Hampton Court & Borough Market (where i ate kangaroo)

Thursday 3/25 - long schoolday - 4 classes, then my Brit Lit class went on a short field trip to Tate Britain (as in I only saw 2 rooms), Ali and i failed to get Billy Elliot tickets again, and McDonald's lunch (the best - sweet chili chicken sandwhich and creme egg mcflurry). Highlights of the day were the mcflurry and that I got to skype my mom and cassidy tonight. Went to bed too late, for the 5th night in a row. Averaging like 3 am. :( Oy.

Friday 3/26

Field trip - we took a train to Hampton Court just outside London. It was pretty and the gardens were nice, but I wasn't really impressed by the court itself. It's big and red-bricked. I must be spoiled by all the amazing places I've seen here, because King Henry VIII's palace was slightly dull to me. Not much to see inside and the court was like a maze so we kept getting lost. Some of it was too cheesy... sound effects in the kitchen and a fat man in court cosume blundering around (King Henry VIII?). The gardens were better, and there was a maze. Highlight was the field of daffodils!

After Hampton Court a group of us left for London and went to Borough Market. Gooood food! That's the whole market. I ate an apple strudel, delicious french chocolate souffle, AND a kangaroo burger. That's right. I tried an exotic meat. This stand that i keep hearing about sells ostrich and kangaroo burgers, and Kalyn and I shared a kangaroo burger. With cranberry sauce! It was fun to try, but the texture of the meat was weird... it tasted rubbery with a funky aftertaste. Well i did have 2 bites of a kangaroo burger! Then i ate the bread and tossed it. I felt a bounce in my step afterwards. :)

We headed back to the Centre but 5 of us got detoured and ended up at Whiteleys (buying chocolate nuts). After dinner (gross, so i ate mostly yogurt and alpen muesli -which i LOVE and eat a few times a week here) I gave up on being productive. I will really miss some people here! Too many here don't go to BYU so who knows if I'll see them again. :( Somehow went to bed after 4 haha. What a tiring week. I'm a nightowl in the 'nightowl room.' It's an accomplishment. ;)

Day Trip 8

Wednesday 3/24
Day Tripper number 8! Our last one. :(
Today we went to St Albans Cathedral and museum, an American WWII Memorial, and Cambridge!

First stop - St. Albans cathedral. I loved it because it has a mismatched achitectural style, very unique. It's been built and rebuilt and added to over the last 1,000 years. Part of it is ancient Roman architecture (faded murals, red stone stripes, simple) and the rest is Gothic architecture (ornate, white, stained glass). Beautiful. I have been feeling a little cathedral-ed out lately (as silly as that sounds..) but I loved St. Albans!

Roman on the left side, Gothic on the right!

Cam and I doing YMCA :)

 The grounds surrounding it were pretty too, overwhelming green and cute ponds. The geese were very friendly.Here's a sad-looking tree wanting a hug. Cam was kind enough to hug it back :)

We spent some time at the nearby Verulamium museum, which is full of artifacts of the ancient Roman civilizaion they found here. Interesting.
Our second stop was an American World War II Memorial. I loved seeing it... and I liked seeing an American flag. I felt patriotic. it was sad though... our tour guide told us sad stories. There were so many white crosses and a huge wall with the names of the missing American soldiers, and a memorial building.

Our last stop was Cambridge! I loved it. It was gorgeous! I loved seeing Oxford, but Cambridge is much more like a small old college town, with beautiful natural scenery. There are lots of fields and gardens and a river bordering the town. I saw guys "punting" - standing on a canoe-like boat and "paddling" it with a long pole. 

We toured King's College chapel, which was amazing. It's about 600 years old, with massive stained glass windows and a high vaulted ceiling.

King's College chapel

sunlight through the stained glass...

