Remember that time....no big deal. *Pisa*

 Friday, April 22nd:
starting off: Plane from Paris to Pisa....bus and last glimpse of the Eiffel Tower...getting there early for coffee and French pastries/quiche first (sigh...I'm going to miss them).

Hey Kelsey, remember that time that mean Easyjet French lady made me check the size of my carry-on suitcase, finding it too large and making me pay a 50 euro fee? Remember that time I've taken it on planes before and they didn't care? Remember that time Amy got so upset she may have actually sworn and we had to listen to Jesus music on the plane ride?

No big deal.

Turns out...our entire Spring break was full of these fond "Remember that time..." memories. lol...the Gods just don't like it when Kelsey and Amy travel together I guess. Well...we have definitely had some adventures. We could write a book...for realz.

From Pisa, saying adieu to the twin soccer boys (lol, Kelsey and I took a liking to Italian coffee this week), we found our way fairly easily to the Leaning Tower by bus. Then we proceeded to lug our rolly suitcases around for about 5 hours. No big deal.

• dodged the annoying souvenir guys 
• It was sunny when we arrived
• smallish, pretty city
• rich and rustic yellow and orange buildings
• beautiful white ornate architecture...
• and the Tower truly was Leaning! It looked like it was built on a significant hill....Kels and I tried to figure out why...stupid people I guess. :) (speaks the ignorant one)
• Everyone with their "holding it up" pictures...or...the other kind. *ahem* I opted to bump into it with my rear. Ooooops. :)
• SO many souvenir tents...
• decided NOT to pay the money to climb the tower or enter the baptistery 
• Pizza in Pisa! ham and mushroom....delicious! And our nice Italian singing waiter. lol
• still dragging our suitcases
• inside the cathedral...pretty impressive I guess. ;)
• Random marching band...no big deal
• "Take a picture of me holding it on my lap"...."Ummm...no". lol
• Slices of fresh coconut may sound good. But really...not. haha
• wasn't so sunny anymore by the time we left
• Buses in Pisa might be a little confusing...but not as confusing as the Italian time schedule. They're not very good at signs...or being on time. When we finally found where the bus to take us to Florence was supposed to pick us up, it was about half an hour late.
• beautiful mountainous drive. Got to see some Italian countryside as the sun set. :)

AND Florence!! from our stop at the train station we followed the directions through the night-lit city to our hostel. PlusFlorence. And a really nice hostel at that!! Kelsey and I had our own room, own bathroom, free wifi, cheap breakfast, sauna and turkish bath (well, not that to ourselves but)....um, Yes!! We only had some trouble with the internet at times and getting our key to work...but other than that, few problems for having to stay there four nights. :)

Hungry we found a place still open on Via Nazionale for more pizza. Salami pizza. Good stuff. We really liked the place too...greeted by the cook and got to watch him make the pizzas. "Buon giorno!" :)

Buon giorno. Ciao. Prego. and Grazie became our common words...since they were the only Italian words we knew. lol. Actually...I almost said Grazie a couple times when I got back to London because I had said it so often in Italy.

Easter is coming...the Bunny's getting fat.

Tuesday, April 12th:
The night of our London Eye flight!
Even the walk there was very pretty...with the sun setting and casting a golden glow on Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. Beautiful!
It took half and hour to ride the giant wheel...but the view was gorgeous. :)
Except...I was kind of in one of those moods where I didn't want to be around a lot of people that night...the only thing that hindered me from having a great time.

Got up early Wednesday morning because I was convinced my friends from Wales were arriving that day. Miscommunication? No...I just misheard. lol

They arrived Thursday. :)

Thursday, April 14th:

After class...and after I had finished writing a paper, I joined Molly and Shawn at Regent's Park to go to the Sherlock Holmes' Museum! It was basically a house set up as what their home would have looked like. It was kind of neat though. One of the workers had the job of dressing up like Sherlock and letting tourists take pictures with him. haha!

We then decided to go for a stroll through Regent's Park...and saw a lot of groups of plants with names on signs. I'm still confused as to what the signs were....?

We hurried over to the Laughing Halibut to get some fish and chips...but they only had "take away." So we had to eat it in Vandon House...and had a TON of leftover chips.

And I can't remember if it was this night or the next that we watched Notting Hill on my computer, a wonderfully cheesy movie with Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts. I had never seen it before and I squealed when I recognized Portobello Road and market! :)

Sherlock Holmes Museum

Friday, April 15th: 

Brighton Day Trip!
I was really out of it for some reason this day. Once again...not wanting to be around a lot of people...and not wanting to do anything actually. I think I was just tired of always being on the move, I would have rather stayed in London and slept. lol...
Kind of just didn't care about anything. Going with the flow. And for me...that's not normal. :)
It ended up being a really nice trip though!

