their ways and turn away from their false beliefs and accept Christ as the Son of God and realize that God does not desire violence from His people.
After hanging out around the dorms for a while though, Donald, Amanda, Katie, and myself all went out to the nearby pizza place and picked up a pizza. Just prior to that Donald and I stopped in the Tesco to buy groceries. It was my second time in there today, as Brandy and Anjelica had wanted to stop in there on the way home to get groceries as well. We brought the pizzas back here and sat around eating and talking. Some of the other folks (Gabe, Gideon, Ryan, Jen, Molly, Ashley, and Tanya) all went out to the pub(s). The other four of us stayed at the dorms and goofed off. We discovered a new little area of the building that I'm not entirely sure is open to us, but it was pretty cool nonetheless. It looks like Amanda, Katie, and Donald as well as the rest of the group except for Molly and Ashley will be going to Scotland tomorrow morning. I hope they have a good time and I look forward to seeing them when they get back.
Here are some pictures of today's wanderings around London:
http://flickr.com/photos/8494714@N03/
P.S. We seemed to have discovered where some "screaming" outside our windows has been coming from. There are some people at night sword fighting down in the basketball gym in our building. By that I mean they are using bamboo swords and full kendo/kenpo (is that the name?) dress regalia. Britain is an interesting place.
After that, I made my way towards the Royal Mews, although something interesting happened while I was en route. I was passing by the Israeli Embassy and noticed a police line. Here, the police were also carrying automatic weapons. Well, when I saw the Star of David flying in front of the house, I pulled out my camera to take a photo. Immediately I heard "Hey! No photographs!" I was a bit startled, because just as I began to take a photo I saw the "No Photograph" signs. I immediately turned my camera off, put it in my pocket, and apologized. They nodded and said it was all right. As I made my way to the end of the police line, one of the armed officers approached me and asked if I had a camera. I figured I was going to be searched or something, but instead he was very polite and helpful. He said they've had to up the security at the Israeli Embassy and that it is a necessary precaution. He was very friendly and gave me directions to the High Street/Kensington Station.
From there I went on to the Royal Mews. Guess what? The Royal Mews is closed on Fridays. I found this out as it started to rain. So, I just made my way up the street and went to a place called Noodle Noodle. It was an oriental restaurant that was quite delicious and well-priced. I got a dish of rice, fried chicken fillets, and yellow curry (I think that's what it was) all for about 5 pounds. Once I was done there I made my way back to the dorms to check out my London Pass book and find something I could do, since obviously the things I had planned were canceled. I'm not too disappointed by this though, because I actually chose Royal Albert Hall and the Royal Mews mostly for filler anyways. Tomorrow though are the zoo, aquarium, Globe, and hopefully the Sherlock Holmes Museum. If those are not open I'll be a bit ticked off.
Either way, I was around the corner from the dorms when I saw Ashley, Brandy, and Anjelica heading to the train station to see Ashley off--she was on her way to an area just outside of Cambridge for the weekend. I rode with them and after left Ashley on the train at Victoria Station, we got off and headed for Green Park. Specifically, Anjelica wanted to go to a jewelry store that is owned by the parents of one of the actors in the Harry Potter films (Bonnie Wright, who plays Ginnie Weasley). So, we stopped in there and Anjelica had a look around while Brandy and I stayed outside.
The three of us then headed to Green Park, which is absolutely lovely. Once you get through Green Park, you arrive at Buckingham Palace, which was majestic and awesome. We took plenty of photos and looked around. There were no red royal guards in sight, which was a bit disappointing, but I'm sure there were some around there somewhere. After we had seen Buckingham Palace from the outside, we went and walked over to St. James' Park, which is simply spectacular. There were a huge amount of geese, ducks, pigeons, and even the largest pelicans I've ever seen (they are about three to four times the size of the pelicans in Florida and have beaks that are at least a foot and a half long, they're actually quite scary looking). The small waterway running through St. James' Park is crossed by a bridge called Blue Bridge which looks out towards the Cavalry Museum on one end and Buckingham Palace on the other. It's quite a site to see.
We each got some delicious soft serve vanilla ice cream (with a chocolate stick in it) and ate that as we made our way through the park. We then worked our way back around to Parliament Square and took a few more photos of the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben. We then crossed over Westminster Bridge and took some photos of Parliament from South Bank. The view there was spectacular. We then made our way towards Hungerford Footbridge and saw some of the street performers. Today there were a group of six guys break dancing and while I'm not very fond of hip-hop music: these guys were impressive. They danced for at least five minutes and really put on an excellent show of skill. After we viewed that, we crossed back over the footbridge, got on a train at Embankment Station and headed towards Leicester Square.
At Leicester Square we checked for theater tickets and tried to find our way to Tottenham Court Road to head back to the dorms. On the way I stopped at Waterstornes book store to check out the price on the British editions of the Harry Potter books. They had them at 3 for the price of 2 (being 6 pounds each), which was quite tempting. I still need to put a few dollars down on the British edition of the book, even though I'll also have the American edition of the book. I figured since I'm not much of a souvenir person, perhaps I'll just buy myself a set of the British edition as well as have the full American edition, just for the sake of having it. Who knows though.
Of course, we met our only delay of the day near Leicester Square, due to the bombs discovered today. Honestly I can't even believe I'm really writing this, because it seems so unreal. The thought that I'd be in a city where the actual potential for a bomb going off just seems so--strange. Nonetheless, they had a few streets blocked off, so we had to walk around. I completely ignored the news signs I had been seeing about a bomb being located, and it wasn't until I got back to the dorm and read an e-mail from my grandmother about them that I actually went online and read all I could. I did call my dad and let him know that everything was okay and that all is well here. I would ask that anyone reading this please continue to pray, not just for myself and the people here in London, but for all of the people around the world as we fight against this horrible menace. The idea that there are people out there who want to kill us for no other reason than their own personal hatred is a rather awful though. May God have mercy on their evil souls. I really pray though that they would realize the error in their ways and turn away from their false beliefs and accept Christ as the Son of God and realize that God does not desire violence from His people.
After hanging out around the dorms for a while though, Donald, Amanda, Katie, and myself all went out to the nearby pizza place and picked up a pizza. Just prior to that Donald and I stopped in the Tesco to buy groceries. It was my second time in there today, as Brandy and Anjelica had wanted to stop in there on the way home to get groceries as well. We brought the pizzas back here and sat around eating and talking. Some of the other folks (Gabe, Gideon, Ryan, Jen, Molly, Ashley, and Tanya) all went out to the pub(s). The other four of us stayed at the dorms and goofed off. We discovered a new little area of the building that I'm not entirely sure is open to us, but it was pretty cool nonetheless. It looks like Amanda, Katie, and Donald as well as the rest of the group except for Molly and Ashley will be going to Scotland tomorrow morning. I hope they have a good time and I look forward to seeing them when they get back.
Here are some pictures of today's wanderings around London:
http://flickr.com/photos/8494714@N03/
P.S. We seemed to have discovered where some "screaming" outside our windows has been coming from. There are some people at night sword fighting down in the basketball gym in our building. By that I mean they are using bamboo swords and full kendo/kenpo (is that the name?) dress regalia. Britain is an interesting place.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Day Seven: A Jolly Good Time
Last night we (Gideon, Gabe, Ryan, Donald, Tanya, Jen, Amanda, Katie, and myself) all went down to the King and Queen as well as The Court. We talked with the barmaid Claire, who has promised to take us to a roller disco in two weeks. Apparently Ryan (Sunshine) made one of the locals mad when he asked if he could sit down at his table and talk to him. The guy responded with a prompt "No, I'll sit at the bar" then got up and walked away. I think it's kind of obvious as to why to the Brits and the Europeans we come across as obnoxious--these people in the big city aren't outgoing at all. The only time the people here smile at you or act polite is when you're buying something from them. Other than that, most people are in their own world just trying to go from one place to another. But then again, I think it's just the city life.
After we got done at The Court, with several people stealing their beer glasses (it has become a habit for some), we made our way back to the dorms. Once upstairs, Donald started stomping on the floor outside of another student's room and slamming his door. It was in reference to some joking he and I were doing earlier because this guy slams his door every time he enters and exits his room.
