Around the world in 80+ days…

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas.  For me it was great to spend some quality time with my parents.  My mum was actually in hospital when I returned from my trip but came home the Saturday before Christmas.  She has had some problems with her eye over the last year or so and although she has seen a number of different Doctors they are unable to establish the cause.  She is going in to hospital again tomorrow for a further operation.  Her faith keeps her strong but I know she would value your prayers. Unfortunately Adam and Cid were not well over Christmas so they didn’t make it down to Somerset but it has been good to catch up with them since and the children are as lively as ever!

It’s been great to catch up with friends too since I’ve been back.  Chris and Kate’s wedding was a lovely occasion.  This is THE Kate who my goldfish is named after! I offered to buy another fish and name him Chris but Kate didn’t think this was a good idea knowing my reputation with goldfish!

New Years Day a group of us went to Kew Gardens – we have a Cuban couple on placement at the church and it was their first experience of ice-skating but they took to it very well and seemed to enjoy it.

Well I have survived my first week back at work and am looking forward to the year ahead.  I expect it to be another busy one especially with the eagerly anticipated completion of our redevelopment project at church.

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Well I am adjusting to life back in the UK and think my sleep patterns have now too! I can’t believe that Christmas is just a few days away.

Thank you all so much for following my journey around the world – 83 days in total. It has been great keeping in touch with ‘yous all’.

A few other thank yous:

• to the Church Council at Duke Street for giving me the opportunity to make the trip
• for many answered prayers about all aspects of it
• to Tom Nicholas without whom this blog would not have happened (a personal thank you from me but I know I can also say thank you on behalf of many who journeyed from the comfort of their PCs)
• to everyone who hosted me throughout my journey – John and Bianca in Hong Kong, Ben and Jen in New Zealand, John, Gill and family in Lexington and Brian, Peyton and ‘baby’ Caroline in Virginia
• and to my dad and mum who enabled me to remain ignorant about ‘youth’ hostels in the in-between times!

My first week has mainly been unpacking and Christmas shopping plus the Duke Street Staff Christmas Party – some entered in to the dressing up more than others!

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and look forward to catching up in the New Year – if we haven’t already.

“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because He has come and has redeemed His people”  Luke 1:68

Well I started the very first posting on my blog with ‘This time tomorrow evening …’ and it looks like one of my last will be ’This time yesterday evening …!’

In case you hadn’t realised – I left Washington last night and arrived back in the UK early this morning. I was greeted with a very energetic group of friends (+my brother quietly lurking in the background!) It was lovely to see them all and receive such a warm welcome.  Unfortunately I didn’t think to get my camera out at the airport but Josh, Beth and Ella (nephew and nieces to Bink!) helped to decorate the lovely banner.

If any of you are around the Kingston/Richmond Area this coming Sunday – 21st December and would like to come to my house for lunch you would be very welcome.  Please just drop me a quick reply/comment or text so that I know who to expect and if you could bring a drink that would be great. And don’t forget – Carols by Candlelight, 6.30pm this Sunday evening at Duke Street Church.

Look forward to catching up with you soon.

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Throughout my time in the Washington area I have met up with staff from Capitol Hill Baptist Church, 4th Presbyterian Church and 9 Marks.

In between the meetings (and the rain!) I also managed to fit in some sightseeing and walked from the Capitol Building along the National Mall to the Washington Monument, National World War II Memorial, Reflecting Pool and Lincoln Memorial. Preparations are well under way at the Captiol Building for the Presidents Inauguration in January and they are expecting millions to attend. I also went to the Botanic Gardens and saw their ‘Winter Wonderland’ display – the berries are called “Sparkleberry”.

As you can probably imagine – not all my sightseeing was on foot – the hop-on, hop-off buses exist here too!  And so I ‘hopped-off’ to have a look at the White House! George Bush was too busy packing to invite me in for afternoon tea! The weather also brightended up.

My real, real last stop was a few days staying with my colleague Caroline’s sister and brother-in-law and little niece – Peyton, Brian and “baby” Caroline at their home in Oakland, Virginia. Not forgetting their very soppy Great Dane – Molly!

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Well Philadelphia seems quite ‘dinky’ after New York but has lots of lovely buildings with interesting architecture. There are numerous Halls, Museums, Statues and Squares and away from the main streets there are some lovely narrow ones with beautiful brick terraced houses.

I’ve been staying very close to the Benjamin Franklin Bridge (not sleeping under it!) at Penn’s Landing but have taken my usual ‘bus ride’ around the city to see some of the other sites and learn some of the history. The upper deck with its open top seemed a guide idea from a viewpoint but it was sooo cold it took a while before I could feel my toes again!

It was the Army v Navy football game whilst I was in town so there were lots of ‘men in uniform’ and rowdy supporters.

I’m still very intrigued with the way Americans care for their dogs and have had a browse in various pet shops looking at all the accessories and fashion items – even thought I don’t own a dog!. This cake display is full of ‘goodies’ for dogs!

