Beautiful Boston and London

And so it is. The trip of a lifetime has finally started and what an amazing 3 days it has been. I have so much to tell you that I dont know how to fit it all in! Upon arriving in Boston, we were warmly greated by the Abron family. (spelling Ryan!? i hope i got it right!) We got to sleep well after midnight but made sure that we were up early for service. WHAT a time we had! First of all i must say that the hall we went to , which i will get the name shortly...was the FRIENDLIEST hall ive ever been to. It of course was the service arrangement, so not all publishers were there as some meet in other homes/locations. But every single brother and sister first came up to us and gave us the warmest welcome. It was the perfect start to a sleepy morning. So we were all split up - the 4 of us, ben, me, carine and peter.. in different groups. (before we went to the arrangement, i told Ryan, the bro we were staying with that i didnt want to be put in a different group.. you know... shy maybe? ;) ) but after seeing how sweet everyone was, away we were to our territory. now... here's where it gets so interesting. We arrive ..not too far from the hall... and dont i see EVERYONE ELSE who was AT the arrangement- THERE! on the SAME block! I was rather perplexed! So i ask Adam and Tayla - ' whats going on guys?! why is everyone here too?' they tell me that its for security mainly. Now i bet your asking yourself... why? whats so wrong with boston? nice city, clean, friendly. Well . .. lets just say that ben carin peter and i were the ONLY white folks on those streets. And in fact we were later told that the kingdom hall actually had a bullet go through one of the windows at one time. By now im a bit freaked out. So anyways, i figured that we're about 30 people, so nothing can go wrong. And it was so much fun! We got to talk and meet with so many brothers that otherwise we never would have been able to had we of just gone in our separate cars/territories. Every person that we met at the door was polite and very very nice. It was a bit rough around the edges - the neighborhood...but the people were genuine. and it was so nice. Later on, after service, we went back to Ryans, got changed and headed downtown! We went into North End, which is Little Italy. And there, we had the BESTEST pizza i EVER did have. Regina's pizza. Oh my word. Lets just say , i'll be going back there for sure! We walked around a bit, took photos (duh) and eventually had to go back to the house to pick up our stuff and go to the airport. The excitement was welling by this time and i just couldnt wait to get in the air! Nothing too exciting to report for the actual flight. I didnt sleep (no surprise there) and that made the 6 1/2 hr flight a bit long...but i closed my eyes as much as i could and just relaxed. Everything was on schedule so by 930 am, london time we had landed and there were no delays. DAY 2 - ENGLAND TIME! Our lovely Brent came and picked us up and brought us into Windsor- his town in which he lives in. Here is where the Queen comes and stays int he summer in the windsor castle. Its the oldest inhabited castle in the entire world! SO COOL! I didnt get many pics of it yet, as its actually a MONSTROSITY and only got a couple pics of one side of it which you'll see. So anyways, we stopped at brents place, had a nice snack, showered to wake us up (note that - 930 london time was only 430AM in montreal...so yes, fatigued, and jet lagged!) And then headed in to the center of windsor to meet Dawn, Brents wife and some friends from the hall. It was such a wonderful start to our trip! Being so well taken care of, not having to worry about where to put our stuff or where to go. Just got in the car and off we went! BY THE WAY- the whole having the 'steering wheel on the oppposite side' as WELL as driving on the other side of the road is SO STRANGE. i keep having these GASPING moments where im about to shout GET ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE STREET! when it hits me, we ARE on the right side and its ok. SO strange!!! We made it to the fancy resto/pub and were so warmly greeted. Had a strong coffee and got some laughs with our new english friends. After that Dawn, Carine and I went out for a stroll around the castle a bit and into some shopping areas. (and no! i didnt buy anything but some champagne truffles! how could i not!?!) Around this time i was getting extremely exhausted and was in need of a nap. Headed back to Brent and Dawns and had a good 1 1/2 hr nap. AHH! ready for the bbq!! Off we went to Jane and Clives- the new couple we met who have lived here in england all their lives. WELL! did we EVER eat. She made this amazing pizza which had lovely fresh arugula (which they call rocket lettuce here!) and parmasean on it. There was sausage, corn on the cob from the bbq ( a must try if you havent already) and other yummy goodies. Something new i tried- PIMMS! DEELISH! its like the english version of sangria! very interesting! Pimms is a gin and lemonade mixture that you buy pre-made. From there you add soda water i do believe , mint leaves, cucumber, lemon slices and ice. Its sooo refreshing and yummy!!! ive included a pic of that as well. we stayed there till late, and watched a movie. I however fell asleep at different points. That night i slept like a baby and needed it as we had a busy day ahead of us! DAY 3 - Westminster Abbey
