Friday 5/7/10

Friday was the first day of our study abroad!  Everyone was gathering but first, Scott and I had to move out of Albert and Janice's and make the journey to South Kensington which, is no big deal really but, with my suitcase...ooooh it feels like a long treck.  We tried to get some extra rest because we got in so late after our adventures in Brighton.  Our last breakfast made by Janice was wonderful as usual.  She gave us a repeat meal which she had been avoiding all week.  She was trying to give us new and unique foods to England every day.  After we finished up with breakfast we got our laundry (which Janice kindly did for us the night before), packed our things up, gathered our linens, and headed for the local flower shop to get Janice and Albert something nice, at the request of our mothers.  It was fun to go to a little local flower shop and have something really special created for them.  I'm used to just hitting up the local chain grocery store.  We got quite a lot of bang for our buck...or should I say pound?! *buh dun chhhh*.  Anywho, I think we wound up with something really nice.  We walked back to deliver them and as we walked in Janice said "oh you naughty children!  Those are very expensive!!!"  And I told her not to worry because it was a gift from our mothers.  Scott and I did get them a pretty card and I wrote a nice note inside.  I like that Scott leaves these things to me.  He's a sentimental man so, it's not like he isn't capable of writing a lovely note but, for some reason he thinks I have better penmanship or something. Anyway, Janice seemed delightfully surprised and it felt good to do a little something in return for all the generosity we received from them.

Albert offered to drive us to the tube station which was amazing because our bags would have made the trip seem twice as long as it actually is.  We arrived at the station and by this point both Scott and I were ready to begin the next leg of this adventure.  I think it's safe to say that we were both pretty jazzed to see our friends and get settled into our flats; our home for the next 5 weeks!!!  It was exciting to reach 37 Hyde Park Gate and walk into the warm arms of Sister Hall and Dr. Staheli.  They asked us about our week of adventure, how could we possibly sum that up in a sentence?!  Then we got ourselves settled in and met up with the other Londoners.  I was so excited to see more familiar faces.  Not that I was getting bored of Scott by any means it was just nice to be able to begin the phase of the journey that is the purpose of our journey; to study music.  

Sister Wimmer took us on a walk around South Kensington.  We saw bits of the High Street area, Hyde Park, Kensington Palace (Princess Diana's favorite), Queen Victoria's memorial to Albert, and got some groceries at London's version of Walmart, Tesco.  I got a weeks worth of groceries (two meals) for 12 pounds!!! yahoo.  Living in my own flat is going to be so much more economical.  Our next adventure was planned for the evening.

Once more of the BYU Londoners had arrived and gathered, we heard about a YSA dance from another group and decided we needed to attend.  As you can imagine, YSA dances are not always the most enticing of friday night activities.  I was holding out hope that things would be different in a foreign country.  We set out with a massive group of students, probably about 15 of us, and went to the pubs for a quick bite to eat before dancing the night away!  Well, we didn't realize each pub would be so crowded that we would have to fight to get a table large enough for all of us.  We wound up splitting into smaller groups.  Scott and I ate with Danny and Chris which was entertaining mainly because they were both so exhausted that they were practically falling over as they ate their fish and chips.  tee hee.  

When we arrived at the dance naturally there were like 4 people on the dance floor.  I started dancing with some of the theatre study abroad kids and eventually more and more people showed up and the party started.  Several of our music students chose to leave early simply because the music was too loud.  As musicians, our ears are very valuable tools and exposure to overly loud sounds can be damaging if in excess.  So, being the cautious students that they are, some headed home in search for quiet and rest.  Scott and I stayed a bit longer.  The picture of us against a white wall is taken far far away from the dancing and the speakers.  One of the songs was a bit loud so I went to be with dear Scotty as he escaped.  :)  Me and this theatre student Shelby really tried to get the BYU kids to mingle with the local YSA kids.  Plan kinda failed.  I guess the YSA's here are really used to seeing new faces and it totally messes with their dynamic.  The American girls flirt with the guys and the ward and the local girls get jealous...and visa versa.  I found church to be really wonderful but at the dance...things got clicky.  Perhaps it would be better to mingle with the locals on a more intimate level.  Who knows.  Scott and I had fun dancing with our BYU friends.  Logan was really enjoying exploring everyone's negative space (it's a modern dance thing) and in the process of doing so, he hit both Scott and me in the face with his elbows.  haha.  Despite our little mishap, the dance was a fun way to spend our friday night.

The adventures have merely begun.

Oh, by the way...that white building....thats 37 Hyde Park Gate...WHERE I LIVE!!!