I woke up this morning and after taking a shower I cleaned up my room a bit. The cleaning lady was coming by to give us another towel and freshen the linens and clean up the rooms. I then made my way to breakfast and then went to the streets to start touring. I started my day off my going to see the Tower of London. While there were some elements of the Tower which were fun to see, I was slightly let down. Although I spent a good two-and-half hours there, it seemed less impressive than most made it seem. Granted, one area was down for construction. I guess after seeing Windsor Castle I had really high expectations. Of course, the Crown Jewels are kept at the Tower of London and it's pretty impressive to see those. The Yeoman Warders did do a nice little speaking tour that I walked in on as they finished off at the chapel.
After the Tower I went over to the Tower Bridge Exhibition and took a look around at one of the world's most famous bridges. The sights were beautiful from a top the bridge and the bridge itself is really a marvel. We got to watch a few videos explaining how the bridge was made and it really makes you appreciate the craftsmanship that went into constructing such a thing. We even went down into the steam rooms and got to see the original hydrolics machinery that caused the bridge to raise and lower.
I finished at the Tower Bridge exhibition with plenty of extra time, so I made my way to Monument, a little attraction I only found out about yesterday by looking through my London Pass book. Monument is just that: a monument constructed to remember the Fire of 1666 that swept through and destroyed most of London. The Monument is a column tower 202 feet high with a spiral staircase in the middle which you walk up 311 stairs to the top. Once you come down you get a certificate proving what you accomplished. I told the ladies at the bottom they needed to be handing out bottles of water because I was exhausted when I came down. The view from the top of Monument is pretty spectacular. You get a great view of downtown London and it's definitely something to check out. Of course, if you don't like tight spaces, heights, or lots and lots of stairs, then it's just best to avoid it. I did get to talk to an architect and a contractor who are about to start a full renovation of Monument. I mentioned that I worked for an architect firm back in America and she was more than happy to answer some questions I had. The renovation starts at the beginning of July and will last 18 months. It'll take them 14 weeks just to get the scaffolding up. Monument itself took 6 years to complete.
After Monument I stopped in a nearby pub called The Monument and had a dish called Coronation Chicken. It was a piece of wheat bread topped with greens, cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, and then a chicken mixture that kind of reminded me of chicken salad. It was pretty tasty and very reasonably priced. Once lunch was over with I made my way to, what I feel at least, is the most spectacular site I've seen so far: St. Paul's Cathedral. It's a real shame you can't take photos inside of St. Paul, although I did manage to get a snapshot off before I saw the sign there.
There are only two words I can use to describe St. Paul's: awe-inspiring and humbling. When you walk inside of this massive building, with vaulted ceilings reaching at least eighty feet high and wooden entrance doors that are at least thirty feet high, you feel very tiny indeed. The ornate stonework, paintings, mosaics--all of it gives you a feeling of splendor that is quite a lot to take in. To walk around underneath the dome in St. Paul's and see the beautiful works painted on the ceiling and the various marble statues and golden decor, you feel so humbled and frankly it as a feeling I've never felt before. I thought of the church itself as allegorical of the Christian church as a whole; this massive, beautiful thing to which we all contribute but is held together by God. Inside there were statues to various statesmen, war heroes, and other events such as those who died in World War II. Then, you can make your way up stairs to the Dome and the Galleries.
First off, the Dome area you get to walk to is about a hundred feet up in the air--at least. The staircase is, much like Monument, cramped and spiral most of the way. Once you do reach the Dome though, you can look down on the fabulous area below and gain an even greater appreciation for the cathedral. Or, you can look up another one hundred feet (at least) to the upper galleries. Also atop the Dome is known as the Whispering Gallery. They call it this because there are little holes in the wall you can whisper into and the sound can be heard at other holes across the gallery. Basically, its like a walk-talkie in the stone work. The Dome is also surrounded by enormous marble statues of various saints.
Once I had rested atop the dome, I climbed another enormous set of steps up to the Stone Gallery. Again, you make your way up a cramped staircase and now you get to look out onto the beautiful site of downtown London. The Stone Gallery was pleasant and room, quite unlike the Golden Gallery, which is where I went to next. I yet again ascended a set of stairs and made my way to the Golden Gallery, which is the highest point accessible by the public at St. Paul's. It was a bit unnerving for me, because the walkway was only a few feet wide and quite frankly: you are way up in the air. If my math is correct, there are over 430 stairs up to the Golden Gallery. You can look out and see pretty much all of London. The view is spectacular, but I'll admit I was quite nervous.
I soon made my way back down to the Cathedral floor and then went into the crypts. The crypts were no less inspiring than the floor itself. Ornate and beautiful, the crypts held the bodies of some of the most famous figures in English history, such as Admiral Lord Nelson (who defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Trafalgar and prevented Napoleon from invading Britain) as well as Arthur Wellesley, First Duke of Wellington (who defeated Napoleon at Waterloo). Of course, the crypts were also home to the ashes of Alexander Fleming (who discovered penicillin) as well as other important figures in British history.
As I exited from the crypts I made my way back to the dorms, where I hung out for a bit and took a nap (touring all day can be tiring). After the nap I made my way to City Road to try and find the statue and house of John Wesley. Either it's not there or I went in the wrong direction, because I didn't see it at all. What I did see was a nice, shady part of London that I hopefully won't stumble into again. There was a guy who, I am pretty sure, was peeing on the front of a building. The train ride back from Moorsgate went through a few stops on the Tube that I immediately realized I should probably avoid. But, I did make it back safely.
We've basically just been hanging around the dorms since then. I'm trying to take it easy because I'm going to start touring again early tomorrow morning with a stop at Royal Albert Hall. A guy from Cambridge staying here said that it is worthwhile to check out Kew Gardens, so if I have some time, I may look into that. I've been doing laundry tonight and there was a bit of a snafu of some sort going on here on our floor. I think it may have to do with some women bringing up a British fellow. Anyhow, it is time for me to collect my laundry and get to bed, as I can hear the guy down the hall slamming his door repeatedly, letting me know that it must be late at night.
A link to today's pictures can be found here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8494714@N03/?saved=1
After we got done at The Court, with several people stealing their beer glasses (it has become a habit for some), we made our way back to the dorms. Once upstairs, Donald started stomping on the floor outside of another student's room and slamming his door. It was in reference to some joking he and I were doing earlier because this guy slams his door every time he enters and exits his room.
I woke up this morning and after taking a shower I cleaned up my room a bit. The cleaning lady was coming by to give us another towel and freshen the linens and clean up the rooms. I then made my way to breakfast and then went to the streets to start touring. I started my day off my going to see the Tower of London. While there were some elements of the Tower which were fun to see, I was slightly let down. Although I spent a good two-and-half hours there, it seemed less impressive than most made it seem. Granted, one area was down for construction. I guess after seeing Windsor Castle I had really high expectations. Of course, the Crown Jewels are kept at the Tower of London and it's pretty impressive to see those. The Yeoman Warders did do a nice little speaking tour that I walked in on as they finished off at the chapel.
After the Tower I went over to the Tower Bridge Exhibition and took a look around at one of the world's most famous bridges. The sights were beautiful from a top the bridge and the bridge itself is really a marvel. We got to watch a few videos explaining how the bridge was made and it really makes you appreciate the craftsmanship that went into constructing such a thing. We even went down into the steam rooms and got to see the original hydrolics machinery that caused the bridge to raise and lower.
I finished at the Tower Bridge exhibition with plenty of extra time, so I made my way to Monument, a little attraction I only found out about yesterday by looking through my London Pass book. Monument is just that: a monument constructed to remember the Fire of 1666 that swept through and destroyed most of London. The Monument is a column tower 202 feet high with a spiral staircase in the middle which you walk up 311 stairs to the top. Once you come down you get a certificate proving what you accomplished. I told the ladies at the bottom they needed to be handing out bottles of water because I was exhausted when I came down. The view from the top of Monument is pretty spectacular. You get a great view of downtown London and it's definitely something to check out. Of course, if you don't like tight spaces, heights, or lots and lots of stairs, then it's just best to avoid it. I did get to talk to an architect and a contractor who are about to start a full renovation of Monument. I mentioned that I worked for an architect firm back in America and she was more than happy to answer some questions I had. The renovation starts at the beginning of July and will last 18 months. It'll take them 14 weeks just to get the scaffolding up. Monument itself took 6 years to complete.
