England DAY 1!!!

London!!!!

DAY 1-

We landed in the UK this morning about 10 or 11 pm, our time. We arrived at Windsor at 9:00 am....bummer. Good thing we tylenol pm-ed it on the plane ride.

We drove through the countryside toward Windsor- the home of the Queen. We were fortunate enough to score the double decker bus, and from the larger-windowed top deck, we could see for miles. Gorgeous... (a word used a lot around here, to describe food, mostly), greenery, grass and deciduous trees separating the plots of pasture containting century+ old homes, horses and sheep.

 I couldn't help but notice there are no "housing developments" around here- and even when there are closely knit houses, they're built in such a way that respects the historical surroundings; sporadically placing factory lots and tall sky scraper-like buildings instead of clumping them together the "American city" way. 

We arrived in Windsor, England during what Adam likes to call, "the magical hour". The sun was still at a sharp angle, creating shadows that look straight from an Edward Hopper painting.

I've seen a few "river walk" paths along the Thames River and was in awe by their simple and elegant setup; sturdy wooden fences and lightly graveled paths. It seems that cement is America's material of choice and it's taking over, quite literally. If only America wasn't quite so aware of convenience. 

Upon our arrival in Windsor,

we headed to the castle and got our audio tour guides. 

It was oricinally built on a hill for defense purposes, so there are a lot of beautifully built (3 meters thick) stone wall with openings to shoot arrows out of.

How cool is that?

We went into the church (no pictures allowed, unfortunately), and stood on the grounds where many kings and queens of England are buried. Walking on top of and/or directly next to their graves was a bit surreal, especially in such an ornate cathedral. We were lucky today. The church organist was practicing during our walk through.....pretty big sound.

My brother Ryan and his wife Mariko asked a local where they could get some good, authentic English food. They were directed to the local cafe in......wait for it.....that's right.....you guessed it.....Woolworths. Walking past the random clothing, make-up and tylenol, I felt a little weird about eating there. But this was definately the local greasy spoon- and I was kind of excited to try it. Here was the menu:

Adam and I- 

Meat pie and chips. I was a little hesitant, being that we just watched Sweeny Todd, but where else can you order 'meat pie', I mean seriously!

It was super rich and beef brothy.....well worth trying, but I'll probably never order it again.

Dad- 

Brunch.... two deep fried sausages (bangers), 2 eggs, pork and beans, ridiculously thick bacon, and stewed tomatoes.

Interesting to say the least : )

Mom-

Fish and chips with malt vinegar. 

This was actually a whole fried fish, scales, head, and all. Very good though.

After the heavy meal, espresso was in order. .

2 double espressos w/brown sugar and 2 americanos, for HERE, please.

Absolutely, hands down, better than D & M, Pioneer, and Starbucks, COMBINED. Period.

 

Our city coordinator and tour guide, Trudy, is glorious. She could say anything to us with her accent. 

Imagine cute English accent.

"Alright, you little sausages"

"Angels,.....Angels...look to your left and you'll see...."

England Day 3- the Bloody Tower....OOOOOoooooo!

Yesterday we spent a lot of time on the bus with our sweet, sweet, tour guide, Trudy. It was a relief on our tired bodies. We did make a stop at the Tower of London- which was really interesting. 

She told us a version of this story while we stood in front of the infamous Bloody Tower. (imagine with a British accent)

"We have a family dog- a golden retriever. He goes everywhere with me- in fact, he is always by my side- even when I enter the master bathroom. But, I always thought it funny that he would never follow me into the family bathroom. 

One day, I walked out to get the mail and my dog was close behind, as always. My beautiful neighbors were out in their yard that day and they made a comment like "that dog follows you everywhere doesn't he?"

So I replied, "why yes he does, but I find it funny that he will never go into the family bathroom. He'll go everywhere else, but there."

Trudy continued and said her lovely neighbor's faces suddenly fell white and they replied, 

"Oh Trudy, didn't you know? the woman who used to live in your home took her own life in that bathroom.""

So it suddenly made sense why the dog would go everywhere but that bathroom.

So APPARENTLY, (keep this story in mind), every dog that ever has lived on the Tower of London premises, has gone everywhere on the grounds EXCEPT the Bloody Tower.

Royalty has been murdered there, people have disappeared there, ghosts have shown up in pictures.....creepy stuff.

So the moral of the story is.........dogs are smart and the Bloody Tower is creepy.

The End.

We also saw the grounds of many unjustified be-headings. Annoyed with your brother? What to be the Queen? Just plain bored? Just kill 'em! 

Here are some pictures you might enjoy:

We ate lunch at the Natural Sciences museum. Totally fun. I have never seen a real dinosaur display. It was claustrophobically crowded (as was most of the trip), but worth it (as was most of the trip). The building was also fun, very 'Night at the Museum'

The British Museum was our next stop. Greek mythology has always been a favorite academic topic of mine, so these sculptures in real life were a real treat. It was like being transported to another time.

I also loved the Egyptian displays....as do most people. It LOVE observing how each culture has its own distinct style, yet similar ideas and ways to create art. Fun stuff.

Dinner was authentically English- at an English pub with English Ale, and the English version of pub food. We asked a local where we should go (in fact, we asked an employee of another pub that didn't serve food). 