A group of us walked to the Fitzwilliam museum - which was cool. It was a hodge-podge of random ancient scultpures and art from pretty much every era, all over the world. I was pleasantly surprised. Highlights were ancient Greek and Egyptian statues, mummies, renaissance art (italian and french), classical Victorian art, even Modern art! There was also a Japanese miniature art gallery and pretty old furniture. :)

Next we went to the Lion Yard Market, which was tiny, but I found a great Cambridge sweatshirt. A group of us spent the rest of the afternoon wandering Cambridge town. It was interesting how a lot of the individual colleges were surrounded by big gates and some even had guards. I couldn't really find any cute Cambridge boys... but apparently their term just ended. I got delicious ice cream and then we coached it back to London.

i love these :)

Went to dinner at TukTuk Thai with CJ, Rachel, Jake, and Ali. Yum. The Ali and I went into every single souvenir shop on Queensway! haha that's like 10 stores. We were looking for some things... couldn't find everything but I did get Princess Diana-themed presents for my mom :)

-- And I got to skype with cassidy tonight! love ya girl xox

Portobello road, Wicked, etc

Friday 3/19 - dull day... had classes. lunch at Pret, finally did some homework, organized pictures on my lap top, and watched Wuthering Heights (for Brit Lit class). Sad movie.

Saturday 3/20
I slept in, went to Portobello Road Market (my favorite market!) and went a bit crazy... I got a chocolate/strawberry crepe, churros and chocolate, hot chocolate, olive ciabatta bread, and a chicken paella dish. I think that was lunch? And then I bought gifts for people (and myself!).. posters and cool jewelry and a great antique pin with a matador and bull on it. I LOVE Portobello! I still think of the movie Notting Hill every time I'm there. :) It's a pretty, rainy, almost-spring day today.
Afterwards i had planned on being productive but i fell asleep in the parlour, then did homework (blah).

The fabulous Portobello Road!  (before the rain..)

Sunday 3/21
Church was entertaining today :) In sunday school an old guy talked about the time he got arrested for not paying traffic fines, and how he hated missing work. Not something i usually hear in my wards at home. Then in Young Womens (we were talking about peacemaking and love at home), the girl with anger issues ranted and said that sometimes she gets so mad at her mom she punches dents in the wall and throws things. She scares me a little. :) The girls in my Whitechapel ward are great though, and very funny. Afterwards... I skyped family, dinner, etc.

Monday 3/22
Classes, then the whole program went to Wigmore Hall to see violinist Janine Jensen (and a pianist) in concert. It was nice (my first violin concert) and I used to play the violin, so i really liked the music. Unfortunately... I was so tired that i may have fallen asleep for a few minutes during the concert.. :) How embarrassing. Haha well actually a few students fell asleep too. The violinist was entertaining... she moved very enthusiastically. It was a nice concert.

Afterwards - lunch at Pret, then I bought 2 Ben's cookies (overrated cake-like cookies), and candy bars. Have I menioned I really love British candy?! Ali and i headed over to Victoria station to get Billy Elliot tickets, but they're weren't any good cheap seats. We went across the street to where Wicked is playing and on a whim bought tickets to see it tonight! I love how randomly that works out. After dinner we saw Wicked, it was fun and the music was as great as I remembered (I saw it in LA 5 years ago).

Oh and! I got a care package from my family today! My first :) It was so fun -  I got 2 boxes of thin mint cookies (everybody is very jealous. I'm using sharing to my advantage haha) and newspaper clippings and other wonderful things. I love you guys!!

Tuesday 3/23
Classes, then Ali and I went over to Shannon Ashton's house for help with planning our backpacking trip! She's been everywhere and was so helpful. Mmm and we had delicious chocolate fondue! Yum. Well Ali and I finally have a solid itinerary !! It's so exciting. We are backpacking through...

• Lisbon
• Madrid
• Barcelona
• Rome
• Florence
• Siena
• Munich (including..)
• Neuschwanstein castle
• Dachau concentration camp
• Salzburg
• Vienna
• Prague (for my 20th birthday!)
• Berlin
• Amsterdam
• Bruges
• Brussels

...then back to London then back home to America! 27 days of backpacking Europe!! Yay for fulfilling life dreams :) :) :)

Paris! day 4

Thursday 3/18
Happy Birthday mom!!! i love you so so much. You are amazing. Someday we will travel Europe together!
Last day in Paris... we had to ourselves, at least until 5 pm. Ali and I went to the Rue Mouffetard market because a few girls had recommended it, but it was a bust... it was just like any random cute street in Paris, with shops and food. Haha we went into 3 chocolate shops on the street or nearby - I bought chocolate from Nicolsens and Leonidas (amazing). We were looking for Berthilions ice cream and asked directions from a policeman (weird, I do that in Europe sometimes but I never would at home) and then got better directions from very friendly people at a local pharmacy.

