The highlight of today was the Tower of London! We started with a tour by one of the Yeoman Warders, or ‘Beefeaters’, who actually live at the Tower and know all about it. The tour was very entertaining and he pointed out the many uses this place has served–from the royal mint to a zoo to a palace for the royalty to its most infamous … Continue reading London: Tower of London
Today was another busy day in London! We set off a bit later than usual because of our late night at the performance of Wicked last night, and our first stop was the Hard Rock Cafe shop, because a few of the group wanted to purchase souvenirs there. We then headed past several war memorials and arrived at Wellington Arch. We went to the top, … Continue reading London: Buckingham Palace, St. Paul’s Cathedral & Camden Market
Today was a great day–we took a 1.5 hour train ride to Warwick Castle and got to see part of the English countryside, which was very pretty–lots of sheep, dairy cows, and a few horses, with pretty rolling hills and everything is very green! (Our guess was that it’s because it rains so much here). The castle was very big, and the most fun I … Continue reading London: Warwick Castle & Wicked in the West End
We started our second day in London with a hearty English breakfast of beans, bacon, and eggs over easy at our bed and breakfast. Beans for breakfast was better than it sounds, though the bacon was more like ham than what we think of as bacon. We also had some toast and fresh-squeezed orange juice, so it was a strong start to the day. Michaela … Continue reading London: Hampton Court Palace, Leicester Square & Chinatown
Well, after a very long layover at the Minneapolis airport and an uncomfortable flight almost as long, we made it to London! We got through customs, got our luggage, and got on the Underground towards our hotel. It didn’t really start to feel like we were in a different city until the subway started going above ground and we could see all the classic English … Continue reading London: Trafalgar Square, Big Ben & Kings Cross Station
Short bios of some of the wonderful people I’ve met in Mexico through Casas por Cristo home-building trips! Luis was a little boy I met on my first trip to Mexico. He lives in Acuña, and when we went back to visit him last time I was there he was staying with his aunt, but his mother said he still asks about me and about … Continue reading The People of Mexico: Travel Gets Personal
I went to Washington, D.C. in June 2009 with two of my best friends from high school. We were all about 16 at the time and very excited to be taking this trip across the country on our own! We managed to navigate the Chicago O’Hare airport by ourselves and arrive in D.C., where we were met by the Close Up Program Coordinators. The Close … Continue reading Washington, D.C.