We arrived super early to the airport, so here we are sitting in the gate. Enjoying some rest before we spend a long night in an airplane.

This is a view from the window from just before we were supposed to leave. Sadly shortly after this our flight for our leg was delayed. Turns out the airport of our layover caught fire.

This is our whole group all packed up to be prepared to run to another flight, if necessary.

Turns out we can take our original flight because United was willing to hold our flight to Edinburgh, just for our RMC group.

After Landing in Newark, we had to race to catch our connecting flight to Edinburgh. BJ and Andrew were actually racing to the gate. We arrived just as the doors were closing.

After a long sleep on the plane and skipping dinner, here was our progress.

Good Morning Jake! We were both really tired...

Time for breakfast, then we land! Next Stop Loch Lomond!

Once off the plane we headed to Glasgow, while we did not explore it we did drive through it and learned a few things. For example, Glasgow is the only city in Scotland to have a metro system and it was a huge industrial power especially in automotive and ship building.

View from the main bridge in Glasgow. Also there were a lot of sheep. So Sheepies!

From here we traveled to Loch Lomond and performed the beautiful song of a soldier finding his way home on the low road lead by faires on the banks of the home land of Scottish Robin Hood: Rob Roy.

The scene as described truly is “deep in purple hue” and the “highland hills we viewed” were awe inspiring. The beautiful simply cannot be described or even captured in a picture let alone a video. I tried anyway because it was so beautiful.

While in Luss we also wandered to the local church and took in the several millenniums of history. Here is a cross gravestone in honor of a man from the 1800s. The most amazing part is the church is still active and weekly supports the Luss community.

After leaving Luss and Loch Lomond, we headed to Downtown Edinburgh to view the Edinburgh Castle. While there we explored the fort and the many buildings of the castle.

The highlights of the ancient fort built atop a volcanic mass include: The Scottish Crown Jewels, Margaret’s Chapel, the Prison, and the Great Hall.

The Crown Jewels are housed within the depths of the Castle of the Last Scottish Royal Queen Mary. Mary ascended the throne at 9 months old and was kept in hiding until she came of age. Here is are images of replicas of the Crown Jewels since the real ones can’t be photographed.

Replica of the spectre.

Replica of the crown and sword.

After Viewing the Crown Jewels, we explored the rest of the castle including Queen Mary’s room and the King’s birth chamber, where the first two Kings of \240Scotland were born.

The whole sight was truly breathtaking. I literally had to close my mouth because I kept leaving it open in pure awe. After that we viewed Margaret’s Chapel made for the Princess Margaret under his son David I’s reign in the 12th century. It’s so private and I could imagine the intimacy of being with God for the royals.

Following viewing the chapel, I went to see the Great Hall, which in fact was Great. The Granduer of it was immense. On every wall was dark wood detailing and armour from every era. The most beautiful part however was the gigantic fireplace that centered the hall.

Finally, I went to see the castle’s prison, to see how those hated by the royals would have lived. The cells weren’t much, they were white with a black bench and maybe a toilet. I think the goal was to make the prisoner feel isolated. Walking into them was a bit haunting.

Here is an image of the shower room of the prison, you can see it’s very minimal.

After we walked around the fort we traveled down in the area outside of the castle. We wandered into a local wool mill shop where I found a scarf with my family tartan. Also we took in the view from the bridge unto the city. The architecture is unlike anything I’ve ever seen in the United States; it goes back thousands of years.

After some relaxation at our hotel here in Edinburgh, we traveled to local restaurant Wildwood for Peri Peri chicken. The hilight of the meal was the aioli. Yum.

Now to relax and get in a good kip. But first champagne and room service.

We then headed to Greyfrairs Kirk to attend 11 am Service. On the way we passed the statue of Greyfriars Bobby, who was a dog that sat above his master’s grave at Greyfrair Kirk for years. The scottie became a local hero and it is customary to rub his nose for luck. So here is a friend \240rubbing his cute lil’ nose.

While there we there we performed with the choir and alone as a prelude. We sang our pieces “Make a Joyful Noise”, “ O’ Come Trav‘ler Haste Away”, and “Light” as the prelude.

It was amazing to here Austin play the organ alongside us while singing “Make a Joyful Noise”. Most fascinating about performing that the organ and us were out of sync because the sound would echo and travel at different speeds. “ O’ Come Trav‘ler Haste Away” was conducted by Tori. I really loved being able to have the melody as an alto and sing fairly loudly. Dr. Ryder led us in my favorite piece “Light”, which is most incredible because we have a lot of dynamics, and the song builds slowly and creates more power as the sound carries. “Light” is a delicate dance between all the parts and they build with every new line allowing it to sound as though actual light is growing brighter. It was incredible to sing in such space that as you reached the start of a phrase the end of you last was still echoing in the air and on the walls.

After performing the prelude to the congregation we joined the Greyfrair Kirk choir in the introit “If Ye Love Me”. It was so amazing watching Jake conduct both the choir above us in the loft and us in the front of the sanctuary. It was awesome to watch the congregation of both young and old listen and smile while they were surrounded by sound.

The remainder of the service was really fascinating, because I loved hearing and viewing the difference between the Scottish Presbyterian service from my own Presbyterian congregation. I also loved that for such a large space it was fairly minimal. Also the pulpit is just beautiful.

Like gorgeous. Also the altar...

Why aren’t our churches this nice?

After that lovely service we headed to downtown Edinburgh for lunch. But before heading to the local pub, I made sure to take a picture of me infront of The Elephant House, where the first Harry Potter book was written!

I was geeking so hard!!! I didn’t get to go in, but as big a Harry Potter fan I am, this Hufflepuff was just honored to be in presence of JK Rowling history.

Jake and I then had a fabulous lunch at a local pub called, The Royal Cafe, as recommended by our tour guide Allen. We enjoyed Scotch Pie and Beer Battered fish abd chips, with a pint of stout. Beyond delicious.

After lunch, we headed to Edinburgh Methodist Church to learn about the start of Scottish Methodism. There we learned about John and Charles Wesley and how Edinburgh gained Methodism, fun fact there is only one Methodist congregation in Edinburgh.

While there we got to explore an Exhibit on the foundation of Methodism in the UK. I found most fascinating the tradition of the loving cup.

The loving cup is apart of the old Methodist tradition on the Love Feast, which was a feast where would gather and exchange food and drink while sharing their confession of faith. The loving cup would be used for tea or sometimes grape juice, as the feast also included communion that needent be sanctified by a preacher.

We also got to perform our Randolph-Macon Alma Mater and “The Lord Bless You and Keep You” in their octagonal worship space. I genuinely don’t think it has ever sounded better. The cohesion of our sound was incredible and I was so impressed by the resonance the space created.

After exploring Edinburgh Methodist, we had more time to explore downtown Edinburgh and Dustin, Jake, Jackie, and I got to drink tea and hot chocolate from Costa, while exploring whiskey and cashmere shops.

We then attended a concert at St. Giles Cathedral which lies on the Royal Mile. The Cathedral itself is part of the larger part of city hall.

And it is beyond beautiful. Gorgeous!

The Concert we attended was called “St. Giles at Six” or “Prevert, Piano & Poetry” created and performed by Alexandre Prevert. The concept for the show was to present a series of piano pieces within the context of poems in the attempt to answer this question: “What romantic are you?”. The audience consisted of mostly people in their 20s-40s and they enveloped the whole sanctuary in all directions around the piano.

The first piece Prevert performed was called “Liebeslied” written by Robert Schumann as a wedding gift for his fiancée. The piece was transcribed for piano by Franz List and is based on a poem about Liebeslied the traditional German wedding flower. The piece was very beautiful and slowly built over time creating a series of different emotions in an attempt to express all parts of Schumann’s feelings for his wife. This would be the sharing romantic, who shows his thoughts and expresses his emotions about his love to others. The Second piece was by “Scherzo number 2” by Frederic Chopin. This piece was far longer that the first and presented 3 major themes surrounding the idea of love. The piece is likened by Schumann to that of a Lord Byron poem because it is full of so many complex emotions and ostentatiously shows 3 themes that build to express Chopin’s ideas on love.

The third piece was “Waltz from Gounod’s Faust” written for the opera based on the myth of a German doctor Faust by Franz List. The piece is meant to depict Faust’s torrid feelings for Margaret a women, who rejected him. Faust sold his soul to the devil to enjoy a life of pleasure and partying and this rejection made him attempt to leave this deal. The piece very clearly expresses aspects of loss and love. The middle section is forte and very quick showing Faust’s severe sadness over his rejection. The popular “Claire de Lune” by Claude Debussy was the next piece and Prevert contextualized it as a piece that shows the difference of expresses our inward feelings (as the pieces before it) and hiding them outwardly. It based upon a 1869 poem of the same name and is a delicate sweeping melody describing love in the moonlight, while hiding the feelings of love under a sound of the moonlight’s beauty.

His final piece was by George Bizet called “Farandole” or dance written in 1871 for a play adaptation of L’Arlesienne. The play tells the story of a boy named Frederi, who falls in love with Vivette, but is barred from marrying her. The piece which is fast and lively seems to be written as though the dance needs to finish as quickly as possible. It is in stark contrast to the scene, which Prevert performed, that follows it, where Frederi commits suicide. The audience was very caught up in every piece and poetry/play performance, so much so that with our long applause Prevert returned for an Encore of a piece that was orginally supposed to end the program, by Franz Schubert. The piece was sweeping and delicate just like “Claire de Lune”, but also had a growing intensity with tempo and dynamics, which made the piece feel like waves of emotion. The piece perfectly summed up the poem Prevert performed at the conclusion of the concert that described how love is so many things and is ever changing and flowing.