After Monument I stopped in a nearby pub called The Monument and had a dish called Coronation Chicken. It was a piece of wheat bread topped with greens, cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, and then a chicken mixture that kind of reminded me of chicken salad. It was pretty tasty and very reasonably priced. Once lunch was over with I made my way to, what I feel at least, is the most spectacular site I've seen so far: St. Paul's Cathedral. It's a real shame you can't take photos inside of St. Paul, although I did manage to get a snapshot off before I saw the sign there.
There are only two words I can use to describe St. Paul's: awe-inspiring and humbling. When you walk inside of this massive building, with vaulted ceilings reaching at least eighty feet high and wooden entrance doors that are at least thirty feet high, you feel very tiny indeed. The ornate stonework, paintings, mosaics--all of it gives you a feeling of splendor that is quite a lot to take in. To walk around underneath the dome in St. Paul's and see the beautiful works painted on the ceiling and the various marble statues and golden decor, you feel so humbled and frankly it as a feeling I've never felt before. I thought of the church itself as allegorical of the Christian church as a whole; this massive, beautiful thing to which we all contribute but is held together by God. Inside there were statues to various statesmen, war heroes, and other events such as those who died in World War II. Then, you can make your way up stairs to the Dome and the Galleries.
First off, the Dome area you get to walk to is about a hundred feet up in the air--at least. The staircase is, much like Monument, cramped and spiral most of the way. Once you do reach the Dome though, you can look down on the fabulous area below and gain an even greater appreciation for the cathedral. Or, you can look up another one hundred feet (at least) to the upper galleries. Also atop the Dome is known as the Whispering Gallery. They call it this because there are little holes in the wall you can whisper into and the sound can be heard at other holes across the gallery. Basically, its like a walk-talkie in the stone work. The Dome is also surrounded by enormous marble statues of various saints.
Once I had rested atop the dome, I climbed another enormous set of steps up to the Stone Gallery. Again, you make your way up a cramped staircase and now you get to look out onto the beautiful site of downtown London. The Stone Gallery was pleasant and room, quite unlike the Golden Gallery, which is where I went to next. I yet again ascended a set of stairs and made my way to the Golden Gallery, which is the highest point accessible by the public at St. Paul's. It was a bit unnerving for me, because the walkway was only a few feet wide and quite frankly: you are way up in the air. If my math is correct, there are over 430 stairs up to the Golden Gallery. You can look out and see pretty much all of London. The view is spectacular, but I'll admit I was quite nervous.
I soon made my way back down to the Cathedral floor and then went into the crypts. The crypts were no less inspiring than the floor itself. Ornate and beautiful, the crypts held the bodies of some of the most famous figures in English history, such as Admiral Lord Nelson (who defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Trafalgar and prevented Napoleon from invading Britain) as well as Arthur Wellesley, First Duke of Wellington (who defeated Napoleon at Waterloo). Of course, the crypts were also home to the ashes of Alexander Fleming (who discovered penicillin) as well as other important figures in British history.
As I exited from the crypts I made my way back to the dorms, where I hung out for a bit and took a nap (touring all day can be tiring). After the nap I made my way to City Road to try and find the statue and house of John Wesley. Either it's not there or I went in the wrong direction, because I didn't see it at all. What I did see was a nice, shady part of London that I hopefully won't stumble into again. There was a guy who, I am pretty sure, was peeing on the front of a building. The train ride back from Moorsgate went through a few stops on the Tube that I immediately realized I should probably avoid. But, I did make it back safely.
We've basically just been hanging around the dorms since then. I'm trying to take it easy because I'm going to start touring again early tomorrow morning with a stop at Royal Albert Hall. A guy from Cambridge staying here said that it is worthwhile to check out Kew Gardens, so if I have some time, I may look into that. I've been doing laundry tonight and there was a bit of a snafu of some sort going on here on our floor. I think it may have to do with some women bringing up a British fellow. Anyhow, it is time for me to collect my laundry and get to bed, as I can hear the guy down the hall slamming his door repeatedly, letting me know that it must be late at night.
A link to today's pictures can be found here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8494714@N03/?saved=1
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Day Six: The Heads of State
Today Tony Blair stepped down from his position as Prime Minister and handed the position over to Gordon Brown. I wasn't anywhere near 10 Downing Street (which is blocked off by armed guards anyways), but it is in all of the newspapers. There are about 400 different newspapers in London; some of them are free (Indian guys hand them to you on the corners) and some you have to pay for.
The day started with a continental breakfast in Ramsay Hall and then continued with class in the game room. Class was not overly thrilling by any means, but it's now over until next Monday. We then went on to lunch and I ate chicken and chips. I then made my way to the Lloyd's bank nearby to cash some traveler's checks and I was told they couldn't cash them because I didn't bring my passport. I know this to be a lie because just a few days ago they did cash them and I used my George driver's license just like I did today. I honestly cannot figure these people out over here, not only because of this instance today and the other day when all I wanted to do was get some money changed and a traveler's check cashed, but also something else that happened today.
After the bank, Alex, Brandy, Angelica, and myself all went to the National Portrait Gallery. We spent about two hours, perhaps less actually, there looking at paintings of various British people. There were the usual such as Henry VIII, Charles III, Elizabeth I, but also some more modern British such as Michael Caine and J.K. Rowling. Pictures were not allowed there (although I did manage to snap one off before I was informed of this), so I don't really have any pictures to share today. Overall, the National Portrait Gallery was good and interesting; I'm quite glad it was free. The portraits were interesting and well worth seeing. I'm surprised they didn't have a portrait of Alexander Pope, though I may have simply overlooked it. It was interesting, for me, to see the portraits Henry Wordsworth, John Wesley, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Ian Flemming.
After the National Portrait Gallery we headed back to the dorms and made a quick stop at the grocery store. I stopped in the dorms for a minute before making my way back out again. This time I decided to head to Waterloo to pick up my London Pass for tomorrow. I figured with Waterloo being such a large station I could find one there. I asked the lady at nearby Goodge Street Station if they had one and she told me they didn't do them anymore. I figured she had no idea what was I talking about, so I kept on going to Waterloo.
At Waterloo I asked one lady for help, who sent me to the information booth, which is where I thought you bought them anyways. At the information booth, I was sent upstairs to Waterloo Station to another information booth. From that information booth, I was sent to the Eurostar Information Booth, where I was told they are sold. At the Eurostar booth, I was sent to the London Tourist Information Booth, where I actually managed to buy my London Pass. If you just count the places in Waterloo, I went to four stations just to buy the London Pass. Honestly, most people I asked about them looked completely confused and acted like they had no idea what a London Pass is. I'm glad now that I found it though. It also came with a very handy guidebook that provides the times for all locations, closest train stops, and information on how long the tours usually last.
Tomorrow's agenda calls for going to the Tower of London first thing in the morning. It opens at 9, so I'll be there when the gates open. The London Pass should allow me to skip the queue (line) and go straight in. I expect it will take several hours to get through the Tower of London. So once I'm done there, depending on the time, I'll eat lunch and then go see the Tower Bridge exhibition or vice versa. After that I plan to head to St. Paul's Cathedral in the afternoon to take a look around there. Even if I don't make it to St. Paul's, I should still get to see the Tower of London, which I don't doubt will be impressive.
The day started with a continental breakfast in Ramsay Hall and then continued with class in the game room. Class was not overly thrilling by any means, but it's now over until next Monday. We then went on to lunch and I ate chicken and chips. I then made my way to the Lloyd's bank nearby to cash some traveler's checks and I was told they couldn't cash them because I didn't bring my passport. I know this to be a lie because just a few days ago they did cash them and I used my George driver's license just like I did today. I honestly cannot figure these people out over here, not only because of this instance today and the other day when all I wanted to do was get some money changed and a traveler's check cashed, but also something else that happened today.
