Wednesday, December 5, 2012

God Save The Queen

Some people are probably thinking I'm just on a big vacation right now in Europe. To clear that up, I am taking classes, 13 credits worth. I have papers to write, tests to take, and at the same time am fortunate to have the opportunity to travel to different countries, explore the world, and grow in my faith. 

This past weekend, Mary and I took a big leap of faith and traveled to London, England! Another amazing experience. The greatest part was that we had absolutely no plans whatsoever on what we were doing, yet somehow, God led us on a fantastic adventure. We didn't even know where we were staying until the day before we got on the plane, but again, the Good Lord provided. 

The adventure began racing to the bus that took us to the airport, and as soon as we stepped on, it left.  Once we landed in London, it was after midnight so we spent the night on the cold concrete floor of the Stansted airport in a corner behind a big sign and next to the bathroom.  Felt like a homeless person. Rough night with no sleep, but I guess a humbling experience. At 4am a security guard woke us up telling us to move. So after two hours of zoning out, we tried to wake up and ate nutella pies. Then took a bus to downtown London. We had no idea how to get to our hostel, but luckily there was no language barrier and we were able to ask for directions easily. 

Heard about there being a free walking tour around London. Turned out to be a great way to start our trip. Had an entertaining tour guide who showed us Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, and other famous landmarks. Decided to go on another tour with him later that day, which turned out to be fantastic. Saw Gringots from Harry Potter, the Tower of London, the London Bridge, and Tower Bridge all lit up at night. Plus, got to hangout with English speaking people from all over the world-Australia, England, Canada, etc. 

The next day we toured the Tower of London and the British Museum. Afterwards we walked for over an hour trying to find the movie theater, but there are no street signs in London so it made getting around on foot a little difficult. Getting discouraged, we turned the corner and what do we see? M&M WORLD!!! Divine Providence. God definitely led us here and it was amazing. 4 floors of AMAZINGNESS. Chocolate everywhere, Christmas music playing, it had to be one of the happiest places around. The Christmas spirit was definitely in the air in London; with the lights hanging on all the buildings, trees lit up, just beautiful. 

Saturday was our last full day in the city. Took our picture on the famous Abbey Road Crossing where the Beatles did. Went to Harrods, the most prestigious shopping center in London, probably even the world. Felt like Black Friday with the largest crowd I've ever seen in a store-Christmas World of course. Later saw the London Eye and attended an Advent Service at St. Paul's Cathedral. 

So maybe this trip sounds like a vacation, but really, it was also a pilgrimage. Learned how to get our way around a city we've never been to before. Put our trust in God in everything we did and it turned out to be a lovely adventure. London is a place I could live in. English-speaking, clean streets, best public transportation system-the underground, it's a cool place. But one thing it made me excited for is coming home for Christmas. Thankful for this opportunity, and the opportunity to study abroad. It's so hard to believe there's only 10 days left. Living them to the fullest. 

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