Overall the audience loved the concert and so did I. Prevert definitely committed to performing each poem and scene with emotion almost like an actor. He was able to enwrap us all and I noticed that the man in front of me was very much enjoying it and would tap in time with the beat. I loved his emotion and commitment, especially that he was so moved by the music that he didn’t open his eyes while playing until the encore.

Follow the concert we headed to dinner at a local pub Hectors.

Dinner consisted of a wonderful potato soup with Buttersquash risotto and homemade profiteroles. It was so yummy.

So good! We then headed back to the hotel and I had a merlot before packing and falling asleep.

Goodbye beautiful Edinburgh! 😢

The view on the way to England however was incredible.

Like what?!

We got to see the north sea before crossing the border into England.

I mean how incredible! I couldn’t stop taking photos!!!

Once we crossed the border into England we stopped off for a quick rest stop at a Morrison’s supermarket in outside of Berwick.

While driving we passed the “Holy Island” where St. Cuthbert became a bishop. He was originally buried there, because of Viking raids he had to be carried for hundreds of years until he was placed at Norman Cathedral. The isle is said to be one of the founding places of Christianity.

We also listened to a presentation by Jeff, Jackie, and Andrew Geiger about Music in Methodism. They spoke briefly about the Role of both Charles and John Wesley in Methodist music and on how it differs from Anglican music. I found most fascinating that actually Charles was converted to the faith a few days before John on the 31st of May 1738. John was converted later on what is now known as Ascension day at Aldersgate Flame. Charles composed more than 7,000 pieces for the Methodist hymnal such as “Christ the Lord is Risen Today” and “ Hark the Hearld Angels Sing”. He also wrote the text for “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus”, which in my congregation during the advent season is used as a call to scripture.

I also appreciated their mention of John Wesley’s rules for Methodist singing. Unlike in the Anglican Church the Methodist congregations are very active in singing and even are trained to sing along with those in the choir. While at Edinburgh Methodist yesterday we actually saw these rules.

I find most entertaining the mention of rule five that John Wesley didn’t want want any singers to be too loud as to not blend with the rest of the congregation. It shows how significant unity of the Methodist community is to Wesley. The desire is to use the music at teach God’s Word and to build as stronger community through joining in song.

We also drove through New Castle and passed by the Angel of the North statue that commands the horizon.

We stopped off for a quick lunch at a rest stop on the way and I spotted this cutie!

We arrived shortly at our first stop of Durham to view the Durham Cathedral. The city itself was stunning, I especially loved the rows of brick houses. We also passed the Choristers School for Durham Cathedral.

Walking along the cobblestone streets, although steep and not the most accessible, was quite an agreeable experience.

Upon arrival at the Catherdal itself I want most taken aback by the Norman (Franco-Roman) architecture on its exterior and would learn more about its interior (which sadly we were not able to photograph).

Once inside, our tour guide sat us in the narthex as we viewed onto the ceiling and cloister. He described the architecture and three styles of columns (lozenge, baguette, and chevron) and how the arches were typical of the build in the 1100s, since the architects were French. He also described that when it was built the cloister would have had a stone wall in front of it separating the clergy and choir from the congregation.

We walked up towards the altar, lectern, and pulpit. The lectern is most fascinating because instead of an eagle holding up the bible Durham has a pelican. The pelican in mythology is a holy bird and it said to have a red breast, which they peck with their hooked beak, to feed blood to their young. The pelican on the lectern has nails in its breast and is collecting its blood to feed its young; is an allegory to Christ. This holy sacred bird is in contrast to the eagle on the pulpit which is more regal.

From there we headed into the cloister and observed the organ and the throne of the Bishop of Durham. The Bishop’s throne built by Bishop Hatfield in the 1300s sits above his sarcophagus. The throne unlike many others in England is very ornate complete with a painted stairwell of gold. Funnily enough, the bishop’s throne is actually taller than the Pope’s. Hatfield was rather full of himself because the King of England had given him certain kingly powers for law. His throne actually has the King’s head on it, however it is about a foot long. 😅

We then viewed St. Cuthbert’s tomb, which holds the remains of the miraculous saint. Outside the room, hangs his banner, which the Bishop of Durham would carry into battle to show the enemy that his army had the might of God on their side.

Finally, our guide showed us the ten altars and the porch like area, which was the girls’ chapel. The girls’ chapel is the only place in the chapel with original painting from the 12th century. On the wall is a mural to the matyrdom of Jesus and his apostles. We finally saw the tomb of saint Beade.

We left the Cathedral and headed towards the Weardale Museum and High House Chapel, driving through the Uplands. The Uplands are Britian’s greenest area and are used to help with flooding and climate change because of their lush greenery. Much of the land is in square farm lots sectioned of by stone wall to encase sheep. They are also incredibly beautiful.

While at Weadale Musesum and High House Chapel, we first explored the muesum to learn about both the history of Weadale and the history of John Wesley in action with the town’s Methodist community.

On the first floor of the museum is a recreation of a typical 1800s living room/kitchen. I found most intriguing an item that our gude showed us: an ancient can opener. It looked like a potato peeler or a needle point hook. Also very fascinating was a cockroach trap.

They would fill the trap with bourbon and place it at the end of their bed. How strange.

In another room was the history of Methodism, specifically that related to John Wesley and his time within the Weadale community.

I appreciated how they had their own sect or community called Primitive Methodists and that they continued the faith influence by Wesley.

On the second floor was a history of Weadale.

I really appreciated learning about the lead mining community and the growing quarrying community that supported the Methodist movement there. Especially seeking things they had unearthed like quartz.

After viewing the museum we returned to the High House Chapel. High House is the oldest standing Methodist chapel still in regular weekly use. Methodism came to Weadale by way of Christopher Hopper, a apprentices of Wesley, who had left his home in New Castle to spread the word. Built in 1761, the Chapel was originally built as a meeting house for the growing Methodist community in Weadale. At its height in the 1880s, the congregation consisted of 1,000 members, who converting as a result of literal fits of realization. The height was likely due to the growing lead mining community in Weadale. John Welsey visited the chapel 13 times in his life as a result of fhis growing and strong community.

While there we got the opportunity to perform a few Charles Wesley hymns with Austin on the organ from 1884. We sang “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” and “Christ the Lord is Risen Today” to the members and volunteer guides of High House. We then performed the”Lord Bless You and Keep You” in the oldest working Methodist Church in the World. Pretty Cool.

After a long needed nap we finally arrived in Middlesburgh. We put our bags in our room and had an option of dinner at the hotel and I selected Potato skins, breaded plaice (fish) with potatoes and veggies, and toffee cheesecake. I was delicious, which is good considering this hotel has been not so great. I’m not gonna complain, but it’s unfair that BJ and Andrew did not have acessible rooms. Otherwise a good night.

The church is octagonal shaped as John Wesley considered it to be “ better for the voice and more commodious than any other.” Wesley finally visited the chapel on April 24th 1764 and declared it the “most elegant in England”.

We were lucky enough to perform in the space, while Austin played the electric organ with us. We sang “Immortal Invisible” and “Love Pslam” followed by our alma mater.

After leaving Yarm, we traveled to Whitby. While in Whitby proper we had free time for lunch and I was able to have incredible Fish Cakes and Chips with curry sauce at The Magpie Cafe. It was the best meal we have eaten so far. So delicious.

Also Whitby is gob smaking!! Can I live there?

We then traveled to see the Whitby Abbey and St. Mary’s Parish. It’s incredible.

The Whitby Abbey was founded in 657 by Abbess Hilda and was the site in 664 where the Roman Christianity was chosen over the Celtic Rite. It is also where the poet Caedmon sang his “Song of Creation”. It was destroyed by Danes in 867 and its remains date back to 1078.

St. Mary’s Parish was founded in 1100 AD. It overlooks the River Esk and the town of Whitby with some incredible views.

The inside of the church is covered with stone graves and everywhere you step the floor is a grave. And it’s altar is simple, but beautiful.

The most fascinating part of the church history is that the Rector’s wife was deaf and so 2 pipes originated from the pulpit straight to her ears for her to hear the sermon.

After that we headed towards \240York. The view on the drive was breathtaking.

At least we arrived in beautiful York! Ruled by Romans for a time, York is a walled city with four main gates at its corners here is one.

York also has a river running through it. So beautiful.

After so relaxation at our hotel in York, we headed to dinner at Ye Olde Starre Inne, the oldest inn in York. The walk there was beautiful.

The inn was hard wood and so rustic.

For dinner we had salad, steak pie with mash, and apple custard for dinner. To compliment the experience I deemed it appropriate to drink a ale, so I had a dark ale with the meal.

So this may sound silly, but as a daughter of a pie maker, I have literally dreamt of having true steak pie in England my entire life. I was so happy and delighted by the taste that started to tear up. Officially can take that off my bucket list.

Now back to the hotel to relax and sleep. Night York.

Once inside the Minister we met our tour guide in the Nave and he told us about the history of its creation. The York Minster is actually the 5 incarnation of the building; the first was built in 627, and after each of the other 4 were destroyed, the 5th was created in the 1100s. The Minister is the largest Cathedral in Northern Europe and if filled with water could fit 4 full blue whales.

The entrance of the Minster is decorated with an ornate stained glass. We learned that it takes almost 10 years to clean a window at the Minster because each individual panel can take one person 16 weeks to complete.

The archbishop’s seat is located closer to the altar.

Fun fact the archbishop’s seat is called a catherda. If a church has a cathedra it is a cathedral. Therefore the Minster is both a minster (or a church that focuses on mission) and a cathedral (or a church with an archbishop.

Past the nave on it’s left side are both the 5 sisters’ window and the manger scene.

