Hi everyone,

We are now in London, enjoying their world famous 'summer'. Every day we have experienced every kind of season, from really hot to really cold, with a rainy patch thrown in for good measure. It has not deterred us from seeing any less of London's awesome city; we have just accepted it as part of the package.

We arrived last Sunday and were greeted by Sonia (a friend of Leanne's through her David Lawrence days) which was great. After we settled into Sonia's place in Greenwich, Sonia and her friend Sasha took us on a drive through the city of London, and although Leanne and I both had a bad case of jet-lag, we still were blown away with how amazing this city is. Within a 20 minute drive, we saw most of the tourist highlights, including Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square, London Eye, St Paul's Cathedral, Buckingham Palace etc. To be honest, my expectations of London were not high, so when we actually saw how much history this place has, and is all located right in the heart of this city, I was blown away.

After a very big sleep-in, we headed into the city and spent the afternoon in St Paul's Cathedral. This place was fantastic. You actually feel the history move you as you walk through the doors and gaze upon the architecture and the historical paintings, (both the paintings hung on the wall and the paintings that are actually on the wall and ceilings itself). After walking around both on the ground floor and in the Crypt (the underground section where a lot of London's most influential people have been buried), we then decided to take the plunge and walk the 480 stairs to see the top of the building and see the ceiling paintings much closer. Then we headed out onto the balcony to see London from a birds eye view. Definitely not as impressive as the view from the Empire State Building in New York, however it was still pretty awesome.

The next day, Sonia, Leanne and I jumped in the car and took a drive out to Bath (about a 3 hour drive from London). On the way we stopped in at Windsor Castle, wow, what a site. Then we arrived at Bath. This place was impressive. This part of town is famous for their Roman baths, which have been made from natural hot springs. Although you are not allowed to swim in them anymore, walking through this building that was built over 2000 years ago was awesome. On the way back we stopped into some quaint little English towns, and Leanne probably said '....oooohhhhh cute' so many times that I had lost count after 50. Just before it got dark (about 9.30pm here) we stopped in at Stonehenge. The place had a weird feeling about it. It is literally in the middle of nowhere, stuck between some paddocks. It was still good to see it.

The next couple of days were spent in the city of London, where we (and we all know that I mean Leanne) did plenty of shopping. Even though we were in the city, we still got a feeling of history as even the shops are within buildings that are older than anything we have seen before. Around maritime Greenwich there are many historical places on the waters edge, which were so amazing that words could not describe, so I will not even try.

London has been surprising for both of us, and although it is the most expensive place on earth to eat and live, the feeling that we get from this place more than makes up for the quickly shrinking bank account.

We have been truly blessed to have great friends to stay with, and we are thankful for Sonia and Sasha for letting us stay with them for the past week (and also for the use of their car and time) and now we are very thankful for Hannah and Brian for allowing us to stay in their home in West Hampstead. We arrived yesterday and will be here until next Sunday.

The next week for us will include seeing a Test Match at Lords tomorrow (England v India - day 4), visiting the Cotswold's, checking out some museums and even more historical sites around London.

We do hope you enjoy reading our holiday 'blogs' as much as we enjoy reliving them as we put them onto paper (at least onto soft copy initially).

We hope everyone is safe and well, and if you have any news that we would be interested in, please send us a quick email, or add it to our message board.

Until next time?? Leanne and Mal.

PS - We continue to pray for those that are having babies, those who are getting married, those that are starting new job's and new careers, those that are going through tough decisions, and those that are sick and unwell. We also continue to pray especially for Pa (my Grandfather) who is going through a very stressful time with a pending court decision, and also to my Dad, who is about to have an important operation. We pray that you will continue to be courageous through these difficult times, and although we can not be there in person, please be assured that we are with you in spirit. God Bless.