We took our train to Brighton and our first stop was an old King's Palace...getaway of sorts.
The most exotic palace I've ever seen. This Royal liked to please his guests!
"Royal Pavilion - this iconic building was home to King George IV in the early 19th century. It was designed by architect John Nash (who also designed Regents Park), and is extravagantly decorated in the Chinoiserie style."
We couldn't take pictures inside...but I assure you, it was really cool. Very extravagant, no inch of space wasn't decorated somehow...a lot of Gold and Bamboo. :)

Most people had already left by the time I finished walking through. So I ended up going with Megan and Jake. lol...I felt like such a tag-along.
We walked over and saw the pebbly beach and Brighton Pier (carnival-like..."funfair rides, arcades, and candy floss"...the British term for cotton candy), and the seafront. Except it was so cloudy that the color of the sea mixed with the sky...making it all look like one big white sheet. lol.
Oh...and this is where I also got paint on my coat from leaning on the rail. It's not my fault. There was NO "wet paint" sign anywhere in sight. I had no warning. :(

Found a place to eat near the beach that had a free salad bar with our meal. I got bangers and mash (sausages and mashed potatoes) and a banana shake (more like flavored milk...meh).
The bangers and mash really wasn't that great. The sausage was awful...I wasn't too surprised.
So...I only ate the potatoes and gravy and maybe half a sausage.
In the States this wouldn't be a problem. I ordered it at my own risk...knowing I'd pay for it if I liked it or not. But apparently it's different here?
Our waitress came and asked Megan (who ordered the same thing and also didn't like it) why she didn't eat her sausages. Megan told her that it was her first time trying it and wasn't super hungry. But when she asked me I flat out told her I didn't care for it.
lol...sometimes I'm too honest. But, well...she asked!
She made a fuss about it saying if she had known it was our first time trying it...she would have told us to order something else.
?
So when she brought us the check she said she had talked to the manager and the cook had done nothing wrong. But because we didn't like the food...the gave us a half-off discount!
Megan and I were shocked! It was unecessary...definitely something that wouldn't happen to us in the States unless we made a point to complain...which we hadn't, at all! I may have spoken my mind...but I was still willing to pay for my food!
Idk...it was just odd. But...half-off! Yes please!!
To top it off...their credit card machines weren't working...so they were going to take off the fee it took for us to get money from the ATM.
The cash machine though...of course...didn't accept our cards.
So they just wrote down the information from one of our cards and let us go.
Wow. So that was like...10 pounds off our whole meal? lol!
Quite the experience in itself.
As we left our waitress grumbled to us about how she doesn't know why she stays and puts up with this company.
haha!

We went back down to the beach for a little while to walk by the water.
Plus, the sun had come out!!
I collected some shells and was taking pictures when a little boy swimming through the rocks on his belly right next to my feet scared the poo out of me! haha! He looked like he was about 10 years old too...so it was twice as funny. "What a big child?!!" :)

it was that boy in the blue shirt

Megan and Jake had to catch a train back to London...so I met up with Mary, Megan, and Kaylee on the North Lanes shopping streets.These streets were narrow...but they had the cutest, quirkiest shops ever!! I loved it.
We browsed through some shops for awhile and then stopped at a tea room for our afternoon tea and scones. :) Mmm. I'm going to bring those to the States!!!
We ate at a table outside...It was lovely, the sun in our faces. :) The three boys joined us later and we had some jokes about what Spencer and my babies will look like. haha! It all started when I saw an adorable girl with red curls skip by and I said I wanted redheaded babies. Spencer, however, thought I said "I'm ready to have babies."
yea...see how the jokes came about now? lol. Mind you...Spencer is our lone black man in the program...so it made the jokes even funnier. ;) haha!

Took a train back to London and I met up with Molly and Shawn at Trafalgar Square.
Fished the day browsing through the National Gallery for awhile. Saw some Monet, Manet, Van Gogh, and Rousseau. Good stuff. :) I can't believe I haven't been to that section of the Gallery yet!!

Saturday, April 16th:

Molly, Shawn, and I went on a Daytrip: Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, and Oxford.

We met at the crowded Golden Tours office near Victoria coach station and were on our way...

First stop: Windsor.

