Don't Worry, I donated my waterbottle to charity.

Friday I sat in Hyde Park and read a play for class. It was beautiful and peaceful. Then I went grocery shopping, came home, and worked on homework. It wasn't an eventful day, but it was a good one.
Saturday we went to Portabello Road. It was quite fun. There are all kinds of antique booths and such. I got myself a cute little pocket watch on a chain to wear around my neck, some adorable little earrings, and new wallet. Then we went on a tour of the National Theatre as a class. Before the tour, we stopped at the theatre cafe, and I had my first pannini. It was delicious! The tour was really very neat. We learned all about their different theatres, prop shop, etc. Then went straight into the Olivier theatre at the National and watched London Assurance. Fiona Shaw (Aunt Petunia in the Harry Potter movies) was in it. She was so funny! The entire play and cast was hilarious. The characters were completely different than I had imagined them when reading play, but they were so much funnier. I loved it! Then I just came back to the flat and ate dinner.
Sunday after church, Brianna and I set out in Hyde Park to search for the Elfin Oak and the playground for old people. We managed to find the Elfin Oak, but the playground was no where to be found. We plan to search again this Sunday.
Monday after class I wrote my paper and did laundry. I wanted to go to Primark to get a new belt because I'm tired of holding my pants up, but just as I was about to go I began hear shouting through my bedroom window. I went out into the front room and there were hoards of people marching down High Street Kennsington shouting things like, "Free Palestine!" They were apparently marching to the Israeli Embassy. I decided it would not be a good idea to venture forth at that point in time, especially not alone, so I waited a for a little while after all the marchers had past. I walked up the street to go to T.K. Maxx for the belt because I now didn't have time to go all the way to Primark. Just a few stores down from T.K. Maxx I noticed that the protesters were still gathered...right outside of T.K. Maxx. Needless to say, I did not get a belt that day, and I still do not have one. That evening we went as a class to All My Sons. We were definitely sitting in the nose bleed session and had a lovely view of the gobos aimed at the stage. The play was pretty good. I really enjoyed it.
Tuesday we got up bright and early, boarded a bus, and headed to Stratford-Upon-Avon. We stopped at Coventry Cathedral and Kennilworth Castle. The castle was my favorite! It was so neat just wandering around the ruins of the castle. Once we got to Straford, we went to Anne Hathaway's Cottage and Mary Arden's House. I ate dinner at The Garrick House, which is supposedly the oldest pub in Stratford. I got smothered chicken that was absolutely delicious. Then we went to Romeo and Juliet performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company. The production was really good, but the play is not my favorite. In Straford, we stayed in the most adorable little bed and breakfast run by the most adorable lady. She was so sweet.
Wednesday morning we got up and ate our delicious breakfast. I ordered the Full English with bacon, egg, and sausage. Plus there was a little buffet with fresh homemade bread, fruit, and delicious cereal. Then we went to Shakespeare's birthplace where everything "maybe might have been" used by Shakespeare. Next was New Play, which is the ruins of Shakespeare's home. Apparently the guy who bought the place was annoyed that his home was such a tourist sight, and when the government tried to charge him taxes, he demolished the house. Then we went to the Nash House, which was where Shakespeare's daughter and doctor husband lived. After that was Shakespeare's grave. By this time, I so very tired of feeling like I was worshiping Shakespeare, Brianna used our free time just wandering around Stratford and going in the cute little shops. We then had a "tour" of the RSC theatre, which consisted of two adorable little old ladies telling us stories about productions and showing us costumes. We then had more free time, so Brianna and I grabbed dinner and relaxed in the park. That evening, we saw Antony and Cleopatra. It was long...and boring. Also, Cleopatra had freaky long, skinny arms with hyper-extended elbows. It was weird.
Today, Thursday, I had the same delicious breakfast. We then loaded on the bus and went to Blenheim Palace. I finally got to go through a legit maze; although, we practically ran through it because we had so little time. It kind of made the experience a little better, I think. Then we went Oxford for a few hours. Brianna and I went to Alice's Shop where we bumped into Annalee. The three of us then went to lunch at the random cafe inside of a department store. The cafe was called "Restaurant"...creative, I know. I had a paninni that was not quite as good as the one I had the National, but it was still pretty good. Brianna and I then went to the National History Museum where we saw Dodo remains and shrunken heads. We then headed back to the meeting point and went inside KFC to use the restroom before our 2 hour journey back to London. Mind you, I had been carrying my water bottle around the whole time hoping to find somewhere to fill it up to no avail. Anyway, we walked in, and not realizing anyone was in there, I said aloud, "I'm going to set my water bottle right here, and if someone steals it they must desperately need a water bottle." Then I realized the second stall was occupied, and I waited for the woman to come out. Naturally, she did come out, and I went it. When I came out of the stall I noticed that Brianna had already left the bathroom, and my water bottle was there. I assumed that Brianna had taken it to play a joke on me. However, she denied having it. When I realized she was serious I started to laugh. I went back and checked again; it really was not there. We can only assume that the woman had actually stolen my water bottle. The good news is that I wasn't too attached, but I'm Mom and Dad...I donated your water bottle to that poor woman's cause. I hope you weren't too attached either. I hope she sterilizes because I've definitely been sucking on it for 5 weeks and haven't really legitimately washed it.

