Trip to Europe - Part 4

My goodness... From the look of it, I have hardly posted since we arrived in the U.K... Therefore, I shall give a whirlwind update!

London was (described in a word...) brilliant. We saw (to name the highlights) Buckingham palace, Kensington palace, Trafalgar Square the prince Albert memorial, the Wellington memorial, numerous world war memorials, the Tower of London, the Tower Bridge, the British Museum, Churchill War Rooms, and much much more... In 3 days. I've posted pictures on Facebook (yes, I broke down finally) if you'd like to see them... I am past 1,000 pictures and counting.

This is one of my favorite "things" from London. The British Museum has an entire gallery dedicated to ancient Persia, and this wall carving originated from a palace in Persepolis belonging to Darius (yes, I believe it is the same as in the book of Daniel). It was so weird to be able to touch something that Daniel, Nehemiah,  and Esther all could have seen...

Next was Oxford! A necessary pilgrimage stop for both Tolkien and Lewis fans alike. Josh and I visited Magdelen College (where Lewis taught) and were adequately impressed by its grandeur and beauty. Whenever locals heard about us and college, they always asked if we were going to study in Oxford... yeah, we wish...

Another necessary stop for coffee pilgrims such as Josh and myself included a cup at the oldest coffee house in Europe. However, this proved harder than originally anticipated - one house claimed to be the oldest in Europe, while another claimed to be th oldest in Oxford... Last I checked, Oxford was included when discussing Europe, but I never claimed to know everything... anyway, Josh and I found a happy solution by simply attending both during our stay! (Though Josh ordered tea both times... figure that one out...)

The next stop was, by far, our favorite thus far. If you ever get the chance to visit England, Josh and I would definitely recommend the town of Warwick (this year, the town is celebrating 1100 years since it's founding). In addition to the castle (huge, impressive, and very well interpreted), the hosts at our bed and breakfast and the general atmosphere of the town gave it a very Sunriver type feel about it.

It was hard to pick a favorite from the castle,  but one of the greatest highlights was the Falconer show. Two bald eagles, an Egyptian vulture, some bird with a nine foot wingspan from the Himalayas that eats bones, and an owl named Ernie were all part of the show. It's just... wow, God's creatures never cease to amaze me, especially when they fly right at eye height (plus or minus about 6 inches)

Leaving the small town behind us,  Josh and I were on our way to Newcastle. The purpose of this stop - Roman ruins. We visited two sites - Segedunum and the Corbridge ruins (which had a Latin name that escapes me at the moment).

The Corbridge ruins - including leftovers from a stables (300 cavalry were stationed here), a headquarters building, and two granaries to name a few. A town built to reinforce Hadrian's Wall, these ruins from 1,850 years ago are not only visible, but sturdy enough to the point that visitors are allowed to climb on, around, and all over them. Talk about engineered to last...

Well, that's all for now. Only two more cities - Edinburgh and Dublin, and that post will probably arrive through the Portland Airport WiFi...

Trip to Europe - Part 3

France has been brilliant - what with the castles, the Keep, the food, and the coffee (which was brilliant), it's been a great few days.

The best part, however, was none of those aspects previously listed. It was the spirit of the people that we've interacted with while here. Our cousins are brilliant and our aunt and uncle are brilliant, but it's not just the inside jokes, the random movie-quote-guess-game, or even the hilarious movies they show us that make them that way.

It's their attitude towards their service to the king. Instead of spending their time and resources to build their own kingdoms (with an invitation to God to join them), they are laboring (yes, laboring... you should see their schedules) to build God's kingdom, after being invited by God to partake in its expansion.

I've been very blessed with the refreshing words of "basic" truth. This quick look into what faith could look like, removed from my compartmentalized life. What if, instead of devoting 100% of my life to His service, I recognize that my life isn't even mine to devote?

Neat lessons, cool sights, brilliant company. How would you describe France in a word?

Brilliant!

Trip to Europe - Part 2

 Loches - a town dating back to the 800s with a skyline that will hardly let you forget it. We arrived and it was in the high 60s and clear blue skies. We really could not have asked for better weather. Following are a few pictures with a small explanation for each.

 

I shall not attempt the French term for this location, though in English, we would call it the governor's mansion.  Adorned with French flags, it was rather impressive.

This is the older, though not necessarily used, cathedral. Though you can't necessarily see it here, it's built in the minaret style (pre gothic) as pointed out by...

Our illustrious tour guides, cousins Chandler (caught at an inopportune time on the historic toilet) Graham (who was also caught unawares in this photo, though in an obviously less awkward environment), who were able to read and translate all the signs, as well as give us a personalized tour of...

La Donjon (which is translated neither as dungeon or Don Juan, but rather, the Keep) which was the principle defense should the area ever be attacked. As it turns out, this region is full of castles due to its proximity to sandstone mines. Following are a few pictures of the keep...

From the second highest platform of the keep

The historic costumes room, which I'm sure I didn't appreciate as much as I should, but the costume director at Fort Vancouver would be most upset if she found out that I'd seen this room and not taken at least one picture... (click on it to view it in a new window at full size)

This picture from the beginning is a view of the old cathedral from the top of the keep.

I'll close with a final though: pray for Josh, as he is beginning to entertain the notion that he can fly...

Trip to Europe - Part 1

The following posts will be done via my wonderful phone, so expect more pictures and fewer words...

Before we left, we were all smiles. Note Joshua's smiles...

On our way to the plane in Portland... "They're called 'Aviator Shades'... before Ben forgot to grab them from the airport in Toronto...

At Tornoto... noting that Ben is still alive after forgetting the shades... Ben wisely took the picture before forgetting the shades...

Toronto Airport... the land of many, many long hallways...

Our first chàteau in Loches... more pictures on our tours later on...