:LONDON:

This summer I traveled with my brother, Joe, to my new favorite city! The United Kingdom has always been on my list of places to visit, but I always assumed London would not meet my expectations.... I was wrong. Even Joe, who doesn't like big cities, enjoyed our time there!

As soon as I found out that the Passion Conferences booked London as one of their World Tour stops, I bought a ticket! Joe and I left Tuesday night, June 3rd, on a Delta flight (Dad works for the airline). We enjoyed a luxurious night in first class: Comfortable seats, bigger pillows, thicker blankets, travel kits, personal TVs, & full course meals.

Once we arrived at the Gatwick airport we felt a little lost and confused, but we finally asked someone where to buy tickets for the train to London. We took the Southern Train. At Victoria Station we decided to take the Oxford Tube (bus) to visit Oxford! The drive was a little under an hour and we each dozed off a time or two. We walked around Oxford for several hours. Loved it! It made me want a bike & our bags defiantly started to give us back problems:

Back in London, we stayed at the Earl's Court hostel. It was actually really clean, not sketchy, and in a good area. Joe and I were in separate room, b/c he was in an under 18 room and I was in a girl room. There were three ladies in the room with me, each one at least 5 or 10 years older than me. One lady was from Australia and she looked to be in her 40's. They were all nice, but we didn't talk much until the night I was leaving. Our first night we decided to catch up on some sleep and not explore the city until the next day!

Our day in London was amazing! Turning corners we would stumble upon the Tower of London, the Tower Bridge, the London Eye, and Westminster! We sat in on the House of Commons at Parliament, saw Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus, Greene Park, and Buckingham Palace! Fish and chips ended our adventure in the city.




Passion was that night at the Hammersmith Apollo (where the Beetles sold out 24 days in a row... or something like that). God is at work in that city and it was such a blessing to be a part of that evening with Louie, the Tomlins, Crowders, and Redmans!! I sat next to a guy named Tom who is plays the drums! He was so charming with his British accent! All in all it was an incredible night... never to be forgotten!

Leaving London was not as simple as arriving! In order make our flight to Atlanta we had to be at the airport by 7am. Well the morning coach leaves Victoria Station at 7am and it is an hour long ride. So we had to take a taxi from Earl's Court to Victoria at 2:20am and catch the 3:30am coach ... which meant 30min. of sleep that night! But the trip was totally worth it! If you are ever in London be sure to ...