We went to the original Berthilions ice cream shop on Isle du St. Louis, near Notre Dame. We were confused because we thought that was the place that made ice cream look like a flower... but when I asked, the ice cream shopowner was confused... apparently that's a different ice cream shop nearby that we never found. But we got ice cream there anyway... and I can honestly say that it was THE BEST ICE CREAM I have ever devoured. Simple, just a scoop of vanilla and a scoop of chocolate, but it was so creamy and rich and perfect! It was amazing... we ate our ice cream on a bridge over the Seine, in Paris. Even though it was freezing cold it was fabulous. Haha i love eating ice cream while wearing mittens.

Next we went to the LOUVRE! I was very excited. It is the grand museum of Paris... the only bad thing was that we didn't have enought time to really enjoy it and see everything. We rushed through most of the areas but we did see most of the sections, and we were there about 3 and a half hours. It is massive! The glass pyramid is awesome.

I saw the Mona Lisa (surprisigly small, and surrounded by a mass of people), the Venus de Milo, and lots of famous paintings and scultpures. Plenty of Greek sculptures, Egyptian mummy collection... some massive paintings, works by Botticelli, Delacroix, da Vinci, Rubens, etc. and so much more! I loved seeing paintings that I've studied the past few years (especially from AP European History). I also really liked a beautiful "Psyche and Cupid" sculpture (my favorite myth. I'm in a Mythology class here). The Louvre was a bit of sensory overload but it wasn't too overwhelming beacuse everything is spread out. I could spend hours and hours more there. The only annoying thing was that all the captions are in French! I loved the Louvre building itself; not only is it filled with amazing art, but the walls and ceilings are all decorated and beautiful! The Louvre is one of my favorite museums ever. 

 venus de milo

psyche and cupid

crowding around little mona lisa

the Mona Lisa!

weird statue :)

After the Louvre we crossed a bridge to one of Paris' other great museums - the Musee d'Orsay. It was pretty great too. It was built out of an old train station and it was a compact, kind of small museum but it was packed with amazing art. We didn't have time to see everything... but i did see paintings by Monet, Van Gogh, and Renoir. Couldn't take pictures inside the museum, but here is one i saw and liked... Van Gogh's Starry Night over the Rhone.

We had to head back to the hotel afterwards... :( If i had more time in Paris i would see... the Picasso Museum, the Rodin Museum, Sacre Coeur and Montmarte, the Musee de l'Orangerie, and Monet's gardens! I'll just have to return someday then. :)

Here's a "mini arc" next to the Louvre

We headed back to the hotel to get our bags and meet up to go to the train station. I ate french bread, crepe, and the Duplo chocolates :) I will miss French food! Perfect snacks. Took the Chunnel back to London thursday evening. So exhausted... this trip was all go-go-go! But i did see a lot.

I loved Paris! The museums and food and buildings and eiffel tower and the city itself was great, and the people were friendly and nice. They didn't even laugh (in front of me) when i butchered their language or accidently reverted to Spanish haha (i said "si" a few times.. whoops).  :)

Je t'aime Paris! <3

Paris! Day 3

Wednesday 3/17
Happy St Patrick's Day! I wish I was in the UK for celebrations... but hey Paris is great too :) Well today i spent a few too many minutes at breakfast and everyone left for Notre Dame without me. Sad. Well Sister Howe was wating in the lobby for stragglers so a few slowpoke girls and I went together.
Notre Dame was beautiful. A little smaller than i expected, but i blame my misperception on Disney. I loved the stained glass patterns. I didn't get to spend very much time inside, but the best part of the visit was climbing up the bell towers. I was on top of Notre Dame! The view was marvelous, and there were plenty of grimacing gargoyles up there too. I couldn't find the hunchback but i did see the huge old bell.

our gargoyle faces

Afterwards we went to the other side of the island (Notre Dame is on a island on the river Seine) to visit Saint-Chappelle. It was one of the most amazingly beautiful things have ever seen. You walk in and there's a dark, ornate shrine area. You walk upstairs and your socks are knocked off. It is a chapel with walls made entirely of stained glass. And it's about 800 years old! wow. Pictures do not do it justice. With the sun shining through the colors were dreamy and fantastic.

downstairs - shrine

upstairs - chapel

sun shining through the stained glass walls..