After the bank, Alex, Brandy, Angelica, and myself all went to the National Portrait Gallery. We spent about two hours, perhaps less actually, there looking at paintings of various British people. There were the usual such as Henry VIII, Charles III, Elizabeth I, but also some more modern British such as Michael Caine and J.K. Rowling. Pictures were not allowed there (although I did manage to snap one off before I was informed of this), so I don't really have any pictures to share today. Overall, the National Portrait Gallery was good and interesting; I'm quite glad it was free. The portraits were interesting and well worth seeing. I'm surprised they didn't have a portrait of Alexander Pope, though I may have simply overlooked it. It was interesting, for me, to see the portraits Henry Wordsworth, John Wesley, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Ian Flemming.
After the National Portrait Gallery we headed back to the dorms and made a quick stop at the grocery store. I stopped in the dorms for a minute before making my way back out again. This time I decided to head to Waterloo to pick up my London Pass for tomorrow. I figured with Waterloo being such a large station I could find one there. I asked the lady at nearby Goodge Street Station if they had one and she told me they didn't do them anymore. I figured she had no idea what was I talking about, so I kept on going to Waterloo.
At Waterloo I asked one lady for help, who sent me to the information booth, which is where I thought you bought them anyways. At the information booth, I was sent upstairs to Waterloo Station to another information booth. From that information booth, I was sent to the Eurostar Information Booth, where I was told they are sold. At the Eurostar booth, I was sent to the London Tourist Information Booth, where I actually managed to buy my London Pass. If you just count the places in Waterloo, I went to four stations just to buy the London Pass. Honestly, most people I asked about them looked completely confused and acted like they had no idea what a London Pass is. I'm glad now that I found it though. It also came with a very handy guidebook that provides the times for all locations, closest train stops, and information on how long the tours usually last.
Tomorrow's agenda calls for going to the Tower of London first thing in the morning. It opens at 9, so I'll be there when the gates open. The London Pass should allow me to skip the queue (line) and go straight in. I expect it will take several hours to get through the Tower of London. So once I'm done there, depending on the time, I'll eat lunch and then go see the Tower Bridge exhibition or vice versa. After that I plan to head to St. Paul's Cathedral in the afternoon to take a look around there. Even if I don't make it to St. Paul's, I should still get to see the Tower of London, which I don't doubt will be impressive.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Day Five: Slow But Steady
Instead of the usual English breakfast today I ate a continental breakfast that consisted of a banana and a croissant. I gave the rest of it away. I'm relieved they had these two items because it saved me from having to eat the banana and croissant I bought. Since I've all ready payed for these meals I might as well eat them, right? Breakfast was decent and after it was over with we messed around for a little while before heading off to our first field trip of the day.
We went to a newsstand called Williams' or something like that over on Tottenham Court Road. The Middle Eastern guy working behind the counter got mad at our group because we were standing around flipping through magazines and not buying them. He claimed we were not putting magazines back in their proper place, but Dr. Martin basically told the guy what the score is. So, he left us alone. It was pretty boring, frankly.
We continued down Tottenham Court Road towards Leicester Square to check out some of the bookstores on Charing Cross Road. We were supposed to be looking at the various forms of advertising that go on in the UK. It's not something I'm particularly interested in, so I really didn't do too much looking. Instead, I did make a stop by Denmark Street where all of the best guitar shops in town are. I stopped in one "independent" shop at the corner of Denmark Street and Charing Cross Road and looked around. They had a nice selection and really their prices weren't bad at all. I'm sure I'll stop back by Denmark Street soon.
The looked around a few of the bookstores and aside from the fact that Foyle's was very well organized, I found myself quite bored and rather disappointed that I was spending my morning this way rather than looking around at something I was interested in. Not to mention, it has been cold all day. The weather on our trip thus far has been pretty miserable. It makes me wonder how these people stand it. We ended up eating lunch at a place called Montagu Pyke. I had a burger, chips (fries), and some water. There was a Heinz sauce there called "Mint Sauce" and one called "Brown Sauce". I should have tried them. The burger was 100% from UK beef, and one could certainly tell the difference. I guess the only beef I could compare it to is Black Angus, although U.S. Black Angus is much, much better. Overall though, the hamburger wasn't bad.
After all of that we went on down to Baker Street to go to our final field trip of the day: Publicis. It's the fourth largest advertising firm in the world. I won't go into all of the details, but it was a pretty cool trip. Besides having to wait an hour until 2:30 for our trip to start (we got there very early), everything was pretty cool. We tried to find shelter from the wind by going into what we thought was the library, but what ended up being the City Council building for the city of Westminster. Silly us, I mean, with the sign saying "LIBRARY" being posted on the gate outside.
The tour was interesting and we got to see how an advertising agency functions in basics. The lady that showed us around was named Iliara, and she was one very good looking Italian who spoke with a British accent. Wow. But, I digress. We ended the tour and took the tube back to Euston Square Station and walked on back to the school. Right now I'm about to eat a bit for dinner (a sandwich from the Tesco) and who knows, I may do something of interest. I'm going to try and get to sleep a little early tonight because I haven't been sleeping too much at night. Last night some guys down the hall were making an outrageous amount of noise up until about 1 in the morning. Maybe if I fall asleep early tonight I won't have to listen to it.
Photos of last night's adventure at The Court and today's toodling around London can be found here:
http://flickr.com/photos/8494714@N03/sets/72157600501457279/
Oh, and by the way, Flickr is apparently holding some of my earlier photos hostage until I upgrade to a Pro Account. I have no intentions of doing that, so they'll just have to stay in photo limbo.
We went to a newsstand called Williams' or something like that over on Tottenham Court Road. The Middle Eastern guy working behind the counter got mad at our group because we were standing around flipping through magazines and not buying them. He claimed we were not putting magazines back in their proper place, but Dr. Martin basically told the guy what the score is. So, he left us alone. It was pretty boring, frankly.
We continued down Tottenham Court Road towards Leicester Square to check out some of the bookstores on Charing Cross Road. We were supposed to be looking at the various forms of advertising that go on in the UK. It's not something I'm particularly interested in, so I really didn't do too much looking. Instead, I did make a stop by Denmark Street where all of the best guitar shops in town are. I stopped in one "independent" shop at the corner of Denmark Street and Charing Cross Road and looked around. They had a nice selection and really their prices weren't bad at all. I'm sure I'll stop back by Denmark Street soon.
The looked around a few of the bookstores and aside from the fact that Foyle's was very well organized, I found myself quite bored and rather disappointed that I was spending my morning this way rather than looking around at something I was interested in. Not to mention, it has been cold all day. The weather on our trip thus far has been pretty miserable. It makes me wonder how these people stand it. We ended up eating lunch at a place called Montagu Pyke. I had a burger, chips (fries), and some water. There was a Heinz sauce there called "Mint Sauce" and one called "Brown Sauce". I should have tried them. The burger was 100% from UK beef, and one could certainly tell the difference. I guess the only beef I could compare it to is Black Angus, although U.S. Black Angus is much, much better. Overall though, the hamburger wasn't bad.
After all of that we went on down to Baker Street to go to our final field trip of the day: Publicis. It's the fourth largest advertising firm in the world. I won't go into all of the details, but it was a pretty cool trip. Besides having to wait an hour until 2:30 for our trip to start (we got there very early), everything was pretty cool. We tried to find shelter from the wind by going into what we thought was the library, but what ended up being the City Council building for the city of Westminster. Silly us, I mean, with the sign saying "LIBRARY" being posted on the gate outside.
The tour was interesting and we got to see how an advertising agency functions in basics. The lady that showed us around was named Iliara, and she was one very good looking Italian who spoke with a British accent. Wow. But, I digress. We ended the tour and took the tube back to Euston Square Station and walked on back to the school. Right now I'm about to eat a bit for dinner (a sandwich from the Tesco) and who knows, I may do something of interest. I'm going to try and get to sleep a little early tonight because I haven't been sleeping too much at night. Last night some guys down the hall were making an outrageous amount of noise up until about 1 in the morning. Maybe if I fall asleep early tonight I won't have to listen to it.
Photos of last night's adventure at The Court and today's toodling around London can be found here:
http://flickr.com/photos/8494714@N03/sets/72157600501457279/
Oh, and by the way, Flickr is apparently holding some of my earlier photos hostage until I upgrade to a Pro Account. I have no intentions of doing that, so they'll just have to stay in photo limbo.
