Visiting the United Kingdom!

My wife, Jacinda, and I love to travel! We have seen the likes of Boston, San Diego, Denver, most of Texas, and the Big Island of Hawaii together. Well, we just raised the bar - she and I had the opportunity to visit our friends Mandy and Rynn in London for a little over a week! We stayed in the UK the entire time but spread our days over London (3 days), Edinburgh, Scotland (2 days), Derbyshire area (2 days), and Oxford (1 day).
The following were my favorites, I think!:

1. St Paul's Cathedral
   
   
   
   

   Jacinda and I have some incredible friends, and for your friendship we thank you. One of you, Justin Hatfield, offered to drive us to/from the DFW airport since we'd be arriving late on Sunday, March 29 and would need to make the drive back to Abilene that evening. While he was driving us to the airport he was relaying his Western Europe experiences to us. He told us that the one thing that was not on our list that we should add is St Paul's Cathedral. Man, would we have missed out! You can't take pictures of the interior of this building so you don't get to see the most amazing features that this cathedral offers. Sorry! We arrived at exactly 5 pm and joined the people in attendance for a beautiful EvenSong. The cathdral's worship hall seems to continue indefinitely and has several domes that are decorated intricately. I believe that it is impossible to enter this building and not be moved. Some people used their incredible gifts and abilities to glorify God with their artwork in this building.
   
   
2. Westminster Abbey
   
   Mandy, one of our friends who was living in London for the Spring of 2009, asked us if we would attend Sunday morning services with her at Westminster Abbey and saved the experience for when we would be able to attend with her. Again, we're not allowed to take pictures of its interior so I guess you'll just have to go for yourself! And the building was pretty, but that is not why it is on this list. The experience of listening to the Corpus Christi choir from Cambridge was indescribable! Plus, the history of the building is overwhelming; I mean every monarch from England's history has held their coronation within the confines of this building. That is chilling while you are preparing your mind for worship and look around the building filled with tombs and memorials for some of this world's most historical people ... whether they were Christ's servants... well, that's debatable! But the experience was definitaly unforgettable! A must do ... something to remember if you do plan a UK trip: church buildings like Westminster Abbey and St Paul's Cathedral require an admission fee UNLESS you attend a worship service - these are free at most churches.
   
   
3. The London Eye
   The London Eye is the awesome blue ring in the first picture above. It was a one year "trial" that British Airways put together several years ago for people to be able to see London from the sky. Well, they realized how big of a hit it was, with residents and tourists alike, and decided to keep it. The second picture is Jacinda and me in one of the pods during our 30 minute "flight" over London. The third picture has an incredible story. We took a public group flight with about 5 people outside of our party of 3 (Jacinda, Mandy, and me). Another option is to rent your own pod. The couple in the pod above us did this. While I was enamored with the skyline and taking several pictures of London at night from the perspective that the London Eye can provide, Jacinda and Mandy happened to look up and see what you see in the third picture below. We caught them afterward and gave them congratulations and showed them the picture of their very recent engagement. They freaked out and she was very happy to show the girls her ring. We were the first audience to their emotions and her gitty feeling of being on top of the world (or on top of the London Eye - okay cheesy, but you're reading it!). They happened to be from Wichita, Kansas - the closest to Texas of all the Americans we met on our trip. They are also excited to receive this picture via email!
   
   
4. London at night
   

   
   London at night is a true treasure. Everything is lit up (except the portion of Parliament directly behind Mandy and me, ugg) and bright against the darkness of the sky. And, of course, if you're lucky enough to be by the River Thames, it all reflects.
   One really cool thing about our experience with London at night, though, was the specific idiosyncrasies in the particular night that we happened to be walking from the London Eye to Big Ben. While we were standing on the Westminster Bridge to take pictures of Parliament and Big Ben, we heard this beautiful sound that we, at first, simply dismissed. Then the noise continued and grew louder and was followed by applause. We went exploring and found a string quartet underneath the Westminster Bridge performing for whoever will listen and making whatever money people may happen to leave in their cello case. These young people were extremely talented and were, most likely, university students at one of England's many schools playing in London on a Sunday evening to make a little pocket change. The quartet made our evening! After this wonderful surprise, we continued walking across the bridge to Parliament Square and enjoyed the likes of Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, Parliament, and the London Eye. One of my favorite pictures from the trip is the one of Mandy and Jacinda in Parliament Square (the third one above).
   
   
5. Natural beauty of countryside
   Wow! I am so glad that we decided to get out of the city for a few days. We chose to stay one night and two days in the Derbyshire area chiefly because of Chatsworth (pictured). Jacinda is a huge fan of all Jane Austen novels and Chatsworth was used to portray the likes of Pemberly in the latest rendition of Pride and Prejudice on the silver screen. Chatsworth is the home of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire and was built in the 17th Century.
   
   
6. Scotland!
   Edinburgh is AWESOME! Really, Edinburgh is one of my favorite cities that I have ever visited! We spent two days in Scotland: one was spent in Edinburgh and the other on a bus tour (with a guide named Grrrrddddegg; we just called him Greg) up to Loch Ness to see the Loch Ness monster, Nessie! I loved the countryside. I loved their accents. I loved their food, even if I did try haggis! I loved their 'bad-boy/kind side' attitude. The picture posted is from a boat tour on Loch Ness underneath an afternoon rain storm.
   

   
   
7. The food
   
   
   Cumberland Sausage Sandwich at The Eagle and Child (Tolkien and CS Lewis ate here often) in Oxford
   
   
   Chicken Pie in London
   
   
   Fish and Chips! in Eyam
   
   
   Club Sandwich ... or a dagwood! in Oxford
   
   Deep Fried Mars Bar in Edinburgh
   
   
   Deep Fried Pizza in Edinburgh
   
   
   Meat Pie in London
   
   
   Traditional Scottish Breakfast in Edinburgh
   
   
   Jacinda found this restaurant in Edinburgh called Chocolate Soup
   
   She loved it!
   
   SERIOUSLY LOVED IT!
   
   
8. Les Miserables in London
   

   Jacinda, Rynn, Mandy and I had the opportunity to see Les Miserables while we were in London. Oh my, it was perfect! I've seen this show several times before and had the privilege of trying to imitate it in high school. I've never seen it done so well. The actors were full of passion. They sang well, but were apprehensive, desperate, happy, silly, and dying when they needed to be. Plus, something cool: the Jean Valjean that played that night was the best I've ever seen or heard... He was the understudy, but really, couldn't have been better. He was perfect. The show was perfect. It was definitely one of my favorite things in the UK!
   
   
   I hope you have enjoyed this extremely long post and the many pictures accompanying the stories. I will post an update with links when I put all of the pictures online.