Tower of London

Few But Strong

We are all split up in groups of 6 going to wards around London.  I attend the London North ward with Carli, Amy, Ashlee, Lauren, Katie, and Rodger.  We left an hour and a half early and took the tube to a different station where we switched lines, whcih was fun because no one was on it so we had the whole car to ourselves.  Then we took a bus to a street where Rodger was waiting and walked to the chapel.  The town is cute because it is a little city so it has some country look to it.  It is adorable!  I love my new ward so much!  The second we walked in we were greeted by a sweet mostly blind women.  She could only tell that Carli had flowers on my dress, then saw that my hair was curly and asked to touch it.  She was funny because she was so excited my hair was naturally curly.  Many people aproached us and welcomed us.  It was the friendliest ward I have ever been in.  There were so many different types of people.  There were no more than 50 people in sacrament and everyone just stays in the chapel for sunday school, even the kids.  Then everyone splits for Relief Society, Priesthood and Primary.  Most the people are first generation members so it is really cool to hear their stories.  I just loved being there with them and hearing what they had to say.  There is another old women who is one of the happiest chippery person I have ever met.  She would oo an daew when people would talk and throw in short little comments.  It was the cutest thing ever.  I can't wait for next Sunday and we are all already looking forward to our ward activity at the end of May.  When I got home I took a lovely nap and then we had a fireside.  One of the old stake presidents came and talked to us about World War 2 in London.  It was interesting.  He was alive during it an dwas actually evacuated like most of the children with his brother.  My favorite quote he told us was from Winston Churchill.  It was his favorite too because he told it like three times.  It goes like this:  A women that Winston Churchill worked with told him one day on the tube that he was drunk and he told her that she was ugly but he would be sober in the morning.  It is really mean but I thought it was so funny that this man thought it was so funny.  We planned our trip to Ireland tonight and now it is time to make sure my plays are all read before tomorrow.

Tubes, Buses and Markets

Slept in way too long today!  But we left at what we thought was a good time to meet the group for our tour of the Globe at 10am, at least until we got to the Tube Station and learned that the Circle line wasn't operating this weekend and that the District Line was not going to the station we needed.  So the only solution was to take the District to as far as it would go until construction then find a bus.  So right as we walked out of the station we saw the bus we needed pulling away from the stop and so the 20 min wait for the next bus began.  Not only that but when our bus came the bus man was the biggest grump I have ever met!  It was Hilarious!  W\He would yell at people to move forward or go up top then told a guy if he didn't have money or a card he needed to start running!  haha I almost burst out laughing.  I was just glad that my card worked an dhe didn't say anything like that to me.  We asked him where we should get off for the Globe theater and he said we weren't going to stop at that stop but if we were quick at the red light we could just jump off so we did.  The Globe tour ws interesting we learned about their clothes and things so that was way cool!  Geoffery from Fresh Prince of Bel-Air was rehearsing at the Globe for a Shakespeare play.  So that was cool.  We saw where  the old Globe Theater used to be and the site of the Rose Theater.  We also saw where Charles Dickens used to say he lived so people wouldn't know his parents lived in prison housing.  I really liked seeing the clothes and things in the Globe exhibit.
We went to Borough Market and it was the most Amazing food market I have ever seen!  I wanted to eat everything!  It was all so fresh and looked so amazing!  They had different sections of fresh produce or fresh seafood or juices or meats or baked goods.  It was a lovely experience.  Then Casmin and I wanted to go to Portebello Road again to get Crepes.  It took us 3 hours to make the 15 minute trip.  We now know the bus system better now though.  We took the tube to Gloucester Road (our normal stop), then waited for the bus to take us to the other bus stop we needed but it was taking forever so we walked.  We found the stop we needed and waited 20 minutes for the bus only to have it drive right past us and a little asian man walking by tell us that we needed to signal it for it to stop.  Lesson learned.  We walked home, changed into cooler clothes, ate and decided to just walk there.  Then we realized the bus stop in front of our flat would take us there so we waited.  When it pulled up I realized I had left my Oyster card in my other bag.  Back to the apartment!  We got my card and waited for the nest bus.  It came and we got on it finally!  Honestly by that point we did not remember what stop we were supposed to get off on so the guessing game began.  We got off at a stop we thought was close and we were right!!  We asked a bookstore an dthey gave us typed directions and told us it wasn't a random question and they get asked where Portabello road is a lot.  I believed them the second we got the sheet of directions.  We found the road and walked the whole length of it!  It was way long!  It took us about 3 hours maybe with only a little bt of shopping, but the little we did do took time because we both are very indecisive when it comes to spending money.  Which we learned works great in a market setting at the end of the day because they will lower prices for you and give you deals.  When I told the lady I decided not to buy a watch for an already great deal of 6 pound she told me she would sell me three watches for 15 pounds.  I had already decided I didn't need one though.  We found the fashion area where they had tons of vintage clothes!  It was one of the coolest things ever!  The style here is a vintage chic look.  Everyhting is so cute and detailed.  We looked for the nearest bus stop and got on the next bus that came and began to look for familiar places and found ourselves right on High Kensington, right around the corner from us.  We decided it would be in our best interest to grocery shop so we could eat on Sunday.  I was glad I had my cute new backpack bag because I was able toput my groceries in it to carry home.

