England, Wales, & Scotland Continued

Bath, England

One of the beautiful sandstone buildings in the city of Bath. All of the town's buildings are made of this special sandstone. We were told though, that the quarry is almost finished and they're not sure what they're going to use for future buildings. The town is best known for it's Roman baths. Great if you like the smell of sulphur!

Another view in Bath. I had visited the town in 1998 and toured the Baths then, so this time I decided to walk around and see the other sites the town had to offer. I found out that Jane Austen supposedly lived here.

One more picture taken in Bath. What a beautiful evening! There were hot air balloons everywhere adding to the already picturesque view.

Tintern Abbey, Southeastern Wales

Two pictures taken at Tintern Abbey in Southeastern Wales. The fog and misty rain gave it a wonderful enchanted feeling. The area was surrounded by mountains and I loved the cows grazing on the little farm that butted right up against the abbey's ruins.

Chester, England

Hurray for finding my own personal store in the little town of Chester! Unfortunately it was closed since it was Sunday. I guess I'll just have to take a trip back someday to check it out!

Hadrian's Wall, England

An unplanned diversion led us to Hadrian's Wall out in the middle of no where. I was much more captivated by the countryside than the little museum or the wall. It was blissful to walk barefoot up the hill, skipping through the sheep fields. I highly recommend it!

Edinburgh, Scotland

A picture of Edinburgh Castle and then a view of the city from atop the castle. Edinburgh is hands down one of my most favorite cities in the world. It's hard to even begin to comprehend the history this city has witnessed! When we arrived to sing, there was a Scottish wedding taking place and bagpipers were playing from the castle walls. Quite an entrance!

Sterling Castle

A much smaller castle than Edinburgh, but still amazing. We had a wonderful last concert here! It was an amazing trip!

Michael

So one of the biggest surprises of the whole trip was meeting and falling head over heels for an amazing fella. Michael, an incredible countertenor, and I happened to stand by each other during the concerts. It was half-way through the trip that we really started talking and quickly hit it off. He is originally from St. Croix, part of the Virgin Islands, but currently lives in Dallas. Since the trip I've been to Dallas, he's been to Seattle and now I'm back to Dallas at the end of the month to introduce him to the family. Who knows what the future holds!

England, Wales, & Scotland: July 2007

This summer I was invited by my best friend and old college roommate, Kara, to join her church choir from Dallas on their tour of the UK. It was great to be back in the country that spurred my love of travel almost 10 years ago when I'd toured there with my high school choir. We went to a few places I'd visited, but saw many sights I hadn't seen before. It was a blast!

Night time in London: an amazing evening spent catching up with old friends, eating great Thai, and exploring the sights of the city.

Old Choir Buddies: Kara, Me, & Greg

Kara and I got to meet up with our college buddy Greg who has been living and working in London for two years. It was great to see him and exciting to watch him on TV the week we got back to the US. He's a theater/film major and recently was on the Discovery Channel during shark week in a documentary titled "Ocean of Fear: The Worst Shark Attack Ever," which re-enacted the sinking of the USS Indianapolis. Check it out: http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/sharkweek/slide-shows/ocean-of-fear.html

Two pictures of Trafalgar Square on a beautiful sunny afternoon. The square is known for it's massive lion sculptures which are usually swarming with kids and tourists. A great place to just sit and people watch!

Inside the British Museum, located only a few blocks from our hotel. Like many of the museums in the UK, it's free to visit! Unfortunately, we got there just as the exhibits closed for the evening. Still just the building itself was something to behold!

Who can resist a uniformed man on a horse? One of the many guards we saw throughout the city. The week before our arrival in London was the terrorist bombing scare, so security was extremely tight.

A view of the famous London Eye from one of the many, beautiful parks in the city. For $30 bucks you can take a ride and see the city from above...we decided to explore the city on foot instead...much cheaper!

Outside Buckingham Palace: When the Queen is at home, which she was this day, you can see her royal flag flying from the flag pole on top of the palace. This flag is called the Royal Standard.

The famous Stonehenge: A very intriguing and windy place to visit! Quite busy as well...everyone walking around asking the same questions..How? and Why?

Gloucester Cathedral Cloisters: Cloisters are my favorite part of a cathedral. They usually consist of four window corridors that surround a courtyard. Sometimes they are open arches, but in this case they were arched stained glass windows. Beautiful when the light streams through...which it was when we arrived!

The Choir singing in the Gloucester Cathedral...an AMAZING and unforgettable choral experience. The week after we left the town of Gloucester flooded. It supposedly was one of the worst floods in its history. Glad we passed through on a dry, sunny day! The week after we would have had to have used a boat to get around the town!