The last leg of the journey.. *sniff* ..

Well, folks. Our journey comes to an end soon. It has been so short, it seems! Its not QUITE over, I suppose. We still have the plan ride back to Canada tomorrow.. WOW, thats tomorrow!! Yikes. But here is what happened this past week. :)

We climbed a tree! We did more than that, I assure you. :) After going to the park/cemetery with Tom, Erica and Hannah, we left to go back to our little home in Wales. It felt like going home, it was great. I love it there. The next morning was Monday, and for most of the day, we just lazed around, and played outside. We climbed a tree! It was so fun. From our vantage point (good movie) up there, we watched them move cows, and we spied on the little calves over the fence. When we were not in the tree, we were playing with this little football (a REAL football, not a soccer ball) that Lin had lying around the house. :) We think it was her son Sion's. (Pronounced "Sean") ..Have we told you all her kids names? They are so cool. Their names are Mathew (pronounced "mat-how", kind of.), Dewydd (pronounced "Dah-vith" .. don't ask.), Sion, and Elan, pronounced how it looks. They are so cool! So, to us, they would probably be Matthew, David, Sean and Ellen. But I like their original spellings better. :)

This is their house. Its so beautiful. We LOVE brick houses, and this one is so old. Lin once told me the history behind their farm, Kilford Farm, ..but I forget.. Sorry. :)
So, this was our home for almost a week! And what a WONDERFUL time it was. :) I loved every moment. 

They took us to a town on the ocean, called Llandudno, (I'll explain about the name later), and it was beautiful. We climbed this huge mountain that was by the town, called the "Great Orme". :)   Ok, so we didn't climb all of it.. We drove up the mountain, and then walked the rest of the way. :) But it was a spectacular view, nonetheless. From the top of this hill, you had a 260 degree view of the ocean. Ish. :) It was amazing!! I could live up there, I think.. :) 

After the hike, they treated us to a traditional ocean-side meal of  fish and chips and "mushy peas". ..Yeah, they are exactly what the name describes. Mushy peas. It was good, but.. interesting. :) Something you might have to get used to.. :) But the fish and chips were.. AH.. SO good! The fish was HUGE. The picture doesn't really do it justice, but it was very large. Add salt and vinegar, and mmMMmm. You got yourself a MEAL. :) Dilwin was impressed that Anna and I ate all of ours. Haha, like we were going to NOT eat all of it! Apparently, we ate it really fast, too.. :) Must have been hungry..!

After supper, we went for a walk out to the pier, and this is when Dilwin taught us about the Welsh pronounciation and letters. :) The double "l" sound, as in "Llandudno", which you can see written in white stones on the shore in the picture, is very hard to do.. :) Anna described it as "It's like you're sucking in spit, like, under your tongue, but instead of sucking in, you're exhaling." And thats about it. :) Its really fun to try to do. Also, Dilwin told us about this town name that is 58 letters long!!!! And he even pronounced it for us!! It was incredible. This is it: "Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch". Seriously.  

..If you can hear it through the wind, this is Anna pronouncing the name, in her fluent Welsh language. Haha, you'll understand. :)

The next morning was our day to leave the glorious Kilford farm. :( But we were going somewhere exciting, so it wasn't totally sad. We were off to visit a friend of mine in Carnforth, England! She is going to school at Capernwray Bible School, and guess where they go to school. Yeah. In a flippin' castle. :) It's called Capernwray Castle, and it is BEAUTIFUL. Lara, my friend, gave us a tour and it was so fun. We got introduced to all her friends, and it felt just like being back in Bible School.. I was missing it very much. ..Except hers is in a castle! Can't get much more epic than that. It was so fun. We hung out with her for the afternoon, and in the evening, around 5:00 pm, we took a train to Edinburgh, Scotland. :) Mmmm.. Scotland. :)

We arrived in Edinburgh, and set off to find our hostel. On the way to find our hostel, we saw so many big, beautiful old churches. This is one such church. But there is one thing that is special about this particular church..

..It was our hostel!!  It was an old church, that was made into a hostel!  How cool is that?  When we found out that this was where we'd be staying, we were SO excited.  It was such a beautiful old building! ..It IS too bad its not actually being used for a church anymore.. but it makes a lovely hostel!

This is the dorm rooms, in the middle of the sanctuary. The only thing that gave away the church was the big stained glass windows and domed roof...

We got into Edinburgh around dusk, so we decided to go for a walk around the neighbourhood before we went to bed.  We found this beautiful walkway, that followed the path of a river, and became completely immersed in the forset...cut off from the outside world!  It was so beautiful!

