photo England13_zpse9a43aa1.jpg

This month has been a crazy one. I started off the month with a work trip to Orlando, and Jeremy traveled quite a bit the first week of the month. Then we left for 10 days in England. Then I got sick. Then our cat ate some ribbon and a shoestring and almost had to have emergency life-or-death surgery.

Now, I am back at work, and Jeremy is about to start fall tour season, and life is feeling a little bit more normal. But my heart is still reeling a bit from what I now recognize as 10 of my favorite days ever. It was my fourth time in the UK, and it was also my favorite. We had an amazing trip, and I am having some withdrawals from the scenery, the tea, the people, and the sense of purpose that filled our days on a trip that we have been anticipating/hoping to take for years.

I have already posted the pictures on Facebook, ordered a photo album, and had some time to decompress and journal about the experience (thanks to the two sick days that immediately followed our trip), but I figured a blog post would be the way to round out my recap of the trip. We went as a couple to serve alongside a ministry called UK-USA Ministries (www.uk-usaministries.com) with one of my former youth pastors and to work at a school called The King’s Academy. We basically used music everywhere we went to build relationships and plant seeds and spark conversation and lead worship.

I will be sharing next about the time we actually spent doing that in the Northeast region of the UK, but first, we spent two and a half days in the great city of London as tourists. It was our only “vacation” with just the two of us this year (barring a couple of quick weekend getaways), and we had an absolute blast.

I have been to London several times before. First was when I was about 12, and my family spent nearly three weeks there. I still have SUCH vivid memories from that trip; that is when I first fell in love with England. Then I went back twice in highschool. Both times it was for little more than a day at a time, and the experiences were very rushed and part of a large group.

This time, my best friend and I got to explore and set our own schedule and get lost together and do so many things in a short amount of time, and it was such an amazing experience.

 photo England1_zps6f313f45.jpg photo England5_zps05f5ae57.jpg photo England6_zps12cc16f6.jpg

The first day, we arrived to our hotel around 2pm. First we went to St. Paul’s Cathedral and climbed the hundreds of steps to the top to look out over London. We stayed close to the Tower of London, and it was just a short trip to the South bank where we went to the Borough Market, walked along the River Thames, stopped into the Tate Modern Art Museum (we are not modern art people, apparently), saw Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, and visited two historic local pubs (favorites of the likes of Shakespeare and Dickens) before settling into some fish & chips at a not-so-historic pub that wasn’t so crowded. Then we retired to a fairly early night’s sleep at our budget (yet extremely acceptable) hotel.

 photo England2_zpsea526ade.jpg photo England7_zpsce2bf665.jpg photo England9_zps873ac0f6.jpg photo England10_zps14cf7f5d.jpg photo England17_zpscc976771.jpg

Day two. The day of magic. Because we went to Harry Potter Studios in Leavesden and saw Wicked on the West End. Lots of magic wands and spells. We LOVED Harry Potter Studios. If you are a fan of HP, it is the place to see all the original sets, props, and the behind-the-scenes details of how the movies were made. We spent four hours there, and we could have spent longer! Then we made the trek back to London and took a short nap before heading out to dinner at a Tapas restaurant (after searching in vain for sushi) and Wicked on the West End.

 photo England11_zpsa656e721.jpg photo england19_zps6b24574f.jpg photo England8_zps66c1ca1d.jpg photo England14_zpsebd2c5e2.jpg photo England15_zps8fb33edf.jpg photo England16_zps0208febe.jpg photo England18_zpsb0c01ec0.jpg photo England4_zps86b8574f.jpg

Day three. The London speed race.
Tour of the Tower of London (so amazing for this history buff!)
Churchill War Room Tour
Church Service at Westminster Abbey
Trafalgar Square
Buckingham Palace
Big Ben
Parliament
Picadilly Circus

We took in the major sights of London in one big gulp. This day was a highlight for me because I love learning about the British history and seeing iconic sights of Britain. I also loved attending a church service at Westminster Abbey where the reverend gave a stirring sermon on the meaning of the cross as more than a symbol.

After two and a half invigorating London days in practically PERFECT Fall weather in the 60s and 70s (Fahrenheit), we boarded a train for the Northeast, and that is where the adventure really began…

To be continued.