Catching up with me in Britain

I finally made it into an internet cafe. While I wait for my pictures to download I will write a quick note. Friday afternoon Katie and I braved the underground and went to Trafalager Square. Then she dragged me through the National Gallery (to keep me moving until around 10pm). We did see some amazing art. I have to admit though that once or twice I do believe that I was dozing on my feet.
After we saw everything in the Gallery we walked along down to Westminster Abbey and Big Ben. Passing the Parliament Building along the way. We took a few pictures (or more then a few) and then crossed the Westminster Bridge, walked along the waterfront to the Jubilee Bridge. We eventually made our way back to the Hotel and had some dinner. I FINALLY got to go to bed and slept straight through like a rock until 9am.
Saturday morning we went to the Portabello Market. Now that is a crowded place on a Saturday morning. There were so many venders and wares and not anywhere near enough time to see it all. I did get a mini lesson on how to draw a celtic design from a neat older man who was selling celtic stamps. Not that I bought one though, they were fairly expensive. After we had had all the crowd we could take we hopped on the subway to go to the British Library. We got to see some pretty amazing things there, and the best part is that it was free. We saw some old illuminated bibles, some papyrus manuscripts, and the Gutenberg Bible. Then we went to the music section and were able to see some original copies of so many composers. Handel, Beethoven, Mozart, Gilbert and Sullivan and many others.
We then rushed back to the hotel and changed to go to a performance of Wicked. The story of the Wicked Witch of the West from the story of Oz. It was really fun and I was actually given a student price ticket along with Katie and Sonia even though I told them I was not a student. It was a really fun show and the music was great.
Sunday morning we headed off to St. Paul's Cathedral for church. We ended up in seats directly under the dome and just to the right of the choir. There were times when you could hear a pin drop in there. The sound of the choir was magnificent and the cathedral itself was astounding. It was really beautiful and yet I can understand more fully why the puritans were so fanatical about simplicity. After the service we headed to the British Museum. At least we tried to. It was a little more complicated to get to then we had anticipated. We eventually found it and had time to run upstairs, find the Rosetta Stone and run back out again. We made it to Westminster Abbey only about 5 minutes late for the Evensong. Once again we got to see the inside of an amazing cathedral and to hear gorgeous music. After we got out of there katie and I decided to explore Harrod's. Now if you ever want to feel rather poor take a wander through there. There was one handbag that would be around $2000! Amazing that people will pay prices like that. When we decided that we had had enough of it we headed back to the hotel via a walk through Kensington/ Hyde Park.
I am running out of time so I will have to tell about the rest of my time at another time.

London

I made it to London. It was an interesting trip over though. My flight from PDX to Houston was delayed about 1 hr after a shorter delay so I ended up on the next flight to Houston which was scheduled to arrive at 6:15PM and my London flight at 6:45, but we ended up delayed leaving about 15 minutes so I arrived in Houston at 6:30 and RAN across the terminal to my connecting gate. There were two other people though that were running with me. We made the flight, but the whole trip I was praying that my luggage made it as well. I got off the plane and happily walking along talking to the other girl that ran with me and suddenly we realized that we were supposed to be in that line over there. That line was SO long. And I mean LONG! It went down this long hallway. Then we finally got to the end of that hallway, it went down another hallway. Then after that it turned and went down the ramp and then finally into the room we were headed to. Of course then you have all the roped off area. After an hour and a half I finally got through and got to find out if my luggage came through. Praise God it did! I don't quite know how but it did. I have to get ready to go now, so I will write more later.

Only 4 Days!

I am really not very good at posting stuff on these things, but I will try. The main reason for my starting to use this is that I will be leaving for Great Britain in 4 Days! I am so excited (of course, who wouldn't be?). I will be arriving in London on the 17th and meeting my friend Katie. She is currently on her school trip and I will be joining them for the London part of the trip. When all the rest of the class leaves on the 22nd Katie and I will start out on our own. :) That night we will spend in Dover, and beyond that our itinerary is not set in stone. Over the three weeks we are planning on visiting various parts of England, Cardiff Wales and parts of Scotland. Only 4 DAYS!. I will try to update this periodically throughout my trip to keep everyone in touch with whats going on and where I am.