Sunday wasn't very exciting. I pretty much slept all day because I was super tired from our trip. Monday after class, Brianna and I looked around the gift at the National Science Museum because it has so many amazing things. I discovered the muck truck, which is little truck that also happens to be a table top vacuum. I totally would have gotten it if I had little siblings younger than 13. Oh well. Then in stead of doing laundry, I went with Allan and Jason to the Baribcan where Jason and I got tickets to Peter Pan. We went to Guild Hall and saw the watch makers museum, some art, and the ruins of an English Arena. It had crazy neon green 3d drawings of people and spinning gobos! After that, we went as a class to see Warhorse. We got off at the tube stop and realized we only had ten minutes to walk to the theatre, so we ended up running much of the way. The play was good. I loved the horse, but the random tank that came on stage was a little much. It wasn't my favorite or as amazing as I had hoped it would be. After the play, Allan and I went to do laundry because I was in dire need of clean clothes. Don't worry, we were only there until about 1:45am, and I may or may not have fallen asleep at the computer. But, I had clean clothes!
Tuesday, we got up bright and early and went to the Tower of London. It was pretty sweet. My favorite part was the room with the torture machines. Brianna and I stayed probably longer than any other members of our group. We were there until about 1pm. I really enjoyed it. We even got to see some of the crowned jewels; however, some of them were currently in use, which means the queen was wearing them! We cam home afterward to do homework, and I ended up taking a nice long nap.
Wednesday after class, we all headed over to the Unicorn theatre to see The Tempest. It was actually quite good. I loved Ariel, whom Lance described as a "disco meerkat". He was so very fascinating to watch. That evening, Jason, Christian, Lexy, Annalee, Martha, and I all went to Peter Pan. It was amazing! It was a re-adaptation that actually seemed to make the story more about Wendy. She loved him, but he says he can't feel anything. It alluded to the idea the Peter Pan was more of a ghost, and he never actually lets Wendy touch him. It was so interesting and touching. I almost cried. I loved it so much! It was set in Scotland, and they used beautiful Scottish musical underscoring and music in between scenes. It truly was a beautiful show.
Thursday was our country walk. The English countryside is so beautiful. We went to The Hop Shop, which was a little shop on a lavender farm. I really wish I had gotten some lavender ice cream. It sounds weird, but I tasted someone's after we left, and it was so good. It tastes exactly how it smells. Craziness, but delicious. I did, however, try a ginger beer. It was very good. At first it tasted nasty, but after a few swallows, it was really good. Then we went to some ruins of a Roman house, and a castle. It was a wonderful day.
Today, I went and sat in Hyde Park and read All my Sons. It was quite enjoyable. Then I went grocery shopping and worked on homework. Not a lot happened, but it was a good day.

Ireland!

