The sun does shine in London!

Believe it or not…the sun DOES shine in London!  Our flight was delayed 45 minutes in Philadelphia due to fog in London, but we ended up landing in London 15 minutes earlier than our original flight time.  Flight was great, except for the 3 men who were laughing and talking loudly most of the flight when I wanted to be sleeping.

I don’t think I mentioned to all of you, but I’m on this trip with Bryce, a young adult from Pequea BIC.  He’s in his last year at Liberty University.  He’s continuing to discern his call into missions.  He feels strongly that God is calling him to serve with BICWM long-term in London.  Funny story about that…I met with Bryce exactly two years ago and talked to him about our London opportunities.  He tells me now, that after our meeting that day, he left wondering why I spent the 1-1/2 hours with him talking about London?!  He didn’t want to go to London.  Well….God works in mysterious ways!

Paul met us at the airport and we were on our way to get to the hotel.  We were pleasantly surprised that the fog was clearing and the sun was shining and we actually saw blue sky!   Given that it was a clear day, we were hoping to go ride the London Eye later to have a great view of the city.

We stopped by the hotel (which, by the way, is named “The Alfred Hitchcock Hotel”) and they weren’t quite ready for us (we were only 2 hours early).  So, Paul, Carrie (his daughter), Bryce and I went to a café for lunch.  Bryce and I experienced our first club sandwich here in London.  We were surprised by the egg in the sandwich, but it was very good.  While at lunch, Paul and Carrie talked about the neighborhood we were in and the relationships they have formed there.  They also told us of a Viking store in the community.  Well, we HAD to check that out.  It was rather interesting…

Paul dropped us off at our hotel, with minimal directions (although they were good minimal directions) on how to navigate from our hotel to Central London using the bus and tube system.  So, after a bit of time to freshen up, Bryce and I were on our way.  We were tired, but wanted to keep moving to (hopefully) adjust to the time change easier. 

So, Bryce and I proceed to the bus stop, right across from the hotel, to catch Bus #257.  While we are waiting at the stop, bus #257 drives right by, doesn’t stop!?  In the meantime, we are both standing there trying to remember all of Paul’s “minimal” directions…did he say Laytonstone?  Is that where we are?  Or is that where we have to go?   This is pretty much how our entire outing went.  It was quite humorous.  We got the bus and got the tube, but we also walked quite a bit, sort of wandering in circles.  We had no shame in asking various people for directions, just to keep us on track.  After all of that, I have to say, we’re pretty confident in managing our way around using the public transportation systems. 

We ended up seeing quite a bit—Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster Abbey and the London Eye.  Thankfully, they are all in the same spot, so once we finally arrived there, we were set.  It was a beautiful evening!  No heavy coats…no fleece…everyone had kept telling us how cold it was here.  It was in the 50’s, and from what we saw, it was 18 degrees at home?  So, we’ll take this weather!  Although, by the end of the evening, we did feel like we were beginning to experience the “bone-chilling cold” everyone had told us about.  I think we are well prepared for the weather here.

It was great to see so many of these sights that I’ve heard about and have seen in pictures, in movies or on TV.  Seeing it in person is amazing.  Big Ben is beautiful…my pictures can’t even capture the beauty.  Being at Westminster Abbey was cool, just thinking about all of the historical events that have happened there.  We rode the London Eye and the view was spectacular! 

We figured out how to take the tube back to our bus stop, rather than walking so much.  We were definitely getting tired and hungry.  We ended our day with some homemade pizzas at our hotel and made it an early night. 

The hotel is beautiful…exposed stone walls, floor boards, fireplaces…very rustic.  The bedroom is small, but has all I need.  I can’t catch the wi-fi in my room so I’m trying to use that when I can, hanging out in the lobby or in the restaurant.  I slept like a rock last night! 

Breakfast is included with our stay here.  So, this morning, we had some breakfast.  I was expecting an English breakfast of croissants and tea, but was surprised to see, no croissants, white bread, cereal, fruit, juices, tea, and yogurt.  I guess continental breakfasts are pretty universal anywhere you go? 

Today, we will be meeting with Paul and our BIC team and spending time with them.  There may be a bit more of some free time, not sure.  Bryce and I are trying to fit as much in as we can, since we have no idea how our schedule will be when we actually start with OM on Saturday.

Thanks for the prayers!  Doing great!