THE GRAND TOUR part 1
Galatians 3:28
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
We were planning to travel back to the UK in 2022, but due to covid restrictions, we were unable to.
But as soon as restrictions were lifted, we started thinking about and planning our trip back to Europe.
But in Chinese new year 2024, we decided to take a trip to Sichuan province to visit certain places, the first of these is Chongqing, the cyber punk city.
You think your city is mad, but not like Chongqing!
Trains that go into apartments, petrol stations on the 20th floor of buildings, every night the city comes alive, it is lit up like a Christmas tree, especially amazing is Hongyan cave, which is actually an eleven story building, built into the side of the mountain, overlooking the river.
Nearby to Chongqing is Chengdu, the panda city and also home to Hotpot, you get a great big bowl with all the raw ingredients and you dunk all of them into the bubbling mixture. Sherry and Helen, enjoyed this place, as it had so much spicy food, but Keith didn't as he ate rice and bread for two days.
Now we were planning the Europe trip, Helen loves to organise these trips and she and Sherry had to get a Europe wide visa for one month, so with that in hand we travelled to Europe for nearly three months.
We went with several large suitcases and it was very good of our Pastor to take us to Nanjing Airport and back in his car.
We arrived at Heathrow and got our cases, it was not until we were half way to my cousin's home, that Keith said " where's my case", and yes we hadn't picked it up.
We arrived and tried to get the airline to bring it to us, but they refused, so on the following Tuesday, whilst we were all in London, Keith took a detour to Heathrow and after a whole lot of discussion, got the case and he met the girls back near the Houses of Parliament.
We went down to Tower bridge and then home, but at least, we had the case.
We had a very interesting day in Cambridge, sadly most of the colleges were closed for special events and although Keith did try and persuade them, that he was a former student (has anyone from Skerton School, ever been to Cambridge?). He was unsuccessful, as no one from Skerton, has ever been to Cambridge, well only to watch the football!
Soon after, we set off for Norway to Visit Helen's cousin in the picturesque town of Avdal near Bergen, to get their we had to take the flight to Oslo, the second airport is miles out of the city and so we had to go by train, as it was high summer, daytime lasted virtually all day, Oslo was awesome, and we found a hotel for travellers.
Next day, we set off to Avdal, the bus ride was extraordinary, we climb up and then dropped down into Avdal.
To say I fell in love with the place is an understatement, waterfalls and mountains, peace and quiet.
Situated at the end of Norway's longest fjord, there is a lake at the end and every morning during our stay, I walked to the edge of it, what a great place to pray and meditate.
On Sunday, we went to a church service in the forest and then walked up to two of the highest waterfalls in Norway.
Our wonderful host then drove us up mountain roads to clear lakes, where snow hadn't melted, I remember we went to a lake, that had clear blue water, Keith had to put his feet in a mountain stream, the water was clear, but very cold.
One of our visits was to a circular 11th century wooden church, it was tiny, but amazing, such memories are priceless.
We ended up viewing Sognefjord from above, my father had always wanted to come to Norway, he never did and I was so privileged to do so.
We were treated royally by our hosts and one evening, we had delicious reindeer meat, we were so sad to leave Avdal, but we had to move on.
Next stop was Prague.
See you there.
DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT
Avdal must be one of my favourite places, every morning I walked to the edge of the lake and just meditated and prayed, being in a place that is completely peaceful, is such a delight.
There is a wonderful verse in Psalm 46:
Psalm 46:10
King James Version
10 Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.
So often it is so easy to get carried away by the hustle and bustle of daily life, we forget what it is to be still.
One of the best things we did, was to go to the church service in the forest, there were only a few people there, but God was there, the best thing worshipping God right in the midst of his creation.
It took us a long time to get to Avdal, it took many hours, but boy was it worth it!.
Galatians 3:28
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
We were planning to travel back to the UK in 2022, but due to covid restrictions, we were unable to.
But as soon as restrictions were lifted, we started thinking about and planning our trip back to Europe.
But in Chinese new year 2024, we decided to take a trip to Sichuan province to visit certain places, the first of these is Chongqing, the cyber punk city.
You think your city is mad, but not like Chongqing!
Trains that go into apartments, petrol stations on the 20th floor of buildings, every night the city comes alive, it is lit up like a Christmas tree, especially amazing is Hongyan cave, which is actually an eleven story building, built into the side of the mountain, overlooking the river.
Nearby to Chongqing is Chengdu, the panda city and also home to Hotpot, you get a great big bowl with all the raw ingredients and you dunk all of them into the bubbling mixture. Sherry and Helen, enjoyed this place, as it had so much spicy food, but Keith didn't as he ate rice and bread for two days.
Now we were planning the Europe trip, Helen loves to organise these trips and she and Sherry had to get a Europe wide visa for one month, so with that in hand we travelled to Europe for nearly three months.
We went with several large suitcases and it was very good of our Pastor to take us to Nanjing Airport and back in his car.
We arrived at Heathrow and got our cases, it was not until we were half way to my cousin's home, that Keith said " where's my case", and yes we hadn't picked it up.
We arrived and tried to get the airline to bring it to us, but they refused, so on the following Tuesday, whilst we were all in London, Keith took a detour to Heathrow and after a whole lot of discussion, got the case and he met the girls back near the Houses of Parliament.
We went down to Tower bridge and then home, but at least, we had the case.
We had a very interesting day in Cambridge, sadly most of the colleges were closed for special events and although Keith did try and persuade them, that he was a former student (has anyone from Skerton School, ever been to Cambridge?). He was unsuccessful, as no one from Skerton, has ever been to Cambridge, well only to watch the football!
