the circle of life.

this was my third time seeing the lion king. i love it oh so much! (and i just talked to mum today and it is coming to salt lake in september, and i am going again) it is just such a moving experience i think. i love all the music, not to mention the music with a hint of a brit accent! oh and timone and pumba were sooo good- they sounded exactly like the movie. rafiki was probably my favorite... (after grown up simba that is...) she was so funny and did such a good job. i was so happy we were able to see it- i was on kitchen crew and so we practically ran from the tube stop to the theater to make it on time, but luckily we did! we even dressed up in animal print! fun huh?
(my camera is dead so i had to steal this from MK, but i have a charger on its way in the mail so don't worry- it wont happen again!)

kitchen duty: one of my favorite things so far!

kellen, hobart, and i

me, alyssa, katie, anna, and
lauren getting ready for enchiladas!

we have amazing food here. the resident director and his wife cook home cooked meals every night. it is amazing. . . seriously some of the best food i have ever had. there is a huge kitchen and huge everything to make theses yummy meals happen for 50+ people. there are two weeks out of the semester that i have to help with the preparation and cleanup of the meals. at first i was dreading it, but my the end of my first day i loved it! i asumed the postition of "hobart girl". hobart is our trusty dishwasin-sanitizer. we all rinse our dishes in tubs of water upstairs after eating... then they get sent downstairs on the "dumb waiter". (he is a mini elevator, or "lift" as they say here in the uk, that carries food and dishes up and down the flights of stairs ) once they reach the kitchen, they are arranged onto racks where they go through hobart. after we dry then and back upstairs they go! i loved doing the dishes... i have become quite the washer the past few days. . . besides the dishwashing, it has been fun to help and watch all the different kinds of food prepared. sister schuler.. a.k.a. terri never makes the same meal twice... its amazing! we have had everything from enchiladas to thai curry. i only have one day left of kitchen crew, and i am sad to see it go, but in about a month it should be my turn again.

the t a t e modern.



i absolutely loved this museum. it is a modern art museum- and although some things were a little out there.... i still enjoyed it! You aren't supposed to take photo's in there... but we snapped a few with some of andy warhol's work before we learned that.

westminster abbey

jen. tori. me. mary kate.

we went to westminster abbey yesterday! it was so cool. i know that is what i say about all the religious building i see, but i really am so amazed by them. this once especially... this one was a lot more extravagant with more fancy details. this is where princess di and winston churchill had their funerals. there was also many graves and momuments to cool people- not just ancient royalty. people like:

-isaac newton
-william shakespeare
-charels darwin
-charels dickens

photos were not allowed inside, but i wish i could have taken some. it was wuite the sight to see. i particularly loved the world war two memorial, and the tomb of the unknown soldier. sooooo cool!

here are some photos from walking around london town today. these horse guards were so neat! not only were the horses beautiful, but very well behaved. there are torists around constantly taking pictures and petting it, and they just stand there- i wish my horses did that! and there is big benny and the london eye! this is the admiralty arch here... it was constructed by king edward the VII in honor of is mother queen victoria. this picture isn't the greatest... but the light poles/people/cabbies are always in the way!

a short trip to the british museum:

we took a little trip for one of my classes to see a couple of important things in the british museum. we saw a frieze from the bassae temple that is still in greece! it was so cool... there is so much detail in all the stone work here... it amazes me. we also got to see the frieze and the pediments from the parthenon. it has been removed from its original place to be better preserved. i hope to take a trip to greece one day, and see the other parts to both of these things! we also got to see the rosetta stone- that was neat! i didn't bring my big camera on this trip so the photos are a little fuzzy, but you can still get the idea. just as the other museums, i am going to have to come back to check out all the cool things here.

jen, me, mary kate, macy, jenny, and i in front of the pediment that was once on
the parthenon

this is a frieze that hung above the entrance to the parthenon back in the day. i learned that these are gods sitting on the benches, because they are a lot taller than the other people on other parts of the frieze. there was a huge room and this just wrapped around the whole thing. it was really cool to see!

mary kate, jen and i in front of the rosetta stone.

