the view from St Paul's

I had a friend visiting last week...we had a lovely time wandering around London amid some mist and drizzle.  On my day off, one thing we decided to do was to go to St Paul's and go up to the dome.  Because it costs money, I've not paid to in before but figured it would be a good thing to do with a friend.  Here are some of the lovely but misty views of London from the top of St. Paul's.  St Paul's rises 365 feet (from ground level to the cross at the top of the cathedral).

There has been a church on this site since 604 AD.  That's cool :)

I'm not sure how many steps it took to reach this point!  I know it took us 259 steps to reach the Whispering Gallery, (a walkway which runs around the inside of the dome) which was not more than halfway!  We got our exercise!

Next we walked around the area a bit, crossed over the Millennium Bridge, and walked from Shakespeare's Globe Theatre to Tower Bridge.  

Our legs were very tired but it was a great day!

February has come and is almost gone.  I'm settling into my new home well.  It's such a blessing to feel like I have a place to call "home" as well as just an address.  My housemates Laura and Vanessa are sweet and it's good to have someone to chat with in the evenings.

I've joined a local fitness centre, with a dual purpose of meeting people in the community and getting back into a reasonably fit state!  The gym is only about a ten minute walk from my house.  Nearby is a weakness: a takeaway shop that has veggie samosas, 5 for £3!

This weekend I'm in Birmingham for a conference, about 2.5 hours drive north of London.  Thus far, I'm not impressed but we shall see what the weekend holds!

A double decker day :)

Angelina and I decided to learn our way around East London, since we are both more familiar with West London.  We spent the day hopping on and off buses.  The beauty of the London bus system with an Oyster Travel Card is this: On any day, any time, a bus ride costs £1.30.  On the fourth bus, you only pay £.30.  After that, each bus you ride is free for that day!  We figured out that we were on about eight or nine buses ;)

We started off heading south, in the general direction of the Thames.  We then worked our way further north, before then traveling south again to our area.  Most of these pictures are taken from the front seat of the upper deck of the bus, so forgive them if they are not the greatest.  The windows were dirty!

Construction for the Olympics in 2012.  I think this is to be athlete housing.

Best name for a fish and chip shop!  I love it!

Angelina was telling me that in a similar area, the powers that be widened the road for ease of transport, only to need to widen the sidewalks for people to park.  "?"

Not sure, but I think this is around Forest Gate.

The reason for this picture was the restaurant on the right..."Nathan's Pies and Eels."  

An almost cloudless blue sky day in London! 

This church is in Woodford, and it just looked so pretty :)

I hope you enjoyed your virtual bus tour of East London!  Keep praying with us!

Valentine's Day :)

Angelina and I took a self guided tour of East London to learn our way around our area.  More pictures of that to come later!  We were on a bus in Woodford, and ended up going by a stop called "Love Lane!"  Because it was Valentine's Day, Angelina said we should hop off and get a few pictures :)  I couldn't stop laughing.  Of all the days to come across Love Lane, Valentine's Day was perfect!  

It also ended up being good to get off considering we thought we were headed home but were on a bus going the wrong way :)

And when I got home, I had Valentine's Roses and chocolate waiting for me :)  Yesterday was indeed a good day!

Happy Valentine's Day!  I hope you all are having/had a wonderful day!

Friends and Coffee

A good friend of mine was able to make a trip here to London, through a gift of her parents! (We are of like minds, and believe travel can be the best present ever!)  Angelina and I took Andrea out for coffee at L'Hirondelle, a delightful little coffee shop nearby.