Soon after, we set off for Norway to Visit Helen's cousin in the picturesque town of Avdal near Bergen, to get their we had to take the flight to Oslo, the second airport is miles out of the city and so we had to go by train, as it was high summer, daytime lasted virtually all day, Oslo was awesome, and we found a hotel for travellers.
Next day, we set off to Avdal, the bus ride was extraordinary, we climb up and then dropped down into Avdal.
To say I fell in love with the place is an understatement, waterfalls and mountains, peace and quiet.
Situated at the end of Norway's longest fjord, there is a lake at the end and every morning during our stay, I walked to the edge of it, what a great place to pray and meditate.
On Sunday, we went to a church service in the forest and then walked up to two of the highest waterfalls in Norway.
Our wonderful host then drove us up mountain roads to clear lakes, where snow hadn't melted, I remember we went to a lake, that had clear blue water, Keith had to put his feet in a mountain stream, the water was clear, but very cold.
One of our visits was to a circular 11th century wooden church, it was tiny, but amazing, such memories are priceless.
We ended up viewing Sognefjord from above, my father had always wanted to come to Norway, he never did and I was so privileged to do so.
We were treated royally by our hosts and one evening, we had delicious reindeer meat, we were so sad to leave Avdal, but we had to move on.
Next stop was Prague.
See you there.
DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT
Avdal must be one of my favourite places, every morning I walked to the edge of the lake and just meditated and prayed, being in a place that is completely peaceful, is such a delight.
There is a wonderful verse in Psalm 46:
Psalm 46:10
King James Version
10 Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.
So often it is so easy to get carried away by the hustle and bustle of daily life, we forget what it is to be still.
One of the best things we did, was to go to the church service in the forest, there were only a few people there, but God was there, the best thing worshipping God right in the midst of his creation.
It took us a long time to get to Avdal, it took many hours, but boy was it worth it!.
THE GRAND TOUR part 1
Galatians 3:28
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
We were planning to travel back to the UK in 2022, but due to covid restrictions, we were unable to.
But as soon as restrictions were lifted, we started thinking about and planning our trip back to Europe.
But in Chinese new year 2024, we decided to take a trip to Sichuan province to visit certain places, the first of these is Chongqing, the cyber punk city.
You think your city is mad, but not like Chongqing!
Trains that go into apartments, petrol stations on the 20th floor of buildings, every night the city comes alive, it is lit up like a Christmas tree, especially amazing is Hongyan cave, which is actually an eleven story building, built into the side of the mountain, overlooking the river.
Nearby to Chongqing is Chengdu, the panda city and also home to Hotpot, you get a great big bowl with all the raw ingredients and you dunk all of them into the bubbling mixture. Sherry and Helen, enjoyed this place, as it had so much spicy food, but Keith didn't as he ate rice and bread for two days.
Now we were planning the Europe trip, Helen loves to organise these trips and she and Sherry had to get a Europe wide visa for one month, so with that in hand we travelled to Europe for nearly three months.
We went with several large suitcases and it was very good of our Pastor to take us to Nanjing Airport and back in his car.
We arrived at Heathrow and got our cases, it was not until we were half way to my cousin's home, that Keith said " where's my case", and yes we hadn't picked it up.
We arrived and tried to get the airline to bring it to us, but they refused, so on the following Tuesday, whilst we were all in London, Keith took a detour to Heathrow and after a whole lot of discussion, got the case and he met the girls back near the Houses of Parliament.
We went down to Tower bridge and then home, but at least, we had the case.
We had a very interesting day in Cambridge, sadly most of the colleges were closed for special events and although Keith did try and persuade them, that he was a former student (has anyone from Skerton School, ever been to Cambridge?). He was unsuccessful, as no one from Skerton, has ever been to Cambridge, well only to watch the football!
Soon after, we set off for Norway to Visit Helen's cousin in the picturesque town of Avdal near Bergen, to get their we had to take the flight to Oslo, the second airport is miles out of the city and so we had to go by train, as it was high summer, daytime lasted virtually all day, Oslo was awesome, and we found a hotel for travellers.
Next day, we set off to Avdal, the bus ride was extraordinary, we climb up and then dropped down into Avdal.
To say I fell in love with the place is an understatement, waterfalls and mountains, peace and quiet.
Situated at the end of Norway's longest fjord, there is a lake at the end and every morning during our stay, I walked to the edge of it, what a great place to pray and meditate.
On Sunday, we went to a church service in the forest and then walked up to two of the highest waterfalls in Norway.
Our wonderful host then drove us up mountain roads to clear lakes, where snow hadn't melted, I remember we went to a lake, that had clear blue water, Keith had to put his feet in a mountain stream, the water was clear, but very cold.
One of our visits was to a circular 11th century wooden church, it was tiny, but amazing, such memories are priceless.
We ended up viewing Sognefjord from above, my father had always wanted to come to Norway, he never did and I was so privileged to do so.
We were treated royally by our hosts and one evening, we had delicious reindeer meat, we were so sad to leave Avdal, but we had to move on.
Next stop was Prague.
See you there.
DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT
Avdal must be one of my favourite places, every morning I walked to the edge of the lake and just meditated and prayed, being in a place that is completely peaceful, is such a delight.
There is a wonderful verse in Psalm 46:
Psalm 46:10
King James Version
10 Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.
So often it is so easy to get carried away by the hustle and bustle of daily life, we forget what it is to be still.
One of the best things we did, was to go to the church service in the forest, there were only a few people there, but God was there, the best thing worshipping God right in the midst of his creation.
It took us a long time to get to Avdal, it took many hours, but boy was it worth it!.
Arabic
French
Spanish
Portuguese
Deutsch
Turkish
Dutch
Italiano
Russian
Romaian
Portuguese (Brazil)
Greek
हिन्दी