Thursday-Brighton

Today was another wonderful day!  Janice prepared another lovely breakfast; this one a bit smaller.  It consisted of hard boiled eggs.  We each got two and she made the yokes runny so we could dip our toast inside.  I've never seen hard boiled eggs done that way.   It makes me want to call them slightly runny boiled eggs.  They were yummy nonetheless and we headed off straight away for our wonderful adventure outside of London!  

 Scott and I made our way to the Victoria station where we would catch a coach to Brighton.  This little trip is Scott's baby.  He's been talking about making our way out there since we arrived!  I read the play "Brighton Beach Memoirs" by Neil Simon but, that took place on Coney Island.  I didn't even know about Brighton England but it was apparently the place to be!  It's where London's best and most elite would go to spend their vacation time

!  We planned on heading out on an earlier coach but didn't anticipate having such trouble finding the actual coach station.  I felt like we wondered around in a few circles before actually reaching the place!  Interestingly, coaches are one of the cheaper ways of travel around Europe.  You pay less to hire a private coach than you do to ride a train which sounds like a deal to me. Coaches are usually pretty comfy!  Our tickets all the way to Brighton were only around 12 pounds which is about half the price to take a train.  Deal!  We had just missed this other train so we had to wait for about an hour.  We just decided to walk down Buckingham Palace Road and check out the palace.  We actually didn't make it there in time!  I got distracted by this hat making shop!  I'm so glad Scott puts up with my vanity....I'm only a little vain.  Finally we reached the train station and Scott was so excited about this little adventure that he planned that he fell asleep on the coach. :)  The hour ride was a much needed rest though.  Scott told me "If you see anything cool just wake me".  About 3 minutes later, I was also asleep.  I woke up with saliva dripping onto the lapel of my coat.  Eeew.  Does that make me a drooler?  Sure hope not.  I'm going to assume that was a one time thing. 

Scott and I woke up at around the same time, arriving into Brighton was so exciting.  This was an adventure.  On a whim and almost unplanned, here we were in this lovely seaside town!  Interestingly, Brighton is now known as the Gay capital of Europe thus, Scott and I were not surprised to see an all male sauna/ day spa thing. ha.  The coach brought us to a station just across the street from the beach.  I could not have been happier with the weather that day!  It was incredible...so incredible that we wanted to buy swimsuits so we could fully enjoy the warmth of the sun on our Provonian bleached skin!  What I mean to say is, my flesh is in desperate need of some healthy color since I've been hiding in the winter cave that is Utah.  Well, the only swim shop nearby sold one type of swimsuit...the string bikini and I mean string.  This thing was so much money for so little fabric and besides there is the whole modesty issue so, we decided to forgo the swimwear and just take a little nap on the beach.  The sunshine was like a gift from the heavens.  We walked down the pier and down the beach front shopping area.  There were so many fun things to see!  One of my favorite moments was when we passed this maritime museum.  Across the path there was a little shack with a sign on it advertising it.  I thought the shack was the museum!  I thought "it's no wonder the admission is free".  The town is preparing for their mackerel festival and there was a sign above the museum that said "Holy Mackerel".  I thought of my daddy.  He uses that expression quite a bit.   Then we passed a bar with a pretty large outdoor eating area and a live band playing ska and reggae music.  I loved that!!!

Then we wondered around town.  We had yummy 2 pound burgers! (as in they cost 2 pounds! haha)  Janice suggested that we stop by this place called "the lanes" which is known for it's cool antiques and such.  It was so much fun!  There were similar goods as those we found on Portobello road only this felt more like diagon alley from Harry Potter!  Narrow walkways and shops back to back.  Scott found another manly store of course!  It was full of weaponry and armour.  There was so much testosterone in that shop!  Naturally, Scott struck up a conversation with the shop owner and he had some interesting information to share and stories to tell.  Scott determined that we needed to pay this place another visit but, we were headed out to see some more sights before everything closed!

 There is this cool palace there called the Pavillion built by King George IV who was apparently pretty reckless in his youth.  This extravagant home is actually referred to as his pleasure palace.  I was amazed at the decoration in each room.  The orient was considered to be very exotic and artists and designers were trying to create architecture that mimicked what they believed to be "oriental".  With royal money at his disiposal, King George was able to go all out.  I learned some interesting things at the palace.  One is that there was a surprising amount of culinary innovation in his kitchen.  There was an island where steam kept the waiting food hot.  In the dining hall there was this metal sculpted dragon that was holding the chandelier in his claw or mouth or something.  There was a huge mural of palm leaves painted on the ceiling and some metal leaves were fixed above the dragon to make the scene look more lifelike.  The next room was sort of a sitting room or after dinner parlor sort of place.  There were these stands with oval shaped face shields that were placed in front of the fire.  Women's cosmetics during King George IV's time were wax based and if a lady's face got too exposed to the heat of the fire, her makeup would melt.  This is thought to be the origin of the expression "why the long face"!  Who would have thought!  We really enjoyed the palace but had to leave because, like all things, it closed at 5.

