SnoGFEST

So Thursday, we went on a field trip for our religion class. We got to go visit the first Methodist church and John Wesley's house, and even the museum it had in its basement. Lucky us!! (So it was terribly uneventful and nothing I would recommend, but whatever!) We had a big bang to the end of our day by going to see "Love Story." It was absolutely the most touching, heart-warming, sweet, tender, and involving musical I have ever seen. Haha, maybe the two main people were totally makin-out on stage at the beginning, but it turned out to be a really deep show, with a sad ending. A total "Notebook" or "A Walk to Remember" type of show, but the music was really good. Their voices were absolutely PERFECT and meshed together like a single voice. AHH!! I want to go again and again and aGAIN!!!

Friday (after finding a view that overlooks the entire city) we went to Camden Market. It was such an incredible market! All of the little Chinese people in their booths were throwing samples at us, and there were incredible clothes and souvenirs for sale. We had burritos that seriously tasted better than any Mexican food I have had back home (other than Aunt Sherry's Guatemalan food...)

Other than that, our last few days have relaxing and perfect! (Still busy, but chill.) We have had Snog like a million times, watched movies, done tons of homework to get ahead since we'll be gone all of March, etc. I love hanging out with the girls here!

Oh, and today I walked by Charles Dicken's house. He wrote his first three books there!

Oh! And we went to Harrod's!!! I got the cutest apron, ever, and I'm so so excited about it! We went to Harrod's once before, but it was too crazy to enjoy it. But while we had been walking through, I had smelled this perfume and fell in love with it, so I wrote the name down. And I couldn't stop thinking about how badly I wanted it. So I researched it online, and discovered it's only sold at Harrod's and cannot be found online, anywhere! So when we went back, I found it, and it was even better than I had remembered. MMMMMMM. :) Yep, I couldn't resist.

an ideal husband... and OXFORD

Sunday I bought my ticket to Geneva, Switzerland! We decided to start there, move our way in to Germany and Austria, then down through Italy and fly out from Naples. Next we need to buy our train tickets and the ticket from Naples back to London!! But it's official! I'm going to be a legit Backpacker :)

Monday, after my stellar classes, Ashley and I went for a run to Buckingham Palace. So so pretty! But the main event of Monday was going to see "An Ideal Husband." It was quite funny and witty, and I really enjoyed it, but a lot of the humor was British humor and making fun of British politics that I haven't covered in class yet, so I was sometimes a little lost.

My friends here in London are so much fun!

Tuesday, I went with some friends out to Kew and walked four miles along the Thames, through Parks, by Churches and graveyards, and by historical buildings. And we had a guest lecturer visit, which was good for us.

But now for the good stuff.......
OXFORD

I got to go to Oxford today and see where my brother studied! I am so lucky, because both Brady and Amanda sent me suggestions, and Brady even sent me a map! All I did during the bus ride was look back and forth from my three Oxford maps and the lists of places to visit that I had accumulated and map out my route. I needed to get to all of them efficiently, because I had lots to do in the 6 hours we were there J

After much thought, I had a nice little schedule planned out on my Ipod:
(which I referred to constantly)

-Alice's shop
-Head of the River pub and river
-Christ's Church (Harry Potter dining hall)
-Merton College
Chapel, dining hall, middle
common room, back gardens,
real tennis court
-St. Mary's Church (climb tower)
-Radcliffe Camera (photo op)
-Sheldonian Theatre (graduation)
-Turf Tavern
-Bridge of Sighs (take picture under)
-weave down Queen’s Lane to examination school (tour?)
-Magdalen College (deer field)
-Broad Street (souvenirs)
-Cornmarket Street (fun pedestrian street)
-Covered Market (Ben’s Cookies, Moo Moo’s shakes, cute dresses)

Since I had such a boss schedule planned, I had lots of followers!

Alice’s shop was the inspiration for some shop in Alice in Wonderland. After living in London, Alice was my niece Millie’s favorite, so it was really fun for me going to this shop.
(Don’t worry Mom, I found an Alice charm…)

The Head of the River pub overlooks the Thames River where Oxford and Cambridge have their boat races. The pub itself looked huge and very neat, but it was early in the morning, so we didn’t go inside.

