Highest of the Highlights

This past Tuesday we returned from our London vacation. There were simply too many good things to recount in a single or even multiple blog posts. It was phenomenal. And because I know how painful it can be to sit through other peoples' vacation pictures and stories, I thought I'd give a synopses of the high points. In no particular order, here's what I remember as moments I will never forget.

1. Sitting in the Quire at Westminster Abbey for Evensong.  We made it a point to get to the evensong service at 3:00 on Sunday. We were 8th or 9th in line, so when it came time to be seated, we asked if we could sit in the quire section. (They spell it funny, but it's probably more correct than choir.) The attendant said sure and seated us in the front row. We were feet from the boys and adults doing the singing. It was an absolutely spiritual experience. The music echoed off the walls of history as we sat there thinking of the possible nobles and royalty that may have sat in our same seats. As a religious person, this one was top of the list.
2. Tower of London/Crown Jewels. I am a bit of a history slouch, so to hear some of the history that took place at this old castle/fort was eye opening. To hear that men and women accused of being traitors were dragged up to tower hill and publicly beheaded was shocking. 
3. Stonehenge. There is just something mystical and cool about this site and I can't explain why it meant so much to me to be there. The site goes back to 3100 BC, so there's that. When we got there the winds were pretty steady at about 30 MPH. It was chilly, but I couldn't get enough.
   
4. Roman Baths: As part of the Stonehenge Tour, we also got to spend about 4 hours in Bath. It is a small town about 2 hours from London and is the site of an ancient Roman Bath set on the site of a mineral spring. This place was built in around 35 BC, so was not as old as Stonehenge, but provided its own mystique. To walk on rocks that the ancient Romans had before the days of Christ, was pretty cool. After the tour was done, we actually got to sample some of the spring water. I may have increased my life span by a few years, who knows?
5. St. Paul's Chapel: This building, like so much of London's archictecture was over-the-top beautiful. Stunning building inside and out. We climbed the 528+ steps to the top lookout platform. The view of London was worth every step.
6. Abbey Road: In a goofy side-trip we went to the crosswalk where the Beatles shot the Abbey Road album cover. Pop culture is not near as important as ancient culture, but it was a fun diversion from the many tours and museums we saw.
   

As I mentioned, there were too many good things to cover in one post. It was our first time abroad and it whet our appetite for more. On a related note, I can't say enough about the London Transit system. We found a train/subway that took us wherever we wanted to go and we were never more than a 20 minute walk from anything. 

I love London!

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