Our next stop was this church that had been converted into an art gallery.  Brian Eno, the producer, was the creator of this little project.  The idea was to bring local and international artists together to show their work in the space.  I had interesting feelings being in this church turned gallery.  I thought, what an effective use of space but I also thought, what did you have to destroy to create this.  After all, I decided that it was a worthy project and that what was created was worth while.  I actually rather enjoyed the concept as I looked through the history of works that were shown there.  It seemed like the kind of place that really brought people and their ideas together.

Scott and I found ourselves doing more wonderings.  We made our way to this fountain in the center of town and just sat down to chat for a while.  As the sun was starting to set, I had this idea to go get some hot coco and drink it while watching the sunset.  We did just that.  We wondered and found an Italian cafe.  This little old man made us our drinks and filled our cups about half way.  I got someone's attention and demanded a full cup!  For 1.90 pounds I better get a full cup of coco!  We brought those down to the beach and sat on this pier and watched the sky and the waves.  The rocks on the beach glistened from the water and the setting sun.  Hot coco warmed me.  It was simply lovely.  

Meanderings were next on our to do list.  We wandered about some more and happened upon another small old church.  There just so happened to be a flamenco dance/ Guitar concert that night.  Scott and I walked in the first set of doors and sat in the entry way. A nice man saw us there and invited us in to watch the whole concert.  We said we didn't have tickets but he invited us in anyway.  I felt really cultured to be watching flamenco dancing in a beach town in England.  ??? Wha? haha. It was kind of random but certainly entertaining.

By then it was time to head back home.  Scott and I made our long treck back deciding that we simply must visit Brighton again!

Wednesday 5/5/10

Breakfast this morning was rushed like none other!  I sat down to this wonderful cheese and tomato sandwich, my Canadian roommates would call it a snack master, with tea and juice as always.  Albert kindly volunteered to drive us to Hampton Court but, from the time we sat down to breakfast, we only had 15 minutes until Albert needed to leave in order to get us there and be back in time for work!  Boy oh boy were Scott and I getting ready fast.  Fast like none other!  I'm afraid I held us up just a little bit trying to get all of my things together...a coat and socks and shoes and grabbing some makeup really fast.  Well, we ran out to the car really.  Scott accidentally went to the wrong side!  haha.  The whole driving on the other side of the road thing is ok and easy to get used to but getting into a car where the driver is on the right is seriously strange.  If I thought driving with my grandfather was scary, try driving as a passenger on the left side of a utility van down the narrow streets of Wimbledon.  My blood was pumping!  With cars parked on either side of these streets, two lanes seem to become one.  It felt like we were playing chicken with the oncoming traffic.  At one point, we had crossed through a neighborhood that has limited access because there are these metal poles restricting certain cars from getting through.  The side mirrors would normally hit but, Albert's handy man van is taller than most cars and he fits right in.  He laughed as we passed the metal rods because he knew he was cheating the system.  That was a little exciting but nothing compared to passing on a main road on the right hand side of the car in front of us, heading into the oncoming traffic.  Albert even got honked at.  I will admit, I feared for my life at this point.  We made it there safe and sound.  Alberts driving may be a touch on the crazy side but, it sure was time efficient! 

Scott and I stepped onto the grounds of Hampton Court, home of the oldest clock in the world and built by King Henry VIII.  What incredible grounds!  And the palace...I have no idea what it looks like :)  It would have cost us somewhere around 22 US dollars to enter this thing!  What in the world are they running in there?  A day spa?  Unless that tour came with a continental breakfast at the end, it was not going to be worth $22!  Scott and I said pshhh, no!  I saw a group of small children, probably a school group, and I suggested we follow in with them :).  Scott suggested we grab a few of their hands so as to look more a part.  haha.  Genius!  Well, we didn't do that.  I suggested that we just walk around the flower gardens and enjoy the grounds.  Turns out, there is a separate charge for walking around the gardens even!  I boycotted.  I was so disgusted by how much money this place was costing that I wanted to start looking for back entrances to the gardens and the hedge maze.  Scott keeps me honest.  I've realized since being in London that I'm a little on the...let's call it thrifty side.  Well, I was soooo done with the palace and we decided to walk along the river for a bit before catching a train to Waterloo.  We sat on a fence and watched little goslings swim by with their mum.  The sun was shining and it seemed quite lovely but, we needed to head out for the Globe because we had tickets for Macbeth!!!

