Final Day of the West Trip

I am finally back in London! Never thought I would be happy to see all of the stairs of the center. Its really nice to know that tomorrow I do not have to get on a coach bus. However, our driver was fantastic. Kevin liked us and would chat with anyone and he was really kind. So our last day, we did a ton of driving but we made two stops. Our first stop was the Eden Project.

So what is the Eden Project? Well, Britain used to have an Empire and when they would claim a new land they would bring back plants, soil, bugs and things to the island. It was their way of collecting souvenirs. This was then influenced by the huge environmental movement that has been going on. So, they British have two huge Biomes (greenhouses) and it is a charity and educational spot. The first Biome is the rainforest. I was so happy to be in the humidity again! It was great. Other girls felt disgusted and couldn't stand being damp, but they like the cold. The plants were really pretty and some I had never seen before. It also has a suspended walkway that takes you to the top of the Biome to let you see the whole biome. It was really cool but a little scary since it shook while people walked on it. I was just really glad that I don't have a fear of heights. 

After the Rainforest Biome there was a Mediterranean Biome. It was a great place to cool off a bit after the Rainforest. I loved looking at all the herbs and they were making a fresh soup that filled the air with the smell of Italy. It was fantastic. The food wasn't half bad either. The food was made entirely of things that they grew locally or in the Biomes I believe and it was a little pricey but good. I liked it.

Me with the Biome behind me

After the Eden Project we went to the Stourhead. It is an English manner home that was used in Pride and Prejudice with Keira Knightley and The Queen. I was able to go through the manner house which was beautiful. They had a piece of furniture that used to belong to a Pope. It was made of granite, precious and semiprecious stones and had 150 secret drawers. It is currently worth 13 million pounds and is one of the most important pieces of furniture in Britain. I didn't know there were such things as important pieces of furniture. While we were waiting for the rest of the group to get back from the gardens I explored the gift shop. I bought two books that are based off the WWII ad Keep Calm and Carry On. On is Keep Calm for Ladies, the other is Now Panic and Freak Out. Both books contain quotes that pertain to their perspective titles. They are hilarious. Have a great night!

Finally, an easy day!

So today we still did a lot but at a much slower pace. We started out our day with a drive to St. Ives. This town was very very adorable. We spent an hour and a half just wandering around. We walked down to the beach and just wandered the town. I found my brother Joseph the perfect present! It was just really cute and tranquil but we had to walk uphill to get back to the bus….no more hills! Only problem is we are in a hilly part of England. So my interesting story from this stop: on our way down we were walking down this long hill. Christina (not to be confused with Kristina who is in other blog posts) was joking about how she would love to ride down the hill in a shopping cart. I informed her she was crazy because she couldn't steer and would break at the bottom. She would need an ambulance. We get to the bottom right after I make this statement and what do we find? An ambulance. We laughed until we realized someone was actually injured and getting put in the ambulance. We went back to the coach there was quite a bit of blood on the ground...but I know that the man was conscious when he left in the ambulance. 

St. Ives

 Our next stop was St. Michael's Mount. This island becomes inaccessible during high tide. The mount has a castle, church and gardens all to itself. It was gorgeous. We just wandered this island for three hours after a nice long walk on the beach to get there. It was just beautiful. I loved it. I spent time with Taylor (married) Ashely, Kristina, Michael, Nicala and others of our group. We were finally able to just explore it at our own pace. We had to leave the island by 4 though because the tide would start coming in. I was with Frank's wife Suzzie at 3:50 heading to the gift shop because she wanted a souvenir. Frank waited for us before he would walk across the causeway. It was a really cute moment.

St. Michael's Mount

 Our next step was to go to the end of the world! Lol, not really but we did go to Land's End which is the furthest west that you can go in England. We tried to find some whales with no success but we did have a really cool moment. Right when we were ready to leave there were two guys on bikes being met by an entourage. Turns out that these two guys had traveled from the farthest point in the northern Scotland to Land's End in 6 days. They averaged 150 miles a day. Then at the end while everyone was celebrating their success one of the bikers got down on one knee and proposed to his girlfriend! Another guy said he was so delirious that he proposed and tomorrow he is going to freak out. We all awed and just enjoyed the moment!

