Catch Up Day

I didn't blog yesterday because at the beginning of the day I just didn't feel well so I just slept and only started the tale end of my day at 1530. I needed to figure out my phone situation because I was just about out of credit (minutes to you Americans) and because it's an Irish SIM card I couldn't top it up in England. No matter. I ended up going out to Neasdan at 2300h and walking down a dark ally past three blokes all dressed in black. It appeared to me that they were eyeing me. It could have been my defensive paranoia or it could have been they were praying on people there. When I had to come back by about 40 minutes later they were gone but I kept a wary eye out and made it back to West Kensington alive, safe, exhausted and able to make a phone call. I called home for 2.75 minutes and it only cost 32 pence. Totally worth it to hear how my family is doing back home.

During the phone adventure I ended up at the Tesco customer service desk for about an hour. At one point the young man from Denmark was there. We started talking and we got onto the subject of hearing from God. It seemed like rather a deep conversation for the 15 minutes we ended up talking and was asking questions like "how do you hear from God?" "What does His voice sound like?" "What does He tell you?" Then he had to go and it was over. He sounded almost exactly like the prince from the film "The Prince And Me." From his expressions and the questions he was asking he seemed genuinely interested and I pray that God meets him where he's at because he really seemed to be searching. So that was one bright moment out of yesterday which wasn't quite as pleasant in other ways, but it's over now.

This morning when I went to leave West Kensington and head to Bromley South the District Train was experiencing some issues and I was stuck on a full train in a tunnel, not moving, with all my luggage for about 20 minutes. Everyone was really calm and no one complained at all which I found interesting. Once it moved again I was able to switch trains and make it to my destination. The first time all trip when I found the person meeting me just as I came out. As opposed to the usual I'm waiting at one spot as the other person is waiting at another spot for 30 minutes.

This afternoon I had tea in the cutest English Garden with the most adorable woman of God. We had tea and cucumber sandwiches in her "summer house."

And now I'm catching up on all the past pictures.


FYI: London's streets aren't marked very well at all and you very well could be on the street you are trying to find and have walked up and down it several times until you stop a nice gentleman with a British accent (you have a hard time finding one of those in certain parts of London) who whips out his iPhone and says "oh, it's right here." He didn't know what the street was called either apparently.

Greenwich part II

I'm in Greenwich for one more night. I didn't get to see much of Greenwich today as I was traipsing around Camdon and Kensington. I'm really figuring out the "underground" as I feel I've spent at least half my day on a train. Nothing new to report and no pics again. Soon though I hope...soon.

Greenwich

I didn't do much today except a load of laundry, packed up my stuff, said fair well to Liz and headed to Greenwich. After taking more trains in the underground than was necessary I finally arrived in Greenwich and found my sleeping accommodations for the night. Going to catch up on some sleep. I went to bed around 8 pm, woke up after two hours and now heading back to bed for round two. I am loving this sleep thing. Where have you been all my life?



FYI: when in the "underground" and a train comes into the platform and it says its going to Hammersmith on the train sign but the announcer says its going to Baker Street, the announcer is right.

A Sunny Day In London Town

My deepest apologies to both of you following my blog. Alas I have no pictures for you again today. I Do hope to rectify that tomorrow but no promises. We have to see how tomorrow plays out.

The sun was out all day today and I actually walked around in a t-shirt all day long. It wasn't hot but it was beautiful. Today I saw Buckingham Palace. Honestly I was slightly disappointed. I thought it was bigger and the parliament buildings and big ben looked more grand that the palace did. But I saw it nonetheless. Then we took a stroll through St. James' Park and saw other buildings and eventually we wound up at Covent Garden where there are a ton of shops, people doing magic and an opera singer or two. We had lunch and then went back home for a proper cuppa, an afternoon rest and a supper of steak pie before we headed back out after the sunset for a look at the lights of London. 

As the sun set we headed up to Tower Hill and then Trafalger Square (which is not lit up at night) where we prayed for a man in wheelchair. We asked him what he would like us to pray for and he said "I can only ask for one thing right? And can it be selfish?" That made me sad because we have this misconception in our heads about how many things we can ask God for. As though if He were to see fit to give us something we better not ask for anything else and we should never want anything, only ask for something for someone else. I stopped to think of the box I have God in. It's a much bigger box than anyone else I know, but I still put boundaries and limits to the things I think God can do in my own life. I think God wants to break out of my box on this adventure in foreign lands and honestly that has me so excited to see what is going to happen next and a little scared. But the excitement outweighs the scared bits by more than I thought it would. I know my abstract thoughts aren't anywhere near a proper measurement but it's really weird when you have complete and utter peace in the midst of the scary insecure unknown. I'm pretty sure this is what the bible calls the peace that passes all understanding. I don't understand it but the peace is A-MAZ-ING!

FYI: There are only so many lights you can see between the time that the sun sets, about 10:20 p.m., and the time that the trains stop running past Earl's Court, around 12:20 a.m. But if you walk fast you can see a lot.

The Two Towers...or four....or six

So London likes its towers. You have Tower Hill, the Tower Bridge, the Tower of London which hosts many more towers such as Martin Tower and the White Tower, not to mention Bloody Tower and there are more.

Today following breakfast we ventured out to Tower Hill. We went to the Tower of London and took a tour. It was really interesting and really old. The history behind a lot of the places there is often disturbing to say the least but parts of it are very beautiful. I then went to see the crown jewels. Some of the stones are so big they look fake. When we had been satisfied by the Tower of London (mind you we didn't see everything there was to see) we headed down to see the Globe which is where William Shakespeare's plays were performed. On the way we saw a lot of different little things like Sir Francis Drake's ship and the last remains of the first fortress built by the romans in London, the Monument and we saw many different angles of the new building the Shard. I saw the London Bridge Hospital from across the River Thames and we crossed over it on London Bridge (not the original) and saw a lot of cute little not really famous places. It was such a great day with lots of walking and some pretty great pictures. Unfortunately the wifi wasn't working at Starbucks when we stopped earlier today so I don't have any to show you today but I'll see if I can get them up tomorrow.

