Strolling Through the Market

    We have class on Saturdays too. That is how my morning began. I shouldn't complain about having them though because we only have 18 or so days of class. And we are given a few days off so we can go to Paris. I guess class on Saturdays is worth going to France.
   After class and a trip to a the grocery store we went to explore Portobello Market. It was busy and packed and I loved it. My wallet my not have survived but I had a great time exploring the different shops and vendors. The closest thing I can relate it to is Portland's Saturday market or Pike's Place in Seattle. They had many antiques. Which were great to look at. From old maps to vintage books and sewing machines. I could have spent even more time there just looking at all the little gadgets they had and taking pictures of it all.

    I think my best purchase of the day was a ring with an amber stone. When my sister went to London on a study abroad she brought me back amber earrings and a ring. I was in love with the ring. I loved it so much I put it on right away and went to a Christmas party to show all my friends. Unfortunately, I lost it in the snow. I was so disappointed that I had lost it on the first day I wore it! We even went back to my friends house with a metal detector to look for it. Never did find it. This made me determined to find one again while I was here. After getting the price down a few pounds I purchased the perfect one. I am currently wearing it right now too so that means it has lasted longer than the first. I must go back to Portobello before I leave. The place was huge and we did not even make it to the food part of the markets. Homemade Belgian waffles? A must. 

Portobello Road.

Street performers. 

Antique books.

My new amber ring.

A Taste of London

   We have had some amazing experiences on this trip and we have been so fortunate. Today was a great example of that. The morning started off by going to Buckingham Palace. Not only did we visit the outside but we were able to take a tour through the public parts of the palace. This is a very unique opportunity. Usually, the palace is open to the public for two weeks at the end of August but due to the Olympics they opened it up for two weeks right now. And we went! It was a great experience. No photography unfortunately so you will have to use your imagination for it. It is also the Queen's Diamond Jubilee this year (60 years on the throne) and so there was a special exhibit with diamonds! Diamonds everywhere. Necklaces, earrings, brooches, swords and tiaras. The room just sparkled. Many of the jewelry was worn by the current Queen as well as past royalty. It was a great sight to see.
   After some down time and classes we took a walk to Ben's Cookies! I have heard about these cookies for quite some time now. My sister, Natalie, just loves them to death. There are not any stores in the States so a visit was a must. I am sure this was the first stop of many because it is right around the corner from my flat. This is a blessing and a curse. Maybe walking up the seven flights of stairs to my flat will even out how many cookies I eat. But my cookie was straight out the oven, gooey and the chocolate was melting. Yum. You drooling yet?

 Before the Buckingham Palace tour. 

 A nice police officer took our photo for us.

So excited for my first cookie!

 Right out of the oven.

The group.

A Day of Productivity for a Night of Music

   I have had a very successful day today. I went to class at 8am. I practiced my patience as we were locked out of the LDS church building we are suppose to hold classes in. I did laundry! Who knew laundry would ever be a high point of the day but it felt so good to have it done. I had maybe one more day I could have gone without doing it. Tomorrow when I get ready I'll actually have choices for clothes. What a luxury! I then picked up my play tickets for the rest of the trip (Phantom of the Opera, Wicked, Lion King, and Les Miserables here I come!) I bought my oyster card for the tube. I successfully went on the tube. McKenna, Jenna, Kaitlynn and I went shopping too. Shopping in London. How cool is that? Then, drum roll please, I went to Phantom of the Opera! 
   Oh Phantom. How great it was. The music and singing simply amazing. The costumes were gorgeous. The night was great. We get tickets so cheap from booking in advance and having a group rate. I could not think of a better way to spend a night in London. Amazing. 

The streets of London. 

Out to see Phantom of the Opera!

In the Motherland for Independence Day

   I am in love. London is the best. I might not come home. My apartment has wood floors and a window facing the street that shows the trees and the people and London life. We have a cute bathroom and beautiful kitchen. It looks like it was recently redone and everything is just so nice, clean and pretty. I don't even mind that I had to lug my suitcases up seven flights including a semi spiral like one. It was worth it. It is perfect. I am living with Anne, Meg and Jessica and our room is big! After we scoped out the flat we immediately started unpacking. No more living out of suitcases! We each have a closet, some drawers and a little night stand. So perfect. The place we are staying is super posh. Their words not mine. Apartments in this neighborhood go for 130 million pounds, you can rent a flat for 200,000 pounds a week. A WEEK. Kensington Palace is a stone throw away so that means William and Kate will be our neighbors soon enough.
   I guess I should talk about what I spent the beginning of my Independence Day doing before moving into the flats. We went to visit Windsor Castle. This is were the Queen and other royalty stay quite often. It was huge! And very ornate and beautiful. You can't take pictures inside but believe me it was very royal.
   We made it to our apartment and I won't bore you with more details about how beautiful it is. I swear I have done that enough. But because today is the 4th of July we decided to have a party. We made Frankfurt's, had fruit platter and very patriotic strawberry's. It was fun to be all together on the first night and to celebrate the American holiday! We sung Proud to be an American and other Patriotic songs at the top of our lungs. And maybe a little Party in the USA by Miley Cyrus. We also watched some firework shows on Youtube so it was an all out traditional 4th of July party! Just study abroad style. 