Land's End in our Land's End jackets, Get it?!....

Our last stop was Penzance. "When the foreman bears his steel...." Audrey ;) haha! Basically Kristina, Nicala and I went to find dinner. We are staying in 7 different B&Bs and hotels here because there are so many of is. Also the B&B's had internet!!!! Lol, obviously, that's why my blog exploded. I can at least say that I typed everything up on the bus the day of, Kristina is my witness. So the three of us wanted Chinese food and we found a take away/restaurant so we went up because the price looked good. We were the only ones there....we still ate there. It was alright. We then wandered a bit around the town. There isn't much here that we are aware of, we found an Egyptian building and their church. Now we are just chilling in our room. Kristina and I both enjoyed taking a shower and just having a calm evening. We are going to watch Alice and Wonderland with Johnny Depp. Have a great day guys! Way to be a champ and catch up with my blog! Love you all :)

Our Chinese restaurant...we were the only customers

Stonehenge, Bath, and the Hike

 

So we started the morning by going to Stonehenge. It is a spectacular monument to something. I think I love the fact that there is no real explanation as to why people dragged these giant stones and created the monoliths. You can no longer stand among the stones (people were putting graffiti on them) but you can still get really close to them. We did not have much time to spend there however, since we were supposed to see it yesterday. So we only spent 30 minutes circling the stones but I think it was totally worth every moment of it. I could have stared at the stones for another hour trying to decide what purpose it served but the half hour gave me a great taste of the massive size of these stones. It really is just unreal that these stones have stood for so long. It was awesome.

This needs no caption!

We then continued our journey and went to Bath. Surprise, surprise we started at the Roman Baths. It was actually really informative. These bathes were heated with the only natural hot spring in Britain. The great bath was huge. It was actually the size of a community pool in just a rectangle. What I didn’t realize though was that the Roman bath actually had a temple attached to it. They worshiped Minerva who was the goddess who gifted this hot spring. The water was actually really warm. It would be a wonderful place to soak and swim. They even had rooms for saunas and just anything you would like in a bathhouse except for showers. I spent about an hour exploring this museum before leaving to go out into the main city. I actually could have spent at least another hour in the museum (it had an audio tour and I heard maybe half of it) but we only had an hour and forty minutes total in the town. So we are basically just getting a taste of Western Britain. Once I left the bath I headed to the Royal Crescent with Michael, Matthew and Taylor. The Royal Crescent is a crescent created with buildings that overlook a great view. That’s really all I know about it because we only had time to see it take a picture and leave. While we headed back to the coach we stopped by the Cornish Pasty (not pastRy) shop and I got a chicken and chorizo pasty. It was DELICIOUS! I will be definitely on the lookout for more pastys!

Entrance to the Roman Baths

A natural hot spring, this is the Great Bath

Our next stop was Tintagel…well sorta. We stopped in Tintagel and half of us had to grab our gear and hike 20 minutes up and down hill to get to our hostel. The hostel had a wonderful view of the Atlantic ocean. Then we had to do the hike back to the coach and ride it to Boscastle. This was where the other half of our group was staying. We then had to move their stuff into their hostel. Then we began a three hour hike at about 7 pm. It was a long hike. The views were incredible and the countryside was gorgeous. The Cornwall coast was great, however, we were tired. It was a really good hike but my legs did protest. We finished our hike at 9:45 and the pub was no longer serving food…thankfully an Indiana restaurant was still open. So 25 hungry hikers invaded right before the restaurant was going to close. It was delicious Biriani. We finally made it back to our hostel at around 11:45. It was a long day but I will have fantastic legs by the end!

