As we headed to Zambia we were fortunate enough to have a layover in London. We decided to make the most of it and extend it for three days so we could see a bit of the city and surrounding country. As this was my first time in Europe I was pretty excited, although the jet lag dulled my senses a bit. As usual when we travel, we didn't leave much, if any, time for rest so it was go go go for three straight days before getting on our flight to Africa. Somehow tiredness never seems to deter us from many adventures though, and we had a blast!
Our first day in London we took a bike tour, where we spent four hours cruising around town on bikes in a line of people. (Shane and Melia, it wasn't nearly as nerdy as the segue tour of Savannah would have been!) I decided that biking was one of the best ways to see the city, since you can travel much farther than on foot, and you're able to get some good exercise. There's nothing quite like having a breeze in your hair as you pedal past Buckingham Palace.
Our second day we drove our rental car over to Frome, stopping at Stonehenge on the way. We were too cheap to pay to get inside the fence and didn't want to be lame and have our picture taken with the fence behind us. Despite all that, Patrick still managed to get a good shot of the stones. I really expected them to be taller...
In Frome we met up with Chris Burgess and his band, Harpeth Rising. They just happened to be performing during the time we would be in the country, so there was no way we'd pass up that opportunity! As always, they were fabulous, and it made me to proud to see Chris, whom I've known since before time began, being famous enough to be asked for his autograph. After the show we all went out to eat and regaled the rest of the band with embarrassing Chris stories, of which there are no end.
Our last day we spent driving to Dover to see the White Cliffs and Dover Castle. The little kid in me was pretty psyched about seeing a real castle. The inside was all set up with furniture and plastic food to recreate what it looked like back in the days of clanky knights and snooty princesses. Pretty cool if you ask me. The cliffs were also breathtaking. It was a little too bad that they'd built a giant port right next to them, but they're still very beautiful if you just look in the other direction.
One of the things that really amazed me about London is what an international city it is. I suppose it's true for all big cities, but I was surprised by the fact that we heard more foreign languages than British accents! I think in a way cities like that are small pictures of what is to come in the Kingdom of Heaven. All nations, peoples, and languages will be represented worshiping at the throne of God, and being surrounded by such a variety of nationalities is a good reminder of that.
So all in all England was awesome, and we could have spent a lot more time exploring the city, but alas, we had yet another plane to catch... More to come on our travels to Zambia soon!
In Frome we met up with Chris Burgess and his band, Harpeth Rising. They just happened to be performing during the time we would be in the country, so there was no way we'd pass up that opportunity! As always, they were fabulous, and it made me to proud to see Chris, whom I've known since before time began, being famous enough to be asked for his autograph. After the show we all went out to eat and regaled the rest of the band with embarrassing Chris stories, of which there are no end.
One of the things that really amazed me about London is what an international city it is. I suppose it's true for all big cities, but I was surprised by the fact that we heard more foreign languages than British accents! I think in a way cities like that are small pictures of what is to come in the Kingdom of Heaven. All nations, peoples, and languages will be represented worshiping at the throne of God, and being surrounded by such a variety of nationalities is a good reminder of that.
So all in all England was awesome, and we could have spent a lot more time exploring the city, but alas, we had yet another plane to catch... More to come on our travels to Zambia soon!
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