Our tour guide was a funny man. Serious, dry humor, short, and he carried around a giant yellow umbrella (about as tall as himself) for us to see and follow. haha! We also discovered that his original language is Welsh when Molly guessed what language he spoke in to us. Of course...he loved Molly and Shawn after that when they told him they're studying in Wales, his home country. :)

Turns out....only have an hour to see Windsor castle is NOT enough.
Who'd've thunk?
It was a very pretty castle. The Queen's residence. Depending on which flag is flown, we could tell if she was in the castle that day or not. Unfortunately, she was not there. :( Probably helping to get ready for the Royal Wedding. :)
We saw the Queen's (Mary's?) Dollhouse. An intricate and incredibly accurate miniature Castle...Windsor castle!! So even though we couldn't see the Queen's residential rooms...we saw the mini version. I was amazed at the fine detail! I used to love building my own dollhouses. And they still fascinate me. :) I would have loved to have a dollhouse like that when I was young! lol

Saw some random Leonardo sketches in a gallery...
Then walked through the State Rooms.
Extravagant
Beautiful!
We took our time gazing at the general splendor when Shawn pointed out the time.
We were shocked to realize we only had twenty minutes left. We had just arrived!!
So we had to hurry through the rest of the rooms and make our way back to the bus.
Still making time to get postcard souvenirs and some fudge for Amy. :)
Definitely not enough time there. It should be a daytrip in itself! We didn't even see a fourth of the castle...and nothing of the grounds!! :(

Next stop: Stonehenge.
I didn't think I would like it because I've heard it basically just a small group of rocks.
But I loved it!
Sure, it's nothing compared to the ancient Pyramids...but how a small group of farmers could have gathered the stones from distant lands and built such a thing fascinated me!
The theory is that these farmers used the place to meet for worship....and then the Romans had to come and destroy part of it so they wouldn't start an uprising or something.
Sheep
Pretty yellow patches of flowers
Rock with a Lion Face
Heart picture

Moving right along...Oxford!
I had already been on the walking tour of Christ Church, so I didn't want to pay for it again.
But now I kind of wish I had...because I ended up just walking the shopping streets for awhile trying to find things to do. I went over to the Eagle and Child, Tolkien and C.S. Lewis' pub...but I was too scared to go inside by myself since Molly and Shawn were on the tour. Come on. It looked dark in there and the only people I could see were men with pointy teeth. lol
So I just took a picture, grabbed some mint chip ice cream from the place next door...and ran. ha!
Another ice cream kick. I had two mint chips that day. *blushes* :)
Went into some old bookstores to try and find a copy of Alice and Wonderland, since I was in the town where it was written. But they were all so expensive. : /
All in all...it was a good day. Wish we'd have more time at some places. But oh well. :)

Sunday, April 17th: 

Kind of a crappy day. One of those days when every little thing seems to go wrong...and it adds up to one big thing.

Planned on going to Westminster Cathedral that morning for church...and Palm Sunday.

But soon after stepping out the door we realized there was a big miscommunication. They were going to the Abbey...not the Cathedral. Arg! I could have still gone with them...but the plan was to go to the Cathedral because I still had not been inside it.

So I ended up going to the London Marathon over by Buckingham all dressed up with a group of girls. haha! It was really cool though, besides sitting on a rail in my skirt so long my feet went numb. lol

It was neat seeing everyone cheering for the runners. My boss from my internship was even in it...but I didn't see him run. 

We were close to the finish line!! I only saw a few of the wheelchairs and elite women go by before I left to go get some lunch though.

I walked over to find the place with Turkish crepes...someone had put it on the suggestion wall...but sure enough, I walked all the way over there and it wasn't open. Go figure. So I had to go back to Vandon to make something to eat then spent some time in my room...but could not focus on anything.

Marathon

I needed to get away. Away from the Vandon House drama. Away from my room. Away from the constant hustle and bustle and noise. Away from people...the crazy crowds from the marathon. Away from the city...so I could be in nature and have some God time.

Finding a place like that in London though...when the marathon is happening...good luck!

I purposefully went to Hyde Park, the biggest park in London...to sit on the grass and be still. Yet there were people everywhere. I found a place somewhat secluded, but there were still people nearby and noise...always noise. Guh. London is nice, but quiet-time days are essential for me...and for this reason, I could not live in this city permanently. 

I did manage to get some reading, praying, and journaling done. But it wasn't without difficulty focusing.

