1 Adult, 4...Seniors.

   As many of you may know, I was fortunate enough to have four wonderful visitors over the Easter holidays.  My parents were joined by Pat and Evelyn Patterson, long-time family friends, for their overseas excursion.  As it was the first time traveling out of the country for all of them(except for trips to Canada), it was quite an exciting time.  It was also the first time any of them had taken a two week holiday, so I wanted to make sure they got their money's worth. I know vacations are supposed to be a time of peaceful rest and relaxation and we did get lots of that...at night. There was so much I wanted to show them, it was hard to not pack the days full!
   The first four days we spent exploring the city of London.  I told them they were in for the full English experience so the first thing we did after we dropping our stuff at our hotel was find a pub across the street for some grub.  They hadn't even been in the country two hours and I'd already gotten them a pint and a burger. It wasn't until after they finished that Dad looked at his watch and realized it was only 6:30 am back home...then he said something about not having had a drink that early in the morning for quite a long time.  ha! 
    That evening we walked from our hotel across Hyde Park to Buckingham Palace. I didn't realize how long of a walk it was going to be but everyone was such good sports. They were quite excited to finally see the Palace that they'd heard so much about and were thrilled when I told them that the flag was risen, which meant the Queen was actually home.  "She's in there....somewhere!"  Of course, they were fascinated by the rigidity and discipline of the guards standing out front.  "What if they need a bathroom break?  Is that what those little huts are for right behind them?"   Don't think so...
    The next day we visited the British Museum, which I had been to once before but found such enjoyment in watching and listening to the others' reactions when they would find stuff they only ever expected to see in history books. The Egypt, India, and the limited-time Afghanistan exhibits were among their favorites.  All the excitement was heightened even more by the fire alarm that went off and caused everyone to evacuate (apparently it was something that happened in one of the kitchens), it's crazy how many people you can fit in one building! And on one sidewalk! After exhausting ourselves of the museum, we walked to Oxford Street, which is known for its big fancy shops and popular attractions.  Though I was wanting to give them the "full English experience,"  I quickly realized that maybe there were a few things we didn't need to spend quite so much time on.  Although, I have to say, I thought that for 4 country folk, they did very well amongst the never-ending-quick-paced-get-outta-my-way-I'm important-hustle-and-bustle that is Oxford Street.  I sensed it was a bit more anxiety-inducing rather than excitng for them so I found a place for us to sit down and eat as fast as possible.

     On Thursday, we jumped on a coach bus and headed for a tour of Windsor Castle, Bath, and Stonehenge. What a whirlwind of a day-but so incredibly fascinating!  Seeing the changing of the guards at Windsor was definitely a highlight-we even got to see the band march up the street!  In Bath we spent most of our time exploring the famous Roman Baths- I couldn't stop smiling as Mom kept commenting on "just how OLD everything is!" We finished out the day with Stonehenge, which blew us all away(literally...it was quite windy). I'd heard from a lot of people that they'd found it rather disappointing because it was "just a pile of rocks," but I still thought it was pretty incredible. By the end of the day, I think we were all a bit overwhelmed by the amount of information we'd taken in, but we all felt it was definitely worth the ride.  To top it off, we had the most amazing tour guide. Her name was Trudy and she was about as British as they come.  She kept calling us "lady babes" and the men "silly sausages" and referred to Prince Wills and Prince Harry as "Prince William and His Hairiness".  She had us giggling all day, so we made sure we gave her a nice tip.

Hard to get a good picture-
St. Paul's is SO BIG!

   On Friday, we had a rather humorous, and unique, realization as we headed to Westminster Bridge (right by Big Ben) to jump on a boat for a river cruise of the Thames.  I figured it would be the most relaxing way to see all of the important monuments along the Thames: London Bridge, Tower Bridge, Tower of London, etc. As I was reading the tickets I'd printed off from the internet, I laughed as I read aloud what it said (something I didn't even notice when I'd ordered the tickets the night before). "1 Adult, 4 Others." Because my four traveling companions were so young, they qualified for the Seniors discount which left me, the youngest, as the only "Adult."  We indeed had a good laugh at the irony as we had never encountered this kind of situation before; usually there would be way more Adults, and it was rare that I was included as an Adult.  Let's just say from that point on, we took advantage of the "1 Adult, 4 Others" discount as much as we could. And yes, we laughed about it every time.
   So on the boat, we decided to get off at Greenwich, "the centre of time and space," where the longitude is 0º and the clock is absolute.  I remember learning about the Prime Meridian in 5th grade but never expected I'd get to be so close to it!  At that point, we sent Dad and Pat in a taxi so they could go explore the Museum of Zoology at the University City of London while I took Mom and Evelyn to check out Harrod's (really famous fancy department store).  I thought this would be a good time to introduce them to the Underground. Well, I thought wrong...I had totally spaced off the fact we'd be hitting the 4-5 pm rush hour. So as we were standing in the Tube, packed tighter than sardines, Mom and Evelyn holding on for dear life, I looked at them and said, "Well, welcome to London."  After a quick dash through Harrod's (mainly just to find the bathroom), we hurried our way over to St. Paul's Cathedral to meet Dad and Pat for the 5 pm Evening Vespers service. Even though we were a few minutes late, I was so glad we made it.  St. Paul's is one of my favorite Cathedrals, for the music and the architecture.  I also wanted my family to see where I got to spend Christmas Eve service this year.  They were all blown away by the grandeur of the place. I think it does have a rather majestic feel to it. 
    The next morning we got a taxi out to St. Albans where we picked up our rental car and headed for St. Albans Cathedral and Abbey. I didn't expect them to enjoy the Cathedral so much(mainly because it's smaller and not quite as extravagant as St. Paul's) but we spent over an hour walking through and reading about the history of the place and the story of Saint Alban, which they found to be quite fascinating. Then I took them to the oldest pub in England, just down the hill from the Cathedral, called Ye Olde Fighting Cocks, where we enjoyed yet another burger and pint.

