“The settled happiness and security which we all desire, God withholds from us by the very nature of the world: but joy, pleasure, and merriment, He has scattered broadcast. We are never safe, but we have plenty of fun, and some ecstasy. It is not hard to see why. The security we crave would teach us to rest our hearts in this world and oppose an obstacle to our return to God: a few moments of happy love, a landscape, a symphony, a merry meeting with our friends, a bath or a football match, have no such tendency. Our Father refreshes us on the journey with some pleasant inns, but will not encourage us to mistake them for home.” – C.S. Lewis

I mentioned recently that I’ve struggled with writing this year. It’s one of the many symptoms of a season of internal struggles. I think this Lewis quote eloquently expresses tensions I’ve been learning to live with. There is much that has been good, but God has reminded me again and again that I’m not home yet. I don’t know if “chronic loneliness” is an official condition, but if it is, I think I had it this year. For weeks at a time at different points, I felt completely oppressed by loneliness. My community is wonderful and loving, and I do not take that support lightly. I imagine I’d be in a much worse place now without it. Yet, on some days, my sadness seemed to physically weigh me down.

I think that unmet desires for marriage and many partings from dear friends have been two obvious triggers for this lingering loneliness. “Hope deferred makes the heart sick” (Prov. 13:12) has described the state of my heart well at various times this year. I have hoped for marriage for as long as I can remember, and feeling unseen when you hope to be seen as someone worth pursuing unto marriage is heart-sickening indeed. Similarly, repeated goodbyes to people I love are painful. I’ve said goodbye often since moving to a fairly transient city, but it has been more constant this year, and it doesn’t get easier.

These things feel wrong. An unmet longing and a painful parting are unnatural at their core. God made us for eternity and perfection. Consequently, we are wired for pure, lasting communion with him and our fellow man. But that was all broken back at Eden, so we feel the unnaturalness of separation and of living with a deep desire that isn’t met.

In the wrestling, the Lord has been gracious to keep me and drive me to his Word. I think I have some sense of what David meant when he wrote, “Lord, all my desire is before you; and my sighing is not hidden from you,” and of what Asaph meant when he prayed, “I am so troubled that I cannot speak.” It’s passages like these that have helped me remember that it’s acceptable and even right to grieve and cry out to the Lord with honesty about loneliness and pain. Pastor Mark Vroegop acknowledges the very tensions I’ve wrestled with when he says, “Lament is how you live between the poles of a hard life and trusting in God’s sovereignty.” Those poles seem like opposites at first blush, but I’ve been learning to live with apparently conflicting emotions. They are one reminder of the tension all Christians live in of present pain while also hoping in a joy to come. Yes, cry out to God about how crushing the loneliness feels. But also recognize the gifts that he has put in front of you and rejoice in them as foretastes of your true home. Yes, grieve that difficult parting. But also let the pain of it remind you that one day, friends will all be together again.

There were many contrasting feelings of that sort when I boarded a plane bound for England back in October. I deeply love that country, so had no real worry about whether I would enjoy it at a basic level, but I was apprehensive of the solitude the trip would entail. Would I become too caught up in my own head? Would I face oppressively lonely nights that would detract from enjoyment? And, overall, going alone just didn’t feel ideal during the planning process. But my friend Rebekah advised me to see even that as a gift of sorts. She told me to be aware of the moments that would stir up the painfully familiar feelings of loneliness. “There probably will be times there where you’ll wish you weren’t alone,” she had told me. “And it’s okay to acknowledge that, but do also acknowledge the gift of just being there. Whatever beauty in front of you that you wish you could share with someone has also been prepared for you right then, and it’s a gift from the Lord to enjoy it for what it is.”

I was very aware of this when I strolled down Addison’s Walk, a little trail on the grounds of Magdalen College at Oxford University. It was a favorite walk of C.S. Lewis’s, and it was also where he and two friends, J.R.R. Tolkien and Hugo Dyson, had a conversation that was instrumental in Lewis’s journey to knowing Christ. As the three walked there late one night, Tolkien told Lewis that maybe the myths and fairytales he loved were trying to point him to something deeper, that maybe Christianity was “the true myth” Lewis had been looking for all his life.

I understood why Addison’s Walk was a favorite of Lewis’s. It’s rather nondescript, but it’s suited to quiet ramblings, with woods on one side and a wide, green meadow on the other. It offers some retreat from the towering architecture and buzzing academia of Oxford’s city center. As I looked out on the pretty meadow and wondered what exactly was said in that fateful conversation between Lewis and his comrades all those years ago, the familiar heartsickness reared its head a bit. I wanted to share this moment. I wanted to revel in the beauty of the scenery and wonder about that historical moment with someone. 

