Day 8, 9, 10 & 11... On our way to London & at Royal Holloway College

We spent yesterday exploring Santiago.  We began our day later than usual & headed to the Cathedral around 10:30 to catch the Pilgrim´s mass at noon.  Thankfully we arrived so early because it was standing room only by about 11:30.  The mass was well worth the wait and definitely delivered beyond my expectations.  They did the incense thing during the mass which is typically done just on Sundays.  Way back they started doing this because all the pilgrims smelled so terrible upon arriving at the Cathedral after finishing their pilgrimage.  Today it is just a part of their services.  It was truly one of the coolest things I've seen on the trip thus far.  I took a video of it, so if you see me in person, ask to see my phone. 

We arrived at Royal Holloway in Egham around 2p on Friday.  After a little settling in, I finally heard Ben's voice & saw Kevin & the boys.  I didn't realize how much I missed them.  It has been so great to finally be under one roof to complete this vacation. 



Everyday here is filled with one major attraction & some soccer related activity.  Saturday started with a training session (which both Josh & Zach attended) and finished with a trip to Fulham stadium where we saw Fulham lose 1-2 to Parma.  The boys had such a great time watching the big boys of London Futball take to the field.  Sunday we went to downtown London to take a tour of the Arsenal stadium.  It would be like taking a tour of Great American Ballpark or Paul Brown.  Their stadium is really incredible.  The roof structure is unlike anything I've seen (large circular structure that leans inward toward the field with nothing really holding it up).  Really amazing...

Today we went to Windsor Castle, one of the many homes of the Queen of England.  This castle is absolutely massive with artwork, chandeliers, weapons adorning every wall and ceiling.  If it weren't for the short attention span of our little 5 year old angel, we would have been able to learn a ton about the history behind it all.  I would have loved to have a whole day in Windsor.  It was a very quaint bustling town with many shops and restaurants.  We had to call it short though because our boys have their first soccer game tonight in about an hour.  The competition has come from South Africa, some town right by Saudi Arabia, NY in the US and cities surrounding London (just to name a few).  We'll see how these little American boys compete with diverse talent like this...!  I'll keep you posted...