Oh, Tia. You know when we would do the bonus levels in Sonic to get the chaos emerald? Well, there was mud every where and I literally had to hop from side to side of the slightly curved path to avoid the mud. I really felt like Sonic avoiding those black things. I thought you would appreciate this!  

The Cornwall coast

More coast

Michael, girls and the nice part of the hike

Beauty.

Sunset!

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, Its off to work we go.

Chelsea and I at Tintern Abbey

 

So our second trip has begun! This one is different from Canterbury because now we are actually staying places over night. So I will not be returning to the center until Saturday. When I get to do laundry! Lol. So our first stop was supposed to be Stonehenge however, our driver was a bit late so we have moved Stonehenge until tomorrow. So our actually first stop was Tintern Abbey. When we arrived at the Abbey there was a huge wave of the group that just ran to the bathroom and we were never so happy to see one.

This Abbey reminds me a lot of the Rock of Cashel but I like it better. This Abbey with all of its fallen grandeur was surrounded on three sides by hills covered in trees. It was beautiful. I loved it. We just wandered and enjoyed the tranquility for about an hour. It was fantastic. 

Next we went to Ragland Castle. This was not a planned part of our iternary so we did not pay to go inside. However, we did take pictures and explore the gift shop! Outside on the grounds there is an old oak tree. Hanover’s buried their pets beneath this ancient tree! Also it was a castle so I totally enjoyed just looking at it.

Ragland Castle

 

Our second stop was called Ironworks. Basically it was an old smelting plant complete with on site housing. We were able to climb to the very top of the what I think was the smelting tower? Thing? It was a great view of the whole area. The houses that these people lived in were tiny! It was literally the smallest amount of space a person needs to live in. The front room was the kitchen. You walked down a hallway that was maybe two feet long and you were in the bedroom. That was it. I found a slightly bigger one that had three bedrooms in it but it was still very tiny by our standards.

Ironworks, I climbed to the top of that thing!

 

After that we went to the Big Pit. This was one of the most successful coal mines in the UK. We got to go down into the coal mine like the miners did. We put on hard hats and lights with the battery pack and oxygen mask around your belt. You then took the lift all squished together to go down 300 feet. You were not allowed to bring cameras, cellphones or even watches. Anything with a battery had to be left at the surface because of the different gases that rise through the mines. It was surreal walking through these different tunnels. There were work horses that never saw the light of day. There were picks and axes, carts and coal. This mine was still full of it! Our tour guide even gave us a small piece to keep! Everyone hit their head, including me, but most of them did it multiple times. People weren’t use to how much taller the helmet made your head. It was really cool. So I was underground for 45 minutes in a mine. I had no idea that this was part of going to London. It was a really cool experience and I’m glad I had it!

Miner Valerie, what do you think?

 

So this was our only venture to Wales. We spent the entire day there and sometimes I really felt like we were in Ireland. Skinny roads that kept turning with sheep on the sides of the road and it kept raining. It was very pretty and the accents were fun to hear the similarities.

So now we are headed to Salisbury for the night. We are going to be split between 3 different hotels. So the only thing left is dinner, showers and bed! Hope you had a wonderful 4^th of July! From the country who didn’t need those colonies anyway.

Salisbury was really really fun. We had delicious pub food. I had a chicken and chorizo risotto. It was delicious. I ate with Michael, Ali, Emilee, and Kaitlyn. We then wandered over to the Salisbury Cathedral. It was gorgeous and we could hear someone practicing the organ inside. Also we sang (very off key) the Star Spangled Banner. We then headed back toward the bar to go stop at McDonalds. Yes, McDonalds. Emilee and Michael decided that as it was the 4^th that we needed some apple pie. So they got apple pie and McDonalds and I made the facebook status. After McDonalds we headed over to Tesco (a grocery store) to get some food for lunch. We then danced to “Party in the USA” while going to Tesco. Then on the way back to our fabulous hotel (with no wifi) we walked by a church graveyard. It was a really fun day.

