Oxford

Ok so I am going to have to play catch up for a little bit. So I will start with last Saturday. On Saturday we woke up really early and we went to Oxford. We were up at 6 and then on the bus by 7. We arrived in Oxford around 8:30 and we started out by looking in some shops and then we went to Christ's Church College and Cathedral.

This is a place that some of Harry Potter was filmed in and we took a few pictures there. We saw the stairs that all of the kids stand on in the first movie when they are waiting to get sorted by the sorting hat! It was pretty cool.

After that we looked at the picture gallery that is attached to the Cathedral. After that we went to lunch at a local pub. It was so yummy because we had left so early, even before we had breakfast, so lunch was greatly appreciated. After that we just walked around Oxford for while and found some good deals on Oxford shirts. Then when we were done with that then we went with Janna's aunt and her cousin to Bleheim Palace. The grounds and gardens around the palace were the most beautiful thing!

We took a walk around the gardens and they were so gorgeous. After that then we went back to Janna's aunt's house to have dinner. It was so good to have a home cooked meal. After that we took a bus back to London and we got home around 10:30. It was such a good day, but I was exhausted by the end of it, but I am so glad that I went.

The Town of Bath and Stonehenge

Today we took off from the center at 7:15, so we were up super early, but we were able to sleep on the 2 1/2 hour bus ride to Bath. When we got to Bath, we got to look around an old Roman bath house and see a bunch of different things that were a part of that community. After we went around the bath we got to look around the town of Bath. There was a lot of cool things that we saw around. We saw the circus which is where nicolas cage has a house, and we saw a jane austen museum, but we didn't go in because it was quite pricey, and we saw the Bath Rugby team....a little bit creepy with their short shorts, but it is a good thing that i didn't get any pictures with them.


After we got done with Bath, we went to Stonehenge. It was so weird because i thought that it would be more off from the main roads and stuff...but it wasn't at all. we just drove up almost rigth to it. It was pretty cool. It was weird because I have seen so many pictures of Stonehenge all of my life, but then now today, I was right there seeing it with my own eyes, taking pictures of it. It really was so nice and fun to be able to experience that.

After that we went to yet another cathedral in salsbury. It was pretty cool and i got to see one of the last four remaining copies of the magna carta. that was pretty cool, but it was pretty similar to the other cathedrals that we have seen. But all in all it was a good day and i really enjoyed myself.

Madame Tussauds

Ok so I would like to start out by thanking our very new President Obama. You might wonder why i am doing that, but it is because of him that i got to go to Madame Tussauds which is a wax museum...for free. It is usually 25 pounds, but because it was inauguration day, and they have a wax thing of Obama! But there were so many different wax people and even super heroes. I think that my pictures say it way better than my words can. It really was a lot of fun, and definately made better because i didn't have to pay for it.

THE ZOO!!!!!

So, on Monday I went to the London zoo! It was so much fun and i saw so many animals. We did get a little bit lost on the way there, but we took a beautiful walk thru Regents Park which is the real park that 101 dalmations was based in...not the park by my house. So I didn't have any pictures on my camera, but pictures from the zoo are soon to come. After the zoo I came home and went for a run with mary....it was a lot of fun. So it was definately a good day!

I Heart Parks

So Kensington Gardens is right by my house and i thought that i would post just a few picture of what it looks like because words will not do it justice. I just want to throw in that everytime i'm in it, it reminds me of 101 dalmations because it is a huge park with a pond and there are people there walking their dogs all the time. it is amazing and yes, i took these pictures, don't be too surprised, i have some talents in this life.

Westminster Abbey and around

So yesterday we started out the day by going to westminster abbey pretty early in the morning. westminster is a big cathedral that a lot of famous people are buried in and if i'm not mistaken, all of the monarchs since william the conquerer in 1066 have been coronated there. so we weren't allowed to take pictures in the cathedral but i saw the graves of so many people. to name a few; jane austen, the bronte sisters, charles dickens, charles darwin, queen elizabeth the first, and so many others. all i can say from that is i'm so glad that they don't bury people in our churches because it was a little bit creepy. so like i said, no pictures inside, but here are some from outside...