Monday, June 25, 2007
Day Four: A Little Too Big
As we have the past few days, we started off by heading to Ramsay Hall and eating an English breakfast. By now, I'm a bit tired of it. I'm used to bacon and eggs just on Sunday, so having it for four days in a row is getting boring. They also have a "continental breakfast" here, so I think I'll probably try that to help break the monotony of it. I tried the sausage here and, while not being bad or anything, it wasn't very good either. I'd prefer some Jimmy Dean any day of the week.
After breakfast it was on to the first class of the "semester". We spent the next two and a half hours (except for a slight break) going over what we would be doing this semester, a few projects we'll be working on, and looking over some British media. Let me go ahead and get this out there: the British are pretty crazy, if you only judge them by their newspapers. Apparently the term "sex sells" has been a big motivator for these people because in every paper there are half-naked (or all naked, if you prefer the page three girls) women and advertisements for various services. Not to mention, they're apparently obsessed with a show called "Big Brother" which they abbreviated "BB". I'm pretty sure it's some sort of reality show.
Once class was over we headed back to the cafeteria for lunch. Lunch for me consisted of mince meat and penne pasta with a roll and a raspberry-topped cheesecake with bits of waffle and powdered sugar on top. The mince meat and pasta was awful--I heard it was leftovers from yesterday. The roll with butter and cheesecake were excellent. From there, I made my way down to Tottenham Court Road (the closest main street to us) to change out some bills, cash some traveler's checks and, most importantly: GET A HOODED SWEATSHIRT!
Today it was rainy and cold all day, except at night where it was just cold. I brought two long-sleeve shirts and a rain poncho, but that was it. I needed something that could do the job of both, so I went looking for a hooded sweatshirt. First though, let me explain the money situation. Apparently some of the bills I had on my when I arrived were "old bills"; go figure. Some places would accept them and some places wouldn't. So, I ended up going to a bank, as instructed, to exchange them. The first bank I stopped at wouldn't change them out and told me I had to go to Barclay's. Well, I went to Barclay's and got the money changed then tried to cash a traveler's check. No dice. Barclay's sent me to Lloyd's to cash a traveler's check because Lloyd's doesn't charge a fee.
Well, before getting to Lloyd's I stopped in a discount store on Tottenham Court Road and picked up a gray hooded sweatshirt for ten pounds. The neck hold is a bit small and it'd be nice if it zipped, but believe me, it was so cold and rainy I really didn't care. From there, I went up the street to Lloyd's and cashed my traveler's checks. Thankfully, Lloyd's was also willing to exchange a five pound note I had which they guy at the discount store had rejected. Frankly, I can't figure this note rejection stuff out. In America we change bills and still just use the old ones. Here, apparently they won't accept them. But, get this: I've used them at the automated check-out at the Tesco (grocery store).
Anyways, after all of that was said and done, Gabe, Gideon, Ryan, and myself made our way up to the British Museum. The British Museum was outstanding. Although, to be honest, I think it may have been just a little too big. There was so much to see that, honestly, you couldn't do it justice if it took you less than half a day to see it all. To really get the most out of it you'd need at least one day, maybe two, to see everything. There are, literally, exhaustive exhibits on every culture in the world. The British Museum is an expansive collection of art and artifacts from nearly every culture and every period of time. The Egyptian room houses artifacts such as columns, busts, sarcophagi, and statues in an area probably two hundred yards long. That it just one room. Another room houses the entire frieze from the Parthenon. Again, just one room on the first floor. It is really all very spectacular.
I only stayed for about an hour and a half because I started getting a bit tired. Because I was getting tired, I wasn't paying as much attention to the exhibits as I would have liked and frankly, I felt like I was cheating myself out of a great experience. I came to a room filled with Etruscan vases (the ones that are black and orange which depict various stories) and I was dumbfounded. I have always been fond of them. Instead of looking at them all in depth, I just browsed around because I was sleepy. I then went downstairs and saw the huge collections there and I realized that I needed to come back at a more opportune time.
So, I headed back to the college. I made a quick stop in a very neat comic book shop on the way (the Batman flag hanging outside of it caught my attention) and then got back to school. After a quick nap, Gabe and I went to the Tesco, bought some food, and ate dinner. I had a chicken sandwich that I had bought a few days ago and it was pretty tasty. I expect for the rest of the week I'll focus on some of the groceries I picked up.
Not long after this was over, we went out to a local pub called The Crown and just got back a little while ago. We played pool on two very tiny pool tables upstairs in the pub and met a bunch of folks from Florida State University. They are staying a campus not too far from the British Museum. They were pretty cool, and it was quite a change in atmosphere when a bunch of Americans got together. Gabe noted how loud we got in just five minutes once we met more Americans. But anyhow, after the pub we headed back to the dorms.
I'll most likely put in my photos from today with tomorrow's photos because, honestly, I took about 180 photos in an hour and a half at the British Museum. I'll need to go through them and see what I can weed out. Nonetheless, today was a good day in London.
After breakfast it was on to the first class of the "semester". We spent the next two and a half hours (except for a slight break) going over what we would be doing this semester, a few projects we'll be working on, and looking over some British media. Let me go ahead and get this out there: the British are pretty crazy, if you only judge them by their newspapers. Apparently the term "sex sells" has been a big motivator for these people because in every paper there are half-naked (or all naked, if you prefer the page three girls) women and advertisements for various services. Not to mention, they're apparently obsessed with a show called "Big Brother" which they abbreviated "BB". I'm pretty sure it's some sort of reality show.
Once class was over we headed back to the cafeteria for lunch. Lunch for me consisted of mince meat and penne pasta with a roll and a raspberry-topped cheesecake with bits of waffle and powdered sugar on top. The mince meat and pasta was awful--I heard it was leftovers from yesterday. The roll with butter and cheesecake were excellent. From there, I made my way down to Tottenham Court Road (the closest main street to us) to change out some bills, cash some traveler's checks and, most importantly: GET A HOODED SWEATSHIRT!
Today it was rainy and cold all day, except at night where it was just cold. I brought two long-sleeve shirts and a rain poncho, but that was it. I needed something that could do the job of both, so I went looking for a hooded sweatshirt. First though, let me explain the money situation. Apparently some of the bills I had on my when I arrived were "old bills"; go figure. Some places would accept them and some places wouldn't. So, I ended up going to a bank, as instructed, to exchange them. The first bank I stopped at wouldn't change them out and told me I had to go to Barclay's. Well, I went to Barclay's and got the money changed then tried to cash a traveler's check. No dice. Barclay's sent me to Lloyd's to cash a traveler's check because Lloyd's doesn't charge a fee.
Well, before getting to Lloyd's I stopped in a discount store on Tottenham Court Road and picked up a gray hooded sweatshirt for ten pounds. The neck hold is a bit small and it'd be nice if it zipped, but believe me, it was so cold and rainy I really didn't care. From there, I went up the street to Lloyd's and cashed my traveler's checks. Thankfully, Lloyd's was also willing to exchange a five pound note I had which they guy at the discount store had rejected. Frankly, I can't figure this note rejection stuff out. In America we change bills and still just use the old ones. Here, apparently they won't accept them. But, get this: I've used them at the automated check-out at the Tesco (grocery store).
Anyways, after all of that was said and done, Gabe, Gideon, Ryan, and myself made our way up to the British Museum. The British Museum was outstanding. Although, to be honest, I think it may have been just a little too big. There was so much to see that, honestly, you couldn't do it justice if it took you less than half a day to see it all. To really get the most out of it you'd need at least one day, maybe two, to see everything. There are, literally, exhaustive exhibits on every culture in the world. The British Museum is an expansive collection of art and artifacts from nearly every culture and every period of time. The Egyptian room houses artifacts such as columns, busts, sarcophagi, and statues in an area probably two hundred yards long. That it just one room. Another room houses the entire frieze from the Parthenon. Again, just one room on the first floor. It is really all very spectacular.
I only stayed for about an hour and a half because I started getting a bit tired. Because I was getting tired, I wasn't paying as much attention to the exhibits as I would have liked and frankly, I felt like I was cheating myself out of a great experience. I came to a room filled with Etruscan vases (the ones that are black and orange which depict various stories) and I was dumbfounded. I have always been fond of them. Instead of looking at them all in depth, I just browsed around because I was sleepy. I then went downstairs and saw the huge collections there and I realized that I needed to come back at a more opportune time.
