Virgin Cocktail

No classes today! It felt so marvelous to sleep in! (or sleep until 9 if you can call that sleeping in...) But I went with Kaylee, Haylee, Liz, and Jamie on the City East walk. We went through the financial area of town and it was incredible. It was so crazy to see the tall ancient buildings on the same streets as the new, modern buildings. Madness! But it was such an adventure :)

(Of course we took the pic of Liz and I smiling with Her camera...

I may have been falling over in this picture)

On our way home, we decided to brave the bus system. This was risky because everyone who has taken the bus so far has gotten miserably lost. We rocked it and made it home without anything too exciting or dramatic happening. It was during rush hour, though, so it took forEVER. Still amazing!

After dinner, I rushed over to the Oxford Circus tube station to meet up with one of Brady's friends, Larry, from Oxford to grab a drink. He came with his flatmate and coworker. She was way cool, too, and she was from Sweden. Between the two of them, they are top strategists and publishers in the advertising world for Google, Audi, Burberry etc.

The original bar we were heading to, the Alphabet Bar, ended up being closed. They decided to introduce me to this Moroccan restaurant where there is apparently this amazing tea that they were craving, but also virgin cocktails to accommodate me. We walked inside and it was the coolest environment. The ceiling was dripping with these unique and foreign-looking lamps, there were candles everywhere, the walls were filled with Moroccan sculptures and figurines, and short tables surrounded by small stools to sit on. I have never been anywhere like it; I'm still trying to grasp how cool it was. All of the above-mentioned decorations and items were for sale, too, which made it especially cool.

It was sweet, though, because I got to order from a legit drinks menu. Call me a sheltered little molly-mormon, but I never thought I would have a chance to order from one of those. Well I couldn't have been more shocked when Larry opened one up, flipped around a bit, then handed me the menu opened up to an entire Virgin Drinks section. YUMMY!! I wish I remember the name of the drink because it was epic, but it was incredible. It had fresh pomegranate seeds in the drink!! I have never had anything like it! I hear there's a virgin bar in Provo that serves these types of virgin drinks. I'm now determined to go and see how it compares. I'm sure it couldn't possibly compare to the marvel I tasted tonight.

Larry and his Swedish friend (I wish I could pronounce or even spell her name) were giving me really sweet tips and insides of London. I was told all of my brother Brady's favorite foods and restaurants while he went to Oxford, and now I am excited to go try them. Apparently I need to go to Pizza Express and get the Italian Pizza, and I need to go back to Nandos and try the chicken sandwich with the special sauce. If I am craving a spicy pizza, get an etna one. They showed me some cool shops as we walked, too. The best piece of knowledge was how to get the cheapest and best seats to shows here. Apparently, you can get excellent seats for super cheap to shows if you line up at the theatre early that morning. In addition to all the cool London knowledge I learned, it was really fun hanging out with Larry and his friend. They were so fun and entertaining. I feel like I got a true taste of Soho with them!

WICKED

So Kaylee, Liz and I went to the very first Hard Rock Cafe this morning. Liz got her future niece the cutest little onesie! She'll be a cute auntie! It wasn't open for the day yet, but we could peek in from the outside. And it was SUNNY today! It felt so unusual to squint during the day; I almost didn't know what to do with myself. After this realization, I started looking at pictures of myself, and I'm already getting pale!!! Gasp!! Oh no! What is happening to me??!



But the highlight of the day was .... drumroll .... WiCKED!!! We went to see Wicket at the Apollo Victoria Theatre and it was incredible! I have seen it once before in LA on concert choir tour in high school, but wasn't super impressed that time. This time, however, gave me the chills for two straight hours! I loved it and now understand why it is such a huge phenomena! We were all trying to refrain from singing aloud on the tube during our ride home.

Snogging my life away.....

After my British Literature class in the morning, I went with a small group of girls and we finished our “Notting Hill” walk for our London Walks class. We did the first half at the market this past weekend, but we enjoyed Portobello Road so much that we had no more gusto left for the other couple miles of the walk. I am so very glad that a group of us wanted to go back and actually finish the walk, because it was breathtaking. I have lived in Notting Hill for two weeks now, and until the walk, never understood why “hill” was included in the name. After walking through the nearby yet hidden residential areas, it was quite obvious. It’s so neat, they have these private gardens and parks for a lot of the neighborhoods, and I wish I had a key to all of them because they are fantastic. And it was so sweet to pass all of the schools and see all of the children wearing their matching uniform skirts, tights, and jumpers. That definitely took me back to the fifth-seventh grade when I had to wear the plaid skirt, knee socks, and Waterford Cardigan to school every day!



