Fun with a friend!

Please forgive me for not having posted much earlier, but Eva and I had a blast together while she was here! It was great to have a friend visit and I really enjoyed seeing some sights of the city with the fresh eyes of a visitor. It made me appreciate living here even more! After she arrived and spent a day settling in a resting from 24 hours of travel, we spent 3 glorious days together...
Day One: We took a walking tour of "The Famous Square Mile," which is also known as The City of London or better yet - simply the City. This is the area where Micah works - in old London. From the older lady in the photo below (she was our walking guide tour) we learned about the 3 disasters of London: the plague, the fire, and the blitz. Many facts, such as the truth about "black pudding," where the saying "God bless you" (when a person sneezes) comes from, and the intricacies of the early waste management system were learned in this fun 2 hour tour!

An alley-way from the tour... notice how close the buildings are to one another!

Now the Jamaican Wine Shop, but once was the location of the FIRST coffee house in London! This is where they claim the term "tips" comes from (as in giving your waitor/waitress a tip). In the early days the genlemen had to pay to get into the coffee shop "to insure proper service." (Acrostic from TIPS)... later this was added onto the bill isntead of being required to pay for ahead of time!

Also on the tour, we went to Guildhall, the center of commerce for the city. It just so happened that a meeting was to take place one hour after we got there... and the Lord Mayor of London had already arrived... his RollsRoyce was parked in front of Guildhall....

...I asked for a ride, but the driver said no this time. Bummer! We did see some quaint ladies dressed to the "T" with proper British hats and all...

Our tour ended at the infamous St. Paul's Cathedral. We didn't go in, but enjoyed the view from outside!

After fish and chips at the pub (we sat outside right next to the River Thames enjoying the sunshine - it was lovely!), we went to explore the Tower of London! There are resident ravens there - yes birds that live there. It is said that when the ravens leave the tower, all of London will fall... so they do everything they can to keep the birds around. :)

From St. John's chapel (pictured below), to the crown jewels, White Tower full of armor and amunition, the torture chamber, and bloody tower where 2 princes were said to be murdered, the Tower of London had much to offer!

(The White Tower pictured in the background as we wait in line to get into the torture chamber - thankfully the items are not currently used - just on display!)

The Yeoman Warders (commonly known as beefeaters) are the current residents and keepers of the Tower. They give tours every hour, which Eva and I were super excited for... except that the last tour is at 3:30pm and we'd just missed it! Instead, we chatted up a beefeater who was getting ready to close down the torture tower and were just in time to get a photo with him!

Day Two: On the second day Eva and I started out by exploring an excellent art museum - the Tate Modern. It is full of modern art, from surrealism to impressionism - a very fun exploration. Then we walked along the River to get sight of the Eye and Big Ben before hoping on the underground towards Covent Garden. The entertainers were out and so were the crowds on this sunny spring day... I'm sure you recognize this monster! :)

After some market shopping and time for coffee at a local cafe, we headed up towards the British Museum...

Eva most wanted to explore the Egyptian section and that we did... here is a unique picture (I was playing with the lighting and refelction off glass) of the Rosetta stone and Eva.

We met Micah at an overcrowded train station, walked through Soho square (pictured below) and onto one more adventure of the evening - a South African restaurant for dinner! The couscous and conversation was memorable... and led us into the last day -

Day Three: We had most of the day to spend with Eva, though she did have a flight to catch in the evening. For that reason we choose to stay close to home, exploring Greenwich. We went up to the Royal Observatory in Greenwich Park where there are beautiful views of the eastern side of the city...

... then down through the Queen's house where Micah was pretending to be Samson (from the Bible - not our dog) pushing over the pillars. We walked through the Royal Naval College, grabbed lunch from the local market, and enjoyed browsing the shops.

I cannot explain how refreshing and encouraging it was to have Eva visit for a few days! Her appreciation for the British culture, friendship, and excitement was contagious. It was sad to see her go, but we know that she and her husband will be back through to visit us again in late May, so we look forward to that!

Sending my love, Becky