Well, we finally are posting again. We made it to Dublin a few hours ago, after a 3 hour ferry ride. I (Brad) have never been on a big boat again, so to show my excitement, I promptly fell asleep. The back story: on Tuesday, we left London. What did we do in London, you ask? We did the British Museum (Char's highlight was the Egyptian artifacts and mine was the early European history stuff. And everything was absolutely huge!), The National Gallery (we saw some Caravaggio, Turner, Monet, Van Gogh, a Da Vinci and so much more. And they were so much more beautiful in person. Much better than an art text book.), The Tate Modern Museum (we saw some Rothko paintings, interesting installations and scultpures. REALLY COOL!), The Design Museum (an amazing exhibit about type fonts, which I was in awe of), we went to communion at Westminster Abbey (at 8:00am in the morning, with only about 10 other people. Really peaceful experience), The Sherlock Holmes Museum (which was a bit anti-climactic to say the least...), Hillsong London Church (it was Sunday morning and we were hoping to go to church, but had no idea where to go. We got off the Tube at Tottenham Court Road to go to the British Museum, and the first thing we see outside of the tube station was Hillsong London. Amazing! It was held in a incredible theatre that hosts 'We Will Rock You!'which is a Queen musical. Definitely a God thing that we saw it and were able to worship Him with hundreds of brothers and sisters.), and we went down to Speaker's Corner in Hyde Park, which was not too far from our hostel, and met one of Char's dad's best friends from boarding school in India. He was been doing work with the Muslim people for about 30 years, and one part of his ministry is to go down to Speaker's Corner and debate with them every Sunday afternoon. What an amazing opportunity to see free speech at work! Well worth it if you're in London on a Sunday afternoon!
So, to continue, after we had communion at Westminster, we boarded a train bound for Arundel, a village close to the south coast of England, which happens to have a castle that is still lived in by the Duke and Duchess of Norfolk. For me (Brad) this was the third time I had been in Arundel, so to actually be able to go in the castle was a huge experience! We loved it! Amazing stone architecture and amazing home decor and incredible gardens! We spend the night in a hotel, which was such a relief and hundreds times better than the hostel in London: sharing a room with 10 other people is no way to spend a holiday. Take note.
Then, on to Worthing, home to some of Brad's friends from previous trips to England. It was such a blessing to stay with John and Barbara again and experience warm English hospitality! A whirlwind tour of some local sights ensued with an exciting adventure driving down a pedestrian walkway in Brighton! We got up the next day after a great sleep and adventured up to Bath Spa, where we found the Roman Baths to be expensive, so Char took a very nice picture of the entrance. Instead, we went to the Jane Austen Centre, where we experienced a beautiful gift shop and a slightly cheesy display (perhaps slightly less cheesy than Sherlock Holmes...) After a walk beside the river Avon, we waited for our next train. A game of iPod Scrabble ensued, which Brad won.
We left Bath at 8:00pm, and 3 trains later, arrived at Holyhead, Wales very cold and tired at about 2:00am. Being the cheap Mennonites we are, we "slept" on the station floor to await our 2:00pm ferry to Dublin. Again, not a fun, enjoyable, look back with fond memories event. Especially since I was able to sleep and Char was not, which Char duly noted in her journal at 5:00am. (It's not my problem that I can fall asleep as well as my dad can...) So after a day waiting around Holyhead, we boarded the ferry and now we find ourselves in my cousin Carrie's flat in Dublin! The smell of chicken fried rice is starting to waft in the room, and we are excited about the next few days of seeing the sights of Dublin and it's environs. We feel hopeful that the journey will only get better from here! After a few days in Dublin, it's on to Paris and not being able to speak French.
We're going to try to upload a few pictures in the next few days, so keep your eyes peeled for that!
Char is glad we're out of London, so that Brad will stop talking with an English accent. Little does she know that I will pick up an Irish one just as quick...
We'll talk to you soon!
Cheers,
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