Then we went to Christ’s Church College. They filmed loads of different Harry Potter scenes here, including the Dining Hall, so of course we went inside. I wish I had gotten a better picture, but it was neat. Very small, but cool. The chapel was gorgeous, too! And I loved the grass commons area with the fountain- very pretty. We were behind probably six French Jr. High schools, so it was taking forever, and the group got split up L

Merton College was my next stop. This was the best part, because my brother was a student at Merton College. There was a big sign in the entrance that said it was closed to all visitors, but I went inside and asked a man in the office if I could walk around, since my brother went there. (I didn’t think he would let all 15 of us in, so Liz and I broke off from the crowd for this part.) He recognized Brady’s name immediately and let me right in to wander. Well, nothing’s labeled in Merton College since it’s not the visitors’ season, so we had no idea where anything was! We finally found the Chapel that Brady told me to visit, but it was kinda spooky. We went inside and there was nobody there. It was so strange being in a cathedral without all of the annoying little tour-guides, and it was neat!!! Then we stuck our head in the Dining Hall, even though it said absolutely no visitors were allowed inside. It was much smaller than the Christ’s Church dining hall, but the food smelled a lot better. And the Merton Gardens and grounds were so pretty and green; flowers are starting to peak into sight!

Unfortunately, we were not allowed to visit the Merton Library since it’s only open to students. Technically, we weren’t going to be able to see the MCR (Middle Commons Room- the room for Masters students to study and hang out) but the man working in the office personally took Liz and I up there to see it. It had an interesting smell (not good but not bad at all) and lots of nice looking couches. It was fun talking to the man, because he remembered Brady and was asking what he was up to now. He even told us how to get to the “Real Tennis” courts. It’s a mix of racquetball and tennis, and the court was cool. Henry VIII used to play there!

After Merton, we climbed to the top of St. Mary’s Church and looked out over the city from the chapel’s spire. Amanda and Brady were right—it was gorgeous. And from the top, we had an excellent view of the Radcliffe Camera. Oxford is gorgeous. It was the smallest (skinniest) staircase I have encountered so far. Claustrophes beware!

(View from the bottom)

(View from the Top)

Then we went to look at the outside of the Sheldonian Theatre, where they hold graduation and other big ceremonies. It looked like it would be incredible inside.

By now, we were hungry, so we made our way to the Turf Tavern. This is not only where Brady would go hang out with friends, but also where Bill Clinton “smoked but didn’t inhale!” Liz and I were brave and split the fish and chips!!! It smelled really fishy, but tasted pretty good. If it hadn’t had the fish skin attached to the bottom, I would probably have thoroughly enjoyed it! Getting to the Turf was fun, because we were winding through these tiny little alleys.

THE FAMOUS TURF TAVERN

(AN EDUCATION IN INTOXICATION)

Their tribute to Bill Clinton....

Like any Oxford Tourist, we found the Bridge of Sighs and took a picture underneath! Then we wandered down Queen’s Lane and found the Examination Building. Unfortunately, the outside was under construction, but I went into the lobby and imagined the students wearing their full tuxedos walking in to take their tests, and felt completely stressed!

From here, I went to visit the Magdelen College. The college was cool, but I was most excited to see the Deer Field and all of the neat grounds. It was so green and picturesque! I love springtime and cannot wait for the rest of England to catch up to Oxford and get some green grass and flowers!

After this, we made our way back up to Broad Street and did some souvenir shopping, of course. Pretty sure our whole room (13 girls) all got some sort of Oxford shirt, hoodie, or sweatpants JWe all match! And we walked down Cornmarket Street and there were awesome street artists playing their brass instruments.

But the best way to end the day….. The covered Market. Thanks Amanda for the tip about the dress store. We found the cutest dresses I have ever seen! I have never seen so many perfect dresses all in one spot before. And I got the Fresh Strawberry and Chocolate Bar shake from Moo Moo’s just like Amanda suggested; bliss. It was in the top five shakes that I have ever had. So so so so good.

Thank you so much Brady and Amanda for all of the Oxford tips and suggestions! I had such an incredible time there today, and could never have visited half of those places without your help. I’m so jealous that you were able to live there for a full year!

Hampton Court, Darwin's House, Wimbledon

This morning we hopped on another bus for a day trip. We started at Hampton Court Palace and gardens. The king’s chapel was really neat, but it was fun to be inside their actual living quarters. My mom has a bigger closet than the prince of something-or-other had! But the gardens were amazing. They had all these trees trimmed perfectly, and cool fountains, rivers, ponds, fields, hedges, etc. There was a fresco that stretched from the floor to the ceiling up all of the walls and it was sweet. Oh, and artwork like a collage of guns! And of course, we love our photoshoots!

Then we went to Charles Darwin’s house. You know, the scientist who invented Evolution? We just read a book about him, his family, and his historical impact on Britain, so it was extra neat to be in his house. We got to go inside his greenhouse where he studied the plants, and walk down the sand path that he paced five times a day to think.