And yet, I also felt glad and overwhelmingly thankful as I stood there on Addison’s Walk. I was reminded of how God had been refining me and making me more like himself, even through pain, and of how that work was no less significant than the work done in C.S. Lewis’s life on that same little pathway so many years ago. And when I remember that afternoon, I’m struck deeply by the reality that I’m not home yet. I see it now as a sort of microcosm of one of those “pleasant inns” Lewis wrote about. It was a glorious afternoon in a beautiful place with meaningful history, and I was reveling in it. But I was also aware of lack and of what felt incomplete. 

I’m learning to live in that tension of the now and not yet. I’m learning to appreciate it because of how it directs my gaze onward and reminds me that it’s good to feel homesick here. Loneliness, partings, unmet desires, and pain are supposed to help us remember that this life is only a “pleasant inn,” not home. This life is but a temporary resting place on the way to our permanent home, and despite the sadness I’ve wrestled with this year, I can say with certainty that I long for and anticipate that permanent home much more now than I did at the start of this year. With each tearful farewell to friends, I have thought more readily of a day when we won’t have to do this anymore (oh, Lord, haste the day!). When loneliness rears its head, I’m now more quickly reminded that there will come a day that I won’t ever be lonely again. I’m more ready now than I was. Goodbyes and loneliness are hard. But this year, they have whetted my appetite for the place where every longing will be met, where goodbyes will be no more, and where all that is wrong will be made right. I anticipate the day when I’ll be able to say with joy, as Lewis imagined the remade Narnia in the last Narnia Chronicle, “I have come home at last! This is my real country! This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now.” May it be soon, Lord.

If you’ve followed me on Instagram over the last month, you know I recently went to England for the second time in my life. If you know me personally, you also probably know that I was terribly torn about returning. True life: I cried on and off during the trek back. It started as I was saying goodbyes and continued throughout the long flight over the Atlantic (Official apologies to the girl who was my seat partner. You’re a trooper). I was a mess, but it was because this trip was one of the sweetest and most refreshing weeks I’ve experienced in recent memory. I shared on Facebook about how I wished that I could freeze time on a particular day of the trip, and that got me thinking about the whole week. I had many moments like that – just wanting to stop, take everything in, fix it in my memory, and stay there for a while. More than once, I felt close in mind to one of my favorite fictional heroes, Ross Poldark, when he reflected thusly: 

“And Ross again knew himself to be happy – in a new and less ephemeral way than before. He was filled with a queer sense of enlightenment. It seemed to him that all his life had moved to this pinpoint of time down the scattered threads of twenty years…… Someone – a Latin poet – had defined eternity as no more than this: to hold and possess the whole fullness of life in one moment, here and now, past and present and to come. He thought: if we could only stop here.” (Winston Graham; Ross Poldark: A Novel of Cornwall, 1783-1787) 

Me too, Ross. I feel you (And yeah, sorry not sorry for bringing up Poldark like I often do here). So, on that note, I thought I’d share my very top “if only we could stop here” moments from this recent jaunt through England. Pardon me if I get slightly emotional and mushy. 

On a rooftop in Cambridge 
Cambridge was my first stop this time, and after two plane rides, a long ride on the London tube, and a train ride, I was exhausted and relieved to arrive there. Kind friends met me at the station and then guided me through a weekend of sightseeing. After an initial walking tour, my friend Simeon took me to a nice overlook on top of a restaurant where we could sit and wait for our next activity. It was only a few minutes, but the view of the city was stunning. This was definitely the first moment of the whole week when I started thinking: How did I get here? This is unreal! This is what I was seeing, so hopefully you can imagine why.

Formal dinner in Cambridge 
Talk about a full experience. This dinner was a unique glimpse into Cambridge and British education in general like few other things could be. I felt like I’d stepped into the Great Hall at Hogwarts in Harry Potter – long tables, candlelight, formal black robes, a high table for the teachers, a multi-course meal…it had everything. And the student next to me soon began talking about how he was studying behavioral science in cows within the veterinary medicine program. That’s a thing? I thought. And the next day, my lovely host told me she had written her grad school thesis on hymnody, specifically examining the hymns of John Newton and Keith and Kristyn Getty. By then, I felt very surrounded by geniuses and waaaay out of my league, but so pleased that these unique interests could be studied. You go, Cambridge.

