Ok...so I left the States on Jan. 3rd; arrived in London on Jan. 4th! This was only after packing...and when you are packing for Mozambique for 6 months along with London for 4 days things get a bit dicey. But, I made it back with no extra baggage charges and nothing stolen!!! Thank you for all your prayers!
Anyway this little oversight meant a fun trip to TK Maxx where we tried on almost EVERY hat in the place. One was furry and basically the same color as my hair...hysterical! Chris has the only photo and I'm happy to keep it that way! After this little trip came a wonderful dinner of roast chicken with Chris's great roommates. It was great to get to know them a bit!
Day two we decided was to be filled with London things! We dropped off my passport to get my Mozambican visa...and expectantly were told to come back a few hours later! Then we took a flight on the London Eye. That's right...they call it a flight! Made me laugh...out loud! Next came a trip to Soho and China Town. China Town was great...squid, ducks, and any other type of meat you can think of hanging in the windows...and an amazing lunch that I made it all the way through using only chopsticks! And, we took a walk through Soho because when I was in London when I was 15 I have this distinct traumatizing memory of walking through Soho after a show late at night...the sites to be seen were mind blowing for a 15 year old girl from South Carolina. Anyway, Chris wanted me to see it wasn't nearly as out of control as I remembered in my minds eye.
Then we headed back to the Mozambican consult to pick up my passport...with a 6 month visa in it!!! Praise God all worked out and now I can officially stay in the country through June and only have to leave every 90 days (instead of every 30 like before)! Thank you for all your prayers once again!Next we jumped back on the tube (which I love by the way) and popped up in Camden (not South Carolina) and took a walk through the open air street market. We had a blast looking at all the crazy things and just making fun of the people around. It was great! I had my last Starbucks coffee for awhile and savored every minute of it in the cool rain that was falling as we walked around.
The day ended with The Lion King! Chris had asked if I wanted to see a show while I was there. And of course I agreed but didn't really know what we should go see. I was completely swayed in the right direction because The Lion King was amazing! It was seriously breathtakingly amazing! I sat during the first scene with a HUGE smile on my face, eyes welled up when Mufasa died...honestly it was just spectacular! What was my favorite part you're wondering? The costumes, hands down. I wasn't sure how they were going to make people into African animals...being that I have seen African animals up close and personal and they are HUGE! But I was stunned at the creativity and intricacy of all the costumes...indescribable really!Day three...we planned to take a day train ride out to Cambridge. Little did I know that would mean I would get to get on a train on platform 9b at the King's Crossing station...if you're not following my thinking...this is where Harry Potter runs through the wall on his way to Hogwart's on platform 9 3/4...if you ask me a train on platform 9b is as close as you can get without getting a concussion hitting a brick wall! Exciting stuff!
Before I get ahead of myself and tell you about Cambridge, I'm not sure I can express my excitement about traveling through a bit of the countryside. All I wanted to see were sheep! Little white fluffy sheep standing in fields being adorable. But it was raining...and cold...and apparently sheep stay indoors on days like these. All except for one lone field of sheep!!!! And in this field there was the token black sheep...made me giggle! So cute! Ok...now in Cambridge we spent most of our day walking around taking in the sites. My constant line was...that building is older than my country. And it was true! The colleges are just beautiful and the city very quaint. I loved it!
Then we went punting on the Cam. I know, I know...you're thinking...what the heck does that mean?? I wasn't quite sure either but Chris assured me it was something you just had to do when you're in Cambridge. So we went punting. In American terms this is getting in a wooden boat that sits right on top of the water. The punter stands on the back and uses a long pole to push you down the river. And the Cam is the river that runs through Cambridge. So basically we went boating down a river...yes, it was cold, but we did have blankets. And we got told all about the buildings we could see along the way. Most of the colleges (there are 31 colleges that make up Cambridge University) back up to the Cam and most were built before America began...amazing if you ask me! If you are curious like us, you'll enjoy this fact. We asked the guys how often people fall in because you can rent a punt and tour on your own down the river as well. They told us probably 1 person a month in the winter but 6-8 a week in the summer...made us laugh. Thank goodness we had an expert punter with us!My last day it was back to packing again after a quick trip to run errands at the mall. And then one last adventure on the tube and trains to get to the airport once again. And I was off for a second time in a week...next adventure was had in Johannesburg...much closer to the final destination of Mozambique.
Goodbye London...hope to see you again very soon!
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