The 5 sisters’ window is called so because it has 5 side by side panels all done in the gothic style.

The manger scene is still up in the church because it is the season of Epiphany and in the Church of England Christmas is celebrated until early February.

The manger scenes figures are done in German pottery. The scene is assembled of the course of the advent, Christmas, and Epiphany season. Slowly all the people and animals make it to the inn; the wisemen actually over the course of Epiphany week following Christmas cross the church from the right end to the left for almost 7 days.

The funniest part of the scene is the tiny dinosaur in the hay. It has been stolen 4 times this Christmas season because some creationist felt insulted by the Minster’s sense of humor and commentary on the Big Bang Theory/Evolution. It’s quite hilarious; the dino there now belongs to the Dean of the Minster and I affectionately called him Arthur.

After viewing the manger we went to go see the Chapel House, which is where all Minster meetings are held, with the Dean presiding (the most recent Dean is actually a historical first for the Church of England, because she is female). Built in a full circle, the Parliament has met there, and so has a council for King Edward. The most amazing part is the acoustics; on can sit on one side and whisper to someone on the other.

From there we went to view the quire and cloister, which is where the choir and clergy sit and Evensong is performed. Our guide explained how when the archbishop came to visit a bit back, he was responsible for shaving his head and acting as a body guard to the clergy and the archbishop himself. He was on guard that day because there was fear of a gay advocate protest breaking out against the archbishop.

From the altar one can view the East Window, which is the largest stained glass window in Europe. The East Window has been under a cleaning since 2008 and had just finished 2 weeks before our arrival. It took 10 million pounds to complete and 10 years. The scaffolding is still being removed.

The last cool thing we learned was about the tower. The tower of the Minster is enormous and in the 1980s almost collapsed, at which time the Minster determined it ways double the Effiel Tower.

After leaving the Minster we headed to Central Methodist Church for a Recital at 12:30.

The recital was the first time we had performed our entire reportoire while abroad. At first we were concerned none would come, aside from Dr. Breitenberg and our fellow classmates, however a small crowd of the congregation and church choir attended. They all said after the performance that they had wished more would have come because they enjoyed it so much.

We performed our full set after Austin played a short organ piece. (He has been so elated to play on such incredible instruments while here.) We performed “ Make a Joyful Noise Unto the Lord”, If Ye Love Me”, “I saw a Stable”, “Loch Lomond”, “Light”, “Wondrous Love”, “Come, Trav’ler, Haste Away”, “The 23rd Pslam”, “Love Pslam”, “America the Beautiful”, and “Wade in the Water”. The greatest reaction from the audience was from “The 23rd Pslam” and “If Ye Love Me”. “The 23rd Pslam” is by Bobby McFerrin, who one the audience knew. Conducted by Tori, it may have been a bit of a change for the audience as it discussed God as female after McFerrrin’s mother. However they seemed to love it’s similarity to that of the Gloria Patri’s tamber. The next piece they had much response to was “If Ye Love Me”, which is by Thomas Tallis and many in the audience , who are part of Central Methodist’s choir, have sung the piece in the past. Conducted by Jake, they spoke to me after the recital and stated they enjoyed hearing such a familiar piece and knowing of Jake’s excitement towards it.

The piece that were of most note to me, were “Light” and “Wade in the Water”. I mention these because one was incredible and the other we struggled with quite a bit. “Light”, by Deen Entsminger actually quieted the audience, for a bit after we finished it because it was so beautiful. Unlike some of the other pieces where we were out of tune, “Light” was on key the whole time and this performance was the first that we actually accurately performed the dynamics. The middle section especially was exquisite. At one point I genuinely forgot I was singing because I was so lost in the music. After we finished the piece, Tori and I shared a knowing look that it had been incredible. “Wade in the Water” however, was not quite as good. Not only were we not in the correct key, many of us missed our entrances and even sang lines incorrectly. I actually sang a part of the song that doesn’t exist in one section. I was a bit of a train wreck. We pulled it together by the end however, because the sforzando left the audience in quiet once more unaware of our mistakes.

Overall the recital went very well and the opportunity to perform in that space was incredible.

After the recital we had free time for lunch. Jake, Jordan, Jackie, Dustin, and I decided to go get Indian at a place called the Indian lounge. Honestly the best Indian food I have ever had. Despite the bit of rudeness from the cultural barrier the Balti Lamb and Vegetables, Jake and I shared was so good we ate the plate clean.

Following lunch we went to see the ruins of St. Mary’s Abbey and gardens. The gardens have a view of the wall and turrets remains from the Roman times: the red line differentiates between the Romans and Saxon building.

The ruins of St. Mary’s Abbey remain as a reminder of the reformation and Oliver Cromwell’s order to destroy all abbey’s and monasteries. It is quite sad, but beautiful in its own way. The ruins of the walls still retain the orginal quartz. It is hauntingly exquisite.

Concluding the view of the abbey, we had more free time to explore old York. With this time Jake and I explored a Men’s Wearhouse and got him a brand new German black suit (because he had left his original in Middlesburgh). It looks very smart on him.

After retrieving his suit, he and I were able to have a small bucketlist date. We went to Bailey’s Cafe and Tea Rooms for an afternoon tea.

I ordered us pate with toast, raisin scones with clotted cream and strawberry preserves, banoffe pie (banana and toffee on a graham cracker crust), and chocolate cake with chocolate ganach; all with a pot of Yorkshire tea. The whole meal came out to about £22, which is quite a bargain for a traditional afternoon tea, and we got to have it in a local spot.

After tea we quickly walked back to the hotel before meeting up with our group for dinner at Slug & Lettuce.

For dinner we had fried mushrooms, grilled chicken with bacon, melted gruyere with chips and peas, and then a chocolate caramel bar. Although I was still full from tea, I ate as much as possible because I was yummy!

We then walked back to the hotel for a good sleep, by way of the Shambles (or oltown), which looks like straight out of Harry Potter. So much so that there are 3 HP shops called “The Boy Wizard”, “World of Wizardy”, and “The Shop That Must Not Be Named”. At the end of the lane is a house that looks just like the one from Godric’s Hollow in the 7th book. Amazing to see the inspiration!

Good night York! Thanks for an amazing day.

We then hit the road, and while others slept I completed my blog from yesterday and took in the beautiful countryside.

During the drive we took a quick pit stop at a rest area and I grabbed a tea, flapjack, and some strawberry chews.

Once back on the bus we listened a presentation on English Cathedrals and Churchs on Architecture and Building by Caroline, Russell, and Seth. Russell presented on the time periods of English Church Architecture. The first period is the Saxon/Norman, which is most notable for its Vaults to support rooves. The Medival period is marked by the Gothic Arch. The Reformation period is marked by its simplicity and single roomed churchs.

Seth presented on some Churchs we will see. He discussed the history of City of Edinburgh Methodist Church, which is marked by its merging of 4 churches: Abbeyhill Methodist Church, Edinburgh Methodist Mission at Central Hall, Leith Methodist Church, and Nicolson Square Methodist Church. The second church, Welsey Memorial Church (Oxford), marked with Gothic pointed Arches.Wesley’s Chapel (London) was founded by John Wesley in 1778 and is marked by Gothic Architecture. Wells Cathedral, broke ground in 1775 is the first English Cathedral to have the French Gothic Style and took 100 years to complete. Durham Catherdal built in 1093 is marked by Norman Architecture and is famous for its creation of Rib Vaults to support the roof.

Caroline then quizzed on English Church/Cathedral Architecture terms. She covered Gothic Arches, Cloisters, Claustrals, Vaults, Rib Vaults, Quires, Naves, Presbyteries, Sanctuaries, and Alters. She challenged us to take photos of Altars, Quire, and Gothic Arches, which I have taken later in this post at Lincoln College and Wesley Memorial Chapel. (If I don’t find them all I will supliment here with places we have visited previously.)

On the drive over we spotted the writing space for the “Inklings” the Oxford University group that included the famous writers JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis. The place is called The Eagle and Child.

We also passed the Matryr statue for the martyrs under “Bloody” Mary.

We arrived in Oxford and had a quick lunch at a boulangarie and patisserie. I had a Camembert baguette with an Almond tarte. 😋

We then visited Lincoln College founded in 1427. Lincoln is a college of Oxford University and is the oldest MRC college in the world.

Hey look! A Gothic Arch! This was outside of one of the lodges where we met our tour guide Rachel.

After meeting Rachel, a recent Lincoln graduate, we traveled to see the college’s Dining Hall. The Dining Hall is the heart Lincoln life and is the space for both eating and alumni parties. It holds dinner twice a day, one an informal and another formal, where the students dress up in robes and sing prayers.

Above the fireplace is Lincoln’s coat of arms.

Following the Dining Hall, we wondered to the chapel, which walks right into the quire. It’s stunning and was restored in the 1920s.

Hey look a quire!

Hey look an altar!

We then wandered towards John Wesley’s room, while at Lincoln. Wesley was a fellow of the college from 1726-1751 and started “The Holy Club” while there. Oxford was the birthplace of Methodism because after ascension into the new light of faith in London in 1738, Wesley returned to Lincoln to teach a new methodology from the Christian faith.

Finished with Lincoln college we walked to Wesley Memorial Methodist Church. On the walk over with passed the Covered Marketplace. Its an open air roofed market.

The church came into view...

The Wesley Memorial Methodist Church is fairly new all things considered, it was founded in 1878. It was recently renovated in 1978 for the centennial to meet the needs of the community.

The Methodist community of Oxford began with John Wesley himself and in the 1720-1730s originally met in a meeting house, which is now located at 32 and 34 New Inn Hall Street. The size of the group grew to large to support the space and in May 1817 the ground was broken. Completed in February 1818, the new meeting house designed with William Jenkins, now sits behind the current Wesley Memorial Methodist.