First sighting of the colorful Notting Hill houses 
Does it get much more delightful than a day in London with two of your favorite friends who you grew up with, but had to go all the way to England to see again? This day was full of activity and walking, but my heart was even fuller by the end of it. I now strongly recommend high tea at the famous Fortnum & Mason (we spent 3 hours there to fill our stomachs with tea and to empty our wallets for more tea to go), as well as an autumnal stroll through Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens. I happily pictured how Queen Victoria and Prince Albert would ride their horses every day through Hyde Park before all the pavement was added. But I definitely grinned a bit silly to myself when I first caught sight of the famous colorful rows of houses in the Notting Hill and Portobello Road Market areas. It was just so British. Does it get any more so than those bright houses and a Union Jack umbrella sticking out of one of the shops? Not much.

Outing to Box Hill 
I think back on this day with such affection. I was well and truly in awe from the moment we came around the bend and saw the view from our chosen vantage point on Box Hill. If you’re a Jane Austen fanatic like me, you might recall that Box Hill provides the setting for an important scene in her novel Emma, and the view definitely lived up to Austen’s description: 

“It was a sweet view — sweet to the eye and to the mind. English verdure, English culture, English comfort, seen under a sun bright, without being oppressive.” (Jane Austen, Emma) 

Sweet indeed. My dear friend Gracie and her four children and I took a picnic there and just sat, admired the view, basked in the sunshine, took pictures, rolled down the slope (well, the kids did), laughed, spotted various birds, enjoyed the gentle breeze, and admired the view some more. I couldn’t stop staring. It was the most quintessentially English scene imaginable – rolling green countryside, an occasional train winding through the hills, little towns spread out below us, wood smoke rising from between the trees here and there, and such a glorious expanse of blue sky and huge clouds. I felt like I could have stayed there in that afternoon forever. And I was keenly reminded of the love of my heavenly Father, who, amazingly, is also the Master and Creator behind all of that day’s beauty. He formed those hills, painted that sky, laid out every tree, and gave flight to every bird I saw that day, and it all made me very aware of His grandeur. Yet, I was also awed by the reminder that He calls me His own. He designs and orchestrates the beauty of this earth, but He also has set His affection on me and made me His child. Thanks be to God. Psalm 8 and Psalm 23 definitely came to life in new ways on that slope at Box Hill.

Tea and cake at Wisley 
Another outing with Gracie and the kids took us to the exquisite Wisley Gardens, a widespread ground of flora and fauna belonging to the Royal Horticultural Society. My camera was going crazy with so many flowers and landscapes at every turn, but perhaps my favorite part of this day was the “Taste of Autumn” event that we discovered was already underway when we arrived. The kids got to help squeeze fresh apple juice, tea and coffee were everywhere, and vendors lined their designated sidewalks to sell everything from homemade fudge, to specialty jams, to cakes, to cider. Gracie and I bought cake to go with our tea, and I’ve rarely felt so content as I did that afternoon as I sipped my Earl Grey and ate a very British bit of cake in the beautiful autumn weather. Can I go back already?

Breakfast on my final morning 
Sometimes it’s the little things that get you, right? This was definitely one of those. I don’t have pictures to prove it because it actually felt a little too sacred for that. First, let me give context by saying that I truly believe the British obsession with tea has made them a more patient culture than America. Tea breaks are a real thing all over the country, and making tea involves a decent amount of waiting – waiting for the kettle to boil, waiting for the tea to brew properly, and waiting for it to be cool enough to drink. Overall, I think this is a very good thing. And the precious family I was staying with exemplified this general patience well on my last morning with them. 

It was a Sunday morning, and they knew they had to get ready for church and leave the house soon. Yet, they still took time to sit down together at the breakfast table, eat without too much hurry, and just enjoy being together. They also used this time to make cards and small gifts to send back with me for their American friends. I sat at the table with them and wanted to memorize everything about the scene – the warm cup of tea in my hands, the sunlight streaming through their bright kitchen windows, the children’s heads bent in concentration as they worked over their cards, the sounds of the kettle and the stove, the taste of their very English jam, and the sweet sense of togetherness and peace around the table. Then, Jamie, faithful husband and dad that he is, read a short devotional aloud and prayed. In his prayer, he included requests for me and my travels, and that was my predictable cue to start crying. I should have known that I would, but I was still taken by surprise for some reason. You’d think I would learn. Thanks for the hugs afterwards, Gracie!

