Cambridge, England

Sunday, July 26, 2009


We had a great day with Tommy and Christina. We attended a Sunday morning service at a church in the middle of town then grabbed an ostrich burger for lunch in the market place. After lunch Tommy and Christina took us punting then we went on a tour of the town and colleges. It was amazing to hear the stories of the people who have attended or taught at the college (Isaac Newton, Francis Bacon, Lord Byron, Prince Charles and William, Charles Darwin, C.S. Lewis for a time.)

Affiliates of Cambridge have won of 83 Nobel Prizes.
Many of the most important scientific discoveries and revolutions were made by Cambridge alumni. These include:
• Understanding the scientific method, by Francis Bacon
• The laws of motion, by Sir Isaac Newton
• The discovery of the electron, by J. J. Thomson
• The splitting of the atom by Sir John Cockcroft and Ernest Walton
• The unification of electromagnetism, by James Clerk Maxwell
• The discovery of hydrogen, by Henry Cavendish
• Evolution by natural selection, by Charles Darwin
• The Turing machine, a basic model for computation, by Alan Turing
• The structure of DNA, by Francis Crick and James D. Watson
• Pioneering quantum mechanics, by Paul Dirac

We are off to London at 5:30 am. The plan is to check out Big Ben, visit Saint James Park, view the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, visit the British museum for a few hours, participate in a church service/observe choir at Westminister Abbey, view London from the top of the London eye and catch the bus to Cambridge by 8pm.

Cambridge, England

Saturday, July 25, 2009

From England, Cambridge

Thursday we left Pam and Roy and drove south to Walsall to visit with our Irish friends Anthony and Laura. Anthony and Laura just returned from a trip to Swaziland to share the good news, serve and encourage the children, churches and prisoners of the country. They were wonderfully loving people who are passionate about wanting to know Jesus and show his love, joy, power, grace and mercy to those around them. Thank you for hosting us.
Our time was short with Anthony and Laura, but we hope to see them in the States one day. We left them and drove south to Cambridge to stay with our friends Tommy and Christina. Christina is part of a team at Cambridge working on a large cancer study in relation to D.N.A. Although I do not quite understand the technical details of their study I do know that the team is doing valuable research that will surely benefit mankind.
Tommy showed us around town today. We visited the various colleges of Cambridge (Kings, Trinity, Trinity College and Clare). The campuses are stunning. It reminds me of the footage from the Harry Potter movies. The students actually dine with their robes in a manner similar to that in the Harry Potter films. The dinners are quite fancy. We hung out at the open-air market and walked along the Cams River. We plan on going to church then go “punting” tomorrow. Punting is essentially us renting a gondola like boat with a bamboo push stick to float down the Cams River. We will float past the backs of the stunning grounds and architecture of the schools. Although the setting is beautiful, much more beautiful is the time in community with Tommy and Christina. They are great people.

Day trip to Chester, England

Once again we find ourselves in the company of wonderful people who are filled with the joy of the Lord. Roy and Pam are hosting us for a couple days in Northwich, just south of Liverpool. They are friends of Gary and Roberta’s whom we stayed with in Belfast. We are headed to the town of Chester for the day to visit the Roman ruins. Maybe Mariella will do some driving on the other side of the road. We’ll keep you updated on the outcome. Yes, we do have full insurance coverage on the car.

Liverpool & Lakes District, England

Monday July 20th, 2009
Mariella and I have been offline for a few days. Unfortunately we had to say goodbye to our new friends whom we wished lived closer to California. To the Armstrong and Cotter Clan, thank you for loving us and letting us spend time with you. You are wonderful people. We left Belfast on Saturday the 18th and arrived in Liverpool. We spent half a day exploring Albert Dock and the city center. We visited the “Cavern Club” where the Beatles played many gigs.



From Liverpool we drove a couple hours north to the Lakes District (a National Park). A few years ago I heard of this place when I asked our friend Brandon where he would live if he could live anywhere in the world. He said, Ambleside and explained its beauty. The hope of visiting this place was stored in my mind from that
The Lakes District is stunningly beautiful. The villages (towns) are the most beautiful and idyllic I have ever seen. These villages have to be among the top 5 beautiful places on earth. The place reminds me of storybook or movie. This is a real life “Shire” as seen in the movie “Lord of the Rings.”



We have explored the villages of Windermere, Ambleside, Troutbeck, Grasmere, Coniston (for a county fair) and Keswick. We spent the night in the car the first night, which did not go well. Mariella froze with our little sleep sheets. As a result, night two and three were spent in a hostel in the hills above Ambelside.
Mariella and I have done a lot of hiking. There are hundreds of hikes. If we ever found ourselves living in England, this would be the place to go for good hikes not too technical, but enough to get the heart pumping. The Lakes would also be fabulous for spiritual/emotional/physical retreats from the noise and busyness of everyday life.