London, Baby!

Our travels begin at the San Francisco International Terminal.

And, then we part ways for the next two weeks. Jay flies to Curacao and I fly to London with my niece, Becky.

I already miss you, Jay Harris!!!

Non-stop flight with Non-stop seeing all the sights. Our itinerary is packed. Sweet dreams from the plane to rest up until we arrive at Heathrow.

A beautiful day with a couple small showers to welcome us to London.

Our itinerary is packed each day beginning with an eleven hour tour to Stonehenge, Bath, and Windsor.

Stonehenge is the oldest standing sight in Great Britain. There are so many theories behind Stonehenge, however they do know of burial places all around it.

Bath is a town in Great Britain that needs a whole lot more time than we spent. It is an ancient town where people came for the healing baths of the natural springs. Today, it is all tourist enjoying the beauty of the town. If you come, stay a couple days.

As most towns in Europe, there is a beautiful church to visit. We only had time for tea.

Next stop, Windsor Castle, just in the knick of time to walk through St George’s Cathedral to give our respects to Queen Elizabeth and Phillip.

Also, just in time to see the changing of the guard at Windsor.

As we we arriving at Windsor, my “one hour to get somewhere alarm” was playing. I found that quite interesting since I felt like I checked and rechecked our schedule for this trip. I couldn’t even imagine what that would be.

Sure enough, we were supposed to be arriving for our dinner reservations in one hour at the Royal Albert Hall prior to the symphony we had tickets for that night. Oopsy! Becky may fire me from her travel partner and planner.

So much for dinner since we were two hours away.

The Royal Albert Hall is absolutely beautiful inside and out. I may have redeemed myself as travel planner as we walked in two minutes before intermission and outside our seats was the Champagne Bar. We just sat down for a moment watching everyone come out for intermission.

This was the view from our seats.

We were sitting by a group of young boys from a boys school nearby. So precious all dressed up in their suits listening to the beautiful music. Young George was sitting next to me. On my chair prior to arriving was a little note that said, “Hi George” with a smiley face. George and I decided it was some gorgeous young lady admiring him from afar. He absolutely loved that idea. All during the second act I watched him read and reread his little note. I know I will cherish that moment of watching a young boy wondering.

Can you think back of a time when an admirer had you wondering? Or how about a special note given to you by your significant other? Do you still have it?

It also reminds me of the love notes our Lord gives us all throughout His Word. Want to read a great one? First Thessalonians would be my go to.

By the way, the music that night was from Romeo and Juliet.

Yes, that was all our first day.

Day two…Since Royal Albert was added to the first day, we thought day two would be an easy day taking in some of the sights of London using The Big Bus of London. We forgot to take a picture by the bus.

But first we walked to Notting Hill. Anyone seen the movie? It was on my check list before traveling.

Here are a few things we saw.

London Bridge is the most disappointing bridge of them all. I didn’t even take a picture. However, I might be able to say Becky tripped, fell off the curb, and twisted her ankle a little bit. All the while, instead of helping her up, I was thinking she is going to get run over by the traffic. Thank goodness for the red light that stopped it. She’s okay! I don’t get Aunt of the year for that one at all.

The first London Bridge was dismantled in 1831. The second one you can find at Lake Havasu.

On to other attractions.

There was so much. Our light day was over 29,000 steps.

Day three I etched my travel planning redemption with Kensington Palace tour, the gardens, high tea at the palace and, well, I’ll make you wait for it.

Redemption came with last minute tickets to “The Phantom of the Opera” Center stage, row J at “His Majesty Theater”. Back in the running for Aunt of the year as Becky loves the theater as much as I do.

Since 1994 it has been my dream to see The Phantom in London where it all began. Dream – checked off, it was all I had imagined along with some spontaneity.

I think both of us could have come home the next day, however there is three more very full days of this time in London.

Before we continue in London – across the pond and way down south, more Lionfish are being speared in Curacao. Our mighty hunter is at it, cleaning our reef system one fish at a time and bringing up 14 or so most dives. Thank you, Jay. I love you and miss you!

“Fubol is Life” or my favorite, “Be a Goldfish”. Ever heard these phrases? They are from the show Ted Lasso. It was filmed in a Burroughs called Richmond. I think a Bond 007 had some scenes from this area too.

Ted is a guy from Kansas who had never heard of soccer, however came to London to coach a team. He was a very kind hearted man, who took many egos and formed a team. He placed this sign in the locker room the first show and it became the teams mantra.

The park, the pub, the streets of this town are so fun to walk around. none of the pictures really do it justice, so I will move on from that day with this picture.

Monday, day six – another packed day with Westminster Abbey, changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, Tower of London, and cruising the Thames.

In our last blog, “History is Fun” we had some history lessons. Let me tell you, these places are packed with history long before our country was founded. The pomp that still occurs as it did 1500 or more years ago is astonishing. The Kings and Queens, the Princes and Princesses are hard to keep up with.

Westminster Abbey is where all the kings and queens have been crowned and ordained. There are so many great writers, scientists, and nobels buried and/or honored with a stone here. People such as Handel, Shakespeare, Issac Newton, Darwin, C.S Lewis, Robert Browning, T.S. Elliott, David Livingston. A person could get lost for days in the Abbey.

The changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace was more parade than I had imagined. The guards are paraded with a band through the streets to Buckingham and St. James palaces. They are on duty 24-48 hours, standing for 2 hours at a time and 4 off for rest – rain or shine.

For me one of the biggest surprises of this trip (other than the The Phantom) was the tower of London. I thought it was a bridge. Talking about history! This building houses the crown jewels from kings and queens. It was a place of beheading such as Queen Anne Boleyn, the nine day queen-Catherine Howard, and Lady Jane Grey. There were hangings, along with so much torture. It is where the Beefeaters live and work. (No, not a place where gin is made) It was London’s first zoo. And, resident ravens are the guardians of the tower.

There is so much to share and show. This is just some of the highlights. We averaged around 23,000 steps a day in London.

As this part of our trip winds down, I’m coming back to the phrase “Be a Goldfish”. The Goldfish has one of the smallest brains, therefore doesn’t remember much. They forget. I like to think giving grace, mercy, and forgiveness to one another each day is like being a Goldfish.

Go out and be a Goldfish today.

Blessing,

Jay, Kelly, and Becky