We headed back to our hostel when it started to get dark, and spent our one and only night in Scotland! It was incredible. The hostel was so cool, with a great mix of people of different nationalities. In the morning, we awoke to a beautiful sunny day. We left our backpacks at the hostel, and went out to explore the city of Edinburgh! Our first stop was this park. Oh, it was beautiful. Also, it had an incredible, unbeatable view of the great Castle of Edinburgh. If you have ever seen a postcard of Scotland, this is the castle that would be pictured on it. This picture does not do it justice, but it is incredibly beautiful. Just google the "Castle of Edinburgh", and you'll see. :) In fact, the park you see in first picture that comes up in Google Images is the one this picture was taken from. Cool, eh? I think so. :)
We lounged here for about an hour, taking in the sun and the view, then moved on the see the rest of the town. We had heard of this free walking tour that our Hostel was advertising, so we headed to the meeting point to hopefully get in on the tour. 

And we made it! This is our lovely tour guide, his name tag said, "Tory", but we found out later that it actually was "Troy". ..Which made a lot more sense. :) He was an Aussie, and so fun!! He really knew his facts, and you could tell how much he loved this city. :) He took us around Old Town Edinburgh, and showed us all the sights, and told us the history. It was so cool!
This is one of our favorite stops on the tour. Do you know what it is? If you guessed a staircase, you would be partially right. It is a cross section of an old-fashioned burglary alarm! If you see the little half step, the third step from the top, thats what they call a "trip step". Wanna guess why? Haha, yup! To trip the burglar when he is running up the stairs, trying to steal all the valuables! :) The people in the house know exactly what step the "trip step" is at, and everyone they invite into the house know exactly where it is. But the burglar does not. I think its brilliant. :) Anna said that she is going to try one of these in her house someday. :) I have a feeling that it would "trip" more than just burglars, though..! If you ever go visit Anna in the future, be careful. :)

About halfway through the tour, we stopped for a break. Troy told us all about this drink that Scotland is famous for. Its called "IrnBru". :) He recommended that all of us try some, and he said that we'd recognize it by its orange glow.. ..I don't know.. does that make YOU want to try it? And its funny, because it actually does glow, due to its high quinine content, It glows flourescent orange when its in the light.  :) Quinine is a drug that is used to fight malaria, as well, so if you are going to Africa, and want to build your immunity, Troy suggests drinking IrnBru. Also, it is the best cure for a hangover! ..according to some people, anyways.. No, we didn't try it for that purpose. :) 

After the tour was done, a bunch of us headed to a pub to try to famed "Haggis, Neeps and Tatties". ("Haggis" being. well, you all know what Haggies is.. (if you don't, go look it up, I'm not going to tell you), "neeps" being turnips, and "tatties" being potatoes.) And it was surprisingly really good!! One of the best things I have ever tasted, really! I look unsure.. but thats before I tasted it. Also, I had to order a Scottish beer as well. ..While in Scotland.. you know. :) 

Anna ordered a chicken breast stuffed with Haggis. She was nervous about it too.. But we both discovered that it is pretty good! The trick is to just not think about what it is you're eating.. :)

I had always dreamed of seeing a bagpiper on the streets of Scotland. ..And every time we were there, all three times, I never saw one!! :( But then literally 10 minutes before we went into the train station to leave Scotland for the last time, we saw a Scottish man in a kilt playing the bagpipes!! SO beautiful, and it was perfect. :) Below is a little video of the bagpiper that made my day. :)

We took hopped on a night train from Edinburgh to London that night. So, we woke up on Thursday morning in London, at about 6:00. :) We did our regular routine of finding the waiting room in the train station and sleeping for a couple more hours. Then, we called Charlotte to find out how to get to her house. Who is Charlotte, you might ask? :) I'll tell you. Do you remember the last time we were in London, and had no place to stay? My Mom called a bunch of people in my hometown of Eastend, Sk, and really lit a fire under lots of people to find out if they knew anyone in London, or the UK in general. We first heard back from a lady named Anne in my town who had a cousin in Wales, and thats how we heard of Lin and Dilwin. But another man, Alan, also said he had friends in London who might host a couple of young, weary travellers. :) So, he called them up, and gave us their email address and we started emailing back and forth. Their names were Jon and Hilary, and they lived just outside of London. They also gave us the email addresses and phone numbers of their two daughters, Charlotte and Alice, who live right in London. We discovered that Charlotte lived closest to the airport (still a good hour away), and so we emailed her to see if there was any possible chance we would be able to stay with her for a couple nights. She was so kind, and really made us feel like she had invited us to stay with her, instead of the other way around..! Thanks, Charlotte. You're a life saver. Well, a money saver, at least, which could turn out to be a life saver. :)
So, she told us how to get to her house, and we made our way there to drop off our big bags. Then we went and explored (part of) the city of London. WOW. I think I would need about a week to see it all! And we had a day. .. Ah, well, thats what happens when you do a "whistle stop" tour of Europe! (as some people we met called it, when we explained it to them) :) But we did end up seeing most of what I had really wanted to see. Such as Big Ben, there. :) It was so surreal to realize that I was actually seeing it. Its huge! So cool.

