London With the 'Rents - Part 1

After touring York, we jumped back in the car and drove down to London.We stayed at a seminary where our former pastor, Paul, used to teach. It's called Oak Hill, and it's on the North side of the city. Some of our first English friends, Will and Rachael Rubie and their baby Emily, live and study there, and they were an absolute blessing in every way. They fed us, cared for us, gave us maps and guide books, let us use their internet, Oyster cards, etc. (which came in handy, which I will explain in a later post). We started out our time there by ordering Chinese takeaway and talking late into the night with the Rubies. Good times!

The next morning, the Rubies recommended going to Covent Gardens for breakfast and a little shopping. My mother absolutely went bananas over the place. It was decorated festively for Christmas, and the French bakery we went to for breakfast served delicious girly foods. The flowers above I saw on the way to the bathroom, and they  smelled fantastic. I think those are pickled pears at the bottom of the vase.

We went outside and took our picture next to the Christmas tree.

Then we took the tube to Westminster and popped out from underground to see Big Ben. The sky looked ominous, and indeed, it started snowing on our walk around the Thames.

The rest of the day we went indoors because of the cold and snow. We first tried the National Portrait Gallery, because they had some amazing photographs of Princess Diana that I wanted to show my mom.  Later, Nathan had an appointment at the Dr. William's Library to look at a manuscript he needed for his research, and Mom, Dad, and I went to the British Museum. Nathan took the camera with him in case they would let him take pictures of the old manuscript (they didn't), so we don't have pictures from our afternoon museum hopping. To see more of London and the British Museum from Nathan's and my trip in March, click here. 

After going to evensong at Westminster Abbey, we finished the day at the Whole Foods mecca on High Street Kensington. Do you remember me raving about the food there this spring? We just had to take mom and dad back there, and it was just a little bit less amazing than I remembered, but still amazing. We were more than a little tired and hungry by this point.