I walked back to Vandon House...passed Buckingham Palace. There was a black woman standing with signs that said the people of England want a Blonde Princess because she'd best represent the countries genetics. Um...what? Couldn't tell if she was kidding or not. It was odd...Nazi-like. : /

My spot in the park

So I got back to Vandon and thought pancakes sounded good. Got out the mix my mom left me and added water like she said. Complete failure! They didn't cook normally....pale and crepe-like, besides the fact that Vandon's pans are pieces of rubbish and I could hardly flip them anyway. And then they tasted weird...not like my mommy's pancakes. :( I couldn't figure out the problem by the time we had to leave to go to the night service at Westminster Cathedral (with Mary and Kaylee, since I couldn't go that morning). So I had to put saran wrap on the batter to save for later...going to church without supper. yay.

I had never been to a Catholic service before. 

It was...interesting...

The Cathedral was absolutely gorgeous inside!!! I need to go back and take pics before I leave. Along with a million other things. lol

Some of the traditional sayings and gestures struck me as odd. The whole bow thing before you sit? Idk...I grew up in a different Christian tradition...and from what I observed, some of the practices were just something they do because they've always done it. Does that make sense? Like...it doesn't have meaning anymore, it's just habit?

I'm not judging the Catholic church. Because...all things and little traditions and arguments aside...they also believe that Jesus died and rose again to save us. :) We have our own quirks in my own denomination...I'm sure. :) So quick to point out the faults of others...no church is perfect. 

Anyways. We each got a little leaf off a Palm tree and there was a scripture reading.

I really liked how they did the readings. At times the whole congregation read a part...usually the "crowd's" part. And there were some priests (?) assigned to read the other parts. It was like story time!...and since it was a very long gospel reading...it made it so much more interesting. :)

One of the things that upset me though, is that my friends wouldn't let me take communion. And I really wanted to!! When I asked them later they said it is because I believe it's only symbolic but they believe it is the actual body and blood...so they couldn't let me take it. Like I would contaminate it or I wasn't good enough for the "real stuff" or something. I don't know...that's how I felt anyway. We may believe different things...but I still wanted to take communion! I haven't had it since Christmas break. Plus...on top of all the little failures I had experienced that day...this was the straw that broke the camel's back. 

We got back to Vandon, and I tried...again without success...to fix those dang pancakes!! Finally ended up skyping with my mom...crying...asking her what I was doing wrong. haha! Poor mom...I probably worried her to death. She told me to add and egg and make Frenchy toasty...so I did the next day and they weren't bad. :) lol

Quite the day. I guess you need those every once and awhile to cherish the good days even more. :)

Quick rest of the week before I flew to Paris to join Kelsey for our Spring Break adventure:

• sun bathing at the internship...blanket on the grass outside...James' kiddos jumping on the trampoline...little naked elves...and strawberry ice lollies. :)
• Sent out a load of postcards
• The cleaning crew left me the most comfortable pillow in the world
• I got a package from home! First and only time I've received mail here! Lovely chocolate bars for Easter. :)
• Cabinet War rooms on Thursday...field trip for class. Pretty neat...hideout government rooms during world war 2...lot about Winston Churchill.
• My roommate saw the QUEEN when the left the War rooms!! SO JEALOUS! Random sighting too!
• Packing
• Paris! Weird to go back in warmer weather...and recognize places! :)

Next up: Spring Break!!

~Merely Mortal~

Completely, and perfectly, and incadescently happy...

Saturday, April 9th:
Thus begins our Pride and Prejudice weekend adventure!!! And the best weekend of my Study Abroad...well, it made the top of the list at least. :)

Mandy and I got up early and took a train from Euston out to Chesterfield in Derbyshire county (pronounced Darbysure)...not really knowing what we were going to do from there. But it turned out fine...we got a taxi from there to Chatsworth House....cheaper than it would have been to take a bus anyway, and our driver Joe was very nice and took it upon himself to be our personal guide. lol.
My first time ever taking a taxi!
As we were driving we got more and more excited, because the small town and country roads were so pretty!
We came around the corner and saw the house! Mr. Darcy's House!!
....all boarded up. :( :( :(
The side that Lizzy first sees...when she stands up in the carriage and laughs....and also the side with the stairs that she frantically runs down after Mr. Darcy catches her staring....ALL boarded up with scaffolding. :(
Apparently they're doing some cleaning/restoration. Which is great...just not for us. lol
So that was a bummer...obviously.