After westminster we came home, ate lunch, and then went shopping. we went to the most expensive store in London. It is called Harrods, and to just give you an idea about prices there, I saw a fur coat that was 14,000 pounds, and that translates into 21,000 U.S. dollars. Crazy huh? but this store is GIGANTIC. They have a full on grocery store in the store and tons of places to eat and it is crazy. They had anything that you wanted you could find it there. They had a place that they sell ice cream there and it was 12 pounds...18 U.S. dollars. I like ice cream, but not that much. But, needless to say, I did make a purchace. I found designer jeans for only 30 pounds which was really on sale and they are so cute, so now when I wear them and people tell me they like my jeans and ask me where I got them, i can say LONDON! This store though was like a mall. It was crazy. But directly after we walked out of the store we saw....a ferrari. No joke, it was so nice and if my memory is not mistaken I believe that there were two parked in a row.

Later we saw a street performer and he was a juggler. He was juggling two huge knifes and an apple on a unicycle. And the unicycle was probably 10 feet off the ground. crazy!

I came home and helped with dinner and then later that night we went out and i had my first experience on a double decker bus. I was always too afraid to go by myself but there was a group of us and we finally braved it. It was a great day in london!

our adventure to cambridge

so yesterday we went to cambridge...it was pretty fun. come to find out that cambridge is a collection of 34 different colleges and they are just all in the same town. on our way there we stopped at an old roman ruins called verulium (i think thats how you spell it) and saw a museum that goes along with the ruins. we saw the remains of an old bath house.

after we walked to an old cathedral that was built some time in the 11th century. it was called st. albanes cathedral. it was so big, but they said that not that many people actually go to church there. as we were walking up to the cathedral, we couldn't see any thing because it was so foggy, and then all of a sudden there was a huge cathedral in front of us. it was really neat inside.

after the cathedral we went to an american war cemetary. it is one of only 14 cemetaries out side of the U.S.A. that americans are buried in from ww2. it was really neat, but sobering. there were around 3000 buried but then there were 5000 that were on the wall of the missing.

after the cemetary, then we went to cambridge. while we were there we went to the fitwilliam museum, which is a collection of pictures and artifacts from many different cultures.

then we just walked around the town for a while and shopped a little bit. at 4:45 we had to meet to wait for evensong that was in st. johns cathedral. it was neat, but it was pretty long and it was a full on catholic service, i didn't know that i would experience that at a byu study abroad. it was a good day but pretty long.

china town and trafalger square

so on tuesday we went to china town and we tried mochi....it is this weird pounded rice thing that has flavored mung bean in the middle. also it was pretty cool because it they are setting up for chinese new years which is at the end of the month so it looks pretty cool :)

after we went to china town we went to trafalger square and then to the national gallery....it was beautiful to look at all of the cool paintings. we couldn't take any pictures of the gallery, but i have some of trafalger square.

later that night, we went to les miserables. it was amazing...i had no idea what the play was about, but it was so good. i would recommend it to everyone

natural history museum

On monday i went to the natural history museum and saw so many cool things. it reminded me a lot of the natural history museum in New York. But it was so big...we only made it thru the blue zone, so we will have to go back again. also it was the first day of rain that i experienced in london. we had to walk all the way to the museum in the rain, but it was fun to experience.

LONDON

So I made it to London, after hardly any sleep and lots of delays for icy planes and airports, I made it. So the centre is pretty cool, and at least today its not too cold here so we went for a walk and were able to take some pictures. I love the park that is close to our house. It is so pretty. But so far I love London :)

The Beginning

so i decided that i would make this....nalani, i couldn't figure yours out so i had to make my own, but i still love you and i will tell you all about it tomorrow. so ya, i want to try to keep it updated while i'm in London...we'll see how that goes.