The current Wesley Memorial Methodist Church, constructed in July 1877, opened its doors on 1878 and has been serving the Methodist community of Oxford ever since.

The architecture of the church is done in the new Gothic Style of the 19th century because the Methodists were proud to no longer be persecuted by the Church of England. The also wanted to show the beauty of God’s creation through their ornamentation. For example there are columns and each of the 12 have their own flora and fauna.

There are stained glass window on all sides.

There is also Vaulted ceiling.

The whole nave is decorated in Gothic Arches. Hey look a Gothic Arch!

However, unlike an Anglican Church the nave is done in the Open concept Church and doesn’t really have a cloister of quire. The goal is community not tradition.

The altar is also far more simple and closer to the people. In my opinion the simpler the better. Hey look an Altar!

Following our time in Wesley Memorial, we met up with our coach and headed to the hotel in Oxford we resided for the night.

We headed to dinner in downtown York at Cafe Rouge. With dinner I got a glass of Merlot.

We had mushrooms on toast, chicken liver pate, goulash, and creme brûlée. It was so delicious.

Good night Oxford!

We lefties the hotel and sat through traffic on the way to Christ Church College of Oxford University, refounded by Henry the 8th and the school that Lewis Carroll (Charles Dodgson) based his Alice (the Dean’s daughter) and Wonderland off of. The college is home to the Christ Church Chapel/Cathedral, which is the only church in the world to be both a chapel and a cathedral of the Diocese.

Originally founded in 710 by St. Frideswise, following his death in 727, the priory was ordered for closure in 1524 and reopened as the Cardinal College by Cardinal Wolsey in 1525 and finally reopened by King Henry VIII as the final Christ Church in 1546.

The heart of the college is the Great Hall, which is lead to by way of the Hall Staircase. Ornamented with fan vaulted ceilings, this famous staircase has been the site of many movies including The Golden Compass, and Harry Potter. In Harry Potter it is the staircase the students climb to meet Professor McGonagall at their first day of term before the Sorting Ceremony and also the scene in the Chamber of Secrets, where Ron and Harry are caught attempting to sneak into the castle after their flying car incident by Snape.

The Great Hall is probably the most famous college dining hall in the world. It is the life of the college and is the house of two dinner services: an informal one at 6:20pm and a formal one with gowns at 7:20pm. The Hall is the largest PreVictorian college Hall and seats 300. Home to Charles Dodgson for 47 years, under the pen name Lewis Carroll aspects of the Hall influenced Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alice is based on the Dean’s daughter during Dodgson’s time there, Alice Liddell, who is immortalized in not only his works but also the stained glass window above one of the two fireplaces along with the White Rabbit. The fireplace also holds the inspiration for Alice’s long neck growth in the first book.

The Christ Church Chapel/Catherdal was constructed between 1170 and 1190. The church is not only the college’s chapel, but also the Cathedral of Oxford. Ornamented with a rib vaulting, the ceiling of the quire splays from 12 lanterns, seemingly suspended in air, connected by lierne ribs that create eight-point stars: it looks like a spider. The High Altar houses the Bishops seat and a rose window above a statue of crucified Jesus.

The Cathedral is also home to the Latin Chapel, the shrine to St. Frideswide. It houses the relics of St. Frideswide, the patron saint of Oxford because he founded the original priory.

The Quire is specifically beautiful because of its ornate wood detailing. We were honored enough to sing “The Lord Bless You and Keep You” and “The Randolph-Macon Alma Mater” in this space. Coincidentally, we ran into the other RMC travel trip to England, who listened to us while we sang. The world is a small place, thanks #RMCTheWorld.

Across the Chapel is the Tom Quad, named for the clock, whose bell’s name is Great Tom. The Great Tom at 9:00 rings 101 times, which in early days signaled curfew for the students for return to the safety of the college’s walls.

Following our time at Christ Church College, Caroline, Tori, Jordan and I went to lunch at a local tavern. I had cream of vegetable soup with cibbatta bread. 😋

We then met up with our coach to drive to Salisbury to see the Salisbury Cathedral. While on the drive Tori, Jacob, and Dustin presented on the Role of Women in the Anglican Church.

Tori gave us an overview of how in Anglican churches it is uncommon for women to participate in singing or any aspect of worship for that matter. It was not until the Baroque period that female sopranos became used for oratorios and opera, but even that was controversial. The Romantic era gave rise to the contralto, and women suddenly had a place in music. In the 20th century the use of females became more practical as a result of changes in work schedules: when a male was unavailable women would be hired in their stead.

Jacob gave us an overview of accomplishments by females in the church. Salisbury Cathedral bu far has the best achievement of having instituted a all girl choir in 1991. In contrast St. Paul’s didn’t get a female alto until 2017. Sarah MacDonald, however has been serving as Selwyn Colleges music director since 1999.

Dustin then gave us an insight into the most exciting advancement, the addition of girl choristers to Salisbury in 1991. They had their first performance in October and the idea was created by Dr. Richard Seal. They celebrated it on its 20th year reunion.

We then traveled to Salisbury Cathedral to both tour and perform an evensong in their incredible space.

The exterior of the cathedral is itself quite impressive. The cloisters are marked by Gothic archways and rib vault ceilings. In my opinion it was almost more beautiful than the inside.

We entered into the church and took in the beauty of its 13th century architecture. Built between 1220 and 1258, Salisbury reflects both Gothic and Norman architecture. Originally all the Vaults in the ceiling were ornately painted. The whole scene is incredible; the nave looks onto the quire and a beautiful stained glass window.

Our tour guide explained that the building in made of three stones: marble, sandstone, and hard stone. He lead us to the world’s oldest working mechanical clock. Built in 1386, the clock has no face and tells time by the ringing against metal.

We wondered towards the Font, which is by far the most beautiful part of the church. Built in 2008 for the 750th anniversary, it reflects the view of the whole church and it almost as still as glass. It is actually used for all baptisms of the cathedral.

On each side of the font cross around quotes from Isaiah, including my favorite bible verse, “I have called you by name, you are mine.”

He led us to a the spire next, which was built in 1310-1330. The spire is 404ft in height and is the tallest spire in England. However, it is quite crooked, which Christopher Wren attempted to fix in the later 14th century. The distance between the center of the tower is almost a full 3 inches off from the top of the tower.

We viewed the quire and high altar, which was the most significant part of the tour because this is where we would later perform with the Salisbury choristers. The pews in which they sit are specifically designed to hold their music and they read by candle light, as evensong is done in dim lighting. They bow to the clergy as the pass towards to highaltar that looks out onto the stained glass window done for in 1980 to commemorate the Prisoners of Conscience Window and the Church of England’s dedication to Amnesty International.

We then wandered to the Chapter House, which unlike many other Cathedrals was actually built after the church. The Chapter House is the meeting place of the bishops, clergy, and dean of the cathedral. Currently it houses the most significant Western Historical Document, the Magna Carta. Written under King John’s reign in 1215 only 4 copies of the Magna Carta survive. The one in best preservation in the one given to Salisbury for protection in 1215. The Magna Carta written in liturgical Latin with not capitals or punctuation is the oldest document of civil rights and is the basis of the American constitution. It is a testament to power for the people put into the correct hands.

Here is a copy of Salisbury’s original (we were unable to photograph it because it might damage it).

We then had some time to wander the cathedral on our own, here is a plaque to honor the first group of girl choristers for the 20th anniversary.

Before rehearsal we got to hear Austin play on the organ. I have no words for the beauty caused by the acoustics.

We were honored that night to sing with the choir and THE GIRLS for evensong; I felt so unworthy of being in their presence. Rehearsal is about an hour before the service and is actually performed in partial uniform. I have never attended a more professional rehearsal, it was astounding to watch 8-14 year olds have more decorum than I. The choir master David Hall, was very direct and structured the rehearsal very effectively. I made sure that our entrances and exits especially on the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis were conhesive. I was impressed how he was able to correct our mistake within one try. I was astounded by this. Also the girls sounded like angels... one of them looked at me in pure confusion when I sang an incorrect pitch. How can they be so aware of pitch that they can hear me above all the rest?

Following rehearsal we got into our lines for processional. In rehearsal we had practiced processing and recessing, which was quite intimidating and I looked awful. It is traditional for the Vicor to pass the choir and give a small prayer before procession, although extremely formal, I loved how the clergy asks and encourages the choir to perform their best. It is very cool to see the unity between the choir and clergy, I actually felt God amongst us planting his grace of music upon us. The processional was terrifying, but also beautiful as the congregation watches the choir enter and enjoys their presence in solemn reverence.

After the processional, we were honored enough to sit behind the choir and then sit in the cushioned seats of the clan crests. I was moved by just being in the setting. The congregation was casually dressed in jeans and coats. My best guess was that the people in attendance were frequent attendees. The service began with prayer and then the psalms, which the choir sings. The congregation sat in quiet reflection in prayer or reading from the Common Book of Prayer, while the choir sang the pslams. I was amazed that the girls and men were able to shift so seemlessly from each verse to the next with only the Recitor singing a call very out of tune. They had no pitch, they just began to sing out of the air. The girls’ voices just floated above the quire up to the ceiling like air. It was incredible.

We then were honored enough to sing along with their choir for the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis (“Standford in C”) following the recitation of the Old Testament reading from Isaiah and the New Testament reading from Acts. The sound we could produce under their leadership was incredible. I was most impressed by our entrances and exits, where a loud and sterling sound escaped our lips. The male alto infront of me, was able to produce a sound no female could make, it was extremely high in tone and sounded as though I boy was singing. I loved the sound that we all made at the beginning of the Nunc Dimittis, because I don’t think our choir has ever made such an impressive piano/soft sound.

