Tuesday
Tuesday began by being waken up after fitful sleep by flight attendants who were serving a boxed continental breakfast of a very English variety. We sort of stuffed it down while still in a daze trying to fully awaken. We were forced to circle Heathrow for an additional 30 minutes for some unknown reason and then landed smoothly in sunny skies. We walked halls to baggage claim with Mr. Sarr practicing counting heads. We were able to avoid a long line at customs because we were in a group so we were called up ahead of everyone else and processed one by one. As usual we were processed by a dispassionate customs worker who loudly stamped our passports and reached for the next passport. Finding our way around the airport was smooth as we made our way to the underground station. Our first funny experience came when Kim’s suitcase got stuck going through the admittance gate. The attendant impatiently instructed the whole group to not attempt to get through with large luggage and led everyone to a gate that he manually opened. Oh well, who would have known. The next hour was our trip through London to the Kings Cross/St. Pancras station. Some of the girls didn’t really understand the importance of being able to handle their bags and had a little more than they could comfortably tote. To get out of the station the girls were forced to slowly drag their suitcases up the stairs to the street level. The hostel was a mere 10 minute walk from the station and took us by the magnificent St. Pancras station. This edifice is impossibly beautiful to simply be a railway station, but it is. It is currently being changed into a hotel and apartments and they are building a new station. We took 20 minutes to get settled in our rooms then made the 15 minute walk to the British Museum. We jumped right in to our trip touring the abundant Assyrian and Babylonian empire evidences that confirm the Bible accounts of these empires. Many of these evidences from the Bible were scoffed at by secular historians until archeological evidence was found. We were stunned to see the Egyptian pieces such as mummies and things found in their graves as well as things from Greece. We only had a fraction of the time we needed, but we were blessed by what we saw. After a stop at Starbucks, we returned to eat dinner in the hostel. We finished with our evening meeting at about 9 PM then returned to our rooms and dropped exhausted into our beds.
Atrium of British Museum; Students riding in subway car.