Scott and I arrived at the Waterloo station and walked along the Thames to the Globe.  Scott decided to curb his hunger with a 45 pence piece of bread from Pret.  I documented that price for my posterity.  Maybe their bread will be more expensive and they might like to hear about mine.  Maybe they won't even eat bread.  I digress.  We walked under a tunnel, along with a group of school kids, and there were some musicians performing some jammin music.  These kids were kinda bopping along to the beat of the music and Scott and I kinda...ok really got into it too.  I loved that.  Finally we reached the Globe Theatre.  We waited outside for a minute in the groundlings queue and realized we needed our tickets.  Scott went to grab those but, just as he left the groundlings were taken through the gates.  I didn't have my ticket yet but, some how I still got into the courtyard portion of the theatre.  Scott went back out to where our first queue was and didn't see me.  As you can imagine, that sent him into a panic.  Well, I asked a couple in the second queue I was waiting in to hold my spot while I went to find my boyfriend.  Just then Scott rounded the corner with tickets in hand.  He said when he walked out to the outer gate where the first queue and asked where everyone went they told him it would have been impossible for me to get in without a ticket so that's probably why he was getting a little nervous.  Well Globe theatre...I got in!  What now? boom baby.  

The show was incredible! Not that i expected anything less at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre.  His writing is timeless!  Sure there is plenty of stylistic things that we are unfamiliar with but, he wrote about human issues that we experience today...passion, jealousy, politics.  It was amazing to see how such an "old" play could feel so modern and edgy yet authentically Shakespeare.  There was a sheath that covered the "groundlings" area with little slits for us to put our heads through.  This allowed the actors to sort of sneak up on us and interact with the audience.  I could feel the three witches as they came up from the "underworld" (aka, below the sheets and between our legs).  I thought that was pretty innovative.  Of course there was your standard blood packet and fake tongue but there were some staging choices that I really loved.  When Lady Macbeth comes out for the scene when her chamber maid calls on the doctor because she is sleep walking and rubbing her hands, they brought her downstage through this sheer dark curtain.  She walked straight forward wearing a silky white night gown and light shining down on her face casting these dark shadows.  I really felt the creepy intensity of her character and that scene.  There was quite a bit of music used throughout the piece also.  I was impressed with how much there really was!  I'm used to hearing a little bit of music in plays but, there was music in at least every other scene!  It felt like a horror movie at times.  

After our adventures at the Globe, we headed for Picadilli Circus to meet up with our friend and fellow student Steve Durtschi.  We walked for a bit looking for some reasonably priced food for dinner and of course...nothing was less than 5 pounds. :/  So we decided today would be a good day to get some fish and chips.  Steve left us there and headed back to visit with our friend Jeff Lark who is now living in London.  There was an extra charge to dine in at the tables outside the little fish & chips place so naturally, Scott and I refused to pay and we dined at the center of town on this little monument circle/ round about.  :)  It was nice though I'm not fond of fish and chips.  Scott and I took a walk around looking at more closed shops and exploring some more.  We decided it might be fun to hit the National Portrait Gallery but by the time we reached it, it was closed for a private event.  We walked back to the monument area and I popped in to see what it would cost to get rush tickets for Chicago the musical.  Prices for 4th row seats dropped from about 70 pounds to about 30 pounds!  Amazing but, Scott didn't seem to excited about seeing that show :)  We decided to head back because we were exhausted from the day full of walking.  Scott and I both fell asleep on the tube and were woken up at the Wimbledon station by some fellow tube riders.  Lucky for us someone decided to wake us...who knows how long we would have been sleeping there!!  Then we made one of our last trecks back to Albert and Janice's.  I've really enjoyed these walks.  They give Scott and I time to chat about anything from experience to memories to beliefs and dreams, goals and desires...just everything and anything.  Once back at their home we sat down to yet another cup of tea with cookies.  Sometimes I just feel like I don't deserve to live like this!  It's far to lovely have even imagined.  I'm so lucky!

Tuesday!

One of the best days thus far!  We started off a little later in the morning.  Janice didn't ask us what time we wanted to eat so we just slept in a little.  For breakfast we had kippers...aka smoked haddock with tea and bread with butter.  It was quite the delicacy!  We headed out at about noon for the Tate Museum of Modern Art right along the Thames.  We walked past it the day before and decided that it might be an interesting stop which it certainly was.