I'm so grateful for this trip. Grateful for the friends and opportunities and resources that made it possible, for how the Lord has grown my affection for this part of the world so greatly over the years, and for how He has allowed me to explore that love with travels there. Here's to planning the next.

In the past three years or so, I’ve revitalized and reorganized my reading life. I like to make reading goals and keep track of what I’m reading, and I’ve become pretty good at finding the hidden pockets of time in the day that allow me to get more reading done. All of this has made me realize how book nerdy I am, and because I’m realizing how REALLY book nerdy I am, I thought I’d share an update on where I am with my 2018 reading! This update will include really nerdy details like how many books I’ve read so far, what formats I’ve used to read, favorites so far, and a few other tidbits. Hopefully this will inspire you in some way with a new book recommendation, a new idea for keeping track of your reading, or a nudge to try a new reading format you haven’t before. 

2018 reading goal: Read 50 books (They must be new to me. Re-reads do not count!)
 
Number of books read so far: 37 – 74% there!
 
Currently reading: The Miller’s Dance (Poldark series #9) by Winston Graham, Hero of the Empire by Candice Millard, Sing! by Keith and Kristyn Getty
 
Standouts so far: The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley, The War that Saved my Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter (this one is likely to end up a lifetime favorite)
 
Book format breakdown so far: 

• I read the physical book: 21/37 (~58%) 
• I listened to the audiobook version: 11/37 (~30%) 
• I read the Kindle e-book version: 5/37 (~13.5%)

I was honestly surprised at what a chunk of my reading has consisted of audiobooks. I’ve loved having audiobooks as a supplement for a few years now, but the idea that I’ve read 30% more books this year so far because of them was a very pleasant surprise! They do make a difference, y’all! 

How I’m tracking my books: 
I became a bullet journaler last year and it’s been a blast. I thought for a long time that I wasn’t cool enough for it, but the beauty of bullet journaling is that it’s completely customizable for your life and your needs. For me, it’s been a lifesaver for scheduling purposes and list purposes. I sure love to make me some lists, and having one notebook for all of them simplifies life exponentially. The majority of my lists have to do with books, of course. Here are the big ones.
 

• Books to Read: this is for pretty much any title that catches my interest and makes me feel a desire to remember it. I probably used to be too liberal with what I’d write down, so I’ve gotten a little better about writing down ones that I think I’ll legitimately read. I’ll write down the title and author on this list with a bullet point next to it. If I read the book, I’ll then put an X through the bullet point. If I abandon the book or come back to the list and decide I’m not as interested as I thought, I’ll put a little sideways caret through bullet point: > 
• Books Read in [Year]: I have 2017 and 2018 lists for this! It’s so fun to see the list growing throughout the year and then to go back at the end and remember all that I’ve read. These are simply formatted: they’re numbered lists with the title and author of each book included, and if I’ve read a book in a format other than a hard copy, I’ll note that in parentheses.
• Books Re-Read in [Year]: These are formatted the same way as the full annual lists. I love a good re-read and generally get a few in each year. I’m pretty nostalgic so I like to remember these too. 

And in other news, my Kindle and my Audible app are both stocked for my second-in-my-life trip to ENGLAND very soon! Yes, I’m determined to bring ZERO physical books on this trip. That may sound unrealistic to the people who know me, and it even does to me at moments, but I just keep reminding myself that I’m going to the land where all the good books were written. First stop is Cambridge, then it’ll be on to Surrey, London, and hopefully the surrounding areas. I’m excited to see some places I didn’t see on my last trip and also to see dear friends who live in England. Check back later for lots of pictures! :)

Just a few more days till I get to roam through more rolling green hills and 1000-year-old churches. Bring it on! 

I’ve mentioned my favorite book of the year (so far, anyway…though I highly doubt it’ll be unseated) several times in past posts, but here’s my more detailed review that’s been a long time coming. The book that everyone should read, but should especially read this winter because it’s perfect for curling up with in winter, is Surprised by Oxford by Carolyn Weber. 

A college friend recommended this book to me several years ago, but for whatever reason, I didn’t get around to it until a few months ago. I found it for 99 cents on Kindle, so I snagged it without much thought, but then proceeded to do little but read it for the next week or two. I’ve now read it a second time since then and will likely pick it up again before the year is out.

