London / Romania Mission Trip 2009...post 2

Sunday, July 5

After all the church services we met some of the high school choir crew (the service team) who help run the behind the scenes stuff along the trip. my definition. they were all nice and jet lagged from having just arrived, so we pepped them up by stuffing our faces with the traditional fish and chips. this was the cool place we went to and it was quite yummy. i couldnt help but sing (in my head because we were surrounded by people from our praise team at church) the little "fish and chips and vinegar" song that our choir teacher at heights elementary once taught us. admit - some of you (near my age) probably know the catchy tune. the actual meal was not too shabby, but one time was enough for me. people teased me so i did not take a picture of my plate at this meal. i think thats fun to do and i know i am not alone.





our friend andy, who knows all the cool spots like a local, found this little cupcakery, but it was closed. i couldnt get a good picture of the cupcakes, but i can best describe them in two words - willy wonka. these were the coolest most decked out cupcakes i had ever seen. the tops were enormous. it was like marshmallow and then fondant covering it with huge gumdrops and pretty candies. they looked fake. we realized that the stores in london kept "different" hours. this one closed at 7, but it was a sunday. bummer.



since we were fresh off the sudden passing away of michael jackson, these were everywhere. some may call them memorials, but this one was more like a shrine. people were singing the songs and weeping like it had happened that morning. they may have been the poor ticket holders to his upcoming concert that was to open in london on july 15th. now they are out many, many pounds and maybe this makes them feel better. i know those that grew up in the 80's especially have an affection for mj, but its different in london. some of the people at this shrine were near tearing their garb and placing ashes on their foreheads. to spare any embarrassment, i didnt take pictures of the ones crying so hard they were nearly dry heaving. im not that cruel. man in the mirror is the #1 mj song in london, out of all his hits i would think it would have been his duet with sir paul mc carthy - ebony and ivory! i was wrong.



this is the off the center of picadilly circus - the district we were staying in. it had a cool times square feel, but smaller....and with a gap in the middle.


stretch your neck to the right, im too lazy to flip the picture.



monday, july 6
we started off our day with a friend and business associates of scott and josh - richard. he is a trained tour guide. he drove us around and pointed out alot of the fascinating and not so famous sites in london as he took us to st. paul's cathedral.
if you look close, the pigeons are here at the feet of this statue waiting for mary poppins to come feed them. i know there is a song that goes with that scene and im too tired to dig in my brain for it.



here is the entrance into st. paul's. from left to right - richard, jarrett, scott (in the hat), julie, kaytie and josh. i neglected to read the sign right behind me that said no pictures inside the facility! oops. although tours are going on non stop, it is still a place of worship and prayer. take my word, if you have not been , it is absolutely stunning. the intricate detail in the ceiling - breathtaking.


we climbed all, all, all the way to the very top. i think josh said it was a total of 700 something steps. i could be off a little, but i know it felt like it. the view was amazing. this is one angle of the river thames. about an inch in from the left you can see the london eye (ferris wheel as we would call it). we didnt get the chance to do that, next time hopefully!

here is me and jarrett. it was really windy and you can see the multiple colors my colorist puts in my hair really well in this shot. there is kaytie sneaking in to the left of jarrett.


a view of downtown and a huge crane on the right.


another pic of the thames. if you see the big green tree about an inch in from the right, behind it is a famous theatre that has a real thatched roof. white building with a brown top right off the river. these roofs were tradtional to london prior to the 1666 fire that wiped out the city - due to the thatched roofs.


another angle from the top. i am looking down on the front of st. paul's. you can see the red double decker buses on the street - which i love, but didn't get to ride on.


still at the top. i want to say this is the modern art museum, but i can't remember. we didn't go - they don't have the censors and regulations we have and apparently have a big gore and naked (nakie as riley calls is) section that none of us were wanting to venture into. call it art, but yuck is yuck to me.


the front of st. paul's as we were leaving. im standing at the base of that statue with mary poppins' pigeons.


premier radio (the broadcast company that broadcasts pastor grahams messages in london) placed (i think) 19 pianos across the city that say "play me". they have little books of sheet music attached of popular british and karaoke type songs. they did it for promotion sake, but to also give the high school kids from our trip a little something to do when they were touring around. they could stop and play on the pianos and sing around and promote their concerts. it was cool. you would randomly hear a piano playing, but couldn't see the street it was on, but knew who placed them there and why. great idea. this little man was playing his heart out.