I am a surrealist myself.  I love work that takes you by surprise.  It's often shocking but not in an "in your face" sort of way, just in a "here try this" sort of way.  Does that make sense?  Well, I like it anyway.  It's thought provoking and more than an interpretation of what is seen.  Surreal art is like an interpretation of what is not seen but what is imagined.  Some of my favorite pieces are installations.  I really loved  "Three Dancers" by Picasso and "Forgotten Horizon" by Dali.  I also saw one of Calder's moblies which are pretty iconic and fun.  Though, I don't know that I'd put that in the surrealist category but, whatever, I'm not a curator or anything :).   A sculpture that really captured my attention was "Giant three way Plug, Scale 2/3" by Oldenburg who has done some really well known and admired works that grace the lawns of parks across the world.  I remember his work from my civ classes as being really interesting.   He takes every day objects and enlarges them by quite a bit.  You see one of his pieces close up and you think "what is this" and you step back or see it from above and say "oh, it's a giant spoon with a cherry! Cool!"  Of course they had on of the three copies of Rodin's "The Kiss" which has an interesting history.  Rodin must have had an education in history and literature to come up with the subject for "The Kiss".  I really enjoyed that aspect of it.  My favorite part of the museum was the "Energy and Process" exhibit devoted to the Arte Povera movement.  I loved this piece by Niki de Saint Phalle called "Shooting Picture".  She filled balloons with paint and covered them with plaster.  Then she had some artist friends, one of them being the creator of one of my favorite installations, Rauschenberg, and had them shoot the canvas with a shot gun making the paint drip down in an unpredictable patter.  Another piece I really liked was, of course, an installation called "Venus of the Rags".  It was a statue of Venus facing a wall and in front of her was a pile of clothes cut into rags.  It was an intriguing work and it made quite the statement.  I'll let you interpret for yourself what it means.  As for me, I think it's a message about materialism.  

After our adventure at the Tate, we headed for Holland Park.  Scott said in the morning "where do you want to go today?" and he left it up to me to decide.  I just google searched "fun and original stuff to do in London" and Holland Park was listed as a must see.  I chose to go there and if the weather was good we decided to have a little picnic.  As it turned out, the weather was perfect and we grabbed a bite to eat at Pret A Manger which is quickly becoming our favorite lunch spot since you can get a meal for about a third of the price you pay almost anywhere else. (Side note: London is expensive!!!! !!)  We brought that to the park and just had a lovely time eating and talking about the modern art we just saw.  We walked around the gardens and looked at the lovely scenery.  There were Peacocks with the largest and most beautiful feathers I have ever seen.  There were bunnies and a coy fish pond.  There were blossoming trees, a pig pen, an orangery, and a youth hostel.  The best part of it all...it was FREE!  I love free things.  Scott and I watched children playing with water balloons and played on the amazing playground equipment ourselves.  Some of these structures would not fly in the US...too many law suit potentialities. (is that a word? ha.)  It was a blast.  I jumped on this rope swing and got a huge bruise on my thigh where the knot was!  It was intense.  We really had a good time at the park.  After some more walking around we decided to head back and get into Wimbledon in time to chat with Albert and Janice before we all headed to bed.  

Remember how I mentioned how excited Albert was about skype and a web cam? Well, he bought one...this morning!  When we came back from our day's adventures, we got Albert all set up and he seemed pretty excited about it all.  He made me feel like an expert computer tech.  Scott was wrapping up some stuff from winter semester at BYU so that left me working out all the kinks with the web cam.  I got it all figured out eventually and I think Albert is pretty jazzed about the whole thing.  We had a lovely conversation with Albert about his time in the Army and his courtship with Janice.  Of course there was tea and biscuits involved. :)  Have I mentioned how I love a warm cup of tea and a nice cookie?  Well, Scott and I have been eating their supply of biscuits so, we stopped at the grocery store to pick some up and bring them back to Janice and Albert...only to eat more of them ourselves. :)  oh dear....I'm starting to get used to all of this!

Monday 4/3/10

Monday was a very adventurous day.  If I could just map out for you all of the places I've walked in the last four days, you would probably be amazed at how much ground I've covered.  I couldn't do it without Scott though.  He is the navigator.  We had a later breakfast today.  Janice asked us when we wanted to eat and I just said whenever it was convenient for her it's convenient for us.  She said "we usually eat at a quarter to eight" and  what that meant was the time she thought we might like to eat.  Albert doesn’t even eat breakfast and she only usually has a bit of toast.  What this means is that Janice has been making us breakfast just to be kind.  Isn’t she wonderful?  The answer is yes. So, today we had an omlet and wheatbix...and tea of course.  Just scrumdidleyumptious!