The most disturbing part of today was hearing about all the beheadings (and such) of people, some innocent of the charges brought against them. I can't say that I'm totally against capital punishment and I can't say that I'm totally for it either but what got me today was when people were executed, when they were innocent of the crimes, merely because some "royalty" either wanted to get them out of the picture so they could marry someone else or because they wanted to get back at someone else. The abuse of power and the treating of human life as though it were chattel because you have a title or trying to keep a title makes me angry. The injustice of it all gets to me. After my cup of Organic Kenyan Americano at Starbucks I was able to calm down and enjoy the rest of London.

It was an amazing day though, even with the afternoon at Town of London that made me angry at the loss of innocent life. I saw a lot of beautiful places and I think I got a slight sunburn on my face because the sun was out all day. It was still a bit cool if you were in the shade or wind which made it just about perfect for me.

FYI: If you are looking for cream/half & half for your coffee you won't find any in the whole of London it seems. They have skim and part-skim milk. Whole milk doesn't even seem to be common. I can't see much point in either of the skim stuff so I've taken to drinking my coffee black lately.

London on a Sunday

I set my alarm this morning so I could get up in plenty of time to get ready for church. I started laying out my clothes and puttering around and next thing I knew I had 20 minutes to do my hair and eat breakfast. I'm not sure what happened to the time this morning but I did get up early. Following breakfast we walked the three blocks to church. It was nice. I met a bunch of Americans there actually. Then we came home, ate some fruit and went out shopping. We saw a lot of stuff at Peter Lewis then went to Harrods and ate a sandwich at Paul's. Over lunch Liz and I talked about all things Holy Spirit and then prayed. It was refreshing. We then went to Hyde Park and saw a bunch of stuff in the park. It was just a nice afternoon of walking all over London. On the way home we were talking so much and having fun we got on the wrong train in the Underground. We had a good laugh after that. For supper I ended up having the best ravioli I've ever had to date at an Italian restaurant in London. It was quite delightful. This evening we had coffee at home with Marks and Spencer's cookies. Now its off to bed at almost a decent hour for me. Tomorrow is going to be exciting. I can feel it.

I ended up reading something that totally described my life so I thought I'd share it here:

Surely You must love your child. For my cup was empty and You gave me living water. My food was death and You have me The Bread Of Life. Darkness surrounded me but Your light has shattered that which kept me bound. I will praise The Lord for His amazing love and His mercies comfort me day and night. Though the wolf sought me at night Your love was the shield he could not penetrate. Though my life was sought to be destroyed You have saved me for such a time as this, to spread the good news to the nations. Continually will I sing of Your splendors. In the mornings light, at mid day, in the evenings approach and in the resting of my head will Your praise be on my lips. ~Andrea Sparks

 There is an actual Tardis in Earl's Court for all you British Sci Fi lovers.

This is Harrods. It was alright but super expensive and the perfumery room is enough to make you choke. A floor I would suggest avoiding altogether. I'm not sure how you know which scent you are smelling on your wrist in that room cause the stench could be smelled well outside the door and it made it hard for me to breath...but a sight to see nonetheless.

FYI: The British accent accounts for only 50% of the accents I've heard on the streets in London.

In London, In Love

Do you believe in love at first sight? I didn't. Then I saw London. I'm in love. Now granted I wouldn't want to be in London during the Olympics or anything, that would just be silly, but today it felt like I had been here forever and it was a good fit.

Today following a bath and breakfast, Liz and I pounded the pavement. We walked to Portobello Street  and spent hours looking at all the little vendors in the street. It is a mile long and there is everything imaginable being sold in the street. Liz and I had authentic Belgian Waffles with cream and chocolate drizzled on them. It was so good. Then we went to see some sights. We saw Trafalger Square which is kind of square, Big Ben which is very big, the parliament building which is parliamenty, and Piccadilly Circus which is not a circus at all. No men breathing fire, no elephants, no people swinging from the sky, but there were a bunch of people in funny clothes although I bet the wouldn't appreciate being called clowns. It was cool though, there are big flashing signs like in Time Square. 

We ended the afternoon out with a coffee from Starbucks. Those that know me aren't surprised, they are shocked that there was only one visit to Starbucks today. But there was too much to see to consume more than three cups of coffee today. I did have an americano made from organic beans from the rainforest instead of a Starbucks stop though. It was good. 

This evenings dinner was cooked by Master Chef Jeff who one day wants to open a Dinner & Bed instead of a Bed & Breakfast. It was salmon, halibut, vegetables and bread. It was amazing. I feel so spoiled and so blessed. God is good. I'm super excited to go to church tomorrow in London. I've had a wonderful day communing with my Lord and hanging out with my friends, I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings. Now I have to go to bed.

 This is Big Ben and the Parliament Building. There was some sort of protest taking place in front so I just kept on moving. The riot police were standing by and there were a lot of police helicopters flying around. I figured it was probably not a good time to be loitering.

 The police officer was a good sport as I asked to have my picture taken with him. He was wearing the cool hat so I had to stand next to him with my cool hat. From the smile he's sporting he doesn't look like he minds. He had been to Boston so we had that in common.

Westminster Abbey is sporting a lovely white hue this time of year as white is now is season following Memorial Day. The Abbey enjoys long walks on the beach, talking on the phone with friends, hosting coronations and making tourists take pictures.

FYI: No Joke! London has the old style cabs in periwinkle. I'll try and get a photo in the next few days. It's so cool.