An Eye On London

Still writing like crazy, so I'm going to share some pics of London in today's post. The goofy pic and the panorama of London were taken while he was aboard the London Eye, an enormous ferris wheel type ride which takes thirty minutes to complete one revolution. Enjoy!

Current Europe Rundown

As many of you are already aware, we drove up Thursday night last week to spend the evening in Kansas City before my son's morning scheduled flight out of KCI. After a fitful night of sleep, we were awakened by the hotel fire alarms just before four am. What a way to start the trip! My son hoped it wouldn't be indicative of how the rest of the trip would go, but I told him that trips always had hiccups and that he was lucky to get this one out of the way before the trip actually began. :-)

Day one in London started at Heathrow before spending time in the village of Windsor where they had lunch and tours while waiting for the other arrivals. After a few hours they transferred on their coaches (what we call buses) to their hotel, picked up their luggage, and had a lovely sit-down dinner and their orientation (if they could stay awake).

Day two in London they had their first performances. The day started early for the choir members who had to be up and to Wesley's Chapel for rehearsal and then their performance for services at 11:00. My son was very much looking forward to this performance. After services, everyone packed up on their coaches to Victoria Embankment Gardens for a special boxed lunch and free time before set-up for their second performance, a 90-minute Concert-in-the-Park, encompassing the choir, orchestra, and band Ambassador members. After the concert, they had the evening free to themselves to either attend Sunday evening local performances at the South Bank complex, visit Trafalgar Square, Whitehall, and Covent Gardens or a tour of the Globe Theatre.

Day three, which was today's schedule, began at the Tower of London for a special Ambassadors tour which included the Crown Jewels. Then they were off to tours including Buckingham Palace, St. Paul's Cathedral, Westminster Chapel, Parliament, and Big Ben with lunch in St. James Park sandwiched somewhere in between. This evening they will return for dinner in their hotel before attending their chosen theatrical entertainment, of which my son chose to see (duh!) Phantom of the Opera.

Tomorrow they will be up very early to try and beat the London traffic to arrive at Dover for the channel crossing (which takes approximately three hours) on the ferry to arrive in Calais, France to begin their continent part of the journey.

So hard to believe he's almost wiped out three whole days in England so far. How I'd have loved to be there when they performed in Wesley's Chapel. I can hardly wait to see the pictures!

Gone

In just a few hours, my son will be landing in London, England. How I wish I could miraculously see his face on this trip and hear his voice singing.

This morning was a little emotional once again for me. Everything seemed fine until he got in the line to pass through the security checkpoint and onto the gate. He seemed a little nervous and out of sorts, so I tried to stay close by as long as I could. Just before he passed through, I gave him one more hug and reminded him to take full advantage of the gift he's been given.

Then he was gone.

I got one more glance at him as he passed on the other side of the pexi-glass. We smiled at each other and then did the double thumbs up. Tears sprang again into my eyes and I waved wildly.

It was time for me to leave.

The drive home was long. Last night was fitful for both of us - therefore, I felt completely drained and exhausted.

The phone has barely stopped ringing since I arrived home. His dad called again, thinking he was leaving tomorrow. I told him our son had thought of him and that he'd be gone for Father's Day and felt a little bad at the realization. The thoughts seemed to please his dad.

Thank you everyone for the prayers for his safety. It gives this old mom much needed comfort.

One Step Closer

Wow! My son received his passport in the mail already. We just ordered it about two weeks ago (right when I was coming down with the junk).

The site said it could take up to twelve weeks. I was sweating it because he has to have a copy of his passport into the organization by February 1st when the last payment is due.

Nothing like cutting it close and living on the edge.

Guess I shouldn't have worried. Maybe this time of the year is a bit slow and they don't have a backlog. Maybe they just liked his picture and some young lady got his application and decided to rush it through in hopes she might get to meet him some day.

Okay, okay - you never know what a girl will do for a cute guy.

So much for the weird thoughts. Anyway I almost fell out of the car when I realized what it was. Figured it might be the copy of his birth certificate. Nope - out fell his passport booklet.

My son was ecstatic!

I think for the first time since all this started the trip became very real, and the passport meant he was one step closer to getting there. It's hard to believe we'll be celebrating Thanksgiving in two weeks. Christmas will be here and then the New Year. My annual writer's retreat in February, spring break and the Memphis choir trip in March, Easter in April, end of school in May and then he's off to London and beyond come June.

My gosh - I better get busy saving some more. He's going to need some spending money too.