Update - 30Nov

Time for an update, Thanksgiving is very different when you are outside the US. As it is a US Holiday. I worked on this day - after going to the airport with Kevin,Gwen and Linda as they were flying out on a 10am flight back to the states. Really enjoyed their visit and I think they had a great time in London. After work went to Keiron and Phil's place for Thanksgiving dinner, there were seven of us for dinner, was a very enjoyable evening, dinner was good, a little different than what we're used to, but had all the essential items. Turkey (breast), stuffing, potatoes (these were a layered dish), corn, green beans, gravy and Yorkshire pudding. I brought the pies, however they were bought not homemade as couldn't find the ingredients I needed, they were good. It was a great evening spend with friends.
Saturday, I went to visit friends in Leighton Buzzard, Viktoria and Andrew. Viktoria is Hungarian, Andrew is British. They picked me up at the station in Leighton and off we went to see St Albans. Visited the cathedral, walked thru town, had lunch at the Original Cornish pastry shop. Then back to their place to visit and have dinner. A Hungarian meal - was great - for those of you who have had goulash it is really a soup, not a pasta dish. Really enjoyable evening, back on the train around 9:30p for trip back to London. Sunday was a catch up day, as lots of laundry to do and a trip to the grocery store.

Visitors

Last Saturday the 15Th Kevin arrived first thing in the morning, we went out to see some of London, then back to the house as he was very tired. Sunday we went to the Hillsong church of London at Totteningham Ct Road. Great service, then saw a little more of London. Three people arrived on Tuesday to participate in the mission work that Kevin had arranged. They are all staying with me, a house full. They have been busy, the visit couple days seeing the sights. Then off to do some prayer meetings and speaking that has been arranged by Kevin and his contact thru the church here Albert. They did a pray meeting yesterday (Sat) at the Parliament Buildings for Bound4Life. Then visited a church outside of London in the evening. This morning (Sunday) we attended service again at Hillsong and then they were off by bus with Albert to Tamworth up north of Birmingham for an overnight stay. They'll be back here on Monday afternoon.
I in between all of this, have visited the Cologne Christmas that opened on Friday night on the Southbank, Keiron, Phil & I went after work on Friday, had a German sausage sandwich and checked out the booth with German crafts and food, was great fun. On Saturday went to the Hyde Park Christmas Market, really cool, lots of craft booth with some really good things, lots of food and drink booths and a carnival for the kids. Really enjoyable, however was a cold day, woke up to it snowing on Sunday morning, but didn't last and is all gone now and warming up some.

Edinburgh, Scotland (7Nov-9Nov)

We arrived via train in Edinburgh around 6pm on Friday night. Walked to the hotel which was approximately 10 minutes from the station. After asking directions and collecting a map. Dropped our luggage in the room and went out to find something to eat. Ate at a small old pub,the food was good, both Rick and I tried some typical Scottish food. I had Haggis which is a Scottish main dish, and Rick had something like a stew. Was good. Then back to the hotel to go thru the brochure to decide what we were going to do on Sat. We joined a free walk on Saturday morning at 11am, was a 3 hour tour of the city, was really good, our guide was young and energetic, we saw lots of the city. We started outside the Starbucks on The Royal Mile, past St Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh Castle, Grassmarket area, Greyfriars Kirkyard(Cemetery), Mercat Cross, Burke & Hare Body Snatchers, Covenants Prison, National Museum, Scott Monument, Princes Street Gardens and heard the story of The Stone of Destiny. Was a very informative morning and saw lots. From here we went by the Scott Memorial, then boarded the tour bus to go around the city. After the tour, walked down a few of the streets in the new town, then headed back toward the hotel with a stop for dinner. Sunday morning we went thru Edinburgh Castle, which took some time, but what a great place, lots to see and so old, the Scottish Crown Jewels and the Stone of Destiny were also there. Then we went to a place called Oink for lunch - roast pork sandwiches (served from the whole pig roasted)in the Grassmarket area. Then onto one of the other tour buses to visit the Royal Britannica Yacht which was out in Leith. What a great ship, enjoyed the tour, then back to the hotel to collect our baggage for the long trip home on the train.

York, GB (06Nov-7Nov)

Thursday morning the 6Th we boarded the train to York. We left at 7:30a for the two and half hour journey. Arrived in York in the rain, checked into the hotel (The Royal York hotel), located right next door to the station. Great room, really big, dropped off our luggage and then off to explore. We got on the sightseeing bus (hop on,hop off), to see all the sites. We rode it all the way around so would know what there was. Lori got off at the hotel and took a nap. Rick and I venture into town, visited the outside of the Cathedral, as we thought we should wait for Lori to visit the inside, walked all thru the downtown area, the Shambles, wondered thru the market and checked out the shops. Headed back to the hotel to collect Lori. Collected her and ventured back into town, went into the Cathedral, wondered thru town, stopped for dinner at the Roman Bath's pub, good food. Walked the long way back to the hotel to relax for the evening. On Friday, we joined a free 2 hour tour from the tourist center. It is guided by local who have lived in the area. Was a great tour and saw lots that we wouldn't have seen otherwise. We visited Roman and Medieval ruins - you can see the columns and coffins from the Romans. Saw the Abby walls that are left along with the story of the Abby. We then walked the wall that still remains around the town of York, descended off the wall at the Monk Bar (a "Bar" is a gate and a "Gate" is a street in York), visited the Old Trinity church, which was small old church, had the original beams and the lighting was real candles. Then on to The shambles street, be sure to look at the pictures as the building go up, but come out over the floor below. Very interesting. At the end of the tour we headed back to toward the station to visit the rail museum which was free, it was cool, as they had a large number of engines and passenger trains from way back, they had the royal coach train which was retired in 1977. Was really neat to look inside at how they were furnished so long ago. Some of them were very old. We then collected our luggage from the hotel to board the train to take us to Edinburgh. The train was pretty full, met some very interesting people, mostly college students either headed home for the weekend or to Edinburgh to watch the New Zealand & Scottish game. The trip went fast as they kept us all entertained

Halloween

Halloween - yes it is celebrated in the UK, we went out after work for drinks and some fancy dress (dress up), some great costumes and company. Was a fun night.
Saturday stayed home then met up with Keiron and Phil late afternoon for a Guy Fawkes celebration in Forest Gate at one of their friends. We enjoyed some great fireworks, company (met some great people), had drinks, snacks, and played bingo.
On Sunday, my brother and his wife arrived for a 9 day visit. So am now enjoying showing them around the city. We rode the London Eye on Monday morning and did the the sightseeing bus enjoyed the sights. On Tuesday they were off to Paris for the day to enjoy their anniversary in a romantic fashion. Thursday we will be off to York and Edinburgh. Will update again once we return.