Then Liz, Elise and I went to the Paddington Train station in hopes to get ourselves to Reading. There, we were going to meet up with a friend of a friend and go to some YSA dance. AKA we wanted to dance! Plus, speaking to British boys never hurt anybody… ;) But we got to the train station, our ride to the dance got held up in traffic, and we didn’t actually make it to the dance. It would have totally stunk and felt like we were stood up or something, but we were more going to dance and not to meet boys; well we danced when we got back and we definitely had our adventure! We had an absolute party in the train station. Pear, Almond and Carmel gelato is fabulous from Tutti Frutti.

Saturday we started our day off by a little snog. Yummy! Fat-free & Sugar-free frozen yogurt with fruit? Poor Ashley’s computer was gunk-infested and possibly ruined during the night, so I got her the Snog special to cheer her up! She's amazing.

Then we went to Wimbledon where they have the tennis world championships. There wasn’t any real tennis going on, but it was still cool. There was a Wimbledon Museum, Cafe, Shop, and you could see the Central Courts. It was a fun area of London, with little people in tennis outfits running the streets.

So tired after Wimbledon, we all just hung out here and had a blast. We kidnapped Ashley from the room downstairs for the night (and it has lasted a little bit longer…..) I couldn’t wait until spring to room with her, I guess, so I helped her lug her entire mattress up to our floor! I love her and all of the amazing London Lovies! They make it so easy to love London!

London Temple

(Written Yesterday)

We got to go to the London Temple this morning! They had it organized very different than any other Temple I have been to. You give them your recommend, then everybody goes to a waiting room (after getting dressed) and they come in and call people by name and lead them either to the confirmation room or the baptistery. Then you go back to the waiting room and wait to be called again! Wild! But the waiting room was the best part—we were all taking turns There was such a strong yet simple spirit in the room, and it was amazing.

Going to the Temple over here is not just a two-hour round-trip outing, like it is in Holladay. We left at 9 AM and got home around 4 PM (I think.. sleep overcame me and prevented me from looking at a watch). But the Temple was gorgeous. There was a stream, and a pond, and even FLOWERS!! They were just tiny, but they were there! It was incredible. I hope I get to go again before finals weeks attacks!

After dinner, Paige, Liz & I went on one of our London Walks for class. It was a 3 mile walk that started at Westminster Abbey and looped around St. James’ Park. (This passes tons of important and famous buildings so it’s cool.) We even got to walk past Buckingham Palace in the dark, and it was deserted! Walking through normally tourist-infected areas when there’s nobody there is the best experience of all time. Plus, London is beautiful at night. Great friends, great conversation, and great sites add up to a great night!

(Written Today)

Today was a completely relaxed day. Class, homework, conversation, laughter, friendship, bonding, and all that jazz. Loved it! I decided to go for a run, so I grabbed two of the girls here who completely motivate me to come with me. We ran to the Marble Arch and back. Haha, well I'm not a runner so my body knew they were incorrect when they guessed it was 1 mile. GoogleMaps told me it was over 3.

Hello Henna!

This afternoon, we went to the Indian area of London. First, we went to a Sikh Temple. It was the Gurdwarda Sri Guru Singh Sabha in Southall. We had to wear head scarves and take our shoes off, so we were legit! When we went into the main worship room, we didn't realize that girls sat on one side and boys on the other, because there weren't many people there. Well, we accidentally sat on the wrong side. When we figured it out, we were horrified! But they had these three little Indian men singing and playing religious Sikh music and there was a lady waving this weird feathery thing over some crazy altar? The main colors in the room were bright pink, orange and red, which totally clashed, but it was still neat.

Ashley and I outside the Sikh Temple.

(She's my adorable Spring roomie!!)

I wish I had more pictures, but they are on other girls' cameras...

Then we wandered around Southhall. The entire town smelled like India; sometimes good, but mostly unfamiliar (and kinda bad..)

We finally found a little salon where we could get Henna Tattoes! Yay!! (A quick shout-out to my friend Katie J.- I was thinking of you the entire time. I love henna-ing with you, Kjohnst!) I have this awesome henna on the inside of my left forearm and I'm in love with it! Katie J, you would love it. We made friends with the ladies who did it, and they were so cool. They taught us the best ways to make it stay on the longest. I bought a huge tube of the stuff, because it was so cheap. It looks so so cool! Henna=Happiness.

Then we met the rest of BYU London at Giftos to eat genuine Indian food. It was such a neat experience. We had the most incredible service, which is unheard of here in London. I got to eat more na'an and chicken tikka masal, but also had the opportunity to try lots more crazy indian food (I probably wouldn't care to eat those dishes EVER again, but it was quite an experience.)

Professor Dursteler (the program director who plans all of our activities) is the best director ever! Going to get Indian food? Brilliant. Apparently our group has done more than any other London group has ever done before, by far. And then we added in a trip to Northern France and Belgium, four more shows, etc. So basically, he's the BEST! March is going to be the busiest and most exhausting time of my life--bring it on!