 Whilst in Philadelphia I attended Tenth Presbyterian Church and had the opportunity to meet up with their Administrator. I also met up with some of the staff from the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals.

It really has been cold and a bitter wind whilst I have been here – apparently it has been 20 degrees below the average temperature for this time of year and doesn’t usually get this cold until February – part of the river has also frozen. We even had a little flurry of snow but not enough to make a snowman!.  Next update Washington … my final stop before home!

Ps – I have now been able to add photos to the New York post.

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Well – what a city – constantly on the go! You can do most things 24 hours a day so if you have an urge to visit the Apple Store (not the greengrocers!) in the small hours then you can go and buy a new computer!

 The night I arrived, I was looking for somewhere to eat and saw a man walking along the street with a cat sitting on his head? I must admit I wandered / wondered what kind of place I had come to but it wasn’t all this crazy and I managed to see lots and walk miles … and miles! The buildings around the city are fascinating and the lights and advertising signs in Times Square unlike anything else I’ve seen. The shop windows looked really spectacular with all their Christmas displays and Central Station had a lovely Light Show. 

The Tree lights were due to be lit at Rockefeller Centre whilst I was in town but it was so crowded I decided to avoid the area!

If you want to ‘escape’ the hubbub there is also the great Central Park with its various lakes and reservoirs.

In between all the walking, my hop-on hop-off bus experiences are also proving a good way to get an overview of cities with informative commentaries too. I did a Downtown tour; Uptown tour around the outskirts of Central Park; Brooklyn tour and Night tour as well as a boat trip down the Hudson River, passed the Statue of Liberty, under the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges and around into the East River.  There was a really beautiful sunset at the time I took the boat trip.

The first day I was in New York it poured with rain all day so I took the opportunity to see a show on Broadway and managed to get tickets to Mary Poppins.  It really was excellent.

 On the Sunday that I was in New York I attended  Redeemer Presbyterian Church.  They have 5 services each Sunday at various locations throughout the city and I attended 2 different ones on the West Side.  The church only started in 1989 but has grown considerably in the last 20 years with between 800-1,000 at each service. I had the opportunity to meet up with their Senior Director of Finance and Operations.

With regards to the Starbucks update – there are 272 in Manhattan – I didn’t get to taste them all but managed quite a few! Just another little fact – but there are over 160 Dunkin Donuts in Boston and Ice- Cream is a really big thing there regardless of the time of year! Next update Philadelphia!

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For the last 10 days I have been staying with John and Gill Ross and their ‘children’ Bec (now away at college), David and Abi in Lexington. They moved here just over 3 years ago with John’s work and were previously very involved at Duke Street Church.  It has been great to spend time catching up with them.

Lexington is a small town north-west of Boston (famous for the ‘Tea Party and ‘Red Sox’) and the birthplace of the American Revolutionary war.

John and Gill live a stones throw from Starbucks where the menu is similiar to San Francisco but Peets coffee shop – which is even closer – has eggnog latte and Pumpkin Spice lattes!  They attend Grace Chapel and Gill helps in the office each week so I had an informative tour of the church premises and met some of the staff. They have 4 services each Sunday with over 2,800 attendees, 600 children and 150 youth – hence the hi-tec ’signing-in’ proceedures! (And a ’stroller’ park too!) I also attended a service at Park Street, Boston.

I got to explore Boston with its lovely common and great shops on a ‘Duck Tour’ and by walking part of the ‘Freedom Trail’. Some of the lakes/ponds and river have started to freeze over.

I have also had a wander around Harvard.  It has a great assortment of brick buildings and of course, lots of students!

For most of the time I have been here the weather has been cold but bright and crisp with sunny blue skies.  There was just one exception when it poured with rain – all day.  This was the day we took a drive around the ‘north coast’ area known as Cape Ann and visited Singing Beach and Gloucester.  The sea was amazingly rough but fun to watch … from the comfort of John’s new car!

And finally, for this posting – Thanksgiving dinner at the Ross’ with friends from Australia too.  Gill arranged a lovely spread of food and in true American tradition we watched the Macy Thanksgiving Day Parade on TV.  I even set my alarm clock so I didn’t miss it!  Next stop New York.

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1 Chronicles 16:34 Oh give thanks to the LORD for He is good; for His steadfast love endures for every.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING to you all!

I guess for most of you Thursday 27th November will be a fairly ‘normal’ day but it will mean more to those with American ‘connections’.

We attended a Thanksgiving Eve Service at Grace Chapel, Lexington this evening and were encouraged to look back at God’s faithfulness and provision over the past year and to give Him the thanks.

Focussing on some verses from the Psalms we were reminded:

    Psalm 120 v 1 – God answers us

    Psalm 121 v 3 – God watches over us

    Psalm 125 v 2 – God protects us

    Psalm 129 v 4 – God frees us

    Psalm 130 v 3-4 – God forgives us

Certainly in this trip alone I can testify to God’s goodness, faithfulness, protection and provision.