So, I headed back to the college. I made a quick stop in a very neat comic book shop on the way (the Batman flag hanging outside of it caught my attention) and then got back to school. After a quick nap, Gabe and I went to the Tesco, bought some food, and ate dinner. I had a chicken sandwich that I had bought a few days ago and it was pretty tasty. I expect for the rest of the week I'll focus on some of the groceries I picked up.
Not long after this was over, we went out to a local pub called The Crown and just got back a little while ago. We played pool on two very tiny pool tables upstairs in the pub and met a bunch of folks from Florida State University. They are staying a campus not too far from the British Museum. They were pretty cool, and it was quite a change in atmosphere when a bunch of Americans got together. Gabe noted how loud we got in just five minutes once we met more Americans. But anyhow, after the pub we headed back to the dorms.
I'll most likely put in my photos from today with tomorrow's photos because, honestly, I took about 180 photos in an hour and a half at the British Museum. I'll need to go through them and see what I can weed out. Nonetheless, today was a good day in London.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Day Three: The House of Windsor is Mighty Indeed
I woke up this morning around 3:00 a.m. (London time) to the sound of some folks talking in the hallway. It reminded me of just how thin the walls here are. Not to mention, you can hear it every time someone slams a door nearby. I eventually went back to sleep then woke up at a more appropriate time. After a shower I went down to Ramsay Hall and ate breakfast. I tried the English bacon (a.k.a., salty ham), which was pretty good with the eggs. I decided to try a tomato half that had spices on top of it. Bad idea. It was awful and I recommend no one ever eat them. I figure I'll try a new piece of the English breakfast everyday. So far it's about half-and-half as far as what tastes good and what sucks.
After breakfast we went to Euston Square station and took a train to Paddington Station (yes, like the bear). From Paddington we took a train to Slough and then from Slough to Windsor. The train ride was pleasant and it was nice to see some areas of England besides a big city. Once in Windsor, we began our tour of Windsor Castle. Some people would go to Eton College afterwards, but I just did Windsor.
One word can describe Windsor Castle: amazing. The city of Windsor surrounds Windsor Castle in a truly marvelous way. There is, honestly, modern shops and such directly across the street from one of the most amazing castles ever built (the oldest one still used as a residence, as well). The views from Windsor Castle are amazing, and the castle itself is really something to behold. Even though we toured the castle for two hours (and truthfully one could easily spend more time there), we still only saw a small portion of the castle itself. The grounds are enormous.
After the tour, two other classmates and I went and ate lunch at a nearby pub called The Three Tuns (a tun has something to do with a cask of wine). The woman we ate with, Tanya, had a tuna melt that she said was awesome. Gabe and I both got the Sunday Roast (his with lamb and mine with beef). It was out of this world. Roasted potatoes, three big slices of roast beef, broccoli, peas and carrots, Yorkshire pudding, covered in a delicious gravy. It has been, easily, the best meal I've had here. The Three Tuns is definitely a pub worth checking out if you're ever in Windsor. The woman that brought us our food was also a fine looking English lass, as well.
Once we finished at The Three Tuns, we made our way around Windsor. We went to the riverside and saw the beautiful (and big!) swans which people were feeding. We also walked around and got some new views of Windsor Castle and the town of Windsor itself. It was a very nice place and it finally stopped raining, so that was pleasant. Up until that point it had been rainy and breezy all day. We also stopped in a nearby church that was having an exhibition on weddings, and took some photographs of this amazing place. We also spoke with some of the natives inside of the church who were very nice.
Gabe and Tanya decided to take the train back to London while I remained to go to Evensong at St. George's Chapel. At around 5:00ish they let us into the chapel (which is typically closed on Sundays) to watch the Evensong. Inside of St. George's, much like the inside of Windsor Castle, you can't take photos. You can't take them in Windsor Castle because the works of art there are quite old and very sensitive to light. I think they do it for the same reason, and because it is an active church, for St. George's. The service was very interesting. They sand pretty much everything, even some of the prayers. We had to sit in the nave while the actual parishioners sat in the choir area.
St. George's itself is amazing. Imagine sixty-foot-high vaulted stone ceilings with enormous pillars supporting it. Imagine, if you will, perhaps over a hundred marvelous stained-glass window panels about 2 feet by 4 feet in size depicting various saints and martyrs lining the sides and entry to the building. Also, in the choir area, where all of the benches and decor on the walls is completely hand carved, there are two candelabras that are nearly eight feet tall and carrying candles that are perhaps three feet tall. It was truly something to behold.
Once the service at St. George's was over, another classmate, Amanda, and I go on the train at Windsor and Eton Station and rode back to Slough and then back to Paddington. On the train from Paddington to Euston Square, we played a game of peek-a-boo and chatted with a hilarious four-year-old English girl named Tori. I think her mother was a bit leery at first, but then we told her we were students here for school and she was very polite with us. We asked her if we stuck out too bad and she said only when we spoke. That's a relief. The way I had been checking my maps and taking pictures, I figured I looked like a complete tourist. But, they were both very polite and a real joy to talk to.
We made our way back to the college (in the cold rain) and went back to our rooms. I've been just hanging out for the past two hours and I'm probably about to go on to sleep. Photos of today's excursions can be found here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8494714@N03/sets/72157600468633631/
After breakfast we went to Euston Square station and took a train to Paddington Station (yes, like the bear). From Paddington we took a train to Slough and then from Slough to Windsor. The train ride was pleasant and it was nice to see some areas of England besides a big city. Once in Windsor, we began our tour of Windsor Castle. Some people would go to Eton College afterwards, but I just did Windsor.
One word can describe Windsor Castle: amazing. The city of Windsor surrounds Windsor Castle in a truly marvelous way. There is, honestly, modern shops and such directly across the street from one of the most amazing castles ever built (the oldest one still used as a residence, as well). The views from Windsor Castle are amazing, and the castle itself is really something to behold. Even though we toured the castle for two hours (and truthfully one could easily spend more time there), we still only saw a small portion of the castle itself. The grounds are enormous.
After the tour, two other classmates and I went and ate lunch at a nearby pub called The Three Tuns (a tun has something to do with a cask of wine). The woman we ate with, Tanya, had a tuna melt that she said was awesome. Gabe and I both got the Sunday Roast (his with lamb and mine with beef). It was out of this world. Roasted potatoes, three big slices of roast beef, broccoli, peas and carrots, Yorkshire pudding, covered in a delicious gravy. It has been, easily, the best meal I've had here. The Three Tuns is definitely a pub worth checking out if you're ever in Windsor. The woman that brought us our food was also a fine looking English lass, as well.
Once we finished at The Three Tuns, we made our way around Windsor. We went to the riverside and saw the beautiful (and big!) swans which people were feeding. We also walked around and got some new views of Windsor Castle and the town of Windsor itself. It was a very nice place and it finally stopped raining, so that was pleasant. Up until that point it had been rainy and breezy all day. We also stopped in a nearby church that was having an exhibition on weddings, and took some photographs of this amazing place. We also spoke with some of the natives inside of the church who were very nice.
Gabe and Tanya decided to take the train back to London while I remained to go to Evensong at St. George's Chapel. At around 5:00ish they let us into the chapel (which is typically closed on Sundays) to watch the Evensong. Inside of St. George's, much like the inside of Windsor Castle, you can't take photos. You can't take them in Windsor Castle because the works of art there are quite old and very sensitive to light. I think they do it for the same reason, and because it is an active church, for St. George's. The service was very interesting. They sand pretty much everything, even some of the prayers. We had to sit in the nave while the actual parishioners sat in the choir area.
St. George's itself is amazing. Imagine sixty-foot-high vaulted stone ceilings with enormous pillars supporting it. Imagine, if you will, perhaps over a hundred marvelous stained-glass window panels about 2 feet by 4 feet in size depicting various saints and martyrs lining the sides and entry to the building. Also, in the choir area, where all of the benches and decor on the walls is completely hand carved, there are two candelabras that are nearly eight feet tall and carrying candles that are perhaps three feet tall. It was truly something to behold.