The Charming Basics 
This book is Carolyn Weber’s personal memoir of how she became a Christian while earning her Master’s degree in Romantic Literature at Oxford in England. I’m not sure what I was expecting when I started reading, but I certainly wasn’t expecting the transparency, grace, wit, and hopefulness that I ended up finding on every page. I honestly had to remind myself that it was a true story and not a novel. Though “suspenseful” doesn’t really fit the book’s genre, Carolyn’s narration does draw in the reader amazingly well, and every person she brings into the story feels like a significant character that you want to know better. I was amazed at the many specific conversations she was able to recount, the detailed inside looks into her thoughts and feelings that she gave, and the beautiful word pictures she painted of her experiences at Oxford. I felt particularly connected to Carolyn and the book because of her love of literature and the England setting. She uses both to their full advantage as she tells her story and I soaked up every bit of it so gladly.

What’s to Love 
I loved this book for its setting, its literary motif, its engaging narration and people, and so many other things. But underneath all of that, Carolyn’s honesty and joy as she shared her testimony went straight through any defenses I might have had up and touched me deeply. It encouraged my heart and strengthened my faith to read how she – a hardened feminist and agnostic at the outset – gradually accepted that her trust in self and reason were crumbling and that her only hope was Jesus. I was reminded that God pursues his children and meets them wherever they are. For Carolyn, that was in her books, her studies, her philosophy, and her need for reason. She discusses how she began reading the Bible partly from curiosity and partly from a cynical desire to find a chink in Christianity somewhere; but despite herself, she began to look forward to reading it and found it to be “the most compelling piece of creative non-fiction” she’d ever encountered. Additionally, there are so many people and conversations that she recounts in the book that seem inconsequential at first, but later clearly prove to be tools the Lord was using to soften her and draw her to Himself. Early this year was a difficult season for me, so I’m really thankful for how Carolyn’s story encouraged me to remember that our Lord purposefully saves and strengthens His children, no matter how far gone they seem or how discouraged they may be in their faith. 

Why it’s Perfect for Winter 
There’s England and literature…what more can I say?! Granted, these are perfect for any time of year, but who doesn’t love a good book by a blazing fire in December? What’s more, Oxford apparently goes all out during the holidays, and Carolyn gives it in glorious detail. I loved picturing Oxford covered in snow and Christmas lights. And the change from winter to spring in the book’s timeline fits well with the spiritual awakening she was experiencing. She describes a number of significant turning points in her conversion that occurred during the Christmas and winter period, and her descriptions are so vivid and aesthetic that it’s easy to imagine you’re right there with her. I felt like I was a guest right across the table from Carolyn at the splendid Christmas “high table” dinner for Oxford elites, an event where she wound up in a conversation about God’s existence and His part in the world. When she talked about her first Christmas break back home in Canada, I could almost feel the cozy fire in the log cabin where she took the painful, courageous step of breaking up with her longtime boyfriend. And I rejoiced with her as I read her description of the sunrise that broke over the frost on her first Easter morning as a Christian. Just talking about it right now makes me want to grab the book and some hot chocolate and find a nice fire somewhere. Do yourself a favor and get on it too :) 

Thank you, Carolyn, for sharing your story. I’m thankful for how the Lord has used it to deepen my own faith. And what a treat it was for me to visit Oxford this year and see so many of the places described in the book come to life! I’ll leave you with a few more Oxford pictures and some favorite quotes from the book.

No individual, by the very state of existence, can avoid life as a form of servitude; it only remains for us to decide, deny, or remain oblivious to, whom or what we serve. 

An education forced is no education at all. 

I’m like an addict when it comes to books. Compelled to read, understand, savor, wrangle with, be moved by, learn to live from these silent companions who speak so loudly. 

Self-worth that is subject to others’ judgments remains alive only as long as the delay of condemnations. 

As I aimed to become a teacher, God made me a student. My spirit as a questioner does not affront Him; rather, it reflects Him, and honors Him, and pulls me toward Him.

Ahh, teaching literature. A noble calling! For we are all stories.

[The Bible] unwinds and recasts the world and our perception of it: that the Holy Grail is more likely to be the wooden cup of a carpenter than the golden chalice of kings. “No wonder this stuff causes war,” I thought as I read, “between nations and within each of us.”

I think I might have delayed this last official post about my England adventures because, after all, how am I supposed to follow the Downton Abbey visit? Hard to top, right? But honestly, though it was a definite highlight, afterwards, it was nice to have a few days to focus on our immediate surroundings after so many train rides both in Derbyshire and for traveling out to Jane Austen’s house, Oxford, and Highclere Castle. And London was delightful with so much to see. We spent two full days there, crammed in as much of the typical touristy stuff as possible, and it was beyond worth it. For your first time in London, just accept the tourist label and enjoy yourself. It’s a beautiful city with an unbelievable amount of history – soak it all in to the fullest! Here are the highlights in pictures of lovely London for me.