 Next we headed towards Musee Cluny (medieval museum) to see some tapestry we're supposed to see for our Civ class. Met Cam, Calvin, Katie, Brit, and Caitlin along the way and grabbed lunch (giant panini!). The museum was slightly dull. I don't love the medieval era, and the tapestries we saw ("Lady and the Unicorn") were interesting (only because of the unicorn) but not worth the trip. We split up and Ali and I headed towards the Catacombs! No one had really heard of them which is weird. I remember them from Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame (the walls of skeletons that come alive!) but i didn't know they were real..! :)

We found the tour's startin point and headed underground. It was so awesome. The Catacombs are a massive underground crypt with human bones lining the walls, sometimes in cool patterns. This was one of the coolest craziest things i have ever seen. First of all, it was nearly empty! Ali and I wandered a maze of dark tunnels underneath Paris, til we came to the skeletons. Creeeepy but so cool! All of the walls were lined with bones... mostly long bones (femurs?) and skulls. We had so much fun being weird dorks and trying to scare each other. :) We were there for hours! After awhile you get used to the bones and darkness. We took some cool pictures. :)

    Historical note: In the 1700s the cemeteries of Paris were overflowing, so they moved mass cartloads of skeletons to the underground mines. Somebody had the idea to organize the bones into patterns and crosses, and now it's a sort of morbid memorial and tour - the Catacombs!

i am a ghost.... :)

After leaving the Catacombs we got crepes and a giant diet coke, then headed over to the Eiffel Tower in late afternoon. We planned to spend a long time in the line and be up in the Eiffel Tower for the sunset and night, but the line went pretty fast so we spent a long time sitting on a bench up in the eiffel tower, waiting for the sun to set faster. Total - we were up in the Eiffel Tower for 4 hours! It was so high up... the view was spectacular, of course. Definitely glad we took the elevator... the stairs would have murdered me. We went up to the very top after awhile, and after sunset some building lit on fire and smoke filled the whole sky. The COOLEST thing was being on the Eiffel Tower when it lit up and got all sparkly! I freaked out :)

 sparkle!

By the time we left, our feet were bloody stumps. 3 very long days prancing all over Paris can kill your feet! I want to burn my boots. They are falling apart. Only one more month with the boots!
We took the metro back, and guys were walking around playing the accordian and cello. Speaking of... guys are kind of weird in Paris! As in creepy. I'd expected some differences... but here guys stare at you, sometimes even leer. Giving them the quick look "i caught you staring at me for longer than normal so stop already" doesn't do a thing. So i just don't look people in the eyes very often. Quite a few girls have been followed by creepers (and a couple almost pickpocketed) so it's better to avoid! I don't want a French boyfriend anyway. :) We walked around near our hotel looking for dinner, then saw Laura and CJ in a cute little build-your-own-noodle place so we ate there. It was so good! Not very french but oh well. I eat a lot of crepes here :) On th way back we stopped at a grocery store and i bought the FERRERO ROCHER's DUPLO NOCCIOLATO which is the best chocolate "bar" i have ever eaten. (thanks Laura for the recommendation!) It's chocolate with hazelnuts... which sounds simple but it's chocolate ecstasy.
Haha this is my second time posting this picture on my blog... :)

Haha i also saw the movie The Hangover there but it was titled "Very Bad Trip." Lost in translation? so funny :)  My feet are swollen. ouucchhhh... backpacking for a month will be an adventure! haha i hope my feet don't fall off.
One more (half) day in Paris!   :(