We didn't really have any solid plans but Albert's friend Ray suggested that we check out Portobello Road.  We mentioned wanting to spend time at the famous markets of London and Protobello Road was his suggestion.  He said that this market is known for it's antiques and for being in Notting Hill.  Thank you Hollywood.  Scott and I had SO much fun walking down the road looking at all the lovely homes.  Once we reached the real hub of the market our first stop was this fabulous antique shop.  It was a manly man's sort of place complete with leather luggage stamped with initials, polo playing gear, top hats, cricket gear, hip flasks, martini shakers, and all sorts of manly gear.  Scott was just in heaven!  I told the girl at the counter that the man who owns the shop should try to advertise on The Art of Manliness (Scott's favorite blog) because the whole looking-to-the-past-for-inspiration-in-how-to-dress-and-ac-thing is really trendy.  There were some street vendors out selling foods and jewelry and hats.  I loved these little feathered hats with netting that comes over the eyes, very high fashion and vintage at the same time.  Scott and I indulged in a banana and nutella crepe made right there on the street it was decadent but we decided that we deserve it!

We also made a stop at a clock shop and Scott introduced me to the Atmos clock which operates with the power of atmospheric pressure.  Our last couple of stops were at vintage clothing shops.  I ADORE fluffy 1940's and 1950's style dresses.  Always have.  I was vintage before vintage was cool.  Dressing up in my grandma's clothes.  Her old gloves, purses, shoes, and jewelry.  Just as I was beginning to feel that Scott was bored of shopping with me, he would lead me into another one.  My favorite shop was called One of a Kind and you had to ring a door bell to get inside.  I think either they were trying to keep track of how many people were shopping at once or they were trying to determine if people are cool enough to enter.  As it turns out, Scott and I are cool enough.  We stepped inside and there was this group of about 5 black people who were hanging out and chatting.  I'm not sure who was working there and who was just hanging out but they were just such warm and friendly individuals!  I felt like much of the store was 60's and 70's Afro style stuff and I was all over it!  I picked out this blue 1950's cocktail dress...looked at the price tag....and put it down.  It was something like 500 pounds!!!  The girl at the counter just said to try it on for fun and I thought, what the hay, I might as well!  It fit me like it was made for me.  I thought it might be fun to run out and show the worker/ hang out group  how it looked and everyone was just raving.  Maybe to make a sale or maybe because they genuinely thought it looked nice.  Whatever the case...I felt like a total babe but, still decided not to blow all that money on a vintage dress.  Scott picked out this other dress.  Similar style only a day dress with a lower back.  By the way, sorry if this is boring for anyone reading this :)  I tried that one on and, of course it fit wonderfully!  I went out in that one and one of the worker/ hang out peeps said "wow, these fit you so well, you could model these clothes".  I said "sure, if I get them for a discount!"  No such luck.  It was fun nonetheless.  We chatted with the kids in the store for a bit and had lots of fun just kinda making friends.  They told us we were welcome to come back which I felt was more of an invitation than a business offer.  You know what I mean?  We are officially cool.

Scott and I headed back for lunch at a cafe called Charlie's that we saw earlier.  It was tucked away between a church and some flats for let.  There was blooming wisteria and vines all around this little crevice where the outdoor dining area was and we had the most delightful lunch.  Fresh baguette sandwiches and for desert...my favorite...a chocolate croissant!  The food was, as the British would say, beautiful.

We headed to Waterloo to begin a walk down the Thames to the Millenial Bridge and then St. Paul's Cathedral.  It was a chilly walk and we took refuge in another concert hall for a brief moment as Scott uses the loo.  I stood in the lobby listening to a local musician sing her original jazz and folk music.  We walked past a skate park and watched local kids and graphic artists roam this territory freely; the artists tagging the walls and the skaters practicing their stunts.  This city is just vibrant and full of energy.  We walked to St. Pauls and sat on the stairs watching the sun start to set and watching as the double decker busses passed.  

We walked to the south bank of the river again and found the Clink museum.  oooo, what a treasure that was!  We each paid 3.50 pounds to enter this thing.  Scott and I were kinda wondering what to do at this point.  We still had so many hours left in the day and were not quite ready to head back to Wimbledon.  Well, we happened upon this little jewel and decided to give it a try.  It was, after all, labeled as the most notorious renaissance prison.  After the tour, it was obvious that this was self proclaimed.  I about died laughing as we walked past these silly dressed up dummies that were just collecting dust, in the museum owners very sad attempt at creating a "prison scene".  There were tools of torture and confinement and signs explaining each one.  My favorite was for a woman who couldn't hold her tongue and was sent to prison for slander/ gossiping.  There was this metal contraption with a tongue hold on it that would be locked around the prisoner.  Underneath the sign explaining the contraption there were "interactive questions" for children.  One of the questions was "do you think this item might be used in your home if still used today?"  Underneath the display on whipping the question was "for what reasons might you be whipped?" Oh. My. Goodness.  I laughed so hard I almost peed.  And, imagine this, at the end of the tour, we ran into some fellow BYU students who are not studying abroad but just visiting.  Go figure!  