Once the service at St. George's was over, another classmate, Amanda, and I go on the train at Windsor and Eton Station and rode back to Slough and then back to Paddington. On the train from Paddington to Euston Square, we played a game of peek-a-boo and chatted with a hilarious four-year-old English girl named Tori. I think her mother was a bit leery at first, but then we told her we were students here for school and she was very polite with us. We asked her if we stuck out too bad and she said only when we spoke. That's a relief. The way I had been checking my maps and taking pictures, I figured I looked like a complete tourist. But, they were both very polite and a real joy to talk to.
We made our way back to the college (in the cold rain) and went back to our rooms. I've been just hanging out for the past two hours and I'm probably about to go on to sleep. Photos of today's excursions can be found here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8494714@N03/sets/72157600468633631/
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Day Two: Olde London Town
I started off the day waking up early. It wasn't intentional, but it happened anyways. After ironing my khakis, dress shirts and ties with a iron that was pouring water like crazy, I went out for a stroll around our area here in London. I got to see a nice area of town called Bedford square with some pretty town houses, then made my way to some great public gardens and walked the streets of London before most of the general population was awake. Besides a few folks, the only people that were really out were the street sweepers. London, in the morning, is a filthy town.
I then got back to the college and went downstairs for my first official "English breakfast". There was nothing really "English" about it. I had some scrambled eggs, a hashbrown, a vegetarian sausage thing, and some toast. Of course, there was also orange juice. The vegetarian sausage was the only English part of the meal that I tried. It sucked. Imagine eating a bad egg roll for breakfast.
A few people and myself them went for a ride on the Tube, which was surprisingly easy to figure out. In fact, I am overwhelmingly impressed with the London public transportation system as far as the Tube goes. I haven't taken a bus yet, but I am sure I will. After making a quick run to Trafalgar Square, we then made our way back to the college and began the college-sanctioned scavenger hunt.
We spent most of the morning seeing the main sites in London. We saw Trafalgar Square, Picadilly Circus, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, the London Eye, etc. One of my favorite aspects were the street performers that you see when you cross over Hungerford Footbridge Bridge towards the London Eye. They were amazing; except for one street performer who simply grabbed a picture from and held it up like a portrait of himself. How he could expect someone to tip such a lousy attempt is beyond me.
We then continued to ride around the town a bit. We went to Leicester Square (which is pronounced "Lester" because a British lady here was kind enough to correct me) and made our way up to Covent Gardens, seeing the Theater District. There was a lot of great stuff to see and I intend on doing a more thorough tour of the town during my stay. Our group of 11 eventually got broken up when 7 of the people went in one direction to find St. Paul's Cathedral and the other four of us went in the other direction. The four of us located St. Paul's Cathedral while the other group rode on back to the college with no luck. Of course, I'm not really sure if it was worth the walk: I could have saved St. Paul's for another day. My feet are not exhausted.
We came back to the college and ate dinner at a local pizza place called Italiano Coffee Inc., after of course we went into another place called Italiano Uno and looked at the menu and realized it was not the restaurant we were looking for. Nonetheless, the pizza was excellent and only cost 3 pounds (that's about 6 dollars for an 11-inch pizza). We ate down in the lounge here at the dorms and had a good time. Afterwards, my neighbor Donald and I went down to the local grocery store called Tesco (where last night they would not accept my money because it was "old" and said I needed to go change it at a bank) and picked up some groceries. I went ahead and got some snacks and a meal or two for next week.
Right now the rest of the group is out pub crawling while I am typing this. It's been a long day and I plan to be well-rested for tomorrow. The plan is to visit Windsor Castle tomorrow, which I don't doubt will be amazing.
Here's a link to today's photos, there are quite a few:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8494714@N03/sets/72157600453135534/
P.S. Apparently on Friday night, while I was back at the dorms, the group ended up going to a bar called the Crown and Scepter. While there, one of the guys tried to get one of the locals to buy drinks for them, but the local didn't go for it. Another member of the group ended up getting called "Sunshine" by one of the guys in the bar. Low and behold, the Crown and Scepter is a gay bar in London. Two of the group members didn't find that out until Saturday. Another little funny aspect to this story is that they somehow managed to take two glasses from the pub. Care to know the name of the beer company on the glasses? Sleeman's.
I then got back to the college and went downstairs for my first official "English breakfast". There was nothing really "English" about it. I had some scrambled eggs, a hashbrown, a vegetarian sausage thing, and some toast. Of course, there was also orange juice. The vegetarian sausage was the only English part of the meal that I tried. It sucked. Imagine eating a bad egg roll for breakfast.
A few people and myself them went for a ride on the Tube, which was surprisingly easy to figure out. In fact, I am overwhelmingly impressed with the London public transportation system as far as the Tube goes. I haven't taken a bus yet, but I am sure I will. After making a quick run to Trafalgar Square, we then made our way back to the college and began the college-sanctioned scavenger hunt.
We spent most of the morning seeing the main sites in London. We saw Trafalgar Square, Picadilly Circus, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, the London Eye, etc. One of my favorite aspects were the street performers that you see when you cross over Hungerford Footbridge Bridge towards the London Eye. They were amazing; except for one street performer who simply grabbed a picture from and held it up like a portrait of himself. How he could expect someone to tip such a lousy attempt is beyond me.
We then continued to ride around the town a bit. We went to Leicester Square (which is pronounced "Lester" because a British lady here was kind enough to correct me) and made our way up to Covent Gardens, seeing the Theater District. There was a lot of great stuff to see and I intend on doing a more thorough tour of the town during my stay. Our group of 11 eventually got broken up when 7 of the people went in one direction to find St. Paul's Cathedral and the other four of us went in the other direction. The four of us located St. Paul's Cathedral while the other group rode on back to the college with no luck. Of course, I'm not really sure if it was worth the walk: I could have saved St. Paul's for another day. My feet are not exhausted.
We came back to the college and ate dinner at a local pizza place called Italiano Coffee Inc., after of course we went into another place called Italiano Uno and looked at the menu and realized it was not the restaurant we were looking for. Nonetheless, the pizza was excellent and only cost 3 pounds (that's about 6 dollars for an 11-inch pizza). We ate down in the lounge here at the dorms and had a good time. Afterwards, my neighbor Donald and I went down to the local grocery store called Tesco (where last night they would not accept my money because it was "old" and said I needed to go change it at a bank) and picked up some groceries. I went ahead and got some snacks and a meal or two for next week.
Right now the rest of the group is out pub crawling while I am typing this. It's been a long day and I plan to be well-rested for tomorrow. The plan is to visit Windsor Castle tomorrow, which I don't doubt will be amazing.
Here's a link to today's photos, there are quite a few:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8494714@N03/sets/72157600453135534/
P.S. Apparently on Friday night, while I was back at the dorms, the group ended up going to a bar called the Crown and Scepter. While there, one of the guys tried to get one of the locals to buy drinks for them, but the local didn't go for it. Another member of the group ended up getting called "Sunshine" by one of the guys in the bar. Low and behold, the Crown and Scepter is a gay bar in London. Two of the group members didn't find that out until Saturday. Another little funny aspect to this story is that they somehow managed to take two glasses from the pub. Care to know the name of the beer company on the glasses? Sleeman's.
Friday, June 22, 2007
Day One: Arrival
I woke up Thursday morning and got everything organized and underway. I checked and double-checked. According to me, everything was going smoothly. That was of course, until my cat Medusa decided he wasn't going to show up. Typically this wouldn't be a big deal, but no one would be there to feed him for the next four days, so I wanted to put him in the house. Adam came over early to pick me up and he and I spent the next 20 minutes walking around shouting for Medusa. To make a long story short, he ended up walking across the neighbor's yard at the exact moment as Adam and I were backing out of the driveway. It was a mad dash to put him back in the house and make it to Groome Transportation on time. Thankfully I made it: I was the next to last passenger to get on board.
The ride on Groome went well. I spoke with a woman named Kim who was raised in Columbus and now resides in Washington, D.C. We arrived at the airport and everything there seemed to be going well. I waited for what seemed and eternity in the Lufthansa line behind some people who were having trouble checking their bags. What happened after their issues were solved? All of the Lufthansa baggage check people left for 30 minutes until 12:40, and then came out and started checking luggage. When we (that is, the people on our trip) tried to get our stuff checked in, guess what? No ticket. We were told we had e-tickets, whatever those are, but apparently that was wrong. So, our site director, Dr. Barron had to run to the Delta terminal (across the airport, mind you) to get our tickets. Finally, she arrived and we managed to get our luggage checked.