We were led to a corner pub that was super hip and filled with locals. Apparently the English don't typically eat food with their beer, so the bartender didn't even know if the kitchen was open.....luckily they were. : )

We had some 'pub food' (which in America would only be considered appetizers....) -  pan fried chorizo, warm bread, hummus, salsa, all sorts of goodness with a beer on tap. Craig's beer was uncarbonated and served warm- all the dark beers are. Ours was cold because they were wheat beers. I was glad. Pretty strong flavors in comparison to the typical American beer though. 

Overall our meal was brilliant....simply brilliant. 

A wonderful way to put a close to a wonderful country.

England, DAY 2-

DAY 2-

  People in London look sharp. The men wear Excellent suits that are very high fashion. bright colors and details that actually tell you a little about their personality. I thought suits were boring till London. The women look like they hardly had to try to get dressed, while simultaneously looking like they just stepped out of a magazine. Breezy light blouses, linen wide-legged pants, and flowing scarves of every color. I feel uncomfortably granola here. 

The choir sang in Wesley's Chapel this morning. (the first established Methodist church) they get to sing in cathedrals that were quite literally built for chior. In cathedrals that had 'in house' composers who wrote music specifically for the venue they worked. 

The choir sang over the top of us in the balcony; Their voices literally floating to our ears.

"We are not alone, we are not alone, we are not alone, God is with us"

It was a reverant experience. One a vocalist could never forget.

Our next stop....Embankment Gardens wher the band will play for one of the most enthusiastic crowds you could find.

There is a crew, here in London, that comes to every Voyageurs concert all summer (there are several states that tour through the exact locations that we do)

One man is known well because he only wears boxer shorts....

Trudy told us he recently had knee surgury, so they were afraid he wouldnt' make it......we're glad he could : )

The guy with the big glasses was quite the charmer.......and talker.

This guy was "big glasses guy"'s good friend. he was dancing his heart out to a little John Phillip Sousa....or something 'marchy'.......sorry the photo is sideways, I'm too lazy to fix it. : )

Right now, I'm listening to the band play a 'Music Man' medley. There is a woman standing just to the side of the band singing along....quite operatically and loudly......she was eating up the attention, I take it she does this often, being a part of the 'crew'. 

It started raining amidst this particular concert, and I was sure all the sudden movement in the audience meant everyone was jetting out as soon as they could. But to my suprise......

the London folk were quite prepared with their 'brellies'. Umbrellas are to 'Londoner's' as Gortex is to Seattlites.......it's always on hand. Kinda funny to watch all the umbrellas up and ready within seconds. 

After the concert, we got into small groups. What we liked to call "The Morrell family" was a cool group of kids. We ran around all day (sometimes literally) and saw the sights.

First Big Ben, which is connected to the Parliament building. It's really quite impressive- we heard it strike 2:30- and it made everybody stop in their tracks. 

Right across the street was the awe-inspiriing West Minster Abbey- one of the most well known cathedrals to exist....ever. 

We couldn't take pictures inside, but here are some from the inside, but here are a few from the outside. The attention to detail was mind blowing. It reminds me of what human potential really is....of what we could accomplish if we weren't in such a rush all the time.

Inside the Abbey was a lot of graves and memorials- mostly to royalty. there was however, a 'poets corner' where memorials to famous writers lie....Everyone from Handel to Jane Austen. Pretty cool.

Being here makes me want to study up on British royalty before our return trip. I know a lot less than I thought. Still great nonetheless...

 

Litttle side note on Handel.....

In Windsor castle , Handel was the 'in house' composer for a time. There was an ornate music box displayed where Handel was hired to write original works specifically for the music box.....wouldn't you love to own that? holy cow.

While in Windsor Handel supposedly wrote Water Music and the Royal Fireworks. So excellent to stand in the same quarters as Handel himself. 

Anyway, back to London. After Westminster, we took a walk to the London Eye. 

Each 'pod' holds 25 people. Some of our small group rode it. We opted out. It cost 25 pounds per person, for a half hour ride....that's 50 American dollars. 

We did get some delicious ice cream and took a breather on the Thames River walk. 

On a whole, London architecture is awesome. It's like New York with buildings that will never go out of style. 

For dinner, we made our way back to Trafalger Square- beautiful, once again. we split from our group and ate Thai. We really needed that meal- I don't even want to know how many miles we walked that day.

Us in Trafalger square....very tired.

Yellow Curry Chicken for me,

Phad Thai for Adam......delicious.

Indian and Thai food is really popular in London. Now we know why.

As a group at our meet up time, we all walked to see a London Musical- We Will Rock You. A musical with the music of Queen. It was AMAZING!!!. It was Hands Down the best thing I've ever watched. That's movies, musicals, T.V., plays, everything. Hands down. 

The singers were out of this world. Belting like I never knew possible. the sound/lighting was like attending the ultimate rock show. The costuming was fun and flashy. It was a show for the senses, for sure.

By the end, the entire audience was on their feet stomping and clapping to 'We Will Rock You', finishing the lyrics and waving glow sticks to 'We are the Champions' and completely losing our drawers (you like my British lingo?) to Bohemian Rhapsody.....which included a guitar solo by the original Queen band member.

This show was a performance......in the truest sense of the word.

Run, run, running

I find myself really loving to run......races.

I love passing people on the course.

I love it when people get slower on the uphill......so I can pass them.

I love getting the free stuff......or not really free cause there's always an entree fee.

I love feeling tired, then going a little faster.

I love hanging my number on our guest room wall.

I love the feeling........of accomplishment.

Who doesn't? ...... I suppose.