London Day One and Two: An Overview of the City

Our trip to London was a great experience. We made it with only one missed flight but all our luggage arrived safely with us. At Heathrow Airport we rode a 15 passenger van to our lodging in London about a hour and a half away (15-20 Miles) with traffic. We flew all night long and when we arrived, we got going on our tour of London. The first two days were designed to give us an overview of the city so we could understand the challenges of ministering in this city. Even though they have thousands of churches, they only have about 5% who attend church in England. Part of the reason we went to London was to see how a totally secular culture was and to give us a preview of how our American culture could become.

This is the front of Westminister Abbey. It's history goes back to the 1100's AD and almost all famous people from England are buried here. It was here that Princess Di was married. UNforntately we were not allowed to take pictures in the building but you can see it at www.westminster-abbey.org/

This is Parliment where all the politicans do business. You see big Ben on the far right.

This is the back of parliment. It was inside here that William Wallace of Braveheart fame was tried and killed. Below was an interesting statue we came upon.Parliment is on the Themes River. I took a picture of something called the Duck. It is a touring vehicle that drives on the road and in the river. What a tour. Below is the London Eye. It is like a big ferris wheel that overlooks the city. I planned on doing it on my day off but the cost was a little out of my range.

This caption of William Shakespere we came across in a London church. Someone paid money for this to be here. Imagine seeing busts like this in your local church. And famous dead people being buried under where you walk. This is what it is like in most London churches.

This church is St. Paul's Cathedral, unbelieveable site and beauty. It is amazing that during World War Two when London was being bombed that this churched survived.

Our Last day in London was a free day to see things we wanted. Some of us went to the Winston Churchhill Museum of his life. It was great and it showed how a great leader he was. We have no idea what the world would be like without his vision and leadership.

Tuesday night we went to see the musical "Wicked". It is kind of like the Prequel to the Wizard of Oz. The plot was fantastic and the lead singer was incredible. It was about how the wicked witch got wicked. If you ever have a chance to see this play, do it!

The last day a few of us went to famous department store Harrod's to get some shopping done. What an incredible city!