We then were honored to listen to the choir sing the prayers. The cohesion, they sang with was so beautiful it almost made me cry 😭. I also observed the congregation kneeling or sitting bowed completely settled into the presence of God the choir welcomed.

After prayers we performed the Anthem, “Bethlem Down”, written Peter Warlock set to a poem by Bruce Blunt. Dr. Ryder was kindly asked by David Hall to conduct the piece. I love the silent melody the words sweep through. Also I appreciated the soft sound we were able to produce, even with over 30 people singing on the fourth verse. It was so delicate and the congregation was so still and calm that one could have heard a pin drop.

There was then an exiting prayer including a singing of the Lord’s pray by the choir. I cried during the prayer when the reverend praised the Lord for granting the church the ability to hear to music of the young girls’ voices. You could hear the appreciation for the history of the group and I also felt honored to be raised up as a joy for the church.

We then recessed and stood in our pairs as the clergy passed us and said a prayer for our service to the evensong. It was an awe inspiring experience.

After service we walked to dinner at Bill’s. We ate mushroom soup, bangers (Cumberland sausage) and mash, with custard icecream. It was delicious.

We then headed to our hotel for sleep. Good night 😴 Salisbury!

After breakfast, we headed to the historic Stone Henge. I was lucky enough to be able to wander independently and listened to the audio recording to hear about the archeology at my own pace of the bronze age site.

This is our view from the bus on this rainy day. I actually enjoyed seeing the Henge in the rain, as that is it’s natural habitat and allows it to be more easily viewed.

The site dates back to the Neolithic period, 8000 BC - 1600 BC. Stone Henge is a sacred space and was a ceremonial space for the Neolithic and Bronze Age Durrington peoples. It was here the buried originally whole in Burrows, then later in communal graves called Aubrey Holes, named after the archeologist who found them, where important people would be cremated and buried.

The Henge itself is not actually the stone structure as many believe, but actually the circle surrounding it. In the 3300s all that existed was the ditch circle with a few marking pillars. It was not until the 2200s that the stone lintels and blue stones were placed in the Henge.

The sarson stone post and lintel, trilithons, and blue stones were placed in the circle during the 2200s to marked the sacred space. Stones were carried on ships over 280km from South Wales and then carried by horseback or by hand to the circle.

The site also has a museum and a recreation of Bronze Age Huts.

I actually cried at the sight of a Bronze cauldron.

Like is there anything more beautiful in the whole world? And the pottery...😭😭😭😭

We then for lunch went to the famous British Japanese chain, Wagamama!

I had chicken katsu curry 🍛 with fresh juice!

I loved that their menus have coloring on then and a portion of one their drinks goes mental health charities!

Following lunch we had a touch of free time, which we used to visit a sweet shoppe and the open air Salisbury market, before heading to Salisbury Methodist Church.

The church is over 250 years old. John Wesley visited his mother here in 1738 and sowed the seeds of Methodism here over the course of 40 visits. The church or “preaching house” was built in 1759, with Wesley’s signature on the original deed. The church rebuilt in 1810. The present building in mostly the same as it was in the 19th century. The church has remolded 4 times since then to accomodate the needs of the church. In 1984 the four main Methodist Churches in Salisbury, merged to form the Salisbury Methodist Church.

Francis Asbury, the “Father of American Methodism” was a former minister of Salisbury Methodist because he was a head minister in the area circuit. In 1771, he left Salisbury to go America in response to John Wesley’s call to “help our brethren in America”. He traveled to Philadelphia, beginning Methodism.

The Salisbury Methodist Church as it stands today is the remodel from 1992. Before that time the last renovation of 1889 had two floors with a balcony, raised pulpit, and their lorgan on the opposite wall.

The new church consists of a single level with chairs, a simple altar, the organ on the left wall as you face the altar, and a beautiful tapestry entitled “The Creation Embroidery”.

“The Creation Embroidery was dedicated in October 1993. Made by Angela Dewar and Gisela Banbury, the work is made entirely of silk and symbolizes the activity of humankind in God’s creation. As the viewer looks at it, they will slowly sed the images of death and resurrection, sun and moon, the fish and birds, landscapes an trees, and the way Salisbury the city interacts with all of them. It’s very beautiful.

Following our time at Salisbury Methodist, we headed back to the hotel for some downtime before dinner. I worked on my blog while sipping a cup of Twinnings Tea🍵.

We had dinner at the hotel. It started with Chicken tenders and barbecue sauce, merlot, lasagna, and strawberry frozen yogurt.

Following Dinner, Jordan, Andrew Crater, and Jake gave a short presentation on English Church Music and the English composers of our repertoire.

Jordan opened by telling us about music in the Anglican and Methodist Churches. She explained how in the Anglican Church, music is part of what the congregation offers to God. Music is for God not man and is about creation, incarnation, and sanctification. Methodist Music however, is for the congregation and is ment to reform the Anglican tradition. It also has a strong music tradition beginning with Charles Wesley.

Andrew then discussed the changes for sacred and secular music under the Tudor Period. From 1485 to 1605, music became essential for both sacred and secular life, as it was not only supported by the Church but also aristocratic patrons of music. In Sacred music, pieces became far more complex and pieces like the Magnificat became more popular. Word painting also became the norm.

Jake, then began the discussion of our composers. He started with Thomas Tallis (his favorite composer) who lived from 1505-1585 and was one of the most significant composers pre William Byrd. Thomas Tallis composed our piece, “If Ye Love Me” and his styles combines the simplicity of Reformation music with the complexity of polyphonic music. He was an organist and singer at Chapel Royal and was granted by Elizabeth I the monopoly over printing, publishing, and sale of music alongside William Byrd. A pupil of Tallis, William Byrd, composed many variations of the Magnificat and madrigals (4 part Renaissance pop music). He also was significant in the development of virginal/harpsichord music. He also our piece the William Byrd “Mass in Bb”. Although a devout Roman Catholic continued to write for the Anglican Church.

Andrew then gave uninsight into our “Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in C Major” composer, Sir Charles Villes Standford. Standford lived from 1852-1924 and was a professor at both The Royal College of Music in London and at Cambridge University. He conducted both the London Bach Choir and the Leeds Triennial Festival Orchestra. Most known for his orchestra pieces, he also composed many choral and operas. His style reflects Romantic style, his Irish heritage, and Germanic style.

Jordan taught us on Peter Warlock, who lived from 1894-1930, who composed our piece “Bethlehem Down”. Born Philip Arnold Heseltine, he changed his name as a result of his family’s involvement in the Dublin Mafia. He was a mentee of Frederick Delius, and even transcribed many of his pieces. His Masterpiece The Curlew was completed in June 1922. His largest output was of solos with piano accompaniment. Warlock’s style was idiosyncratic harmony that combined many styles from English composers including Delius, Elizabethan, and folk music.

Following the presentation, Jake gave us our challenge to write a comment on something of note David Bednall (composer of “I saw a Stable” and director at University of Bristol) says during his lecture in 2 days. So stay tuned for day 11 to hear about our experience performing at Bristol and learning from Bednall.

Good night Salisbury. 💤

Once we arrived in Wells we walked directly into service. We were honored to participate in a Eucharist on this the Third Sunday of Epiphany. It was also the Sunday within the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. The choir today was solely the Girl Choristers of Wells Cathedral Choir. They sang the settings for the service to “Missa Brevis” by Benjamin Bitten (1913-1976).

While people were gathering in the nave, this service was entirely in the nave and not held in the quire, the girls were singing prelude pieces to welcome us. The service opens with a welcome from the Deacon followed by a hymn, entitled “Father, Lord of all Creation”, set to the tune of Abbot’s Leigh by Cyril Taylor. This congregation had a few singers who seemed to know the tune very well, since it’s not printed in the bulletin, while overs mostly mumbled along with the girls. It was very clear that singing very loud for congregation is not common practice.

The service then continued with the greeting and prayers of Penitence, which is similar yet more harsh to my Presbyterian congregation’s drawing near to God. All this occurs standing, and continues with listening to the girls since the Gloria in Excelsis Deo and the Collect. The Gloria was set as I said previously to the “Missa Brevis” by Benjamin Bitten. The setting uses a very obvious call and answer. One girl would sing a phrase like “qui tollis peccata mundi” which the girls would echo and respond. The girls were always seemingly at the same volume mezzo forte. I really did like the solo call, though it emphasized certain words for the congregation that doesn’t know Latin. The President then lead us in the Collect, and we sat.

We then heard a New Testament reading from Revelations, about John’s first call to write the book. We then sang another hymn, this time with far more gusto. The girls led us in “ All for Jesus” by John Stainer, which although I didn’t know well, the congregation seemed to have deep knowledge of. The sang with more joy, but not like I’m accustomed to in my congregation where singing and clapping is acceptable.

The service continued to by far the most confusing moment for me which was the reading from the Gospel of John, about Christ turning water to wine. What was strange for me, was that the “Book of Gospels” is walked on high down the central aisle and the whole congregation has to turn to face it and follow its direction as it comes to the middle of the nave for recitation. It was very odd and far too high church for me. I don’t view the bible as the literal spirit of God. It was even stranger that we sang before, during and after the reading. It was beautiful to the congregation proudly raise up an Alleluia, but I was way too formal for my liking. The Dean then preached the sermon, which was about unity within denominations of the church in honor of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. We then stood for the Nicene Creed.

The President then led us in the Prayers of Intercession (of the people as I know them), and a hush fell over the congregation as they remembered those who passed. It was uncommon for me to hear names of deceased said so aloud but I liked the message behind it.