Wednesday morning we got up bright and early and made our way to the airport. A large group of us flew on the same flight to Ireland on Ryanair, which is apparently the joke of London air travel. I happened to be asleep when we landed, and it the roughest landing I've have ever had. For a second, I thought I had woken up dead after some sort of explosion. Then they played a lovely trumpet fanfare congratulating us for being one of Ryanair's like 95% of flights that was on time...it was entertaining. At the airport, I split off with the group of us that were staying in Ireland the whole time, which consisted of Christian, Allan, Jason, Richie, and me. For some reason, all the girls said I was "brave" for traveling with the boys, but I'm not sure I agree. I felt quite safe traveling around Dublin surrounded by guys. Anyway, we took a bus to the hostel where we checked in, and dropped off clothes and such. We had lunch at a pub called Malloys. I think we looked like little lost puppies walking into the pub and standing there looking around like, "what do we do...?" The kind lady told us to take a seat, and she brought us all water...apparently if you don't know what to do when you got to a pub, they know you're not there to drink. Anyway, they had pretty good food. Then we hopped on the "hop on, hop off" tour bus and got a good feel of what was in Dublin. We did hop off once and went inside St. Patrick's cathedral. It was quite amazing. After the tour, we walked around Temple Bar (it's a street with restaurants and pubs and such). Went up and walked around the outside of another church (I'm don't remember what it was called...). At point, I really needed to use the restroom, but they are hard to come by in Ireland. In London it's hard to find trash cans;in Dublin it's hard to find bathrooms (or toilets as they call them here in Europe). We went to a Church, where I asked a sweet old lady where a restroom was. She said didn't know because she wasn't from there (which seemed like an odd excuse), and she said we should ask the priest was just walking in the door. So, she asked the priest, and he looked a little confused and asked how many of us there were. I wasn't quite sure what our numbers had to do with the bathroom, but I said, "I'm with a group of five, but I'm the only one who needs the restroom." He had me follow him outside where he started saying it was kind of late, but there might a place in this or that direction that was open and would accommodate us...I was feeling very confused and wondering why he wouldn't just accommodate and me and let me use the restroom, and as he continued talking I realized that we didn't seem to be talking about the same thing. So I told him I was just looking for a toilet, not a restaurant. He looked a little confused (apparently they don't use the word restroom at all in Dublin), and he showed me to the toilet. Meanwhile, the group of guys were watching and trying to figure out why the priest first took me outside. After that, we went and got some food at Tesco, ate, and went to bed because we were all exhausted.
Thursday, we bought tickets for our Friday day tour. We caught a bus to Bray. In our attempt to find the ocean, we wandered into this pathway that had a random bridge that wasn't connected to everyone and appeared to be where the local teenagers go to party. Then we ate lunch at another pub that was quite delicious. After lunch, we found the beach, which we walked along. It led us to this path along the side of a hill along the the beach. We hiked up the trail as a group for a couple of hours, and then Jason, Allan, and Christian headed back while Richie and I continued up the trail to Greystones (a small city). In Greystones, Richie and I found a real beach (with more sand and considerably less gravel). Off in the distance, we could see this awesome looking tree on this ledge hanging over the ocean. When we got there, it was very disappointing. It wasn't all near the beach, and it wasn't even just one tree. Anyway, we caught a bus from Greystones back to Bray, and then to Dublin. Richie and I at wraps at O'Briens that were pretty yummy, and then we walked through Trinity college. We stopped at a store and got a small thing of ice cream that we shared on our way back to the hostel and finished eating at the tables in the lobby, talked, and looked at pictures. When I got back to my room, my German roommate decided to talk to me for a bit, and then I crashed.
We got up early Friday morning to catch the bus for our day tour. Our bus driver was fun, but she wasn't handsome with a sexy accent like the other tour's pamphlet promised...bummer. Our first stop was a gas station for a pit stop...that was where my belt broke, and I still have yet to buy a new one. It's okay, my pants only feel like they're going to fall off when I bend over, and luckily I brought lots of undershirts. Driving through the Irish countryside was amazing! Ireland really is covered with rolling fields of green and fences made of stone. I loved it! The next stop was at the cliffs of Moher. You may know them as the cliffs of insanity from The Princess Bride. They were amazing! There was a castle far off in the distance that I was very excited about. I took lovely pictures with the castle in. When I got to the castle...I discovered that totally not legit. It was just a gift shop built for tourists, so they could make you pay to go to the top. Lame. Talk about ruining all of my pictures! It was like the tree on the beach all over again. However, the cliffs were still amazing and beautiful. Then the bus took us to lunch at yet another pub, where I got some seafood chowder that was absolutely delicious. The next stop was the burren thing...I didn't really understand what it was, but I took pictures! I think it was some sort of burial site. Anyway, then we went to an Abby. Drove past a castle, and made our way back to Dublin. Where we ate dinner at this fairly cheap sandwich type place and headed back to the Hostel.
Saturday, we slept in a wee bit and then made our way to the Malahide castle. We took a tour of the castle and walked around the grounds. Then we came back to Dublin and had lunch at Gallagher's Boxty House. I got corned beef and cabbage that was to die for! I loved it. We walked through Trinity College and stopped to watch some cricket. A nice old British man came over to explain the game to us be kept commenting on how it didn't make any sense. I still didn't quite get it. Then we found the hyperbolic crochet coral reef exhibit. It was pretty neat, but I didn't understand the math part. After that we went a park where we just chilled for the next several hours until it was time to head to the airport. At the airport as we were walking to our gate, Christian and I saw the most hilarious thing. There was a clothing shop with manikins out front modeling underwear. This curious little girl walked over the female manikin, stuck her hand in the elastic of the underwear, and peeked inside. Then she did the same to the male manikin. It was so funny! Anyway, our flight landed at about 11pm, but it took us about 3 hours to get home because of the tube station closed and bus craziness. So, I got back to the flat and waited for my computer to boot up, so I could email Rodger to let him know we were safe, and that was pretty much the end of our Ireland adventure.