Scott and I boarded the underground and just as we were thinking about heading back, I decided we needed a little more adventure.  I said "why don't we just get on the train and pick a stop and get off and see where we are".  So, we did just that and it turned out to be....a flop.  My plan failed so miserably that I don't even remember the name of our first stop...it was that lame.  The good news is, we decided to give it another try.  We picked another stop that we had never been to before.  It sure sounded exciting...Picadilli Circus!  It turned out to be a blast.  I felt like I was in the Times Square of London.  There were huge screens on the side of a building with advertisements, lights, clubs, and musical theatres.  It was a relief to see that there is a part of London that doesn't close at 5! Ha.  I knew it had to be here somewhere.  Scott and I found China town, London.  It was about a half a block long but it seriously had these gates at either end making it clear that this was the real deal.  As we walked past a bunch of night clubs I saw neon lights in the distance spell "ESCAPE".  I said "ooo, Scott lets go check out es-ca-pay (Finding Nemo style).  Yea, we had a seriously good laugh.  I actually had to stop in my tracks and take a breather because I was laughing so hard. 

Finally we headed back to skype with my mum.  Albert and Janice got in on the conversation also.  Albert got pretty excited about the whole video chat thing.  So excited that he decided he would have to buy himself a webcam.  It really was a JAM packed day!  We were all over the place today and I loved just flying by the seat of my pants.  

Sunday in Hyde Park with Scott

Sunday was a lovely day.  It rained quite a bit but, I'm not sure why people complain about rain being "bad weather".  Rain is wonderful.  Sure it may soak through your shoes and get your clothes wet.  I say, if you don't like rain and the way it affects you...move somewhere sunny and dry....like the desert.  oh wait...it rains there too.  Maybe, if you are an individual that thinks of rain as "bad" then you should just live in outer space.  Is that too bold of me to say?  I'm feeling ever so slightly guilty for suggesting that.  Well, not too guilty because I'm leaving it for all to read.  For those of you who know me well, I don't really shy away from sharing my opinions in person why shy away on the internet? :)  Well, I digress.  So it rained Sunday.  We ate a breakfast of sausage, mushrooms, tomatoes, hashbrowns, and wheatabix.  This wheatabix stuff is interesting.  It's like a block of dry wheat-ness that just soaks up milk like a sponge and you eat it with a spoon.  Jeff Holt would love this meal.  It's a solid that you are supposed to consume with a spoon. :) I digress again.  Maybe all this digression is the reason that I'm a day behind Scott in my blogging...drat. ok, let's try short and sweet: breakfast was delicious again.

Church began at 1:00 in Hyde Park and Scott and I slept in until 11:40....ahh!  We were in quite a rush.  I asked Albert if he could take us to the tube station and, being the gentleman and wonderful host that he is, he agreed to take us.  Oh, Albert.  Bless that man.  He drove us with skill and expertise through the streets of Wimbledon and got us to that station at around 12:00 on the nose.  When we stepped aboard the train, the only two seats available near each other were across from each other.  Scott and I sat down and I noticed the two gentlemen about our age talking to each other about the pubs also sitting across from each other.  Now I mentioned the rain earlier thus you can understand that the weather was cold and they had some heat coming out from below the seats and blowing on the back of our legs.  I was thinking "man, this is warm...maybe it's the body heat of the dude next to me".  I looked and saw that my legs were a  safe distance away from his, so as to not seem flirty or whatever.  I then looked across at Scott who pointed to the heat below his seat and commented that it felt warm or something.  I thought "oh, ah hah!  that is why I'm all warm".  So stupidly, I turn to the guy next to me to share my little discovery thinking he might find it amusing.  I said to him, if you can actually believe this, "I was feeling the heat and thinking man this guy is hot" then I realized that sounded flirty so I said "you know, like your body heat, I thought I was feeling it...and then I realized it was the radiator thing".  haha.  omg.  The realization hit me about 5 minutes later.  This guy probably thought I was hitting on him pretty hard.  Wow did we laugh about that later!