We rushed back to the centre for our Creative Writing class, and it was a really neat lesson. At the very end of class we did a writing drill, and I feel like I have an incredible beginning to the short story I must write in that class. It’s based off this fear “What If my backpack with my passport, wallet, camera, laptop, etc. was stolen when I go to travel week in Prague?”

SNOG. I love little snogs. For any of you who aren’t up to date on their British teenage lingo, the British use the word ‘snog’ for ‘kiss’ or even ‘making out.’ It is also the name of a frozen yogurt shop. So….. last night I had my first snog. They give you stickers that say things like “Snoggers like it on top” or “Snogging is good for you” “I’ve just had my first snog” “Less talk more snogging” “You’ve been snogged” and “Fancy a snog?” Brilliant. And it’s delicious, too, so I couldn’t have been happier about it! And right by the store, we saw a Lamborghini dealership. We all know I don’t know anything about nice cars, but they were hott.



A quick note on the amazing people here in the BYU London Centre. I can't believe how much I love everyone here so dang quickly. I really met most of them two weeks ago, and I feel like I have known them all a lifetime. I love them. That's all.

2 PM Church

Well this is now the second time I have joined a ward that meets at two PM. Insanity. Fast Sundays will be interesting, that's for sure. Not only must I wait til five, but then I get to wait until after my twenty minute walk to the train station and an hour long train ride back to the BYU London Center. Haha life could be worse. At least my primary children are freaking adorable. I team teach the junior primary, and this week it was seven little girls. They're all about the same age as my nieces and nephews so I absolutely love it. And of course I'm also the primary pianist. Mom, your dreams have now been fulfilled! The kids were all pushing the boundaries today to see what thy could get away with so they were really naughty. It was so hard not to laugh and just give them big hugs because they were so stinking cute, even when they were stinkers. Oh, and I found out that Jared Bethers served in my stake just this last transfer, so amall world!

After returning home, we ate the extras from the dinner that we missed while we were at church, then headed straight here to the pub to skype. Funny that I find a pub on Sunday Perfectly acceptable. Haha love it. There's a football game going on so the crowds are crazy. [So before leaving for London, Liz and I decided we needed to take at least one picture a day. Liz and I realized as we were leaving for the pub that we match. Since there was nothing more eventful to include today, we took a picture of our matchiness...]

 

I'm so excited for this next week! Tuesday we're going to Wicked as a study abroad group and it will be amazing. Then Thursday morning we leave for a three day road trip up North to York, Liverpool, Ambleside and Preston. And they announced this last week that we're going to Northern France on a roadtrip as a group, too! I will be so travelled and cultured when I get home! Well, I better be off; I have plenty of homework to do!

Portobello Road Paradise

So the coolest class ever: London Walk. It’s only a one credit-hour class, but it’s the best thing that has ever happened to me. We have this book that guides us on walks through the city. Then we get to take a picture of us somewhere recognizable on the walk and write a paragraph about the things we liked about the walk. London Walks Class: an excuse to see everything amazing.

This morning, we chose to do a walk that led us through the Portobello Market since it’s only open on Fridays and Saturdays. It was heaven. We all know I’m not a huge shopper, but I loved it. Let me just list off the amazing purchases I made today: a sweet little heart-shaped locket that I can put little pictures inside (fun! I’ve always wanted one!!!!), a vintage necklace that looks like it has Austrian Crystal, this amazing rustic necklace with a dangling clock/watch that flips open, a nifty circular scarf, these sexy sunglasses with the British flag on the lenses, and three pashmina scarves for 5 pounds. Woot woot! Moral of the story: go to Portobello Market every week if possible.

 

Then I got to come home and skype Mom and Dad while all the other girls were out running errands. It’s so funny having to re-teach skype to Mom every week! And then she finally gets it, and all I can see is her bangs or her forehead. Don’t worry Mom, I love it and your bangs looked great and we got your face eventually! And cute Dad is so worried about sitting in the light so I can see him “frozen in time.” Oh boy, I miss you two!

Tonight I had my very first experience at Harod’s. It was wild. It would normally be a fairly short walk to get there, but since Hyde Park was closed, it was probably a 3 mile walk. We loved every second of it! It was absolutely gorgeous outside, the perfect temperature, serene, fun, and dark. We went straight from this quiet walk to Harod’s, hahaha. Never go to Harod’s on a Saturday night unless you bring a snow-plow to clear the masses! I loved it. I even managed to find a new perfume that I would love to buy one day when my wallet is healthier. There wasn’t any room for us to sit and eat, though, so we decided to explore and find food elsewhere.

