Day 6 - Friday, April 22nd 2016

This is the final leg of our journey by bus - London. We travel along the last of the vast green lands and head to Stonehenge.

Beautiful Scenery as we left Bath

These first few miles outside of Bath on the way to London is some of the most beautiful land you'll ever see.  Sheep were everywhere and we loved to see them wherever we went.

A "castle" house we passed outside of Bath... I could live here!

It's one of those wonders of the world where they're not quite sure how it was placed there or for what reasons. It's all speculation through some scientific studying.
Thank God our faith is nothing like that, although, some people think of it that way.
Considering everything we saw in a pastoral setting mixed with much history that dates back way further than anything in the U.S., our eyes, ears, hearts and minds are full and blessed.

Stonehenge is often thought of as a place where strange pagan practices occurred, and as a Christian it grieves your spirit. You definitely come across this now and again when studying history with places and things. When we went to the Roman Baths we saw statues and artifacts proving there was false worship, as well as sacrifices being made to false gods. You pause to consider  how powerful the Romans were at one time in this world. One would have thought they nearly had world domination, yet they were also false god worshippers, therefore, their powerful reign had to come to an end.

These lovely fields of yellow flowers graced us with their beauty wherever we traveled

Stonehenge rocks

It was a cold, rainy, windy day but we bundled up to see the stones

But a little rain never stops a jumping picture!

We even had a little photo fun!

Those Chazz workouts are paying off!

Who says Brooke is little?

Entering London, we will be much closer to a hub where we are much nearer to issues of big conflicts in the world. The non-God loving ways of the world are prominent and in your face inside a big city.
It's my prayer as we enter that we would be like Mathew 10:16 - wise as serpents, innocent as doves. This means we need to have wisdom in this big city while keeping our fruit of Christian gentleness around those whom we encounter.
Once in London, we checked into the Marriott County Hall and dropped off our luggage.  From there we hopped on a ferry up the Thames river and headed to the Tower of London, a famous prison that also looks like a castle.  We spent several hours exploring different towers such as the bloody tower, bell tower, wardrobe tower, and the Queen's house.  We also went in to see where they keep the Crown Jewels and saw many pieces of armory used in that day.

Our Home for the next 3 nights...The County Hall Marriott

Taking the Ferry, trying to convince Kendra it was a smooth ride

Riding up the Thames River to the Tower of London

One of the Towers

Marching in for a "changing of the guard"

The White Tower, built in 1078, was the original tower with the surrounding moat, was built as a royal residence and was also used as a prison

The changing of the guard

Armour housed in the Tower

Going to see the Crown Jewels... they're so excited!

Happy Boys!!

I think they are a little tired!

Lovely ladies in front of the Tower Bridge

 

 

 

Tower Bridge

We ended our first day in London with a brisk night walk in the rain, huddled under umbrellas, headed towards the West End Theatre District to have dinner and take in a live performance of "The Lion King." It was many of our student's first time seeing a professional production of this level, and they loved it!

A chance to check wifi before our appetizers came out, followed by a nice dinner and then dessert.

The beautiful Lyceum Theatre

Figuring out where everyone was going to sit

We all sat together in a block to watch the show

We had a great view of one of the percussionists

Ready for the show to begin! It was amazing and everyone really enjoyed it!

It was a rainy walk back to the hotel but nobody minded. The city of London at night, with all the buildings lit up, was a beautiful sight for us all to take in. 

Day 5 - Thursday, April 21st 2016

Entering into the bustling city of Bath is our final town before the big city.  It is a fashion town filled with commerce, shopping, restaurants, churches, the Roman baths, and of course, the famous home of Jane Austen.
On our grand day here we experienced a red, double-decker bus where we could hop on and off, at will. We hopped on next to the waterway where a famous scene from the Les Miserables movie was filmed.

On the double-decker, ready for our tour around the city of Bath

Beautiful views of the city from atop the bus

Our next "hop-off" occurred at the Fashion Museum near the neighborhoods of the circus and the crescent, which are quite beautiful and upscale sitting in a circle and crescent shape.

The ladies trying on clothes from earlier times

...and we thought the boys wouldn't have fun at the fashion museum...

Group pose in the "yellow room"

Group in front of the Circus

Jumping picture (attempted at least)

Walking about this city, the seagulls above head greeted us.
The city is situated in these perfect, long rows that wrap up onto winding hills, encircling the river running through the center. Notice, lots of water here; well it is called "Bath" for reason.
For lunch, we stopped for a spot of tea, sandwiches, snacks and sweets at The Regency Tea Room above The Jane Austen Centre. The atmosphere provided the perfect backdrop for an Austen -themed lunch, including tea with Mr. Darcy and authentically dressed staff.

Enjoying tea with Mr. Darcy

Learning the proper way to drink tea - pinkies out

Our wonderful assortment of food

Today, we took in two tours: one at the Abbey church where the first king of England was coronated and the other inside the Roman Baths. Evidently this city has always been so amazing that the Romans conquered it about 70 AD. This is when they established their Roman Baths that are considered one of the the seven natural wonders of the world.

The group at the Roman Bath House

Short people problems...

 
On the Abbey tour, we walk in and the amount of stained glass displaying amazing biblical scenes could bring you to tears. We were able to devote some prayer time here and take a breath being in awe of the display of worship to our Heavenly Father. We all recited the Lord's Prayer, which many of us did with a British accent...how can you not when you are in England and that's the way the leader spoke.  It was a wonderful time for all of us.

The front of Bath Abbey

The stained glass from the inside

Group shot in one side of the choir loft

The beautiful architecture in this building leaves you in awe

After a full morning and then touring both Bath Abbey and the Roman Baths, we divided into smaller groups to have a little free time to explore the city and find dinner on our own.

The kids were excited that this sign might be real

A sign was spotted in the distance... familiarity!  Who can pass up Krispy Kreme, especially when most of their flavors are all different than the ones back home. 

It's a good place for a pause because we are onto our last stop of the trip, tomorrow, London. That is one of the biggest cities in the world. It's exciting and fast paced so we are winding up to finish this tour in a big way.
The weather has been a blessing and our team has been polite towards others as well as cohesive with each other. It has been an amazing trip of learning through experience and opportunity. We are looking forward to an amazing finish to a fantastic trip!