We walked past Big Ben, to Westminster Abbey. This is the North entry, and it is SO spectacular. The policeman in front makes it looks even more awesome. :) I wish we could have gone inside, but alas, wedding preparations had taken over the church for weeks already!

This is the front of the church, where Prince William and Kate appeared as a married couple the day after this picture was taken. So exciting!

People had camped outside the Abbey for days before we got there. One Canadian lady we talked to said that she had come on Monday to check it out, and people were already starting to set up camp across the street. So, she came the next day, and set up camp along with them.. But she didn't have a tent.. I think she had a blanket and a little stool to see over the crowds if she needed it. By Thursday, when we saw her, people had given her an air mattress and a pillow, and her husband had come from the hotel where he was staying, with a blanket that the owner said she could use! She was definately feeling the kindness of strangers that week! :) So hardcore. :)

We made our way through St. James Park, up to Buckingham Palace. And this is the view from one end of the  river that flows through the park. You see the London Eye? ..it sees you.. :) Haha, we never did go for a ride on it.. Maybe next time, when we have £20 to spare. :) Nah, I don't know how much it was.. but it was more than we could afford, anyways. :)

Buckingham Palace. ..Yup, pretty much says it all. So GRAND.
We wandered around here for a while, soaking in the majestic presence of it all. Then we walked down the Mall, and towards  Trafalgar Square, and checked out where we'd be meeting with Judy, Les and Chloe. We found the spot, and then it was time to head towards London Euston Train Station to meet up with Hannah again! She was going to be joining us in London for the wedding, and I was looking forward to seeing her again! :) It was a long walk up to the station.. So instead of walking..

Yes. We took a red double decker bus. :) And that completed my list of things to do/see in London! I even got to make a phone call from a legit little red London phone booth. Awesome. :)
We found Hannah in the station, and then we all headed back to Charlotte's house. By this time, it was around 4 or 5, and we were already feeling bushed. :) So, Hannah and I went out to buy a few groceries for supper and meals the next day. Anna was really tired, and might have gotten a little bug, just kind of for that evening. :( So, we let her sleep. We all claimed that night to be a chill, hangout night, and settled in to watch a good movie. ..which ended up being Dirty Dancing. I had never seen it, and it was one of Hannah and Charlotte's favorites. :) Shortly after the movie, we all went to bed, excited for the big day tomorrow!! :) FRIDAY. Wedding Day!

We walked the good 30+ blocks to Trafalgar Square, and this is one of the things we saw on the way.. Nope, we didn't entirely understand it either. It was a GIANT wolf made entirely out of straw. Hm. I love taking pictures of things that I don't understand, so I can smile and shake my head at them later. :) This building and wolf is right on the edge of the river, and we are crossing Waterloo Bridge as I took the picture. We were just starting to see signs that a huge party day was under-way in London.. and we were getting close to the action!!! :)

This is us. We got the party fever, thats for sure. :) We are so hardcore!! 

We should have charged money. :) These girls came up as we were doing ours, really hesitantly, asking if we could borrow our face paint when we were done with it. Then, a couple minutes later, they came up again and asked if we could do it for them. :) So we did! It was so fun. They were so cute. I got pretty pro at doing a British flag! :) Its a LOT easier than the Canadian flag, let me tell you. :)

This is us!! From left to right: Judy, Chloe, Me, Anna, Les, and Hannah. :) We had a party!! It was so fun to hang out with them. 

The moment we've all been waiting for.. Mr. and Mrs. Royal Couple..! :) Or, should I say, the Prince and Duchess of Cambridge. :)

YAY!!! :)

From the moment we had our faces painted, so many people came up asking for pictures, and getting interviews for different TV stations, and such. And then a lady came and asked us if we wanted to go up in the booth for an interview..!! ..of COURSE! So, Anna and I got interviewed on LIVE Global TV, from Canada! :) Awesome. 

The camera man, while we were waiting to go on air, he whipped out a little blue digital camera, and said, "..Can I have a picture..?" Sure! Haha, so then I asked him to get one with my camera too. :) It was so fun. We felt so.. VIP. :) They probably were just all thinking that we looked really funny, and apparently picture worthy. :)

The fly-by! One of my favorite parts. :) They were so LOUD. ..And I just wanted to be flying one of them. :)

Then, after a long exciting day of standing on our feet, we went home. This is the apartment where we stayed, with Charlotte and her 3 roomates..! Yeah, it was a little squishy, but not too bad. We kind of took over the front room area. But they were so kind. Thank you SO MUCH, Charlotte!! :)

And tomorrow we go home!!!! YIKES. I can't really fathom that. But it will be so good to get home. But it will be so sad to leave this awesome adventure. Bah. Two completely polar opposite emotions, at the exact same time. Wierd. Well.. next time I write, it will be the last time! Check ya later. :)