I love exploring the city. We wander through random streets all the time and find the greatest things! There are different pubs on every street, new shopping heavens with cute window displays, interesting people to secretly observe, amazing historical buildings, and funny little dogs in full-on tuxedos. Haha ok, maybe that was an exaggeration on the tuxedo, but still funny. But we ate dinner at this amazing place called Giraffe. Delicious! The tube line to get there wasn’t running today, but it was only a few stops so we walked there anyways. So worth every step! Then we came home and played Uno, giggled, did the whole “girl-talk” thing (which we do all day, every day anyways hehe), and even ventured to hang out with one of our professors. We grabbed a picture on our way up to visit him- check out all of the different emotions there! So classic!

 

#4 of London's Top 10 Culinary Delights

I know I look like a pig since I'm the only one holding an ice-cream cone, but they eat faster than me and already finished theirs! Promise! But this is at the Patisserie Valerie.

 

Liz and I at Zizzi. She's the best! We bought matching cameo necklaces when we were together at Bath. I'm so glad she's here with me on this wild ride called London!

 

I learned a lot of really cool things about England’s history today during my first visit to the British Museum. Haha, enough of that. Afterwards we went to Zizzi’s, this adorable little Italian restaurant really close to our house. It started pouring rain as we started walking home, then dumping, and then the hail started attacking us! We were laughing so hard as we ran down our street. By the time we reached the centre, we were completely soaking; seriously, my hair was dripping like I had just jumped into a swimming pool! One of the girls was laughing so hard that she peed her pants a little bit! Love her dearly!

Later that night, I went out with some friends to Camden. We were in a really sketch area of the city, actually, and it was the only time so far that I felt comforted that one of the boys was around. I feel so safe here in London; I keep my purse glued to my front and the zippers glued shut with my hands, but other than that, I feel completely at ease here. But tonight when we were by The Zenith (just one of the millions of pubs,) I felt grateful that we had a boy in our small group for the evening. The little chocolate shop we were searching for ended up being closed, so we navigated ourselves to Leicester Square. . .

In Leicester Square, we searched for Patisserie Valerie, one of London’s Top 10 culinary delight destinations. Oh boy, the strawberry ice cream was heavenly. May I just take a moment to verbalize how delicious the treats over here are? The actual food may not always be pleasing here at the center, but London treats are always absolutely stellar. For example, yesterday we tried a Kinder Bueno Bar. The day before, we had chocolate croissants. Before that, there was the milkshake, and the chocolate cake, and the gelato, and the Cadbury chocolate bar. I’m holding out to eat crepes for when I go to Paris in February, but I’ve seen my friends eat crepes and waffles. And I can’t wait for the gelato in Italy in April.

On a side note, I need to list all the different places I plan to visit while I’m here. The list is amazing. We’re going to Northern France, Ireland, Scotland, up North, to Oxford, etc. with our BYU group! And I already have my flight tickets to Paris for a weekend with my roommates and for Prague during my travel week!! Before London, I never considered visiting Prague, but now I couldn’t be more excited! I love all of you at home and I hope you are loving your lives, but let’s be honest, I am so glad to be here in London and nothing can bring me home until I absolutely have to leave in May! Keep it real!

Some Pictures....

So today was a relaxing day, and it was so needed! We went to our first day of our religion class and walked around the city over there, then wandered home. I stopped at the library (mom, I'll always be a library bum) and got some juvenile fiction to research for one of my classes, but other than that, I've just been doing homework and hanging out! Love it!
But anyways, here's some pictures! Enjoy!

Kylie, these are British Arizonas. I thought of you and had to take this picture.


Here's my classic Telephone booth picture! This is in Bath.

 

Here I am at Stonehenge

 

My friends and I are goofy!

 

This is at the Assembly Hall in Bath where they filmed Pride and Prejudice
My new friend Katie and I are pretending to dance.

 

My ward-mate Paige and I are throwing our two-cents in the well at the Roman Baths and making wishes!

 

Brady, I saw this Oxford Hoodie and had to take a picture in honor of you

 

It was raining and we forgot our umbrellas.... luckily we had our scarfs!

 

Here's my Bunkmate Sharon and I in front of Big Ben. She's normally 6'0, but she let me be taller than her in this picture

 

I could almost touch these guards walking from Buckingham palace!

 

Eating at Nandos

 

Here's the Imperial Arch

 

Two of these cute girls are in my Primary class! It was so cute, as soon as the lesson was over, three little black girls with the customary little braids ran over and started braiding my hair! I LOVE them already!

 

Here's our whole group

 

We went to Chicago! Fabulous

 

Mom, the hat looks Dang good!