Ahhh we get to go into London ! Very exciting! woke not too late and Dawn drove us in to the Slough station, just close to Windsor and where she worked and we were off on our own to venture into the city. Made it no problem and the trains here are SOOO STINKIN FAST! oh my ... you know how in montreal you can hear the metro coming underground..you hear it from a long ways off... well here... outside... waiting and all of a sudden this LOUD train FLIES in front of you and you nearly wet yourself. Its SO SCARY. I made sure to stay away from the tracks after that. We got on our train and it only took about 20 mins to get in to the city. Our first area of entry- Paddington Station! Just like Paddington Bear! (they had the lil bears there for sale.. Thought of you Mom!) We met up with Carine and Peter as they were staying in london and got to walk around a bit, and took one of those double decker red buses which are everrywhere in to westminster abbey/london eye area. This is where the excitement begins. It was so beautiful with the bright blue sky above and these huge, beaming architectural beauties all around us. I was in wonder and amazement. There was surprisingly no lineup for westminster, which was the main thing i wanted to see. Its an extreeeemely old church, dating back to the 900's and a MUST-SEE. Was a bit expensive- 15£ per person (thats about 30.00 canadian) but again, a special once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that was not about to be passed up! The moment we went inside, my mouth dropped. Words cannot describe, nor could photos (IF i were allowed to have taken photos! we werent :( ) but it was just perfect. The history is just as amazing as the building itself. They gave you these cell-phone looking things which gave you a very detailed history of the place, with all the monarchs, kinds, queens and knights that were there, and as well as their tombs. Im very interested in this type of thing so i was just in awe the whole way through. Seeing Queen Elizabeth I tomb, seeing King Henry the III 'ds tomb.. it was all just breathtaking. This in itself took a good couple hours, so by the end, it was mid afternoon, and we really needed to start heading back as we had made plans with Brent and Dawn for dinner. I have a few pics which ive included of the abbey- some outside, and some in a walkway which was so pretty! I must also say that the Metro/train/underground system is an absolute genius way of getting around. Its almost out of a modern sci-fi film. we go deeeeep underground and there's walk ways and tunnels here and there and its just SO well thought out. you can go all the way up to scotland with some of the trains! its just fantastic!!! We made it back to Windsor by 6pm and went back to the Reed's home to get a bit fancied up for din. we were off to a pub. but not just any pub. The pub is owned by a Michelin Rated Restaurant which is JUST down the road. For those who dont know what this means. Michelin is a way to rate some of the highest-quality restaurants in the world. (mike- correct me if im wrong! :) ) And the pub we went to certainly didnt have just 'normal' pub food. Nooo sir. VERY high quality, very expensive lol and VERY good. It was so special to have this on only our 2nd night here! After that we went just down the road to this other lil pub where this older lady works in behind, serving drinks and foods! insane!! You would NEVER see that anywhere else! Yep, she told me she's been there 19 years, and loves it. Told us old stories of how if you see a crown above the name of the pub, it means that a king or royalty has been there and ate/drank there. Prince Phillip had actually had his stag there years ago which was an awsome story that she gave. Note too- that we were in the very small village of Bray. Past windsor. The most quaint place ive ever seen! homes dating back hundreds of years.... Rosemary plants and Lavendar plants grown wild everywhere. ( i pinched off a sprig and we used it tontie for our potatoes on the grill :) ) It is just so picturesque here! DAY 4 - OXFORD We got up this morning and got ready to do a bit of sight seeing off the beaten path if you will- to Oxford. Which houses the worlds Oldest University - dating back to at least 1167. its VERY Italian-inspired which you will see with the photos. Absolutely beautiful. By far the most amazing thing ive seen yet! (and i know- its only day 4 but still! ) We took MANY photos and had a great time. It was about a 45 min drive from Windsor so we didnt get to spend too long here...as we had to leave at 12ish- after Dawn got off work. Interesting fact- only residents of oxford are allowed to drive into the city and park their car there. For visitors- we all have to use one of their parkades and then use the local bus system to get shuttled into the town. This way they keep it less noisy with vehicles and easier for the locals and buses to get around. It wasnt really that tourist-ridden so it was nice. So far we've been fortunate with that. On our drive back home we took some beautiful back roads and saw some amazing homes. People really care for their properties here and it shows in the beautiful flowers/fragrant lavendar and shrubs. oh - PEOPLE DRIVE FAST! and you REALLY have to be good at driving because the roads are so narrow. Not for big cars like we have back home! Tonite we chilled, made another bbq (as eating out is VERY expensive here..... average pub meal- which is considered cheap eating is no less than 5pounds normally..which is 10.00 CAD... for regular ole pub food!) So eating at home is even better....salads, burgers, steak and many other good things...PIMMS! lol. And as the boys sit down to play a game of chess, Dawn and i relax on the sofa, and watch a slideshow of our photos, enjoying all the beautiful memories we just made. I love it here. I love the friendliness of people. The classy-ness of the ladies- dressed so well and so proper. The beautiful accents and the awe-inspiring architecture. I could get use to this. And tomorrow- its off to London City again for the London Eye, Shakespeare's Globe Theatre and lots of walking!