Great is Thy faithfulness, Great is Thy faithfulness, Morning by morning new mercies I see, All I have needed Thy hand hath provided, Great is Thy faithfulness Lord unto me!

A big THANK YOU to all of you for your lovely birthday wishes – cards, texts, emails, comments, photos and drawings – they were all much appreciated and I had a lovely birthday.

Sorry if I’ve caused you lots of sleepless nights Caroline on my New Zealand blog re the ‘wh’ being pronounced ‘f’.  I should have clarified it is in place names and not every word!  eg Whanganui, Whakapapa, Whangamomona, Whakahoro

Penguins can cope with the cold but not sure that they are used to leaves! I expect Mary will want to add a ‘Duck’ to the animal collection when she sees the next posting!

Kate – as in the human – and not your namesake, my goldfish – your dogs will be wanting to emigrate when they read my blog and see that dogs have boutiques in San Francisco and Cable Cars in New Zealand!

Ali Mc – hope you have a lovely birthday too.

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I really enjoyed the few days I spent in San Francisco last week (more than I ever imagined if I am honest!) and it was all aided by beautiful weather too. I think I managed to visit the various places that were recommended and was not disappointed by any of them.

I was staying in Fisherman’s Wharf near to Pier 39 – known for its noisy, basking sea lions. Here you could also buy every fridge magnet you’ve ever wanted and every flavour of Taffy imaginable!

I found San Francisco a really fascinating city with its wide range of architecture and steep streets. The ‘hop-on hop-off’ open top bus was an excellent way to get around with an interesting commentary on the various buildings, galleries, museums etc and the cable cars made light work of the many hills - as long as you held on tight!

There was no lack of transportation methods for getting around:

The Golden Gate Bridge opened to traffic in 1937 and connects San Francisco to Marin Country.  It is one of the world’s longest bridges and over 100,000 cars cross it every day along with numerous cyclists and pedestrians.

I stumbled across a lovely English Tea Shop in Ghiradelli Square (known for its chocolate) called the ‘Crown and Crumpet’. The waitress or ‘Trolley Dolly’ as they were referred to, suggested that as a Brit I should try an ‘Afternoon Tea’ which consisted of two warm homemade scones with clotted cream, jam and lemon curd; selection of tea sandwiches; six homemade sweets and treats; toasted crumpet and butter and a large pot of tea! It was all very tasty and although it may sound a lot everything was literally bite-size – the brownie was about the size of my thumb nail! I was also kept entertained as ladies arrived for a Baby Shower party that was taking place at the tea-shop.  I’ll let you imagine the volume and pitch of the noise as the ladies greeted the ‘mom’-to-be! I also came across this dog shop – the perfect place to buy your furry friend a new outfit!

Lombard Street – the ‘world’s crookedest street’ was another ‘must see’ on my list and had excellent views across the city.

San Francisco by night:

On Sunday I visited City Church San Francisco, went to Chinatown and then had lunch at The Cheesecake Factory at Macey’s in Union Square. It seemed strange to see people ice skating in the square in shorts and t-shirts with the Christmas Tree (or ‘Holiday’ Trees as they are referred to) being erected next to them.

On my final morning I visited Alcatraz – the prison on “The Rock”.  It has not been used since 1963 but its history is interesting and housed inmates such as Al Capone and Machine Gun Kelly.

Finally – Starbucks update from San Francisco – on the ‘Red Cups’ menu was a ‘Thanksgiving’ Blend, Espresso Truffle and Peppermint Mocha.

Next update will be from the east coast – Boston/Lexington.

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I have now arrived in sunny San Francisco and think it is a very fascinating city but before I update you on it here are my final observations of New Zealand:-

• you can use mobile phones whilst driving and you can learn to drive at age 15 – scarey eh?
• you can have a green traffic light and a green man for pedestrians on the same road at the same time.  In theory the pedestrians have the right of way…
• if Cappucinos, Lattes, Mocachinnos and Americanos etc weren’t a wide enough assortment on the coffee front you can also have ‘Tall Black’ or ‘Flat White’ and if you want it with skimmed milk or ’skinny’ it would actually be ‘trim’
• when you see ‘wh’ in a word it is pronunced ‘f’
• most houses are made of wood, aren’t double glazed and don’t have central heating -
• “Awesome, eh”
• Another expression they use is “Sweet As”
• It seems strange seeing Christmas decorations going up as people talk about the summer arriving
• but a sure sign that Christmas is on the way – the ‘red cups’ arrived in Starbucks, New Zealand even before they reached the UK and they have a new flavour – Dark Cherry Mocha!  Starbucks also have a ‘loyalty’ scheme at Christmas – what an excellent idea – I know some folk who would be owed several freebies!

PS – Apologies if you checked my blog the other day and only got ’sheep’ they seemed to get out of control for a while and ate all the text and photos!

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