 There were a lot of tents set up outside as well because of some food festival. So there were a lot more people there than there would normally be.
We paid for admission to the house and walked into the room with stairs that Lizzy first sees...with the checkered floor and beautifully painted ceiling that she stares up at! Yup...got plenty of pictures there.
Continuing on we happened upon the Veiled Statue that she looks at in the sculpture gallery in the movie! Except it was in a separate darkly lit room.
"Veiled Vestel Virgin" by Raffaelle Monti. It looked just as amazing as it does in the movie...that seemingly see-through marble veil!

We walked through the rest of the house as well before coming to the sculpture gallery/garden.
AHHH!!! I was there! So cool! We walked the same footsteps as Lizzy and gazed at the same sculptures. And you know me...sculptures are my favorite kind of art to look at. :) It was wonderful!
We found out later that Mr. Darcy's head sculpture (proper term: bust) was in the gift shop...but we didn't see him. :(

yes. We are perfectly aware that we are silly romantic dorks. :)
After leaving we chatted with some of the workers to find the best route to get to Stanage Edge...the cliffs Lizzy stands on looking perfectly distraught.  We ended up calling our taximan Joe to come take us...since it was too far a walk...and we weren't dressed like "ramblers." :)
But we had time to walk around and see the grounds. Gardens, fountains, the maze, stones, and sculptures. It was really a very pretty place. We even discovered that the "fake" sounding bird call that you hear in the movie isn't so fake after all. We heard it. And I tracked it down. :) It's a pheasant, and a beautifully colored one at that.
We wanted to take pictures in front of the pond that Lizzy sees...but alas, that side of the house was boarded up too. So sad.

Well...we got our whippy cones (vanilla ice cream that tastes more like cool whip...and very good) and Joe met us out front. Poor guy had to wait for me to finish my ice cream before we could move on. But we had fun chatting with him. Rough and tough Joe. lol, but he was very nice and helpful...should have gotten a picture with him. He didn't seem like he had much else to do that day but tote us around. haha...whoops. I don't know if he gets much business though...small town and everything. We probably gave him a thrill. lol. He told us all about the spiral steeple on one of the churches...he insisted that it was all Chesterfield had to offer...but we objected strongly. :)
Joe didn't know what Stanage Edge was...he insisted that Stanage had "nothing there but an outcrop of rocks." Which...is kind of what we were going for. lol. He even had us stop at some pub with a Boy Scouts leader outside reading a map and we discussed with her the best cliffs to see...and she directed us somewhere totally different. So we relented and let Joe drive us there...but it was worth it in the end and Mandy and I are convinced that it had to have been the location used in the movie.
Just driving up to it was beautiful...pasture lands and their beloved stone fences/walls scattered everywhere. We got up to the cliffs and walked out to them...

Breathtaking!!! No words!

The cliff edge ran in each direction from us....dropping to a valley and pastures below...the town far in the distance. Patches of blue peeked out from the gathered clouds...vibrant greens. The wind whipping our hair and clothes. Perfect.
We stood in awe...and I collapsed to the ground in praise. lol
"Can you die of happiness?"
We proceeded to take picture after picture...trying our best to capture the moment and recreate the image of Lizzy standing at the edge. Hands raised in wonder and awe at God's creation. And also the best jumping picture in the world. :) I got air!!
Our faces were red and windblown...but we didn't care...we could have stayed there for hours soaking in the scenery. Oh, and I'm sure passersby got a kick out of us and our picture taking. "Here comes the entertainment"
Before grudgingly going back to meet Joe, I found a rock that reminded me of Pride Rock from the Lion King. So I grabbed a shrub to use as Simba...and pretended I was Rafikki holding him in the air and Mandy took a picture of me. But it looks nothing like the Lion King...it just looks poetic. haha!

Joe took us back to the train station...but we had some free time still. So we walked over to the spiral steepled church that Joe told us about and I got a refreshing mango icy from Costa before going back.
What a wonderful day!! We walked Persuasion , one of the worst filmed movies I've ever seen...and the most awkward kiss EVER...before going to bed. haha! I don't know if Jane Austen would have been very proud of this filmed rendition of her novel. :)

Sunday, April 10th: 

Day two of P&P adventures

Well it started off with a scare when the ticket machine went Out of Order halfway through printing our train tickets. Also...thank you to whoever was the jerk that poured soda in the ticket machine so that our tickets got all sticky. Fantastic!

We ran through the train station to the info desk to make sure we had all our tickets. But of course...it was fine and we got on our train to Salisbury. 

It was on this trainride that I realized...even though I had charged my camera batter all night so it was ready for the best day ever...I had forgotten to put the battery in my camera.