The Hyde Park chapel is just lovely and has an ideal location!  Right next door to the Science Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum.  It's a really lovely building.  Naturally, the choir director found us after the sacrament meeting and asked us to join the stake choir for the fireside that night.  Wha???  How did this happen? We are in the building for an hour and already people know we do choir?  Not that I'm complaining because I love to sing but, we are visiting a ward....in London....and we are asked to join in the special musical number.  It amuses me.  So, we dash off to walk around a bit and grab some Chinese food really fast don't judge :) and attend the fireside that night.  We had Brother and Sister Donaldson and the area 70, Elder Snow and his wife address us.  They had some nice things to say.  Brother Donaldson talked about making choices and disciplining ourselves to become true disciples.  I really enjoyed what he had to say.  He said that when he was dating his wife, her father said to him "I want you to know all my girls are chaste".  He responded with "oh that's ok, I'm only chasing one of them".  Ha.  I just loved that.  But, of course I loved the messages about discipleship more. ;)

After the fireside we visited with some of the other study abroad groups and met some locals.  We had the chance to get to know Kim a lot better and chat with her about music and getting together to jam.  She seemed thrilled to have people around that speak her language.  With all the theatre and a few of the music study abroad students that were there we were really finding some good common ground.

It was just a relaxing day, as the Sabbath should be.  It really did feel like a Sunday because we were at church ALL DAY.  I enjoyed doing church London style...taking the tube all gussied up in Sunday clothes.  I look forward to living close enough to just stroll to church or take walks in Hyde Park.  That should be truly lovely.

Friday 4/30/10

Friday morning we woke to a wonderful English breakfast of bacon, sunny side up eggs over American style pancakes, tomatoes, tea, orange juice, and toast.   Can you say gourmet?!  Janice was just a busy little body in the kitchen cooking up a storm.  She even put our plates in the oven to warm them.  I've never seen that before and I imagine that it's not that uncommon but, it impressed me nevertheless.  I've been looking at the auditions for Disneyland and found one in London during the time I'm here.  I hit that right up!  Talk about adventure!  We arrived at Pineapple studios just after 10:00 (the supposed start time for the audition) only to find a HUGE line along the side of the building extending out into the street.  I got aggressive.  I told Scott to wait in line while I investigated.  I walked in the building and asked the girl at the counter about the Disney audition.  She said "I wouldn't know anything about that" and I thought, please!  Have you seen the amount of people coming through this place? You have to at least heard that it's going on.  Well, I just marched myself upstairs to poke around a bit.  I found some official looking people.  I said, "I need a number" and bam, they handed me a paper to fill out and a number...445.  I thought 445? omg, how many girls am I competing with here?  haha.  Turns out...600!!! I was told that if I made some of the cuts, I would need to provide a headshot and resume so I sent Scott out to get all that printed.  He is such a gem.  He just let me do my thing and was sooo supportive of this little dream I have to be a Disney Princess. I danced and acted my little heart out for 3 hours, made two cuts, and some friends.  No lifelong bonds or anything just connections with pleasant people.  

     We left the Pineapple dance studio and walked all around Covent Garden area.  We started at this Masonic Lodge and took a little tour.  While in one of the temples, the tour guide asked how many people we thought the room could seat.  Most people on the tour were guessing 600 or 800...small stuff.  Scott went for it and guessed 2,000.  I thought...hmm let's compare this room to a performance hall such as the De Jong at BYU which sits almost 2,000 and I thought this temple was comparable so I guessed 1500.  It turns out that it seats somewhere around 1700! haha we are so smart!  I asked, "do I get a prize" and the guide said "A trip aboard the Queen Mary for two!!" and I thought, great, pay up buddy!  

   Then we set out for the British Museum.  That place is so overwhelming!  There is just so much to take in you could probably spend two weeks going there every day and not even get to see everything.  It doesn't help that much of the museum shuts down at 5 anyway.  haha.  I really liked the enlightenment exhibit.  It was fun to see how mans curiosity effected the way we collect and share information.  This Sloan guy collected so much stuff from pottery to stuffed birds to sea shells to slippers.  This man had it all.  He was examining cultures and religion and the natural world.  Thank you Enlightenment.  My favorite tid bit of information: Sloan was the first to take the cocoa bean with milk and he sold his recipe to the Cadbury brothers...yea that's right...the makers of the most delicious chocolate in the world!!! While I was waiting for Scott to finish using the toilet I nearly fell asleep and I knew it was about time to go home.  There were a few more stops to make.  

Scott really wanted to hit Soho. He didn't know why...or at least he claimed to not know why.  

The only thing we saw there was this pretty little park and a few hippies. I was mostly put off by a 

sign at the entrance that said "no dogs, no bikes, no loud music, etc" it might as well have said "no 

fun!" We sat there for a minute and decided to head back to Wimbledon to end the night with Jan 

and Albert over some tea and cookies. Hello, best thing ever! My name is Michelle and I love 

English tea (herbal of course). So we did just that...headed back, visited, and went to bed!