More of London and then off to Chicago!
I write this entry with a heavy heart... I am
sitting in Heathrow Airport... Wait, I'm back. I am now on the flight. As I
was writing that last sentence the boarding announcement came over the air, so I
quickly packed up.
It was sad saying
goodbye to Megie and Courtney this morning. The thought that I will be spending
20 days away from them is not pleasant at all. However, it is some consolation
to know that we had the last week together. I will say a bit more about the
fantastic experiences we shared in a minute. Also, I am so pleased that Megie
will be starting her new job as the Head of Department at Damelin's school of
Business Management in Hatfield,
Pretoria.
If you are reading this why
not say a little prayer for my two
girls?
Right, now let's move on to the
last few days in London.
When last I
wrote we were still at Craig in Worcester Park. When I got back from Cambridge
I met Megie and Courts at Craig's place, dropped my bags and we went straight
back to London's Waterloo Station. The station itself is incredible! It is
huge with thousands of people in transit to some destination or another (there
are trains, the Eurorail to France and beyond leaves from there, and then of
course there is the famous London Underground). It is quite a struggle to
remember what we did that afternoon. We have done so much that everything seems
to blur into one awesome experience! Let me just have a quick peek at my Photos
in iPhoto to see where we went...
Aaahh
yes. We didn't in fact go all the way to Waterloo. Rather, we went as far as
Wimbledon, the home of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis tournament. Wimbledon seems to
be inhabited by a large number of South Africans. We spent most of our time
there just reconnecting with each other, looking at all the shops on the High
street, and then we ended the evening with a movie at the Odeon Cinema. We
watched the animated film 'Robots'. It was fantastic to do that with Megie and
Courts. We got back to Craig's place after catching a 9pm South West
train.
On Thursday morning we woke up,
did some washing (thanks Megie!!!) and then made our way into 'Londres'!!! We
didn't get too early a start, so it meant that we only really spent the
afternoon and early evening in London. We caught a Tube to Oxford Circus and
then made our way up to Carnaby street. Having been something of a 'Mod' in my
younger years, it was great to see the sights and shops mentioned in the songs
of 'The Jam' and other Mod bands. There were a few Mod shops around (Merc,
Lambretta etc.). After Carnaby street we went to Hamleys! Wow, what a
fantastic experience. Hamleys is a 5 level toy store! Courtney just loved it!
On the 'girls' floor (level 3) they were making teddy bears. Basically one
chooses a bear of some sorts (she in fact chose a pink Unicorn!) then you take
it to be filled with stuffing. On the way you find a 'voice box', which
activates when you squeeze it, choose a heart and then have your animal of
choice sewn up. Courtney's Unicorn is called Cinderella and has the voice box
of a sheep (there were no unicorn voice boxes
available!)
After that we made our way
further along the road to the Apple flagship store!!! What an incredible
experience! it is HUGE! Megie went off to find us something to eat while I
browsed around, hooked my Powerbook up to the open wireless network, and
Courtney played a Barbie game on a free eMac. When we left the store I added
another gadget to my Mac arsenal, a 512MB iPod shuffle!! It is
great.
That evening we met Megie's
cousin Richard at Waterloo and went along to Twickenham for dinner with Richard,
his wife Karyn and their friend Amon. Craig joined us after work. It was such
a memorable evening!
We caught the last
train from Twickenham to Clapham Junction, and got back to Worcester Park at
01h30!!
On Good Friday we awoke rather
late, packed up our things and hoped on the train to catch a Tube to Richard and
Michelle at Ealing Broadway. It was quite a job getting around with my 25KG' of
luggage and Megie and Courtney's 12KG bag! However, it was worth it to get to
our friends Richard and Michelle! I have missed them both so much since leaving
Somerset West. I often long for those care free days when I was doing my
Doctorate and Richard was the youth pastor at Coronation Ave Methodist
Church.
Richie and Mich took us to
their lovely home in Ealing. As is to be expected their place is stunning!
Rich and Mich have such a wonderful sense of class and style. They were
incredibly generous to have us stay with them ('squatting' in their lounge) for
3 nights!
On Friday evening we took a
nice long walk around the area in which Richard works (London SW1). It is SO
posh! We ended up at the Natural History Museum which was incredible to behold.
I have never before seen quite so incredible a collection of fossils and
dinosaur remains. The T-Rex exhibition was the highlight. Of course, Courtney
loved the exhibition. Moreover, the attention she got from Richard and Michelle
was lapped up!
On Saturday morning we
drove back in to London and Richard and Michelle treated us to an open bus tour
of London's sights. We saw EVERYTHING!! A real highlight was a boat trip along
the River Thames. Our guide was hilarious. The 30 minute trip from London
Bridge to the London eye was incredible. London is a wonderful city. I would
so love to live in the city. However, I do realize that it is not an ideal
environment in which to raise a child. However, the cosmopolitan nature and
pace were truly invigorating.
We ended
in the evening by meeting our friend Ulric Gordon at Buckingham Palace and going
for a walk in incredible parks and gardens. It was
freezing!
Sunday morning was a real
highlight for me. We awoke early and went with Richard and Michelle to the Holy
Trinity Brompton Church of England Easter Sunday service. Sandy Millard
preached and did communion. Whilst nothing in particular stood out for me, it
was just such a special time to reconnect with God, remember the wonderful
loving sacrifice of Christ and reaffirm my call to ministry. The last number of
months have been particularly tough and stressful for me. This service was a
healing time.
After the service we
drove out to the country. We met our friends Bryan Johannsen and his girlfriend
Alix at Windsor Castle and then spent most of the day walking through, and
taking in, the grounds and interior of the castle. When we finished there we
took a wonderful drive through Maidenhead (I got to see where Richard ministered
and where they lived) and then on to Henley and Marlow
etc.
That brings us to today. I can
hardly believe how much we have done in such a short time. Indeed, this was a
family experience of a lifetime! I will miss my girls, but I'm on my way to
another completely new experience. I am SO excited about going to America. My
hosts have been so generous and gracious already! I hope to be able to offer
something worthwhile in return.
Well,
check back again. I'm not sure how often I will have internet access, or how
much time I will have to write. I hope to update with news and experiences as
often as I can.
Take a look above....
Posted: Mon - March 28, 2005 at 01:59 PM