So I was camera-less for the day. First time it has happened since I've been here...and something I've tried to prevent. But of course...it just HAD to happen to me on the most gorgeous day of my Study Abroad experience. 

I was not happy! I felt like I had lost an arm or something. 

Sigh...I eventually got over it though. It was kind of nice being able to fully experience something rather than be behind a lens half the time. And I was secure knowing that Mandy takes artistic photos from angles that I myself would also choose.

From Salisbury we took about a 45 minute bus ride to another train station. It was a gorgeous drive though...and makes me wish I would have had time to visit Salisbury. Beautiful medieval city and the countryside was gorgeous with cobbled houses and thatch roofs scattered everywhere!!

Then only a 10 minute train to our stop...I can't remember the name of the town at this time. Shame...I know. :)

We took another taxi. Our man's name was Stan today...and he was another rough and tough guy with a friendly side...like Joe. Long hair and balding, Stan dropped us off at the pub nearby Chatsworth house.

Before starting our walk, we had cream tea and scones with clotted cream and jam (of course) at this pub. My least favorite scones...they were more like biscuits. lol...oh well. The service was very friendly and there were some people decorating for a wedding reception later in the day.

We found the place to get tickets and maps to the Stourhead gardens (we didn't end up needing to buy tickets after all...no one collected them from us...arg, oh well...we just contributed to keeping the grounds beautiful I guess).

So our two mile walk through Eden began!! :)

Purple wall flowers and gorgeous tulips. We missed Tulip Time in Pella...so we got our pictures next to them. haha!
Around the bend there it was!! Mr. Bingley's house at Netherfield!!! (Chatsworth house).
Okay okay...so it wasn't the actual manor house they used in the film...but it looked almost exactly like it!! We were very excited. Took our pictures going up the stairs to the Ball and looking out at the carriage leaving. The house was beautiful despite our connections with the movie! I could totally live there...and someday I will. :)
We didn't pay the entrance to go into the house...knowing we would probably be disappointed since it wasn't the actual house used. We did find an entrance to the basement though...with a children's room and dress up clothes. *wink wink* Can't resist that!! We proceeded to try things on and take silly photos wearing bonnets, aprons, and little boy coats. haha! It's gonna be the next trend. :)

After checking out the stables..."George, the horses are dead!"...we walked on the grass, off the beaten trail, around to the backside of the house. Don't know if we were supposed to do that or not...but oh well. Even the gardens and back of the house were lovely! I had a hard time walking away...so I walked backwards. lol
We got back on the trail and saw it in the distance...our first glimpse of the Temple of Apollo!! But for us it was the scene of the first proposal in the rain!!
But we didn't actually get there for another two hours or so. haha! It's a good thing we decided to spend all day at these gardens...just the right amount of time. :)

We walked over and saw the memorial...similar to the Washington monument..and further along the trail we stopped for lunch by the lake...a view of the Pantheon across from us.
Beautiful flowers and trees in bloom...and scattered signs with appropriate quotes on them by some Pope. We sat on a tree stump and watched the baby ducks while enjoying our mystery meat ham/turkey sandwiches. lol. I believe I even got a little sunburnt...it was very sunny and warm...but SO so lovely!!
The path brought us around the lake...through some VERY tall trees.
Eden.
The ultimate garden and park!! I'm satisfied. lol. I had a goal to visit all the parks in London...but after Stourhead gardens...I kind of lost that desire. haha!

our lunch spot

HUGE trees

We had one of the silliest moments here. Correction...I did.
We saw a tree that had a perfect spot to sit on and take pictures...however the climb looked slippery for shoes with no grip...I decided to try climbing it anyway.
Mandy gave me a boost to I could grab the limb and pull myself up.
Well, I got my arms around the limb...but if I moved my feet and legs...I knew I would slip.
So there I was stuck, holding onto this branch...in the feet position...and I couldn't stop laughing!!
I probably could have pulled myself up...but you know how sometimes you laugh so hard that you lose all strength. Yea...that was me...so I didn't have strength to finish the climb. Heck! I could hardly even breathe I was laughing to hard!!...couldn't speak either to ask Mandy for help.
So what did Mandy do? She started pushing my butt up...which of course made me laugh even harder!
Finally got up and I just sat there laughing for a few minutes. Mandy tried to take pictures...but what had just happened kept playing over in my head and I had intervals of giggles! The people walking by had some free entertainment for sure! One walking by had even said they wished they'd had a camera because they'd win a prize for it. LOL!!

so there I am...cracking up

So then, after the grotto, a stone bridge picture session, a cottage, and a cute small Pantheon with plaster statues inside...we made it to the Temple of Apollo!!