A Lovely Day on High Kensington Street

I do not tend to be a late person but we you are depending on public transportation to get you places it is hard to know timing.  We ended up being on time to our of the National Theatre though so it was all good!  The National Theatre is one of the biggest here and they have a wide variety of plays.  My favorite part was going back stage and seeing the props and sets, and a costume of a dress from My Fair Lady.  It showed the steps of how to make it.  We also found out that most the adults in Harry Potter were in the National Theater Company years ago.  That is something we are learning here.  Actors and actresses are in plays and you can see them everywhere!  After the tour we walked by these little houses of exhibits and there was one with the cutest vintage swimsuits!  I loved one of them!  I can't wait to make swimsuits of my own!  We aslo saw walls covered in graffiti, it was so cool and very appropriate because it was a skate park!  Nathan you would have loved it!  Barely anyone was skateboarding there but they had a lot of cool stuff.
We headed to High Street Kensington for some serious shopping!  Lets just say I am completely in love with stores and clothes here, yet I have the hardest time deciding to buy things.  It took me a week to realize that the bag I saw last week and thought about everyday is something I should buy.  So I did and I LOVE it!!  I found so many wonderful things!!
There was yet another bakery with beautiful food in the window so I just had to get a Pain au Chocolat.  Pretty much the second I put that in my mouth I knew that this was a great day!  I had great clothes,  I was on my way to buy the bag I love and I had just took a bite of a fluffy choclate cloud.

Princess Dreams

Today is the day for being a Princess!!  We had to see what it would be like to be Kate on Friday April 29, 2011, when she was living a beautiful life and having a gorgeous elegant wedding and we were sleeping in the dirt waiting for her.  We took a tour through Westminster Abbey where she was married then headed for Buckingham Palace Mews (where they keep the horses and carriages).

A perfect pillow for princess dreams!!  I wanted to buy it so I could ensure princess dreams every night but it was 40 pounds.  So a picture had to do.

The beauty that is Westminster Abbey!!  Carli and I couldn't wait to get inside!

 We got to sign William and Catherine's Wedding book!!

 They had a table set up with flowers and a book to sign a message to William and Kate!  Of course we had to! 

 The flowers were not only inside but on the balconies of this building too!

 This is the same door that Kate entered the Abbey!!

 St. James Park

 The park view right in front of Buckingham Palace.  SO beautiful!!  It's like a fairytale land!  I knew that London would be like a fairytale land!!

 Buckingham Palace

 We went to the Buckingham Palace Mews to see the horses and carriages.  This is horse was so cute!  It would smile at you with its teeth and then nod its head in agreement to what the tour guide was saying.  I want him so bad! 

 This is a convertible carriage.  All the royal carriages are the same colors so people on the street would recognize them.  They are black on top then the bottom part is a deep red and the wheels and very bottom are bright red and gold.

 I loved this carriage!  I think this carriage was made in Scotland for Queen Elizabeth.  Inside it has working lights, air conditioning and all the same conveniences of a modern car.

 The luxurious stall of a royal horse

 This is the famous carriage Wiliam and Catherine road in on their wedding

 This is the heaviest and most grand carriage built by King George.  It is only used o coronations.  To get it out of the room they take down a wall and have to use horses to move it out because it is so heavy.  It takes 8 horses to pull it.

 The gold is real and probably been recovered about 7 times.

 The car Kate road in to the wedding!  The colors are the same as the carriages, black on top and dark red under.  The back comes off like a convertible but it is still covered with a clear window.  So it looks like your in a convertible but your hair and everything doesnt get blown around, it's perfect.

 It is not everyday you see a gold ballerina high above all the buildings.

A Night at the Theater

By Wednesday I had done no homework so I had quite a bit in store for myself to catch up.  I must admit when being in the same room with Me and Casmin and trying to do homework, you don't really get much done.  We took the afternoon off from sightseeing and stayed indoors and relaxed and did our work.  When 4:30 came around it was time to put the plays away and head for Nandos, an amazing chicken restaurant just down the street from us. 

 

I got a lemon & herb chicken pita.  It was one of the best sandwiches I have ever had!

 

 This is the wall in Nando's were you can get your soft drinks.  It was all soda cans.

 We made it to the play in time to get a student discount!

 Casmin and I were preparing our sad faces for the play.

 This is the handles on the door to the theater!  They are so cool!  I loved it!  The play was so good!  The set changes were so quick and amazing.  They had a revolving center stage so the set could turn.  It was awesome!  The set was so amazing how they used the same thing to make several different settings.  It would turn and change and stuff like a transformer. haha  I really enjoyed Les Miserables.  The main guy was so good and Apenine had an amazing voice.  I can't believe some of the little kids that are in the plays!  Like how often do they do plays?  What do they do about school and bedtime?  haha 

The Tube