After grabbing some Arby's at the airport ($9 for a sandwich, some fries, and a water), we waited an hour and a half to finally board the plane. The flight went quite well, and I must say that Lufthansa is an excellent airline. The stewardesses on our flight from Atlanta to Frankfurt were awesome. They served us dinner (rigatoni with sun-dried tomatoes), breakfast (some ham-and-cheese thing I didn't eat and some shortbread cookies; thankfully I had brought a Nutri-Grain bar with me), as well as all the drinks you can handle (alcohol included). We waited about an hour and a half in the Frankfurt airport, which is one of the single most depressing places I have ever been. Not only were their people sleeping on the floor, it was a dark and dull and boring, and their McDonald's served some sort of salami pizza thing.
The flight from Frankfurt was all right. I managed to sleep about a half hour, which was helpful since I was awake for the entire eight hour flight to Frankfurt. Although, the stewardesses flying to London were not as nice. On an interesting note: all of our stewardesses flying with Lufthansa from Atlanta to Frankfurt were blonde haired and blue eyes. I suppose they still take that Aryan thing very seriously.
We got to London, went through customs and got our bags with no problems. We then boarded a bus (coach) and road to our location here in downtown London, which is where I am now writing from (at first I didn't think I'd be able to make this post due to some computer problems with the network here at the college). The rooms they have us in are quaint, I think they'll do well since we won't be in them much. Although, the bathrooms here are quite a disappointment. As you'll be able to see from my photos, the toilets here are 1930s wall-mounted tank toilets. I'm talking serious Michael Coreleone in the Godfather in the restaurant, toilets. The showers are so small that it's almost comical. The fully-stocked kitchens were were promised are not a reality. The only reality to them is that they are small, unstocked, and filled with dirty dishes people chose not to clean up.
We had an orientation this afternoon, which went pretty well. We've got a scavenger hunt planned for tomorrow. The food has been quite delicious here. For lunch I had beef tips and gravy with fried mashed potatos (like a tater tot except with mashed potatos). For dinner I had chicken something or other, which was nice, as well as chips (fries). The chef came and talked to us, and he is one funny, crazy Scotsman. After that we went walking around our area a bit. It's nice, although the people are quite unfriendly. We went to two different pubs in our area (Potion and the King and Queen). The first was kind of trendy and loud, and the second was your ideal British pub. From the pictures of former monarchs, to the unique beer, to the wood panelling, all the way to the British patrons drunkily singing "American Pie". The bartender, Claire, was a nice lady. As I write this a few of my fellow students are still at the bar. I chose to come home and get some sleep. I woke up on Friday morning at 7:30 a.m. and have not really slept since then.
Well, I suppose that is about all for today. There was much to report because so much has been going on. Here are the photos from today:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8494714@N03/sets/72157600435148893/
They're not very interesting, as I didn't want to take a million photos today.
P.S. The weather so far has been a bit weird. It got quite rainy yesterday, though nothing strong, just a lot of drizzle at strange intervals. The sun would be shining and it was rainy. This morning (Friday morning) it is, again, cloudy and a bit cool. I expect it will rain yet again today.
The ride on Groome went well. I spoke with a woman named Kim who was raised in Columbus and now resides in Washington, D.C. We arrived at the airport and everything there seemed to be going well. I waited for what seemed and eternity in the Lufthansa line behind some people who were having trouble checking their bags. What happened after their issues were solved? All of the Lufthansa baggage check people left for 30 minutes until 12:40, and then came out and started checking luggage. When we (that is, the people on our trip) tried to get our stuff checked in, guess what? No ticket. We were told we had e-tickets, whatever those are, but apparently that was wrong. So, our site director, Dr. Barron had to run to the Delta terminal (across the airport, mind you) to get our tickets. Finally, she arrived and we managed to get our luggage checked.
After grabbing some Arby's at the airport ($9 for a sandwich, some fries, and a water), we waited an hour and a half to finally board the plane. The flight went quite well, and I must say that Lufthansa is an excellent airline. The stewardesses on our flight from Atlanta to Frankfurt were awesome. They served us dinner (rigatoni with sun-dried tomatoes), breakfast (some ham-and-cheese thing I didn't eat and some shortbread cookies; thankfully I had brought a Nutri-Grain bar with me), as well as all the drinks you can handle (alcohol included). We waited about an hour and a half in the Frankfurt airport, which is one of the single most depressing places I have ever been. Not only were their people sleeping on the floor, it was a dark and dull and boring, and their McDonald's served some sort of salami pizza thing.
The flight from Frankfurt was all right. I managed to sleep about a half hour, which was helpful since I was awake for the entire eight hour flight to Frankfurt. Although, the stewardesses flying to London were not as nice. On an interesting note: all of our stewardesses flying with Lufthansa from Atlanta to Frankfurt were blonde haired and blue eyes. I suppose they still take that Aryan thing very seriously.
We got to London, went through customs and got our bags with no problems. We then boarded a bus (coach) and road to our location here in downtown London, which is where I am now writing from (at first I didn't think I'd be able to make this post due to some computer problems with the network here at the college). The rooms they have us in are quaint, I think they'll do well since we won't be in them much. Although, the bathrooms here are quite a disappointment. As you'll be able to see from my photos, the toilets here are 1930s wall-mounted tank toilets. I'm talking serious Michael Coreleone in the Godfather in the restaurant, toilets. The showers are so small that it's almost comical. The fully-stocked kitchens were were promised are not a reality. The only reality to them is that they are small, unstocked, and filled with dirty dishes people chose not to clean up.
We had an orientation this afternoon, which went pretty well. We've got a scavenger hunt planned for tomorrow. The food has been quite delicious here. For lunch I had beef tips and gravy with fried mashed potatos (like a tater tot except with mashed potatos). For dinner I had chicken something or other, which was nice, as well as chips (fries). The chef came and talked to us, and he is one funny, crazy Scotsman. After that we went walking around our area a bit. It's nice, although the people are quite unfriendly. We went to two different pubs in our area (Potion and the King and Queen). The first was kind of trendy and loud, and the second was your ideal British pub. From the pictures of former monarchs, to the unique beer, to the wood panelling, all the way to the British patrons drunkily singing "American Pie". The bartender, Claire, was a nice lady. As I write this a few of my fellow students are still at the bar. I chose to come home and get some sleep. I woke up on Friday morning at 7:30 a.m. and have not really slept since then.
Well, I suppose that is about all for today. There was much to report because so much has been going on. Here are the photos from today:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8494714@N03/sets/72157600435148893/
They're not very interesting, as I didn't want to take a million photos today.
P.S. The weather so far has been a bit weird. It got quite rainy yesterday, though nothing strong, just a lot of drizzle at strange intervals. The sun would be shining and it was rainy. This morning (Friday morning) it is, again, cloudy and a bit cool. I expect it will rain yet again today.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
'Twas the Night Before...
It's Wednesday night, June 20. I fly out of Atlanta to Frankfurt tomorrow and then we'll leave Frankfurt and arrive in London on Friday. I've still got a little bit of packing to do tomorrow; and once I get done I plan to double-check the packing. As best I can tell, I should have everything I'll need during my stay.
Adam will be by in the morning to pick me up and take me to Groome Transportation. From there it's up to Atlanta and then on to Frankfurt. I am, needless to say, very excited. Please pray for me; I know I'll need it.
I look forward to hearing from folks while I'm over there. It will be quite odd not seeing and speaking to you all. Anyways, if I haven't gotten to tell you face to face: I hope everyone has a great summer and I look forward to seeing you when I return. God bless.
Adam will be by in the morning to pick me up and take me to Groome Transportation. From there it's up to Atlanta and then on to Frankfurt. I am, needless to say, very excited. Please pray for me; I know I'll need it.
I look forward to hearing from folks while I'm over there. It will be quite odd not seeing and speaking to you all. Anyways, if I haven't gotten to tell you face to face: I hope everyone has a great summer and I look forward to seeing you when I return. God bless.
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