I still can't quite wrap my mind around it.
We were there!!
The same steps as Lizzy and Darcy in the movie.
One of my favorite scenes!!
...a confession of love...a proposal. But also the culmination of two pride and prejudiced personalities clashing.
"I have struggled in vain and I can bear it no longer..."
I was there!!
Complete and utter awe. lol...I could help but stand around staring this way and that...taking in every angle, gawking...speechless.
Sometimes you have moments like that. When you dream something but then it actually becomes reality....your response?
"...I love you...most ardently"
Surreal.
The film lines played in our heads.
Pictures. :) I was convinced that Lizzy was leaning against one of the pillars...but no (discovered this after we returned to London), Mandy was right, she leaned against the wall...out of breath from running across the bridge! The bridge we saw next!!
It had grass on it...odd. Silly picture running "across" nearby...since we weren't allowed to walk on it. Sad. I know.

Eeeeee!!!

gawking in awe

Before waiting for our man Stan to pick us up and bring us back to the train station...we hung around the adorable wedding reception outside the pub we sat in earlier like creepers...and walked around the cemetery and old church. We'd like to pretend it was the church Lizzy sat in before she ran out in the rain...but it wasn't. :) They had a cute "prayer request tree" that we wrote requests for. I now want a tree like that in our dorm room next semester. Take notes Sara. :)

So yea..
Best Weekend Ever!!!

Magnolias, Cemeteries, and Sunshine

Wednesday, April 6th:
We went to the Saatchi Gallery for art...and I really liked this art collectors quirky style. Oil floors to miniature skeletons flying on bugs to bright and colorful paintings. It was unique. Plus...the gallery was small...which was nice. And our prof let us have some time outside because it was GORGEOUS!! We went sunbathing. :) Probably the warmest day I've had in London...70's!!

After class Kristin and I ate as Wagamama...a popular Oriental food place. It was really good! I got some sort of sesame chicken with sweet pea shoots, shredded carrots and rice. Sounds kind of weird...but all together it was delicious. The sweet pea shoots added just the right amount of green. :)

Thursday, April 7th: 

After class I decided to to an assignment before Mandy got here

Assignment 6: The Villages of London - Hampstead Village

 Right when I got off the tube, I explored some of the little shopping streets nearby before following the directions. Found a cute little second hand bookstore and a ice cream place across from it...where I had to get some sherbet of course. :)

Then I walked down church row, London's finest Georgian street, and admired the Georgian house architecture before going into the graveyard of the church. I love old cemeteries and this one was particularly beautiful because all of the trees were in full bloom. Unlike our cemeteries back home where there are few trees and mainly an expanse of green...this one was overgrown with plants! It was lovely...very shaded from the sun and heat, and the petals from the blossoming magnolia trees were scattered on the gravestones. It was beautiful! Death...and also new life! I wandered around taking pictures. I did see some famous names, but since this was so long ago...I unfortunately don't remember whose names they were.

Exiting, I went up Holly Walk, turned down Mount Vernon (pausing to take pictures of the old house on the corner that was owned by Robert Louis Stevenson...and also of the street sign because I live close to a town called Mount Vernon in Iowa) and up Hampstead Grove.

It was very hot that day and the sun was beating down...so I would have loved to stop at the Holly Bush pub on Holly mount...but I don't really like going to pubs when I'm by myself. :)

Next I went up to Fenton House...built in the 17th Century. I didn't want to pay to enter the house, but I paid the 2 pounds to see the walled gardens. Lot of cut shrubs and a private vegetable and flower garden in the back...it was a nice stroll. I sat for awhile in the shade on a bench. :)

After I left I walked down Admirals walk to see the outside of the Admiral's House ("built for an admiral, but no admiral actually ever lived there"). The architectural was very naval and sea oriented....white, and ship-like.

I then meandered back to High Street. Got a little lost getting there...but that's okay because I got to see a lot of the side streets and residential areas. The buildings and feel of the place was very much like a town back home...it did indeed feel very far from Central London. Plus, it was just a gorgeous day and many people were out on their steps eating icecream and playing. I observed many youth and young families in this area...but also more older people than we see in Central London. People weren't dressed in the most fashionable clothes...it was more casual and relaxed. A place to raise families. I loved it!

