London Outings

During the two full days I spent in London, I did quite a bit.
A girl I met at Life Tabernacle, the church I went to, met me at the church and then took me by bus to see different places. On the first day, we took a pretty long walk through part of Battersea Park.

It was very pretty, and very big. We didn't go through the whole thing, of course. There are several different paths to take. There are fountains, gardens, picnic tables, tennis courts, and there is even a small zoo in the park. After Battersea Park, we caught a bus to Victoria. According to the girl from the church, Shaneel, Victoria is a more upscale place in London. Higher income people live there more than in places like Battersea and Brixton, so she said. We walked around a mall there, and then ate lunch at a place called Nando's. After that, we caught another bus, to Trafalgar Square. During the bus ride, we could see Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, and the London Eye.
 
Trafalgar Square was pretty interesting. We went into the National Gallery there, but of course, no photography is allowed, so I just have to remember all the magnificent artwork we saw. From Trafalgar Square, we walked to Parliament Square. We walked around there for a while, and then caught a bus to Brixton to meet someone and then go to "Cell Group," a Bible study at someone's house. I got to meet a lot of the other young people and the youth leaders from the church, and we had a great time.

The second day, we met at the church again, and caught a bus to Victoria. We went inside a beautiful church. I took a picture of the outside, but not the inside since mass was going on, and I felt like it would be disrespectful. The inside was far more beautiful, with high ceilings, statues, elaborate architecture, and exquisite tile works and artwork. When we left the church, we went to Westminster Abbey. It was very crowded, so I took pictures, and we walked by. We then went to see Big Ben. From there, we walked to Buckingham Palace.

After that, we went to the London Eye. It was a little more than I wanted to pay for both of us, but I thought, 'This may be a once in a lifetime opportunity, so why not?' I'm very glad we went on the London Eye. Shaneel had never done it, and had been living in London for four years, so she was also grateful for the opportunity. It was quite the experience, and I would highly encourage everyone who travels to London to do it.

We headed back to the church after that, and while they had choir practice, I got to sit in the office and chat with a friend from back home for a while.

The next day, Friday, Sister Monica took me to the coach station where I took a coach to Stansted Airport. It was about a two hour long bus ride, but it wasn't bad. I flew out of Stansted that evening, headed to Vilnius, Lithuania.