Then began the very long liturgy of the Eucharist. We had the passing of the peace followed by an offeretory hymn, called “The God of Abraham praise” set to the tune of “Leoni” a Hebrew melody by Thomas Olivers. The Eucharist prayer then began, and during the prayer the Girls sang on behalf of the congregation a Sanctus. The Sanctus in my opinion was better than the “Gloria” because it had an actual solo call and response between the seemingly two heads of the choir. I loved it, I thought it was far more airy and light. We then continued the Eucharist prayer with the Dean calling us and explaining the sacrament and then there was more congregational singing. We then were able to come forward and receive the wafer and wine. I loved the tradition of the serving as I had never actually been able to drink from the chalice before. However after returning to my seat I had a strange feeling. In the Presbyterian tradition, communion is a joyous occasion and after receiving I always feel blessed and happy. This was not a the case, seemingly one is supposed to come to the table feeling guilty and return to their seat feeling forgiven. That made me feel extremely uncomfortable and uneasy.

Closing Hymn, “Go forth and Tell!” set to the tune of Woodlands by W. Greatorex, was sung with girls sitting amongst us in the center aisle. We then had to continue to stand until the choir and clergy had exited the nave during the postlude, which was by William Mathias (one of our composers). I felt very uncomfortable because I felt more guilty having made the association that seemingly the Eucharist had genuinely been the body and blood of Christ and that I had felt joyful. I loved the service though I was just uneasy.

After a spot of tea, we headed to Bath. We had a quick lunch before going to see the Bath Abbey. Jake, Jacob, Jordan, (J,J&J) and I found a local pasty shop then went to stay out of the rain by getting tea from Costa. I had a chicken curry pasty, sausage roll, and a pot of tea.

We then headed from lunch to the Bath Abbey. Founded as a monastery in 757,The Abbey has changed many functions from the Norman cathedral was built in 1090, to an Abbey in 1499 after destruction, to a dissolved Abbey under Henry VIII, to restoration and repair, to bomb damage during WWII, to the 2017 Foot print project.

The place of Coronation for the first British King 👑, King Edgar, it’s exterior has a literal stairway to heaven as the builder had a dream of angels climbing a ladder to heaven.

Inside we were allowed to wander free for an hour. I first explored the Foot Print Project; the Abbey is attempting to reduce their carbon footprint 👣 and in 2017 began making strides to lessen it. I then traveled to the pulpit which was given in 1874. Next to it is the piano.

I wandered to view the nave and quire once more. The ceiling is fan vault and Gothic Arches. The quire looks directly to the altar which is beautiful.

The quire faces onto the Great East Window. The East Window completed in 1873, tells the story of Jesus in 56 scenes. Below it sits the altar.

The other West Front Window, depicts the dream of Bishop Oliver King that led him to replace the destroyed Norman cathedral with the current abbey of 1499 (the same depicted on the outside of the Abbey).

The last cool feature was the butterfly 🦋 art installation. It represents the many immigrants around the world and is a constant reminder for Anglican to help those in difficult migrant situations.

After seeing the Abbey, we walked right next store to see the Roman Baths. So here comes too many photos because I was nerding 🤓 so hard that I was literally crying 😭.

So for those who don’t know as a Classics and Latin Major, I am obsessed with everything Roman, and studying public baths as a Latin 1 student was my favorite thing. I loved learning about the Caulidarium (Hot Room)🔥, Fridgidarium (cold room)🌬, and the massage space. I especially love learning about their floor heating hypocaust technique. 🔥 While there we actually ran across another RMC travel course (small world, they went to see Stone Henge late that afternoon).

I was freaking out so much that Jake was able to capture my overexcitement.

So the independent tour began with the ability of seeing the Temple to Minerva, which was founded under Vespasian. In addition we saw artificats from the Baths and from the veneration to Aquae Sulis (or the Hot Springs of the gods).

The temple pediment with an image of male celtic Gorgon.

Bronze head of Minerva.

Messages left at the temple to express anger and thoughts.

Mosaic!!!!

Jewels!!!

The Temple Ruins!!!

I then got to see the spring. I couldn’t speak, it was so beautiful.

How gorgeous!!! I then wandered to the Great Bath Proper and met up with Jake to see the East female baths, and the West private baths.

What?!!!😲😲😲😲😲

The East Baths were incredible! The most beautiful part of the gigantic Caulidarium.

They had the pillars for the heated floor, which is heated by fires on all sides that travel the labyrinth of pillars to heat the floor.

Then we wandered to the Western baths which were more covered and therefore preserved.

This is one view of the private bath, with really well preserved pillars.

This is another view.

This is the changing room. Then we wandered on our way out to see another room and the other half of the spring, which was most likely for the elite.

Then we were lucky enough to taste of the nectar of the gods. I loved it, Jake not so much...

After a bit of shopping in the gift shop and walking around, we stopped into the Cornish Bakery for incredible Belgian Style hot chocolate and a traditional Cornish Pasty. Jake loved the pasty and marveled over the hot chocolate.

This was followed by chew humming, Jake’s sign of approval.

Just Gorgeous 🍫!

Then we wandered a bit more walked around the Abbey to hear the evensong service, munching on Fudge, and just chatting. Although it was a dreadful down pour it was a nice time for Jake and I. We finally met up with the rest of the group and headed to the hotel here in Bristol. We had tomato soup, pate, chicken stew, pasta, potatoes and vegetables, along with an assortment of pastries for dinner at the hotel.

Good night Bristol, see you tomorrow to see the University of Bristol and David Bednall!

We also began Dr. Ryder’s Birthday celebration. Happy Birthday Ryder 🎉🎁. He received a cake from his fiancée Cathy. So precious.

Across from our hotel were the Temple Gardens, named after the ruins of the Knights of Templar built, Temple Church. Bombed during WWII the Temple Church was actually called the Holy Cross, built in the 1130s. The nave is circular and enclosed by pillars. It’s amazing.

Once, finally, our bus driver for the day arrived to relieve our driver for the day, we drove 5 minutes to the John Wesley Chapel and New Room Museum. We were lucky enough to have the museum curator tour with us to show us the highlights of the exhibition. The New Room or John Wesley Chapel house, is the world’s oldest Methodist Building. John Wesley began preaching in the open air in 1739 in Bristol to crowds of 300. The New Room, rebuilt in 1748, was opened to provide a meeting space for the Methodists of Bristol, who were under extreme persecution.

The chapel is mostly the same as it was in the 18th century aside from the Pews, which were inserted by Welsh Calvinists when they owned the building in the 19th century. There are no windows on the first floor because at the time Methodists were under persecution and almost in hiding.

From the Chapel, we went to the house of Charles Wesley and his family from 1749-1771.

The house has 4 floors and housed Charles, his wife Sally, son and fellow musician, Samuel, his daughter Sally, and Charles Wesley Jr.

Charles was most known for his hymn writing and wrotes thousands of lyrics, all of which made the basis for the Methodist hymnal used in John Wesley’s services and were how Methodists praised in their common tongue.

His son also was a musical prodigy and composer of Weslyan hymns.

Their daughter Sally, he spoiled a bit.

Their bedroom was complete with a four poster bed.

His study also showed his work with hymn writing.

The basement held the kitchens. And access to the Gardens with the Wesley Sundial.

Then we wandered back to the museum. It showed the whole history of Methodism and the history of Bristol’s Methodism.

They gave an overview of the development of Wesley’s time at Oxford and the Holy Club.

They had an overview of the poverty divide in Bristol. Methodism surprisingly appealed to both nobles and the poor, but especially to the poor and slaves.

The museum’s primary feature was the Preachers Room, which was the space where John Wesley allowed visiting preachers to sleep and relax.

There was also an exhibit on other Weslyan preachers such as Francis Asbury the father of American Methodism.

There was also John’s room while staying at the New Room.

After touring the museum we performed the Alma Mater, and “The Lord Bless You and Keep You” in the New Room. Then this impromptu performance of “Wade in the Water” happened..

Upon finishing our time at the New Room, we wondered over to Old Town Bristol for lunch before our time at Bristol Cathedral and with David Bednall. J, J & J and I found a local Italian restaurant off the beaten path near the University of Bristol, called Sergio’s.

I bought a large glass of house red wine 🍷 for Jake and I. I had the butternut squash soup and the risotto. It was hands down the best Italian food I have ever had. 😋

We then had some time to wander and we found a local gelato place which was so yummy. We took our gelato to the Cathedral and then went inside to have rehearsal.

Before our rehearsal with Bristol Youth Choristers for Evensong we were honored to have a lecture from composer of our piece “I saw a stable”, which was the anthem that night, David Bednall.

He lectured on his composition and the composers of church music during and after the Renaissance period. His lecture took place in Bristol Cathedral’s Chapter House, which unlike many others was a rectangle not a circle or an octagon.

Bednall began his talk discussing his influences and describing the composers of England’s training and processes. He told us about his greatest influence, Vaughan Williams, who perfectly put his music to fit the lyrics of the poetry he used. He was also greatly influenced by Howles, who as Bednall put it was a master of harmony.

The Piece we are performing by him is actually part of a 40 line commissioned mass to coincide with a tribute to a 40 line piece by Thomas Tallis. He told us his intention for “I saw a stable” was to show how even in the Christmas season Christ is still connected with the cross and therefore still connected with death. He created it to be intentionally ominous so that it was a darker color.