Bath

.the roman baths and the bath abbey.

here i am getting ready to jump in! ahhh i wish! the roman baths were so cool! the water looked so appealing because it was fuhhh-reeeeezing cold outside! the baths were used back in roman times for public bathing, and have been well preserved so we can enjoy them today!

some more baths. can't you see the steam? so warm. as my frined tori and i were walking inside the building one of the rooms smelled exactly like the crater at the homestead in midway where we both got our scuba certification... must be something about the naturally hot water.

i checked my email before we ventured off to bath, and i had told mum earlier that we were going to bath. she told me to find sally lunn's buns and buy one. they were my grandma tyson's favorite, and she always had to make a special trip to bath to get a bun when she was visiting england.

the buns were buy 3 get 1 free... so of course... we walked out of the door with 4! they are seriously bigger than my head, and very yummy! i ate one in your honor grandma!

BATH {bahhhh-thhh} is such a cute little town. i am obsessed with it. i hopefully want to take a trip back out there before i leave. the abbey was closed for a memorial so i didn't get to take a very good look inside, but we were able to see the bath assembly rooms- those were neat! the chandeliers were hanging all the way to the floor because they were down for cleaning. . . they were huge! there were so many cute shops that i didn't get to check out. i did get to stop into a cute paper store and get some fun postcards. we got some amazing fudge and a crepe too!

salisbury cathedral

this has probably been my favorite thing so far! for each of our day trips, we have a little sch-peal before we get of the "coach" at each site. i learned that this church took only 38 years to build. at first i was like... wow that is forever! but once i saw how big it was and the detail, 38 years seemed like nothin! it was seriously so cool. and huge... i find it interesting that i love the bug cathedrals. i would have never guessed. i also loved this because it was so green green green. it was so amazing. the countryside is so amazing and i loved seeing all the cottages and shops and things. i highly recommend visiting there next time you are in salisbury.

p.s.{even though the outside was covered in scaffold, it is the most beautiful scaffolding i have ever seen}

Stonehenge

oh goodness i can't even explain how chilly it was today. . . but i can tell you how happy i am that we were able to walk up close and see this! because of the snow, we were unsure if we were going to be able to walk up to see stonehenge, but luckily it was open. because of the snow, the green grass looks dead, but it really is green. it was so so cool to see. they are just standing in the middle of nowhere. it is awesome. i learned today that it was perhaps once a burial ground becaus they found cremated remains there... cool i guess?? it is one of the 7 wonders of britain. . . and from the pictures, and real life, i think it is worthy to be on that list!

{mk tori and i with our cute umbrellas}

{thats it}
{i look ridic. my hat is floating}

{h e r r o d s}










rule #1. don't go there on a saturday.

rule#2. don't go there if you are hungry.

rule #3. don't go unless you plan on spending millions.

harrod's was amazing. it was also very crowded. we spent most of our time in the food halls in the basement. there was a lot of amazing food! and a ton of sweets too. there are these macaroons that i need to try still... and i will sometime in the next four months. i am trying to save money by not buying stuff like that because i don't love sugar, so i only buy when i am really in the mood. there was a lot of amazing merchandise there too, but i need to go back when i am more in the mood... or maybe i shouldn't. i am trying not to shop till the very end of my trip.. wish me luck! haha.

trafalgar square.
the national gallery.
&
the victoria albert museum.

right when i saw trafalgar square i really felt like i was in london... that is what i remember in the movies about london.
oh my and the national gallery was amazing! i was not very thrilled to go there
{i went there for homework initially} at first, but once i got inside it was amazing. the paintings there are breathtaking. there are so many famous paintings there . . . it is unreal. i got to see van gogh's sunflower, along with a few others of his... like a wheat field with cypresses. it was so neat to see the actual paintings. there were many many more famous paintings that i didn't get to see, so i am for sure going to go back!

we also went to the victoria and albert museum aka. the v&a. it was also very cool. we were only there for a little while and saw only two rooms. it is an amazing building with a lot of cool things! i can't wait to go back and explore more! it was a day full of culture, but i loved it believe it or not!