Emilee, Michael, Kaitlyn and Ali at Salisbury Cathedral

Shopping

 

Hello you wonderful readers. If you have been keeping up with all of my posts let me just say. I LOVE YOU!!!  I know that I write a lot each day and that you probably get jealous but I seriously appreciate that you keep reading! It makes it worth writing. Aside from the fact that this is now my personal journal. . I also appreciate those who just read one or two of these posts too

So today we had class until noon. I don’t think I actually got much out of it because we were all so tired. I had stayed up past midnight because I finally started gluing things into my physical journal because I want to at least write small thoughts or emotions that I may not otherwise place on the internet. So now my journal actually looks fat and well loved.

After class a small group of us (Kristina, Me, Emilee, Sarah, Megan, Sarah and Abby). We knew we wanted to go out for lunch but we weren’t sure what. At first we thought: Oh lets go get tea and crumpets! We were having an early dinner and it would be so British. I am actually surprised how many people drink tea in our group. They drink herbal and fruit teas, which is allowed, but it is still a foreign to me. Unfortunately: tea is not served at Kensington until 3 pm. You know, making it afternoon tea.  So we went to Nandos instead. Its still delicious and I am still in love with it!

Originally this was going to follow us going to the British Museum. However, we all felt that we weren’t in the right mood to go and learn more so we went shopping! Our first stop was Picadilly Square which is the British version of Times Square. We went to this famous sports store called Lilly Whites. Then we headed to Primark.

Picadilly Squa

 

Now to get you in the correct frame of mind I need you to combine Walmart, Forever 21 and Black Friday and you now have an idea about what this store is like. It was insanity. Successful insanity though. I realized that I have been over seas for almost a month now (I am soooo blessed) and so naturally I kinda hate my wardrobe. I have been cycling through the same 10 shirts for a month. So at Primark I bought two 3 pound shirts, a new purse and bobbypins for 13 pounds. The shirts are cute but not that great but I added some clothes to my wardrobe! It was just a crazy place to be. It is something to experience.

Then we returned to the center for our early dinner. We had steak, watermelon(!!) and a potato salad…thing. It was a really good dinner. We were all so excited to eat the watermelon. After dinner we headed out to go see One Man, Two Guvnors. Yes, I saw it again. I didn’t know we were going in the first place or my dad and I probably would have seen What the Butler Saw instead. It was just as funny the second time. This time though the hummus sandwich reappeared so now I am wondering if that was a plant. Either way, it was still funny. Hope you guys are having a wonderful day and enjoy the fireworks tomorrow! Love you all!

Band from One Man, Two Guvnors

Bunch of us!

Monday, Wonderful Monday

So I will probably never say Monday is wonderful during the normal semester but here, every day is an adventure. So today we had our classes until noon. I can't quite explain to you without teaching you the subject but this history and literature is fascinating. I really did not realize how little I knew about this country. It really cool to learn more about how England became what it is today.

So my adventure today. Today I climbed St. Paul's Cathedral. It is supposed to be 530 steps to the top. I don't know at one point they start counting or if there are more steps descending because I counted 618 steps from the top to the bottom. That's kinda a big difference. It was a wonderful climb. My legs hurt but we had a ton of fun. I went with a group of 9 other people. Jace, Paul, Matthew, Megan, Sarah, Emilee, Me, Abby, and Jen. We all climbed to the very top. It gives you a fantastic view that is seriously different than the London Eye. From the Eye you see Westmister, Big Ben/Parliament and Buckingham Palace. From St. Paul's you see the Eye, The Globe, Tower Bridge, Millennium Bridge, London Skyline and just so much of the city. It is a wonderful view. I love it. So I am posting 2 pictures. The first one is 10 years ago when I first climbed St. Paul's as an 11 year old. The second will be the new picture from Today! We also went all the way to the crypt and listened a bit to the audio guide. It was just awesome for me to see the changes.