 Windsor Palace. 

 Our flat.

 My bed by the window!

 Kitchen and bathroom.

 McKenna is such the little homemaker. 

 Food. 

 Singing Star Spangled Banner.

The whole group!

Where is Mr. Darcy at?

   Stonehenge was the first stop of the day. It was pretty cool to see because I feel like I have grown up always seeing pictures and then it was like BAM! here I am. The thing about Stonehenge though is they don't know a lot about it and it is just some rocks in the middle of nowhere. You just walk around and take some pictures and call it good. There was an audio tour to go along with it but I am kind of tired of listening to people talk so I thought I would just enjoy the view instead.
   Then we made our way to the land of Jane Austen. I have loved reading Pride and Prejudice but I wouldn't consider myself a huge Jane Austen fan. After learning more about her life I appreciate her work so much more. She never married, she died 41 years old and was not well to do. Seeing this house, watching Becoming Jane, and watching the movie they showed before seeing her house made everything more meaningful. We also practiced writing with a quill. It is very difficult! I could not imagine writing novels with one. I could barely get out a few words. We also watched Sense & Sensibility as well as Pride & Prejudice on the bus today. I pretty much want to go home and read and watch all her works now. It also might have to do with the fact I am in England and love it here. Probably a mixture of all the above. 
   We managed to have some random fun in the rain today too. Playing on the swings in the park, as well as on a rope swing that we probably could have died on. We ran after some sheep, Molly almost jumped over the fence when we were pushing her on the rope swing, and Shayla fell off the teeter totter. We took some pictures on a log and Dr. Dewey walked by as we were doing a model shot. Good timing. A wee bit embarrassing. It was Dr. Eddington's birthday so we wrote, practiced, and performed a birthday rap for him on the bus. We went to an Italian restaurant in which we were the only ones there. Most of us split a pizza and it was divine. All of us seem to have a sweet tooth, we walked 10 minutes in the rain to Tesco for some ice cream. Totally worth it. Good day, good day.

Stonehenge. 

 Jane Austen's house. 

Trying to get to the sheep.

Welcome to England!

   I loved today. I adore England. I loved Bath. We were given extra time this morning to soak in every last every few minutes of Wales. And by soak, I mean it literally because it rained and rained. We walked around Cardiff and did some last minute shopping before we said goodbye to Wales. I can’t believe I already have two countries checked off. I feel that I have been gone forever but it also seems to be flying by.

   As we drove to Bath and crossed over into England we watched Becoming Jane on the bus. How appropriate is that? I had never seen it before so it definitely got me in the mood for England! Jane Austin used Bath a lot in her writing so it was a perfect introduction into the city. Bath is so adorable. The streets and shops were great. I just loved the whole vibe of it.  I also had the world’s best cream of chicken soup. Like seriously people. Come to Bath just for the soup. Not that I am an expert on cream of chicken soup or anything but it was amazing. And I probably could be an expert now. Definitely much needed warmth after walking through the rain all day.

   The Roman Baths were pretty neat too. The Roman Baths were a destination spot many years ago for the Romans. Hence the name, Roman Baths. They were a place of worship and of healing. We were given a self-guided audio tour while we explored the whole building. You can’t touch the waters that are there because they are not healthy but at the end of the tour they give you really warm gross water to drink that is filtered bath water. Hopefully it heals us because everyone seems to be falling apart as of late. A lot of the girls have been getting sick. Cross your fingers it doesn’t come to me!

Shopping in Cardiff, Wales.

 Rainy rainy Bath.

 The Roman Baths.

Anne and I shopping in Bath. 

Living It Up Welsh Style

   We were able to attend church in Cardiff today. It is always fun to attend church it new places and this was no exception. We had a wonderful time visiting with the members. Once church was over we went to explore a Welsh Museum about the daily life of people who lived in Wales throughout history. There were beautiful grounds to walk through and houses set up to see. It was neat to walk through because I have Welsh ancestry and so this is how some of my relatives might have lived! Okay, maybe not the castle that was on the grounds but definitely the other aspects. 

National Museum of Welsh Life.