{the yellow stands for hope, friendship, and gratitude}

today, we went to
the tower of london.
it was so cool! i never knew that it had all those cool colors. i am very thankful that it was not snowy today so i could see all the green! one thing i really wanted to do while i was here is see the crown jewels. {check} they were so neat. i saw part of the largest diamond ever found called the first star of africa. it is over 530 carats. i was thankful for my camera, and for all the fun pictures i took!



we also visited the monument. this was made to mark where the great fire of london started in 1666. the fire lasted for about three days, and ruined a large part of the city, including st. pauls cathedral (see previous post) and so a large majority of the city had to be rebuilt. crazy huh?

we also visited borough market. lets just say i was in heaven. i was starving when we got there, and had the best hamburger ever... i should have taken a photo of it, but i practically inhaled it. there was so many options to choose from, so i know i will have to go back. next time i go i want to get:

curry
bratwurst
another eclair {it was so yummy, and probably as long as my forearm}
and some fruit

the produce there was amazing.

i wish i would have got some...
that just means i have to go back next weekend.

big ben and the london eye

a few of us decided to venture out to big ben and then to get a ben's cookie... unfourtunately we didn't get a cookie, but we did get to see him. the weather was a little crummy {hence the rain drops in the picture} but it was very cool to see it at night. i hope to go back again in the day to get some better photos. it actually felt like i was in london!

{tori, rachel, mads, jen, eliza, and i}

the london eye: at a height of 135 metres (443 ft), is the largest ferris wheel in europe, and has become the most popular paid tourist attraction in the uk, visited by over three million people in one year. {via wiki}

you can see it in the background... i want to ride it sometime at soon. especially if it is at night, i thing that would be very cool.

Getting to know you, getting to know all about you. . .




i am already in loveeeeee with the underground... aka the tube
i still have a long way to go but i am learning quickly.
i usually ride the red, yellow, or green line.
i got a student deal on a pass so that means unlimited rides!!!
it is so fun to people watch on the train- the whole experience is just great.
the only downside {for me at least} is i get so turned around when im down there...
i loose all sense of direction, but i never forget to mind the gap!

{click to enlarge}

the river thames.
it was a very cold and yucky day, but
the colors on these boats caught my eye.
next time i visit it better be warmer.

thank you for student discounts. there were about twenty of us that went to stand in line to try and get cheap tickets for wicked, and we all got in for a sweet deal. it was really good. this is the first time i saw it. it was fun to have it be in british accents too. the costumes were amazing! thanks to my cute niece emma, i already recognized lots of the sounds. she is already a rising star, and into musicals just like her mummie and daddy.

st. paul's

cute emma and i

rachel, jen, and i by the fire in the museum :)

we went to st. paul's cathedral. it was so neat! i had no idea that it was that big. it was awesome. i wish i could have taken photos inside but i couldn't- but to see some click here. next time you are in london, you should check it out. i enjoyed it a lot more than i expected to. a little culture is nice once in a while. we also visited the museum of london. there were only three rooms open so it was all way prehistoric and roman times- BORING. . . not really, but i was to sleepy to read the little plaques. i was very disappointed because the WWII room was closed. i am so intrigued by the war!

day two.

.a run in hyde park

.and a long and cold walk in the city

well, after taking a nice jog in the park with everyone and their dog... literally (everyone has dogs here) we got ready for a journey in the city. we got to the city via the tube, and it was a complete ghost town. it was so bizarre. Imagine NYC with like five people and two shops open… that is how it was. it was so so freezing too, and began to snow near the end of our journey so we decided to cut it short. little did we know, the majority of the tube was shut down, so we waited and waited for the right train and it never came. our options were to walk in the freezing cold, or try and get on a bus back to our neck of the woods. luckily we were able to get some help from a nice british man and found our way home. it was quite an adventure!

bbbbrrrrrrrrr.

day one.

27 Palace Court
London England
W2 4LP
{yes this is where i live}

despite the flight troubles, jen and i were reunited.
notice our matching jackets?? we are going to be twins the entire trip.
like my mom clogs, a very good investment.

right after we unpacked our things, we were forced to go on a walk of our little neighborhood. it was enjoyable despite my lack of sleep. this is rachel (a girl from east), emma (a CA/BYU friend), and a new friend christina. the little red phone booths really do exist! on the walk we saw whiteleys- a cool shoping centre where hitler wanted his headquarters if he took over england. good thing he is dead.

we also walked down the famous portobello road. this is where scenes from the movie notting hill were filmed. ahhhh hugh grant and julia. i can't wait to shop there. there are so many cool signs and street names. i am already a bit obsessed.