On Day 6 we went to church, went on a London Walks' tour, and learned about the British train ticket system.
We went to church at an Acts 29 church in Shepherd's Bush. To forewarn you, it took us an hour to reach the church, so if you visit that church be prepared for a long tube ride and walk. The message was good, the pastor had a Scottish accent (so fun!), and he said "one Samuel" instead of "first Samuel".
After church we had a quick lunch and then went on the London Walks Shakespeare and Dickens tour. It was so good! It was interesting to see places that Charles Dickens references in his works and to understand where William Shakespeare lived and how his surroundings may have influenced his writings.
 |
| The black circle is the outline of where the Roman Amphitheatre once stood. |
David, our tour guide, was fantastic! He is a former English professor, was good at telling us historical facts while being entertaining, and he had a vanity cane. What more could you ask for? Seriously, I've been on several London Walks tours and they have all been excellent, but David is my favorite tour guide.
 |
| Our amazing tour guide with his trench coat and vanity cane |
 |
| Inside Postman's Park |
 |
| Memorial to Heroic Self Sacrifice. This is where ordinary people who died while saving the lives of others and who might otherwise be forgotten are recognized. |
 |
| One of the last surviving Tudor buildings in London |
 |
| Smithfield Market |
That evening we tried to order train tickets for the rest of our day trips. We discovered that train tickets in the UK are similar to plane tickets. Their prices rise significantly the closer it gets to the departure date. We were in trouble because we only knew of one site to purchase train tickets and the prices had tripled since I last price checked them.
We went to the front desk to ask for help and we met a grad student along the way who graciously offered to help us with our dilemma. He showed us different ticket websites to explore, explained the different options for train travel, and helped us choose our tickets. He was extremely nice, helpful, and curious about where we were from. We ended up chatting with him for a while. He introduced us to polo and we introduced him to country and christian music. I literally do not know what we would have done without him! I know that God deliberately put him in our path for a reason....more on that later :)
Lesson learned: purchase train tickets well in advance for lower rates!!
No comments