Jonathon, Josh Christian, Mark and I hopped a train and in a short hour and a half trip we were far away from the hustle and bustle of London town.
The city itself was small and quaint, cobblestone streets and dozens of local shops lined the way. It was a tempting place, but with our paychecks dwindling, no one bothered to stop off anywhere.
We spent two hours exploring the cathedral, which was by far, the biggest Gothic Cathedral I've ever been to (larger than Westminster and Notre Dame) it spanned an impressive area and came complete with a crypt and extensive garden areas. I found a spot outside, made a new friend (the Cathedral's cat) and spent a good half hour just enjoying the day, the cool breeze on my face, and the sweet cat that crawled up into my lap.
At some point, I made my way down into the crypt, found a quiet place and offered up prayers for everyone back home. I hope you felt God's presence in some small way, yesterday around 3pm (9 am central).
The city is also home to St. Augustine's Abbey, or rather what remains of the Abbey. We spent a good time exploring the ruins and taking silly pictures.
After, we made our way back to London and went our separate ways. While spending the day with four boys was exactly what I needed, spending a night out with the girls was also a much needed diversion. We ended up in South Kensington at a decent techno-ish bar with a live bongo player. We made it an early night and all in all it was a long, tiring, but all around great day in the UK.
