Today was a pretty darn good day! I had the wonderful opportunity to go to Windsor Castle, Stonehenge and Bath today. Sierra, Jamye and I took a 12 hour guided bus tour to each of these places and what a wonderful time it was! I was very stoked about see the castle and more particularly the cathedral inside the gates. Sadly, they would not allow you to take pictures inside so I was unable to capture the wonderful beauty of the stained glass… so sad. We toured through the apartments and got to see the fully functioning dollhouse that had everything replicated from the original house of the king and queen. All of the faucets were fully functioning with water and there was electricity inside it as well. I don’t remember what scale it was but the first 2 floor stood about 3 feet high and it was about 7 or so feet wide (these could be totally off so don’t quote me on it!).
Stonehenge was astonishing, I walked around it in a big circle that they have mapped out for it and I think that I have a photo of every possible angle of it (or so it felt like anyway). There was a free audio commentary that you could listen to and it was fascinating to hear all the different theories about how and why it was built. Basically, I can sum it all up pretty well… nobody knows. I think that is part of the draw to Stonehenge, it makes you think and wonder why would someone lug a bunch of 4-45 ton rocks and stick them in different positions in a field? Who knows, I certainly don’t. When we arrived it looked like it was getting ready to pour but thankfully it waited until 5 minutes after we left (thanks God).
The group then all stopped to have lunch in a small town on the way to Bath. The meal was really expensive so the girls and I ate at Stonehenge instead. The fun part about not eating with everyone else was I got to go and explore a 14th century church with a cemetery. At this point there was a constant drizzle and the girls didn’t really want to come with so I went on my own and had a peaceful time. I realized that that was the first time I think that I have ever specifically walked through a cemetery just because. Most of the headstones were very simple and plain but the words on the stones shared what was important to their families. There was some amazing stained glass but I was unable to get into the church because it was locked (bummer).
Next we made our way to Bath and walked around the streets for a little bit until the baths had actually closed and then we were able to get a private tour. The Roman baths were very interesting looking and it was crazy to think that I was standing on stones that were laid over 2000 years ago. The natural springs ran at a temp of 46C (I think that’s around 110F? maybe). We were then given free beverages and headed back for home.
I think that the amount of time we spent in each place was perfect, not too rushed but we were not bored either. There are lots of pictures and I will try to get some on the Kodak website a.s.a.p. but no guarantees.
Just a quick note about yesterday because that was great too! The girls and I went to the London aquarium and while it didn’t blow you away quite like Sea World or any other Californian aquarium it had a wonderful feel to it. There were 14 different sections and since there were not a whole lot of people there you could spend all the time you wanted looking at each tank. There were fish from all over the world and I would have to say that hands down my favorite fish were the ones that can be found in the Indian Ocean. They had brilliant colors that popped out at you, magenta, purple, aqua, neon yellow, everything! We also were able to see small jelly fish (size of a baseball) very close up and there are of course tons of pictures. We watched the piranhas get feed and also say a spitting fish that spits to get his food and will occasionally jump for his food too. Good times had by all.
I think that I’m going to go now but I just wanted you all to know that I am doing well, much better than I was during my last post. Just in case you were wondering, everything with the printer is all figured out and I no longer hate that situation as much. The cell phone thing is still complicated, but I’m working on it. My lip is significantly better than before, it’s amazing how fast things in and around your mouth can heal!
Real quick I do have several prayer requests for those of you that are praying for me (by the way… thank you very much for taking the time to do!). I have been feeling a little sick, so I’m trying to take as many precautions as possible but life happens and that usually messes that kind of stuff up… Also, I have been having a couple difficulties with people either getting on my nerves and me getting on theirs. I am aware of it happening so that has helped but I want to love this person in the best way possible and that is obviously difficult sometimes. Finally, my parents are flying out on Monday and they will be getting here on Tuesday morning. I obviously want them to get here safely and also hope that they have a wonderful time here. Along with that I will not be at school as much but that doesn’t mean I can just forget that I still am in school. I really need to focus on getting my stuff done here and then enjoying my time with my parents. Okay, that was a little bit longer than one final thing but I’m sure you all don’t mind too much. I hope you all have a wonderful week! I will write again soon, hopefully with more from my travels before school (don’t worry I haven’t forgotten!) Hasta!