An Awe--Inspiring Experience
Posted 6:35 PM by Dezi Rollins, LSSP | 0 Thoughts
This morning, we did something absolutely amazing, I'm not quite sure how to describe it. We went to Westminster Abbey for church. After standing outside waiting for the doors to open, we walked to the front and went in. The church is shaped like a cross. The altar is at the top of the cross, we were seated in the arms of the cross. There were perhaps two hundred people in attendance. The service was a matins service, which means it was sung. A choir from Australia provided the singing. Just about the only parts that weren't sung were some of the prayers and the sermon. For several minutes, I couldn't concentrate on the service, I was gawking at the splendor and beauty of the cathedral! The choir and organ were simply breathtaking and the acoustics were fantastic! I can't really describe what I was feeling, but it has stayed with me.
After church (and a few purchases at the Abbey shop), we had lunch. We then decided to explore the British museum. We saw the Egyptian, Greek and Roman exhibits downstairs, then trekked upstairs for the Chinese, Japanese and Muslim exhibits. I saw all sorts of fascinating items, including the Rosetta stone and pieces from the Parthanon! Wow!
Since it was Sunday, I wanted to experience high tea. Barbara recalled a place where they had tea before, it was called Munchkins. I loved the name, of course, and the tea service was delightful! I got to experience scones, along with clotted cream and blackberry currant jam. Mmmmmm! We then went back to the hotel, after stopping to get some dinner for David.
Wonderful Windsor
Posted 10:16 PM by Dezi Rollins, LSSP | 0 Thoughts
Today, we went to Windsor Castle! We rode the tube to Paddington Station (where Paddington Bear was found), then boarded a train for Windsor! The first thing we saw there was a doll house for Queen Mary. It was magnificent! It had working electricity, real silver and china on the tables, as well as a caged room with tiny replicas of the crown jewels!Next we walked up the grand staircase into the castle. We got to see all sorts of different rooms, including some that are currently being used by the queen! It was awesome to think of all the people who walked up the same stairs and went into the same rooms that we did. We also went into St. George's Chapel, it was a beautiful church.
We ate lunch at a little Italian place in Windsor. I loved the city, it had a neat charm to it! After lunch, we went back to London to do some more sightseeing! It was really cool, you come out of the tube station at Westminster, and the first thing you see is Big Ben! It was a great feeling. We walked across bridge over the Thames, to get to the London Aquarium. It was so windy, I had trouble walking in a straight line! The London Eye was next to the aquarium, that was a wonderful thing! We didn't get to go on it, though. The aquarium was exciting, I really enjoyed it!
We concluded the day with a trip to St. Martin of the Fields church. The London Brass Rubbing Centre is located there, along with a delightful cafe! Our London pass gave us a discount off of a brass rubbing, and I really wanted to try it! The brass consisted of a brass picture mounted on a thick block of wood. They taped a sheet of black paper to it, handed me what amounted to a fancy crayon, along with an eraser. I got to rubbing and ended up with a neat picture! We then decided to eat dinner in the cafe, that was wonderful! What a great ending to a great day!
Sightseeing!
Posted 9:15 PM by Dezi Rollins, LSSP | 0 Thoughts
We got up bright and early for a great day of sightseeing! We certainly saw a lot of stuff! The first recognizable thing I saw was the Tower Bridge, pictured above. I was really excited to see it! After that was the Tower of London. We listened to Mark, our Yeoman guide, tell us all about the history of the tower. A lot of beheadings and imprisonings happened here. We also went into the Chapel Royal of St. Peter ad Vincula, it was gorgeous!Speaking of gorgeous, we also saw the crown jewels, along with the coronation video of Queen Elizabeth II. We went into the white tower to see all sorts of weapons and armor! What a neat place. I have more pictures on my photo page! After that, we ate lunch, then went on to Kensington Palace. Princess Diana lived here, also Princess Margaret, along with others. It was very interesting to see the rooms where so many others had been before. They also had some period clothing, along with some of Princess Diana's dresses.
The next stop was at the Handel House museum. I was very eager to see the house where Handel lived and composed some of his greatest works! I think I amused the gentleman in the gift shop. I was telling him that I had the score to the Messiah. They had quite a few products with the Messiah on them. I made Barbara laugh because I could read the music on the items, and tell her exactly where it was in the score!