When I finally got to High Street, I stopped at the Olde Sweet Shoppe and got some maple nut fudge and a mint chocolate bar to take to the park with me. :)

But before I entered the Hampstead Heath park, I found a fruit tent and bought a little box of strawberries. :) I really liked this park...it felt more natural than man-made...more like our national parks back home. There were many walking, horse, and bike trails through this natural splendor of trees, grassy green hills, and lakes. Some were even dipping into the bathing ponds because it was so warm out. Many families were out having picnics and lovers out for a stroll. sigh...lovely.

I wound through the tree-lined trails in search of Parliament Hill. I even saw a red-head boy (who looked a lot like a young Ronald Weasley) trying to walk a tightrope tight between two trees. lol!

Quite a hike to the top of Parliament Hill...but the view over London from the top was stellar! Skyscrapers and sun. :)

That night my friend from Spain arrived and I went to meet her at Victoria Coach station.

I freaked out for awhile though because I realized that when I told her to take a bus from the airport to Victoria station...I hadn't specified which station...and there are like...four Victoria stations: train, underground, and multiple coach stations and stops. So when she wasn't arriving at the coach station at the time I expected....I got very nervous. She could be anywhere waiting for me...and it was all my fault! 

I hurried from one station to another looking for her. Didn't have her phone number and even though I had given her mine, I had no idea if it would work when she tried to call me because I hadn't given her the area code thing. AHH!! I felt like Kelsey when she lost me in the Louvre...Mandy was my responsibility.

But on my way back and forth to the coach station I got a relieving call from her telling me where she was...good thing too, because she was somewhere I wouldn't have guessed. lol. She was fine, of course...hadn't experienced any of the panic I went through. lol! I was a chatterbox after that scare.

We went back to Vandon House, ran into Mat and found out some very exciting news. A couple of our good friends were getting engaged that weekend and not many people knew it was going to happen yet!! We were so excited to know about it ahead of time!! Mandy especially. :)

We then went grocery shopping and I took Mandy over to Westminster to see the Abbey, Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, and the London Eye lit up at night. :) It was gorgeous and the weather was splendid....no coat, yay!!!

Friday, April 8th:

After a big frustration earlier in the week on my part...trying to plan travel to these filming locations...Mandy happily told me that she had figured out how to get to the one I most wanted to go to. So we quickly booked a train to go on Sunday...even though we originally had wanted to go on Friday.

Instead we had a busy day of sightseeing around London...I showed her all just about everything! Our feet were so sore at the end of the day! But it was sunny and nice...in fact...the weather was GORGEOUS this entire weekend! Best "lasting" weather I've had the yet here. :)

• Buckingham Palace (the changing of the guard happened to be going on at the time...but we skipped that and instead saw the horse guards going down the street...which is just as cool if not better. :)...)
• Through St. James' Park. "Would you girls like a daisy?"...like girl reminded us of the girls in The Holiday gave us daisies. :) So cute. Second time a child has given me a flower in this Park!
• Mandy fed the squirrels peanuts. lol!
• Horse Guards arch and holding
• On to Trafalgar Square...taking pictures with the Lions (challenge climbing up there!...and the bronze was too hot to sit on...so I didn't climb the lion. haha!) and the Olympic clock (with the different times of each side...good job London. lol)
• Showed Mandy a little bit of the National Gallery...Leonardo's cartoon
• Over the Embankment Bridge and passed the London eye and carnival area with street performers
• Mandy's hilarious encounter with Donald Duck. HAHA! He (she) had just taken the costume head off and Mandy spoke to her in her Donal Duck voice...but the lady just looked at Mandy like she was crazy! We cracked up
• Walk over the bridge by Big Ben and Parliament....bagpipes playing on the bridge. "This is Parliament!! You can't come in here!!" haha...oh my father.
• Delightful fish and chips at the Laughing Halibut. I even witnessed the giant barrel of cut up potatoes they rolled in to make the chips!
• On to walk around Portobello Road and market...bought a cute green shirt and belt
• Iced coffee from Starbucks to wake us up....St. Paul's, Millenium Bridge, sunflower exhibition at Tate Modern, Shakespeare's Globe, Sir Francis Drake's Boat, Borough Market was closed...
• Ended the day by walking around the Tower of London and Tower bridge at sunset.

Buckingham Palace in Bloom

Our Daisy

Mandy feeding the squirrels

Bagpipe man!

I love these flower shops....this one was by Borough market

Off with you's head!!

Whew! busy! The daisies we pulled out of our hair and took pictures of (and that man laughing at us on the tube) were as wilted as we felt.

Supper and popcorn with melted chocolate chips as we walked Pride and Prejudice...preparing for the next day. :)