London 2001

London 2012 (don't mind my eyes it was really windy)

Millennium Bride and Globe Theater

After that we attempted to find the Camden Market. However, we totally just ended up in the touristy section and totally missed the actual market so I am totally going again and getting it right! Dinner was amazing today! We had shepherd's pie. Its the first time I have ever had it and I found it delicious. We also had zucchini one of my favorite vegetables and bread. It was awesome. Then we had an ice cream bar for dessert. I really should stop eating the desserts cause I over eat during the meal but oh well :).

I also went on a solo adventure today. I order my Eurostar tickets to get my to Disney. I had a bit of trouble with the website yesterday so I wanted to go to St. Pancreas (attached to Kings Cross) to pick up the tickets and make sure the confirmation was legit. So I traveled there all by myself and acted British. I brought my book we are reading for class and didn't make eye contact with anyone. I successfully made it to the station and printed off my tickets! Hurray!! On the way back, while the was a boy in a suit finishing to get ready for some black tie event. He had a bow tie but no idea how to tie it. So he asked the people on the car and this gentleman said he could. He had been listening to his ipad and he just left it on the seat. The gentlemen on either side kept it safe and kept people from taking his seat. It was very kind.



All in all a good day today! Hope your Monday's went well!  

Today is FANTASTIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today has been a fantastic day. My first fast Sunday on the study abroad. Which was also probably the hardest fast Sunday I have ever had. I have become so accustomed to the fabulous break the fast immediately after church or just going home and cooking delicious food with my mother. So what made today so fantastic? Well, I managed to fast till 5 o'clock after being awake at 8 am which is probably the longest I have ever fasted.

Our ward is super sweet. We have a lot of members from Ghana and the women come dressed in their nations clothing. They look so gorgeous! I love the colors and just everything about them. For the first time I have backwards church, so we start with Relief Society and end with Sacrament meeting. Its still really strange for me, especially since Sacrament has to end on time. During Sacrament after the presiding bishopric member gave his testimony he informed us that the BYU students were going to come up and bare our testimonies and introduce ourselves. That was news for me. My testimony was short and sweet and not as well thought out as it would be if I had been able to ponder for like 5 minutes. I also received my calling! I am going to be a youth Sunday school teacher. Not sure if I get the 12-14 or 15-18 years old yet...so we shall see.

Dinner as delicious today! Mostly because it was fast Sunday and I was starving but it was just yummy. We had something that looked like a quiche but I am not sure it was. It had a crust and was bigger than a tart but kinda the same thickness. It was filled with a goat cheese and cranberry mixture. I am sure there were other things in it but I have no idea what. We also had little bread balls with cheese and corn with artichoke and mushrooms. The artichoke and mushrooms took all of the sweetness from the corn so I did not enjoy that part. Dessert was a KitKat bar. It was scrumptious.

We also had this amazing fireside tonight. George Chittock came and spoke to us about what it was like living through the Blitz. Even though he was incredibly young he still remembered a ton of things that I did not know about. Such as: the children were evacuated multiple times. His siblings, him and his mom were evacuated for a month together (Dad's job was related to the war so he couldn't leave) before returning to London. Then he and his brother were evacuated again for 6 months in Wales. Their Dad visited them but Mom never came down. Also, I did not know that the German's had pilot-less planes that they would give just enough fuel to get over London before they crashed into the city. They were called V1 planes. Just all sorts of things that I never fully appreciated learning out of a textbook.

ALSO! For the Long weekend Ali and I are going to Disneyland Paris!!!!!!! We bought our Eurostar tickets today and our hotel and tickets to the park and I am so flipping excited! Its like Mary Poppins I love to laugh. I am so floating on the ceiling right now!!! Apparently there are characters there that are not present at any of the other parks such as Esmeralda, Quasimodo, and more! And the princesses are in different costumes and I am just going to have a blast!!!! Until tomorrow :)