This commissioned piece took 8 choirs to perform as it had 40 separate parts. I asked him which of the pieces in this commission was his favorite to compose and he listed a couple. He said he loved the middle piece because he was attempting to find a poem of Mary’s song that was not the Magnificat. He had spoken to one of his professors (as this was part of his dissertation), who suggested a less known poem by a female writer, which inevitably blew his mind and upon finding it he was elated because it was exactly what he wanted. He also stated that he loved the “Alleluia” because unlike other pieces where the poetry influences the music, he had to create his own rhythm and structure for the piece. He also mentioned that he loved the the word itself Alleluia can be emphasized on all 4 syllables to create entirely different meaning.

Following our talk with Bednall we quickly put on our robes and headed to the quire for rehearsal. This rehearsal was vastly different than Salisbury. Salisbury was far more structured and the choristers were far more trained than these youths. They were the hybrid choir of ages 12-18, and they clearly didn’t perform every day. I thought their choir master’s conducting style was strange. He almost like used a singular finger to point at people while conducting👈🏻. That being said they were fairly good singers, but after being spoiled with the quality of sound from Salisbury, I was a touch disappointed.

The Evensong itself was a lot less formal than at Salisbury, which I rather enjoyed. The congregation was very small that night, only about 10 people showed up for the service. The clergy also we not bowed to at any point even when they brought a staff to and from the lectern for scripture readings.

The service began with Austin performing a prelude on the organ, while their choir processed. Then we all stood for the introductory prayers and then sat while their choir performed the Pslams. I will say I loved their Pslam performance. They really were quite good at keeping the delicacy of the words intact with an incredible piano. However, the arrangement associated with the words made it very difficult to understand what they were saying. After the Pslams we listenend to the Old Testament reading.

Next we performed the Magnificat alongside them. I will say, the choir master changed his conducting style because he realized we were not responding well to it. However it was strange to feel as though we were leading their choir in the piece because they perform these everyday. They did follow our dynamics and overall it sounded pretty good. I mostly disliked how the conductor viewed dynamics, it was far too structured for my liking he didn’t want them to flow with the words. Afterwards we listened to the New Testament and then performed the Nunc Dimittis. This suited Bristol’s youth choir better as they were quite good at soft dynamics. I disliked however how the choir master prefered to perform the piece at such an extremely slow tempo. It made it very difficult for all of us to stay together in time.

We then listened to their choir perform the collects after the apostles creed. I will say this was my favorite part of the service. Bristol’s choir clearly performs this regularly and their dynamics were incredible at one part there were so loud to emphasize the words of glorifying God that it seemed to surround us in sound. We then performed Bednall’s piece. I loved the ability to perform it while he was there, but I didn’t like how the choir master interpreted it. It was SO slow, and SO quiet. At one point we were supposed to be forte and the choristers didn’t even reach a mezzo forte. It irritated me slightly.

We then sang a hymn by none other than Charles Wesley, which I had never heard before I loved it. The service wrapped up with a postlude by their organist, which was very long but incredible. He actually literally pulled out all the stops and the sound he produced shook the pews. It was amazing. Wow.

From then we heading back to the hotel for a buffet dinner with cheesecake and then I watched “Voyage of the Dawn Treader” before falling asleep 💤. Night Bristol!

On our long drive the heat made me very ill. But we stopped at a rest stop and got some air. Jake and I bought some pesto pasta salad and chicken satay for lunch from Waitrose because the bagged lunch we were given was not to our taste. The lunch we bought was yummy!

After finally arriving in Cambridge we went to see Kings College Chapel.

The college was founded in 1441, by King Henry VI. He founded two ‘royal and religious’ schools, the other being Eton College. The Chapel was founded by Henry VIII and built between 1512 and 1515. From there it took another 30 years to install 26 sets of stained glass windows.

The dark oak screen, which separates the quire from the nave has many HRs engraved for Henry VIII. And there was one engraved HA, for Henry and his second wife Anne Boelyn.

The chapel has fan vaulted ceilings the largest of it’s kind, and the ornamentation reflects Henry VIII’s heritage. It showed a series of Tudor wealth and pride, with portcullises, roses, dragons, and dogs.

After visiting the chapel I viewed gardens and reflected. Then I went and got some tea across the way at the Agora and Copper Kettle.

Following our time at King’s College we wandered to one of Cambridge University’s other colleges, Selwyn.

We quickly changed into our dress clothes for the night and put on our cassocks, before heading into rehearsal with Sarah MacDonald and the Selwyn Chapel Choir. We found out it was disrespectful to put on our surplices before service because they are baptized and sacred. Rehearsal as always was held in the quire of Selwyn’s Chapel.

Rehearsal was extremely entertaining. For the first time since being in the UK, we were actually singing with people our age and with a choir master, who resembles Ryder’s style. Sarah MacDonald is an amazing woman and I aspire to be half the educator she is someday. We rehearsed our “Standford in C” and “Bethlehem Down”. During rehearsal she corrected us with swiftness and certainty. She would jokingly make comments about how she needed more tenor during the line “humble and meek”, knowing full well it was ironic to give more volume to the least humble section. She also would correct us on paying attention to her, during a verse of the anthem she actually froze her conducting and made a held fermata to get us to Pay Attention.

Following rehearsal we waited until they finished rehearsing the Psalms and collects, then processed in with them and began the service. It began with a prayer sung by their choir and standing amongst that sound was amazing! Amy next to me had the purest Soprano tone I have ever heard. And Anna Rose next to me had the loudest Alto Belt I have ever experienced. They were able to follow Sarah’s direction with perfect precision. The congregation that night was rather small but it was mostly students and more adults than anyone.

After the first lesson we sang the Magnificat, which after Sarah’s correction in rehearsal was the best we have performed it all tour. The sound we produced was most accurate and full; the consonants were so pure and present. Also being stood next to a superior Alto made me want to sing better. Anna Rose pushed me to be more round and full in tone, because she was able to make her high notes sound as though a man may be singing them. Wow just wow.

Then after the New Testament reading, we sang the Nunc Dimittis and I can hands down say I may be able to sing that correctly now. Anna Rose did not let me miss a beat and if I did she oversang me to keep me in time. I also did not know I could belt and we fully committed to a swoop at the end as Sarah cued us insistently to do. Sarah conducting was amazing she was so full of life during it and not only did her hands flow with the music but she also seemed to be able to feel the weight of the text in her hands.

Following the creed, we sang “Bethlehem Down”, which following rehearsal, caused me to sing from memory. Sarah clearly loved this song and conducted it with care. I did not think the RMC choir was capable of enunciation, but our consonants helped paint the words. The third and fourth verses were by far the most beautiful, as we were able to sing for the tone of the text. Sarah made it very clear for the 3rd verse she wanted a menacing tone, when Anna Rose sang it was such intensity I understood to commit. The 4th verse is by far the quietest I have ever heard a choir let alone any choir sing. Sarah while conducting held her hands to slow and soften us and emphasize the words not our voices. It was pure gold, like that Jesus was surrounded with.

Following a short homily about how Ezekial calling idols feces and the connection between our modern day idols and feces, the choir sang a prayer to set us on our way. The sound made me want to cry. Surrounded by such talent was humbling.

We then wandered to their Great Hall for a formal dinner. I have never experienced anything like that, it was straight out of Harry Potter, with our professors sat at the high table a gong and recited Latin. We had fried shrimp, lab with carrots and scalloped potatoes, and a vanilla custard tart and coffee. It also traditional to drink wine 🍷 with dinner, so Jake and I split a Spanish red bottle.

After dinner and some time at the bar with the Selwyn students we went to our hotel to sleep. Good night Cambridge.

When we arrived at Ely Cathedral we followed Sarah MacDonald, who also works at this church to the place we would be singing in, The Lady Chapel. It’s acoustics are so good that one can sing a chord and it lingers in the air space above.

Ely Cathedral was built in 1080s under the direction of Abbot Simeon. The church became a Cathedral in 1109 and the monastery \240was closed by Henry The VIII in 1539. In 1653 Oliver Cromwell closed the Cathedral for 17 years.

The most fascinating part of the Cathedral is the Octagon. Following the disaster in 1322 when the Norman Central tower collapsed, Alab de Walsingham, Sacrist of the monastery, built this octagonal structure of timber, glass and lead. The structure stands atop 8 stone pillars and looks towards John of Burwell’s painted carving of Christ.

Once we explored the Cathedral, we wondered around Ely and got some lunch at The Street Cafe, which was a British style diner. I had delicious poached eggs, sausage, and chips with a cappuccino.

We also wandered into a few shops one of which had a puppy 🐶 and then to Edinburgh Woolen Mill, where Jake got a wonderfully smart hat and I a wool cardigan.

After our shopping adventures we went back to the Cathedral for rehearsal. We were performing a concert in the Lady Chapel. Although, it was rather cold, we began rehearsing with the new space: because of the resonance the sound takes so much time to travel and stays in the room for a full almost 10 seconds after it’s sung. We especially realized we had to enunciate much more to compensate for tha fact that you still hear the previous note in the air as you sing the next word. “Light” especially needed to be adjusted for the space because it was designed for spaces like this one, but the dynamics have to be watched very carefully for the resonance.

We then went the Cathedral’s choir room to change into our robes. When it was time to process in, I surprised to find that the audience was far more filled than I had expected, I think mostly because visitors to the Cathedral had decided to stay and listen. We opened with Austin playing a prelude on the chamber organ. He said he didn’t like how small it was, it only had three stops and did not really resonate well, however it sounded good for the space as sound travels slowly there. After that we performed our whole repertoire beside “Make a Joyful Noise unto the Lord” because the organ would not have been loud enough. All the pieces went fairly well especially “The 23rd Pslam”, “America the Beautiful”, and “Light”.

