Monday before Thanksgiving and got back into the States on December 2. We were very glad to be back home! BUT, we had an amazing time on the other side of the Atlantic!We headed over to St. Albans, about 30 mins. by train outside of London for the wedding of two dear friends, Hannah & Dom. So, we flew into London and made the most of the day by seeing Westminster Abby, eating at a great pub, going though both the Churchill Museum and the War Rooms Museum (both in one place), running to see Buckingham Palace through St. James' Park and catching the 4:00 ride on the London Eye-just in time to see the sun set over London and the lights come on for the night! We headed back to Victoria Station to get our bags and caught the train to St. Albans where we settled in for the night.
The next few
days we spent in St. Albans with Hannah's family helping them get all the finishing touches done on their wedding stuff! (That is the happy couple in the picture to the left) We were invited to a 'rehearsal dinner', but in England they don't have rehearsal dinners, so it was just a great excuse to have a very fancy meal with friends and family. It was such an honor to be included! We had a great time just being a part of their family for a couple of days! We also attended the wedding on Saturday, which was so wonderful! We helped in the kitchen serving tea and coffee after the service. We then all headed to a fancy, fancy hotel for the sit-down-eat-fancy-duck reception! We were able to spend time with some of our 
old friends from England...and Rusty was able to meet some of my friends who weren't able to come to the US! It was such an encouraging time for both of us...to pick back up on friendships with people we hadn't seen in 3 years! What an encouragement from God! We decided that we would definitely have to come back to England in another 3 years...or sooner! Whatever the Lord allows!
days we spent in St. Albans with Hannah's family helping them get all the finishing touches done on their wedding stuff! (That is the happy couple in the picture to the left) We were invited to a 'rehearsal dinner', but in England they don't have rehearsal dinners, so it was just a great excuse to have a very fancy meal with friends and family. It was such an honor to be included! We had a great time just being a part of their family for a couple of days! We also attended the wedding on Saturday, which was so wonderful! We helped in the kitchen serving tea and coffee after the service. We then all headed to a fancy, fancy hotel for the sit-down-eat-fancy-duck reception! We were able to spend time with some of our 
old friends from England...and Rusty was able to meet some of my friends who weren't able to come to the US! It was such an encouraging time for both of us...to pick back up on friendships with people we hadn't seen in 3 years! What an encouragement from God! We decided that we would definitely have to come back to England in another 3 years...or sooner! Whatever the Lord allows! After we had a great day of wedding-y stuff, we headed back to our B&B to pack to 
head to London the next day. We trained into London on Sunday morning and found our way to our new B&B (which wasn't nearly as nice as the one in St. Albans...). We dropped our bags and headed out for the day. We made it to the British Library and saw amazing treasures of literature, including the Codex Sinaticus (early manuscript of the Bible), some of Jane Austen's diaries, Leonardo de Vinci's drawings, and more! We then headed to the British Museum. We got a little lost on the way, but finally found our way. It is the largest collection of Egyptian artifacts and actually has a ton of pieces of the Greek Parthenon in its collection. It was a great time exploring old cultures! It was a HUGE (!!!!!) museum, so we just hit the highlights thanks to our trusty Rick Steves' guide book! We headed out of the museum to enjoy the London culture in the purest form possible...P
icadilly Circus! What a shock to the senses after spending a couple of hours in the museum! It is London's equivalent to Times Square in NY, with all the lights, noise, food and humanity! We walked around and finally decided to try our hand at Yo! Sushi, a sushi restaurant that boasts of the longest food conveyor belt. Soooo much fun! :)
head to London the next day. We trained into London on Sunday morning and found our way to our new B&B (which wasn't nearly as nice as the one in St. Albans...). We dropped our bags and headed out for the day. We made it to the British Library and saw amazing treasures of literature, including the Codex Sinaticus (early manuscript of the Bible), some of Jane Austen's diaries, Leonardo de Vinci's drawings, and more! We then headed to the British Museum. We got a little lost on the way, but finally found our way. It is the largest collection of Egyptian artifacts and actually has a ton of pieces of the Greek Parthenon in its collection. It was a great time exploring old cultures! It was a HUGE (!!!!!) museum, so we just hit the highlights thanks to our trusty Rick Steves' guide book! We headed out of the museum to enjoy the London culture in the purest form possible...P
icadilly Circus! What a shock to the senses after spending a couple of hours in the museum! It is London's equivalent to Times Square in NY, with all the lights, noise, food and humanity! We walked around and finally decided to try our hand at Yo! Sushi, a sushi restaurant that boasts of the longest food conveyor belt. Soooo much fun! :)After some more food near our hostel, we settled in for the night, just to get up bright and early the next morning to head to Trafalgar's Square. Usually this is bustling with people, but early on a December, Monday morning, we were the only two people out there! We climbed up on the monument, but not on the lions because of the lingering rain drops, 
and took our photos! It was great being the only ones out there! We headed then to the Tower of London, which much to our surprise, was scheduled to open at 10 instead of 9! So, coffee it was to escape the frigid wind and standing for an hour on our sore feet! We tucked into a booth to drink our cappuccinos and lattes while we read Rick to find out our best route in the Tower. When it opened, we were ready for the race! We ran to see the crown jewels, which is usually packed, but we were (again) the only ones in there! We rode the moving sidewalks back and forth and back again with no wait! After we were done with the priceless jewels, we ran back to the entrance of the Tower just in time to catch the first Beef-eater tour! It was a great time listening to the history of the Tower! Once we were done with our tour, we ate at Rusty's all time favorite restaurant, Wagamama! It was really good, though Rusty did get a better dish than me...that's why it's not my favorite restaurant too! :)
and took our photos! It was great being the only ones out there! We headed then to the Tower of London, which much to our surprise, was scheduled to open at 10 instead of 9! So, coffee it was to escape the frigid wind and standing for an hour on our sore feet! We tucked into a booth to drink our cappuccinos and lattes while we read Rick to find out our best route in the Tower. When it opened, we were ready for the race! We ran to see the crown jewels, which is usually packed, but we were (again) the only ones in there! We rode the moving sidewalks back and forth and back again with no wait! After we were done with the priceless jewels, we ran back to the entrance of the Tower just in time to catch the first Beef-eater tour! It was a great time listening to the history of the Tower! Once we were done with our tour, we ate at Rusty's all time favorite restaurant, Wagamama! It was really good, though Rusty did get a better dish than me...that's why it's not my favorite restaurant too! :) After lunch, we headed to Harrods to see one of the world's largest department stores! Huge, huge, huge! We enjoyed a Krispy Kreme doughnut and then headed up the Egyptian escalators (passing by Dodi & Diana's memorial) to see the over-$20,000-Hummer-for-kids! Can we say Crazy???
After Harrods, we went back to our B&B and got cleaned up for the night. We went out for a pub dinner and then to Wicked!! :) What a wonderful musical!! It was such a fun experience with Rusty! We came out singing the songs and still spontaneously burst in to a ...."You're gonna be POP-u-lar!" ...ahem, song. :)
So, long post, but there you have it. I hope you enjoyed our week in England as much as we did! It was a whirl-wind trip, but we had a blast! :)
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1 comment:
Rachel, you are such a GREAT blogger!! I loved hearing about your week in London. There was only one thing wrong with it... I want to hear MORE MORE MORE! So don't forget to bring your laptop when you come for Christmas so you can give us all the "extended" tour. haha... Can't wait to see you. Love, Mama Vicki
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