England 07 is over... what about '08?

England 2007 is over. My pix and some commentary follow in reverse chronological order. I'm always asked... "will there be another?"
"Who knows?" I always say.
It is really up to the next class... but if this was the last England trip, it was a great finale!

What about the class of 2008???

Well, students and parents who are interested in an England trip for Easter Break in 2008 should contact RevTom. Click here for his email for trips.

Tentative plan is to leave Easter night, arriving London Easter Monday morning and return the following Sunday. Air travel is to and from Washington Dulles airport with no transportation to the airport. Cost of the trip is estimated at $1700. This will include everything except most lunches, most dinners and spending money. All transportation, breakfasts, two dinners, one lunch, all entry fees as a group member and lodging are included. Lodging in Oxford will be in the three star Oxford YHA Hostel and in London will be in a three star hotel.

Easter Sunday - check in at Dulles airport, overnight flight to London
Monday - arrive and travel to Oxford
Tuesday - Oxford, travel to London via train
Wednesday - London: British Library, Tower of London, shopping and Phantom of the Opera(?) late dinner or dessert at Planet Hollywood
Thursday - London: British Museum, shopping at Covent Garden, National Gallery, Dinner at St. Martin's in the Field Church Crypt, The London Eye
Friday - Travel to Cambridge for the day, return to London via train
Saturday - TBA, Last supper at the ORIGINAL HARD ROCK CAFE
Sunday - fly home, arriving Dulles at 3pm-ish for pick up

$300 deposit
$300 monthly payments by end of Feb, 2008.

the last day

Monday was our last day... we've gotten to most of the places so we "had a lie in" (slept late) and then went to the Tower...

Ravens belowand then to Covent Garden for one last street performance, some of our gang watches here...

and then a ride on the London Eye, seen behind the travellers...

and then uptown to Picadilly Circus for a last walk through downtown...
...it was a really great trip... one that will go down as one of my favs... thanks guys for being great travellers!

Sunday

On Sunday we visited the Halls in Camden Town (northern London)...


We went to church with them...


the church had light pouring through the window... these followers of Christ are seeking to bring The Light to the folks who live in Camden Town...

after lunch we went for a walk through town which included a strech of the canal... then farewell to the Halls... back in the tube... then to St. Paul's cathedral...

Happy Saturday from Cambridge (revised)

we trained to Cambridge this morning...

the gang went to lunch, shopping and next we head to punt the River Cam...

great weather continues as we head back to London and arrive at Kings Cross station...

and visit Platform 9 3/4

please keep praying for this trip... God has blessed us in SO many ways!!!

at Westminster Abbey

at Big Ben

at Trafalger Square

tea and carrot cake

at British Museum

you thought you were going to see more kids, didn't you? I decided to let Hadrian take this post...

Thursday (revised)

Thursday found us heading from Oxford to London by train... an easy move since this group of travelers are really easy to travel with. Here we are at Paddington Station "Tube" station...

after checking into the hotel, some of us had a picnic in Hyde Park while others got noodles at Wagammas... then we hit Harrods for some expensive touristy window shopping... then time to clean up, dress up and head to Phantom, here is a blury pic of us on the way to the Theatre in Picadilly Circus... this group seemed to really enjoy Phantom

an excellent day - sorry for slow opening...

Note, the internet cafe that I am at tonight does not have a software to compress the pix, so I apologize for the time that it will take to open this post.

I must say that every member of this travelling party is really doing a great job on the trip. This group is considerate of one another, kind and they are not demanding. They seem to be soaking up the sights and the few tidbits that I share along the way. They appear to enjoy the unexpected the best, like the deer park on the grounds of Magdalen College this afternoon.

The weather remains just fantastic. Beautiful blue skys and white puffy clouds, the weather is in the upper sixties. In fact this morning the guys and I took our breakfast outside in the garden (on the patio). The forecast is for the weather to get better and better over the next three days!

Tommorow morning we pack up and head to London. We will be taking a train at around ten and arriving in London and transfering to the London Underground for a trip on the Circle line to our hotel. We will store our bags there and then get some lunch and then head out for our first sight of London. I'm not sure what that will be yet. Remember the itinerary says it will change! Tomorrow night IS Phantom of the Opera!

I am happy to report that Mrs. Caughey is much better, thanks for praying!

Well, I shall end these words and try to post a couple of pix. We're great and hope you are! The first is at Oxford Castle this morning (I had never seen it before as it just reopened in 2006) and the second is Magdalen College (C.S.Lewis taught there) in the afternoon. A great group of young people!!!

We're here!!! contact info...

Here's the view from the internet cafe, note the sunshine!!! the weather is fantastic today, eat yur heart out C'ville!!! So, the journey across the pond and up into the Midlands is over, the hardest leg of our trip is DONE!!! The kids are at lunch and I'm communicating!!!!

Please hold calls to emergencies... best way is to leave a message at the...

Hostel in Oxford: Tuesday and Wednesday nights - 011 44 870 770 5970

click here for hostel website

Hotel in London: Thursday through Monday nights - 011 44 870 333 9111

click here for hotel website

My Hungary mobile number should work (it has been working so far!!!) in dire straits:

011 36 30 384 5943

pray for us

Here's the trip roll, please pray for us!!! Katie P, Erika D, Ginny F, Jenna F, Kevin R, Nathan S, Kristy B, Sarah O, Ellen S, Megan S, Ms. Caughey, RevTom

will I keep up with the following???

Praises:

- Safe travel so far... everyone made the plane ride and the bus ride well...

- Weather is GREAT!!!!! Thanks be to God. The forcast has it getting better through Sat.

Requests:

- for Ms. Caughey to feel well and strong. She is suffering with a bit of a bug. Not to worry, she is resting this afternoon.