V & A and my Birthday!

I have been neglecting my blog...I apologize. Last Monday, I went back to the Dutch pancake restaurant for 5 pound pancake Monday. It was so good! Then Brianna and I went to the Victoria and Albert Museum (A.K.A The V & A). This has been my favorite museum so far because it has points with hands on learning activities geared towards children...and me. When I get bored of looking at museum stuff, there are fun things to do, and then I'm ready to go back to looking at things! Yay! Then I came home and wrote my paper, so I didn't have to write it on my Birthday.
Tuesday was my Birthday! They sang happy birthday to me in class. Then we came home, and everyone was writing their papers...but Brianna and I went Holland Park after she finished hers. The park was beautiful. It reminded me of Grandma Ona's house in Ohio. Then we came back and Christian, Jason, Melissa, Allan, Brianna, and I went to Byron's to get "proper hamburgers" for my Birthday. A delicious hamburger really all I wanted, and a delicious hamburger was what I got. They also had this nice little mural on the wall that reminded me of home. It had drawings of cows and farmers...and a cow pie that was labeled as "still warm". Then we all went to The Real Thing for class. I really liked the play, but I did not like the actress who played Annie. That was really obnoxious. After the play, I came home, called my family, and packed my backpack for Ireland!
P.S. Brianna got candles, but we didn't have time because of the play and travel weekend and such, so more Birthdayness should be soon to come!

More London Adventures!

Wednesday, Brianna and I went to the Science museum after class. I learned all kinds of things about medicine, old scientific tools, and plastic. I also used the restroom (or toilet as they call them here in London), and it had the little girl symbol with the letter WC next to it. "What does that mean?" I thought. When I went inside, there were tons of women with children, so I decided it meant it was a bathroom for women and children. I thought that was a pretty cool idea. Then yesterday I overheard Martha telling someone the WC stood for Water Closet, and she laughed at me when I told her what I had thought it meant. Anyway, the museum was pretty cool, and I'll probably go back and check out some more exhibits. That evening we all wen to see Taking Steps. It was hilarious! We had read the play for class and talked about, so we all got every single one of the jokes and were super responsive. We talked to the cast afterward, and they said we were the best audience yet. They could tell there was something up because we did seem to catch every single one of the jokes. They thought it was great.
Thursday, a bunch of us went to breakfast at this dutch pancake house up the street. The food was so good. I got a banana waffle (waffles with bananas on top), and it was super yummy. The girls who got panacakes lucked out, though. They were huge! I hope to go back and get one in the future. Then we went to the Tate Modern, which is a modern art museum. It was okay. I couldn't help but think that it wasn't classy at all. They just had big white rooms that looked mostly bare, and it was difficult to to tell which text panels went where. I expected it to be so much more class than the MOA, especially because they have paintings from such famous artists, but it was far from it. Not to mention, I felt like I was work the whole time. I couldn't help but look for cameras and watch the security guards. It also really bugged me to watch people breaking rules and not be able to do anything about it. I was very jealous that the guards got to sit down, but I didn't feel like they did much good there. It was really weird going into the gift shop and finding some of the same things the MOA shop has. Afterward, we walked next door and went on a Shakespeare tour at the globe. The greasy gay guy was our tour guide. He was very nice and very passionate about the Globe and Shakespeare. I did find it strange that he referred to "we" every time he talked The Globe's (the new one, not the original) past. After the tour, we went to the Borough Market again and walked around. When we got bored of that, we walked over to St. Paul's and sat reading on the steps. Next was Marks & Spencer to buy some delicious chocolate and gums (gummies). Then we walked down some streets and eventually back to the Globe where we watched a touring show of A Midsummer Night's Dream. I did not like it. The idea was awesome, but not well acted. As Jason said, the only nice thing about the show was Puck's butt. The problem is, Puck was women, so her butt doesn't really do me much good. Some people did like the show though, and I'm really glad that they did. The audience seemed to enjoy it as well, but I was just mostly annoyed.
Today, I just kind of relaxed. I slept in. I did my laundry. I talked to some friends. I went to Hyde Park with a friend from the UVU study abroad, and we walked all over the park. Then I went and watched Pride and Prejudice with my roommate and the girls upstairs. I had never seen it before...and I still haven't seen the ending. The DVD started having issues. I'm not that upset, and I may never watch the end. I didn't particularly care for it.