Tori conducted both “The 23rd Pslam” and “America the Beautiful”. I loved the audience’s applause after the former of the two, they really enjoyed it. I especially appreciated how moved Tori was by how the words of the Gloria Patri hung in the air as if we were blessing God and he was accepting that blessing. “America the Beautiful” was incredible mostly because of Tori’s conducting, there are alot of moving parts in the piece and if she hadn’t kept us on track and watched our dynamics, one group would have overwhelmed another. After her set we all collectively took a big sigh and the audience rewarded us with resounding applause.

“Light” was beyond amazing. There is no description for how the perfect it fit the space. We would sing a note and the dynamics would carry throughout the space so that one part still was piano in the air as another was mezzo forte. It was incredible. The audience complemented us greatly. Interestingly enough, many of them don’t like performing in the space because of the resonance, but they enjoyed us singing. Overall it was an incredible experience.

We then hopped back to take off our robes and get on the bus and then began the traffic filled trip to London in the wind and rain 🌧.

We finally arrived in London!

The Shard! And the Tower of London!

We reached the hotel and then went to dinner at Garfunkell’s for fish and chips. Good night London.

After breakfast we drove to Windsor to see the castle.

Wow!! What a way to start the day then by being in the presence of the Royal Home.

We around shortly before 11:30, so we were fortunate enough to see the changing of the guard. Way too cool.

Following the changing of the guard, we wandered inside and took the view in. This castle has been the home of the British Monarchy since Charles the First. It’s history and grandeur is remarkable.

We wandered down the hill towards St. George’s Castle. The space is not only incredible for a chapel but also extremely ornate. It’s fan vaults, gothic arches and dark wood make the space feel extremely large. The chapel houses graves of many Kings and Queens, and their neices and nephews. Vicotria’s nephew Albert is memorialized in his own small chapel and at the very center of the quire lie the bodies of Charles I, Henry VIII, Jane Seymour, and their infant child.

From the chapel we wandered up to the middle ward to take in the incredible view of Eton and Windsor and the castle.

We then wandered into the State Apartments, the house of the Royals. We got to see the armories, Dining Halls, Banquet, receiving halls, and bedrooms of great Kings and Queens. The bedchamber of Charles I was actually never a place he slept in. He used it as a receiving space for his morning subjects. The only people that ever slept there were Napoleon and his wife.

After viewing the castle we went down into Windsor to get lunch. Jake, Jacob and I went to a nice little Japanese place and then got some milkshakes.

We completed lunch and then headed to Royal Holloway College in Egham.

Founded by Holloway, a delegate of Queen Victoria. We arrived and dropped off our robes in the room across from the choir room. We were told this room was used a filming set for Downtown Abbey. Shortly after arriving Austin, BJ, and I gave our presentation of Pipe Organs, I was most excited to hear about the stops and manuals of the organ that Austin provided and then gave our challenge of photographing the organ there.

After that we went on a short tour with two choral scholars. Part of Royal Holloway’s history is that it was originally an all ladies’ school and so for the celebration of British Women’s Sufferage’s 100 year anniversary, they have an exhibition in their brand new library.

From there we returned to the room and put on our robes. We wandered back to the chapel for rehearsal with their 24 choral scholars and their choir master.

In Rehearsal we reviewed the “Standford in C” and “Bethlehem Down” with their choir and listened to them practice their introit a Russian piece and their responses, which that day were by Rose. We were honored to stand amongst their voices. Tori and I were fortunate enough to sing alongside an amazing Alto on the Cantor side of the quire. I loved their choir master’s directing styles at one point he noticed we were out of sync on the Gloria Patri and swiftly corrected it by having us sing unconducted so we would have more sound and better connection as a group.

Following rehearsal we lined up for processional. I walked next to Dr. Ryder which was entertaining because we weren’t able to get instep. When we got to the quire, we listened to their choir perform the introit. It was incredible to hear such a small group make a loud noise: at first listen it actually very startling. We then listened to the Pslams, the alto between Tori and I was amazing, they had only seen this a couple times and she was able to seamlessly move from pitch to pitch without hesitation.

Soon after we performed the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis. By then I could sing them entirely almost from memory, which is gold because their director tended to change the tempo rather drastically at times. I appreciated the way he approached the lines though because he wanted us to flow and create fluid phrases. After the Apostles Creed, we sang “Bethlehem Down” the anthem. I loved the way this choir approached the softness with some intensity. However I will say I liked how we performed it at Selwyn College better, because Sarah MacDonald conducted it for more emotion.

The congregatio, which was small that night, was very reverent the whole service. Royal Holloway’s chapel is nondenominational and not specific to any religion, so my guess is that those in attendance were regularly at Evensong.

After Evensong we popped into their dining hall for dinner. I just got Scotch Broth, as I intended on getting room service at the hotel later.

So following a later dinner I went to bed for then next day in London.

The most regal abbey, was began in the 13th century under King Henry III in honor or St. King Edward. In the 16th century under Henry VII, the cross church was completed and under the reign of Elizabeth the first it gained its charter as a church the a dean elected by the crown. The Abbey has held the coronations of Kings and Queen since Henry III.

In the church lie the remains of many Kings and Queens, including King Edward, King Richard, Henry III, Henry VII, Queen Elizabeth I and her sister Bloody Mary. In addition it has memorials and graves for many famous poets, scientists, musicians, writers, religious figures, and statesman. These include: Sir Issac Newton, William Shakespeare, Franklin Roosevelt, Jane Austen, the Bronte Sisters, the Wesley brothers, the only Jewish Prime Minister, Lewis Carrol, CS Lewis, Charles Dickens, George Frederik Handel, and many many more. The Abbey also has a Britian’s tomb of the unknown soldier, surrounded by poppies. And the most significant object in the Abbey is the Coronation throne.

The relief above the West Entrance depicts Saints of the 20th century! Like MLK Jr!

After Westminster, we wandered across the street to Methodist Central Hall.

The Methodist Central Hall is the home of the Methodist head offices and was built in the 1800s, replacing the Aquarium or shopping district that existed there previously. It was funded partly by the donations of Methodists, who were tasked to donate a week’s salary. Any who donated were logged in a roster.

Sadly what they raised wasn’t enough and for a period of time their chapel was a bank they loaned money from.

We then went up to the 4th floor to see the Great Hall, which is their worship space. It feels more like a Theater Hall, but it was pretty.

Their balcony on that floor is pretty cool. One say a pretty good view of London from there.

After viewing the balcony we took a photo on their staircase and had our lunch break.

During Lunch, Jake, Jacob, Caroline, Tori and I took advantage of our time and went to see Buckingham Palace, before Taxiiing back and eating lunch the Methodist Central Hall’s cafe.

After lunch, we went to John Wesley’s Chapel and House.

The Wesley Chapel is fairly new all things considered and was built in the 18th century. Wesley built it himself as London was his home in the last stage of his life. After finishing his travels and preaching he would come home to his church and house to his wife and children.

His living room is modest but rather pretty and was the center of household life.

His study however was the place where he spent most of his life in the company of his writings like this book for ailments and his bible. The funniest thing is this room is that he experimented with shock therapy on himself. We would touch a nob full of static electricity and feel more healthy.

His bedroom housed his small private chapel where would wake for morning prayer at 4am.

The top floor was for visitors and visitng preachers and it is from here that one can view the cemetery where his mother is buried. We then traveled back to their sanctuary.

It’s back altar is the original and the railing around the pulpit was a gift from Margaret Thatcher, who was a Methodist who also was married there. On the walls are stained glass windows of scenes from Wesley and Charles Wesley’s lives and conversions.

We then wandered to the Foundry Chapel named after the foundry where the original London Methodists worshipped and it is here the original Georgian pews are located and Charles Wesley’s personal organ also.

We also went behind the church to a small cemetery to the valut of John Wesley’s grave, where he was buried in 1791.

After seeing the John Wesley Chapel, we went to see another important Methodist site, the Aldersgate Flame.

The Aldersgate Flame 🔥 stands outside the London Museum on Aldersgate Street. It was here on May 24th 1738, that John Wesley while attending a Aldersgate Society Meeting, had his ascension and conversion towards a new way to Christ. He said in his journal that he had a strange warmth in his heart.

After seeing the Flame we wondered to Trafalgur Square near where we would have dinner and Jake, Dustin, and I promptly left to go to the British Museum. We got probably an Hour and a Half there but It was well worth the 20 minute walk to see so much history. Here are photos of just a few, like the Parthenon Frieze, Pottery from Etruria, and the Rosetta Stone.

The Thinker!!!!

The Portland Vase!!

The Warren Cup!!

And the Rosetta Stone!!!

We then walked back to dinner at the Silver Cross a Pub in downtown London for our last meal Bangers and Mash, tomato soup, vanilla ice cream, and a local ale.

We waited for our vans back to the hotel and then packed and went to sleep.

And shortly after security we said our last goodbye to our amazing tour guide Andy! I miss them already. We had a lunch in the airport at Yo Sushi!, before boarding for our 8 hour flight at noon.

An hour into the flight we were served a light lunch I had chicken curry and then chocolate ice cream.

Our flight was long, but very painless. And surrounded by friends how can anyone be too sad to be leaving such an incredible country, although I was extremely sad to leave.

Many movies were watched. Wonder Woman, Goodbye Christoper Robin, Kingsman: The Golden Circle, etc.

Our progress. Now snack time, turkey sandwichs!

Hot tea, apple Juice and BBT (Big Bang Theory)! Also it was so strange to have been flying for 8 hours, but land and have only 3 hours pass...

Finally landed in Dulles! Got a bagel and Starbucks.

We then boarded the bus 🚌 to go back to RMC, in 5 o’clock traffic.

Finally made it back to campus at 8:10pm and got settled by 9:15pm. It’s good to be back and relaxed, but I wish we never had to leave. 😭