Where the cock fights would take place

Ye Olde Fighting Cocks: proper English pub

  After lunch, I decided it was finally time to show them the place that has become my home for the year.  As we drove out to SPEC, I pointed out as much as I could in hopes that they could get an idea of what it was like to live here for a year.  Jon and Roseann, our Director and his wife, had invited all of us and the few members of the team that had not yet left for the holidays, over to the Farm Cottage for Cream Tea in the garden(tea and scones in their backyard). I was so grateful that my fellow team members were willing to come meet my family and spend time with us.  It was late afternoon and we watched as the sun slowly began to drop behind the big cross in the Cross Field.  As I sat and listened on to the several conversations that ensued, among the smiles and laughter, there was a peaceful contentment that came over me.  At one point I looked at my mom, and she was just sitting there, smiling, and soaking in the experience and I said, "Welcome to England." 
    After Cream Tea, I told my family to prepare themselves for the grand tour as I showed them as much of the 72-acre site as I possibly could. They were blown away by the size of everything, and the historical background of the place.  I made sure to take them down to Chantry Island so they could see the outdoor chapel where Saint Alban walked and also the big campfire pit we use quite often with the Loft kids. Mom said she was trying to imagine what it's like when it's full of young people singing campfire songs, I told her, "Pretty sweet."

Chantry Island Chapel

   I was so incredibly thankful I had the opportunity to share with them what has been my life this year.  I had been looking forward to their trip all year (just as much as they were) and couldn't believe it was finally happening. It helped them understand so much more of what I'd been doing all year and where I'd been living.   
    That Sunday I took them to St. Peter's, the Anglican church in London Colney I've been attending somewhat regularly. As we processed in with our palms, as it was Palm Sunday, I could see the sheer enjoyment on their faces.  There we were, singing "All Glory, Laud, and Honour," a whole ocean away from church in Lewistown, yet they seemed to feel so at home.  I smiled and thought in my head, "Welcome to my church."
    After church I thought they'd enjoy some fancy waffles so I took them to the Waffle House in St. Albans.  The food was amazing but we all decided if we ever went back there, we'd go for the slightly less sugary option. (It was so much more of a dessert than a breakfast food!)  So after we had quadrupled our sugar intake in one sitting, we jumped in the car and headed for Cambridge for the afternoon. Only about an hour down the road, we enjoyed a relaxed walk around and seeing the incredible architecture of the universities.  Mom and I were really hoping to go punting on the river (riding a long flat bottomed boat, similar to gondolas in Italy) but the chilly weather and our tired bodies caused us to have second thoughts.  Mom said, "Guess we have something to look forward to next time" to which I raised my eyebrow and said, "Seriously? Next time?!?!"  I think she's caught the travel bug...finally!
  The next day, we started our journey up to Scotland.  So we packed up the car and decided we'd shoot for getting as far as York(about 3 1/2 hours north), and finding a B&B to stay in for the night. After exploring the town for a few hours(which was after we drove around for almost an hour looking for a parking space) we crashed at a beautiful B&B called Hedley House.  Mom and I went to the lounge and called JoAnn(Dad's secretary) to find out they were getting snowstorms back home.  We tried not to rub it in her face that we'd been having the most beautiful Spring weather we could've asked for, not a drop of rain yet!  There was a couple playing cards with their son at the table next to us and they overheard us talking about snowstorms and said "You guys aren't from Washington, are you? I hope we're not getting any of that snow..." They were from Seattle.  They'd come to visit their son who was doing a semester of university in London.  We ended up talking for over 2 hours, Mom was pretty excited to share with them all we'd done so far and hear about where they'd been. 1 am rolled around and we decided it was time to head to bed as we had a long drive in the morning.  So we wished them goodnight and went to our room and within 5 minutes we were both in bed, dreaming of the beautiful Scottish countryside we'd be soaking up in the days to come.