I love to see the temple

Today we got up bright and early and all climbed onto a bus. We traveled a couple of hours on the bus to the temple. They only accommodate half of us in the baptistery at a time, the other half of us waited in the guest room for a couple of hours until the first group was finished. I did get up and take a walk around the the beautiful grounds for a small amount time, but I stayed mostly inside because it was super cold. This was definitely a new experience as far as baptisms go for me, but that's really all I'm going to say about that. It was good. I ate at the temple cafe afterward, and I got a delicious salmon meal for like 4.50 pounds. It was so good! I was the last to be baptized, so naturally, I was the last to get my food. Lance said something about them just waiting for me and how dainty I was when eating, which made me feel like I was being slow. So, I picked up the pace, and I finished before Rodger did. Then I was a little sad that I hadn't taken the time to enjoy my yummy salmon more, but it was still good.After we made the trek home, I had a snack (I feel like whenever I'm at the flat, all I want to do is eat), and Brianna and I to the National History Museum where we saw all kinds of cool things. Tomorrow, we are going the National Science Museum, which I hear is even better. I'm so very excited! Then I came home and got distracted until I finally wrote my paper. We'll see how it turned out....

P.S. I found this giant bird skeleton at the museum, and the bird is called a moa. It made me think of work. However, the moa is extinct, so I hope I still have a job!

So...I have been delinquent. I apologize. Saturday I hung out at the flat and did homework for quite a while, and then I went to the Imperial War Museum with Jason, Christian, and Brianna. It was pretty sweet. I really enjoyed the super old double decker bus, the spy like items (like different kinds of bugs and such), and the little submarine world type thing. I got to lay in a little tiny submarine bed. I would definitely role out that bed. We got fish and chips and this little restaurant, and they were quite delicious. Then we caught a show a The National Theatre. It was called "Love the Sinner." The show was okay. I loved the first act, but wasn't so much a fan of the second act. It was a new play and seemed to be missing something, but I did like the idea.
Sunday, I went to church, and they had a munch and mingle afterward. I had no idea family wards had those, by the way. I went home, and took a nap, and pretty much just hung out. We had our fireside at 7:30, and it lasted forever. But, they brought these really delicious yogurt things for dessert. They were so good, I bought a package when I was grocery shopping this morning. Anyway, then I called the fam and wished my mom a happy Mother's Day. My brother informed me that our neighbor asked him if we were separated and getting a divorce...Justin awkwardly informed him that were brother and sister, and I was in London. Hilarious. That's all I have to say about that.
Today, I was so proud of myself. I got up and went grocery shopping before class! I bought lots of yummy things like digestives, lemon curd, and the yogurt things I mentioned above. Then during class, all I wanted to do was go home and eat my food. I've succeeded in eating much of it throughout the day. Digestives are really good in milk, P.S. I went with some girls to go see Lion King...not! Apparently Lion King doesn't play on Mondays...who'd a thunk it? We ended up just going to eat at this place called Itsu. I got some really delicious soup called detox, which I assumed had to have some sort of fancy pronunciation, and Hannah looked at me like I was an idiot when I asked her how to pronounce it. Sometimes I just like to make things too complicated. :)