Make a Smilebox slideshow

I’ve not been around as much these past couple of weeks as we’ve had my dear brother to stay all the way from New Zealand, and he and I have been off around London having the best time!

We really made the most of the time, visiting places like Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square, Piccadilly Circus, the Oxford Street Christmas Lights, St Paul’s Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben and the Eye, The Tower of London and London Bridge, Gabriel’s Wharf, the Borough Markets and Harrods for Christmas shopping … It’s been so fun putting together a slideshow of some of the highlights. Between us, we took 2000 photos, so this is just a snapshot here, ha, ha. There are quite a few though, so please do skip through just to the ones of interest. There are also general scenes, like when we went to this evening of Christmas carols, mulled wine, and mince pies by the Thames – so lovely! Chris even came with me to watch as I did an interview about prayer on TV, and he took a photo of my lovely guest and me on set afterwards! Another highlight was meeting up with our older brother, Markus, and having lunch together. I can’t remember the last time the three of us were together like this – it’s been many, many years! It was so good.

There are also a few from our visit to the Tower of London. Although we weren’t able to take photos of the breathtaking Crown Jewels or the exhibition of Henry VIII and his incredible armour collection – you will see photos of one of the torture devices displayed in the museum called the ‘Scavenger’s Daughter,’ evidently used in the Tower’s history. It worked by the opposite principle to “the rack” by compressing the body. Yuck, it’s horrible and morbid to think about really, so I’ll leave it there I think, eek. You’ll also see the resident ravens. Legend has it that if the ravens were ever to leave, the Tower and the kingdom would fall. We saw about five of them. They truly are huge. The size of pet dogs. I found them a bit freaky, actually. I kept thinking of Hitchcock’s The Birds. Chris thought it was hilarious how I found them so creepy, and whenever we passed them, he’d yell out from a few paces back, ‘Look out Birg, it’s behind you!’ Not funny! Well, it kind of was. They fed on meat and blood-soaked biscuits, evidently 8O OK. Moving on.

At the end of last week, we travelled up to Oxford. Michael and I lived in Oxford when we first moved to the UK, where I studied Theology for a year. It was such a great experience to go back and visit this beautiful city again. A highlight was taking Chris to a pub called the Eagle & Child. This is where the authors C.S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien as well as other fellow writers used to meet. We read about these ‘golden sessions’ as Lewis described it in his writing, where they would sit by the fire and talk and debate over a pint or two. I had a hot mulled cider, and we sat in a little booth into the evening, and had a great time there!

There are lots of postcard-type of photos of Chris and me standing in front of special sights. We took loads of these, mostly for the benefit of family, so sorry to my friends and blog friends if you get sick of them! :) I love them though – it was a real novelty to be spending all this time with family, I loved it!

I didn’t always have my camera with me when we went out so Chris gave me some of his to include as well, like the night shots of the Eye, which I just love. Another note about the Eye is that there’s this one picture I’ve included on our ‘flight’ which was an automated tourist photo taken while we all inside the capsule. I didn’t realise it was being taken, and it was quite funny because you see me snapping away with my camera, and also Chris in the background taking in the views :)

Chris and I said good-bye at Heathrow a day ago, and I’ve felt a bit sad ever since, but at the same, I’ve been so aware of that verse in James that says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights” (1:17), and so I’ve also really felt so thankful to God for the time together. What a gift family is, and what a gift this time has been, something always to remember and treasure.

~ by Birgit on December 2, 2009.

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