Is it even London without a red phone booth picture? Having Big Ben in the background was such a bonus.

I never got tired of staring at this ornate old clock tower. It just begs to be looked at and photographed from every possible angle.

 The scaffolding was rather a shame, but I still thoroughly enjoyed staring at Parliament as well. It was such a dream to stand on the Westminster Bridge snapping these pictures!

The London Eye looked pretty picturesque against the skyline as well. We had to skip riding it this trip, but next time for sure! 

The Cabinet War Rooms were quite fascinating! They've been so well preserved since their daily use during WWII that it was like stepping into a time capsule.

We took a ride down the Thames River to the Tower of London! It looks pretty formidable as it comes into view!

The famous Tower Bridge over the Thames

Gotta keep it authentic inside the Tower grounds!

It's SO, SO big. Took my breath away!

As a new Harry Potter fan, I was tickled to see Platform 9 3/4! And on September 1st, no less! I'm coming for you, Harry! :)

Hello, Lord Nelson! This pillar to his memory famously marks Trafalgar Square, one of the most iconic locations in London. It was certainly one of my favorite spots! It has such a quintessentially British view with Big Ben in the distance and is constantly bustling with businessmen, talented street musicians, and awestruck tourists (Exhibit A: me).

The lions at the base of the Lord Nelson column are also an iconic part of Trafalgar Square. They are MASSIVE and so impressive!

The red buses always added such a nice London-ish touch to the pictures!

This is the beautiful St. James's Park! It was such a soothing, colorful area to walk when we had a bit of time to relax.

Piccadilly Circus behind us!

Yes, lucky us, we got to see inside Her Majesty's "London Office" as she calls it! It was absolutely stunning. And also lucky for us was the fashion exhibit that was running at the time: a collection of Queen Elizabeth's dresses from throughout her reign all on display! Her coronation dress and wedding dress were unbelievable. 
 

Watching the guard change was such a thoroughly British treat.

 Photo courtesy of our fantastic tour guide, Josh. 

I've saved the churches for last because they're my favorites. First was Westminster Abbey. It's one of the most well-known sites in London and consistently makes the lists of top tourist attractions. It's the place where Prince William and Kate Middleton were wed and has served as the coronation site for British royals for hundreds of years. Multitudes of famous scholars, royals, politicians, and arts experts now lie buried there. I knew I would find the place fascinating, but I was quickly overwhelmed and awed by the history contained in it and the beauty of it all. I'd begun to notice earlier in the week that the British take their churches very seriously. The architecture is breathtaking, careful thought is clearly put into every bit of them, and the inscriptions and art evoke such reverence. Every church I entered in England commanded respect almost instantly, and Westminster Abbey gave that vibe many times over. What's more, so many of the people buried there have influenced me personally, which heightened my sense of gravity immensely. William Wilberforce, David Livingstone, William Pitt, George Frideric Handel, and countless others all lie there, and it was incredible to see. I might have cried.

This is the side entrance, known as the west side, I believe. Hard to decide which I like better, but I usually lean toward this one.

The front, or north, entrance, where Kate Middleton entered on her wedding day.

Just couldn't stop taking pictures. So beautiful.

See what I mean by thoughtful, meaningful inscriptions? I just love it.

Now for St. Paul's Cathedral. Where Westminster Abbey is classic and reverent, St. Paul's is bold and enchanting. The architecture draws heavily from Roman influences rather than the Gothic style seen in Westminster and the Houses of Parliament, and it was awe-inspiring to look at. I think I stood stock-still in the main foyer for good minute or two just gazing at the huge ceilings, colossal pillars, and intricate carvings. Everything about it is so big, audacious, and captivating. I had to stand way across the street for many of these pictures in order to get any of the green dome within the camera frame. And the view from the top of the dome is supposedly the best in London! We had to skip that part this time, but it'll be a priority next time, without a doubt!
 

This statue of Queen Anne was sufficiently imposing, making her fit in well with the rest of the atmosphere.

London, you're a new favorite. England, I love you more than ever and shall return. Thank you, readers, for following my adventures in this land so dear to my heart! I'm sure there will be flashbacks in future posts. :)