We then journeyed on to Baker Street, to the Sherlock Holmes museum. That was lotsa fun! Next door to the museume was a Beatles store, of which I took pictures. Our final stop was to eat dinner. We had some really good Thai food! I was pooped by the time we got back to the hotel!
We're Here!
Posted 5:57 PM by Dezi Rollins, LSSP | 0 Thoughts
Here we are in merry old England! After a long flight, we arrived at Gatwick Airport. We went through the passport line, where I got my very first stamp in my passport! We then went through customs and figured out how to get to our hotel. Since the train from Gatwick was not in service, we took a charter bus into the city.
After a few stops on the tube (subway), we found our hotel! It is nice and has a great view! We took a nap this afternoon, then David and I decided to walk around a bit. We stumbled across this park, called Finsbury Circus, quite by accident. We had intended on going to a museum, however, we got turned around. Once we figured out where we were, we decided that it was further than we wanted to walk, so we chose to go back.
We found a Thai food place near our hotel, it turned out to be great! After dinner, we were pretty tired, so we decided to head back to call it a night.
Leaving on a Jet Plane
Posted 10:45 AM by Dezi Rollins, LSSP | 0 Thoughts
We're leaving today for London! In about an hour, Barbara will get here and we'll all drive to the airport. I'm very excited about it! I'll post more later!An Evening of Culture!
Posted 10:19 PM by Dezi Rollins, LSSP | 0 Thoughts
Tuesday night, I participated in a really neat event! It was the Dallas Bach Society's annual Messiah singalong concert. I went with the other percussionist in the Frisco band, as well as his wife. We had a good time visiting as we were driving to Dallas for the concert. We met up with some friends of theirs at a Panera close to the church, they were some really neat people.Once we arrived at the church, I bought a score and we found our seats. I have sung portions of the Messiah before, so I was somewhat familiar with it. They had four soloists to perform the solo parts, they were all very good. Interestingly enough, the alto soloist was male! He was great, although it was a little surprising hearing a man sing the alto part.
The conductor would discuss the movement that we were about to sing, and we were accompanied by the orchestra playing period instruments. I got to hear an actual pianoforte! That was a really neat sound! I really enjoyed how the sanctuary would resonate after we finished singing a chorus. It was truly a moving experience for me, and a lot of fun! I'm really looking forward to doing it again next year!
It's Christmastime, Ya'll!
Posted 10:32 PM by Dezi Rollins, LSSP | 0 Thoughts
This year, I chose to do something innovative, and start our Christmas shopping early. Early as in July. I decided that whenever I found something that I thought would be good as a gift, I would go ahead and buy it then, as opposed to doing all our shopping at the last minute.I am happy to say that as of last night, we are finished with our Christmas shopping! We bought our last three gifts last night, and now all we have to do is wrap them! I'm so glad to have that finished. Another thing that I'm in the process of doing is addressing our Christmas cards. I found a great deal on cards at Walgreens a month or so ago, so I decided to go for it! I plan to send cards out early next week!
Last weekend, we celebrated Christmas with the Breedlove side of David's family. It was good to see the family, as always. We participated in a Chinese gift exchange. The gift I brought was "stolen" a couple of times, that really made me feel good! David and I fared well with our results of the exchange! Something else that we did was to go through memory lane, looking at various items in the Breedlove history. I got to see lotsa items, from wedding gowns to hymnals, from dishes to furniture! It was neat to hear the stories that went along with the stuff!
Now it's time for all the Christmas parties, company shindigs, concerts, family time and all the other fun stuff that goes on this time of year. Quite frequently we're going from one event to another, but that's a part of life! Hooray for Christmas, especially the reason for the season!
Children's Christmas Musical!
Posted 9:10 PM by Dezi Rollins, LSSP | 0 Thoughts
Sunday night was the children's Christmas program at church. My little ones were the first to perform. They looked so cute in their Christmas finery! We sang four songs, and they did a wonderful job on all of them! It was touch and go whether or not a couple of them were going to get on that stage, but they did!The older children performed afterwards. They did a really cute musical called "Miracle on Main Street." It was especially fitting, because our church is on Main Street. I really enjoyed their performance as well. Some of the kindergarten and first graders in the group are former Merry Music Makers. It's so neat to see them growing up!
Now we have a break from children's choir until after the first of the year!
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