and for the other half

So obviously I should be blogging more frequently, but I just am not good at it. Random is the best word. Well, better late than never right?

And off to the good stuff...

Tuesday we went to a place called Bath, named so because at some point the Romans lived there and built this big structure for the public baths. It is also a really cool place to visit just for all the architecture. After our tour of that baths came the best part of Tuesday..."afternoon tea." Fancy little sandwiches, scones (with my favorite topping again) and desserts all served on fancy tiered silver trays. The only thing more fun and girly than that? On our walk to the Fashion Museum we noticed a hat shop and decided to stop inside. A shop full of fancy hats loaded with ribbons, feathers and fluff!

Then we come to Wednesday. There had been an original forecast of rain, so we made it a day that we could be mostly inside. We went shopping. Shopping in London is the most crazy thing ever. The most crazy of all was a store called Primark. It's pretty much the cheapest store - like $4 for shirts and stuff like that. It was like going shopping the day after Thanksgiving + the day after Christmas + Disneyland (the lines not the rides). We ended the day by attending Wicked at the West End. And as true for my whole trip - no rain after all!

We planned Thursday to be a rest day from the late night Wednesday - and to prepare us for Friday. So we slept in and took it easy, then headed for a city close by - to visit a Primark that was not in London, therefore not as busy. This time I would say it was maybe just Thanksgiving.

Friday was the big tourist day. Our first stop, the London Eye. This has the idea of a ferris wheel - but instead of seats they were more like glass rooms - I'd say about 15-20 people fitting comfortably. Then it went around really slow, taking about 30 minutes to get around, to allow a most magnificent view of all of London. After we looked at everything from above, we then went by foot - taking in all the sites up close. We walked all over the city. No matter where I went I felt like I could take a picture in any direction and have a beautiful shot.

Bored yet? Well, stay strong - only a couple more days to go!

Saturday was the planned day for Paris - which I was very, very excited about. But as all things can't be perfect - we weren't actually able to go. The day I flew into England there was a fire in the Eurostar tunnel. We had hoped that things would be better if we waited to go towards the end of my visit. Then it came down to the end and the news was still not so good. We read it was several hours between trains, they said they would try to accommodate ticket holders (which sounded like maybe you wouldn't get on a train at all) and travel times once on the train were much longer than normal. They basically said only if you really have to should you take the train. So instead of the train we chose a relaxing day out in a boat on the River Thames -followed by lunch on the river's edge. For dinner my most famous meal of the trip - fish and chips with mushy peas. The fish was excellent - served in a fancy box and eaten with a funny fork (it looked like those wooden spoons you used to get with the little ice cream cups, but with two prongs). The fries were excellent as well. Then there were the peas. Basically they were mashed potatoes made with peas. Green mashed potatoes just weren't very appetizing looking to me, but I gave them a go anyway. I will say this...good fish and chips...

And for the grand finale...Sunday being Sunday wasn't overly eventful, but very fun nonetheless. I attended church with my friend. It also turned out to be the same one as some of her family. It was a good week to come because they had their much heard about "munch 'n mingle". This was started because new church memebers were having a hard time meeting others because everyone would just attend church and go home. So instead of going straight home everyone brings a little snack to share (the munch) and then the chatting begins (the mingle). Then after church my friend Miriam invited over some of her family and made us all what she said is a traditional Sunday dinner - roast chicken with mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, veggies and stuffing. Very yummy.

And then my trip was done. Monday morning I woke up early and got on a plane back to real life. And how lovely it is - crazy kids and all.

So thanks again to Taylor who helped me out with my flight (and helped me out getting the fancy treatment on the plane), thanks to all the grandparents who put up with my crazy monkeys for almost two weeks, and thanks to Miriam - because without her my trip would still be a dream in my head.

Alright, here I am - almost halfway through my journey. Kind-of sad to think really, although no matter what I know that someday I have to come home and face reality - so, might as well make it next week. So far I've had the best time. There is so much to see here - everywhere I turn it seems there are giant castles, magnificent gardens, beautiful architecture. I think to stop and take a picture, then I realize that there is so much if I tried taking pictures of all of it I might end up all day walking down just a few streets - no time for that!

Anyway, I would think that maybe one of two of those reading would like to know what I've done so far - something I could write on forever and ever about. So I will try to made this as brief as possible, and sorry but there will be no visual stimulation this blog as my laptop does not seem to like the British internet connection available to it. For the tourist-y things: First day I landed and was going off about 4-5 hours of sleep in two days (time zones differing 7 hours). I was actually so excited I didn't feel too tired at all...until I got to my friend Miriam's house and totally had a crash moment. So I opted for the smart choice and took a "quick" nap, which turned out to be a couple of hours. So by this time it was evening and so we just went to the town near her house and had dinner and looked for an outlet converter (brought all my chargers and such - but totally forgot about the whole UK outlet difference).

Then next day (since my phone couldn't be charged I had no way to set an alarm) I ended up sleeping in until noon! I figure my body must have really needed to rest up. So after getting up and ready we headed out and visited Hampton Court Palace - where Henry VIII lived. Exciting points of the day for me: being rushed up a stairway because they were trying to film a BBC movie and we were in the background & having a scone with jam and clotted cream (my new most favorite thing).

Saturday we visited Windsor Castle - said to be the most famous castle, and one that the royal family still lives in on occasion. We toured the castle, walked around the shops in Windsor and then off to Eaton - where they have Eaton College, famous for teaching Prince Henry and Prince William.

Sunday we took the train to London to attend church. I would compare London to New York except London has more wonderfully old buildings. After church we walked through Hyde Park and stopped to eat our lunch while listening to a concert in the background. Apparently they were having a birthday party for Andrew Lloyd Webber so there was a concert in the park where all these famous people were singing his songs. From there we mosied around London a little more before catching our train back home.

And that would bring us to today...We visited the town of Wimbledon. We did some shopping, went sightseeing at a stately house surrounded by parks and gardens and ended with a lovely meal at a place called Giraffe (which I wish they had in the states). The highlight of today, besides the shopping of course, would have to be the dessert I had. It was called Banana Waffle Split - and I love it. Back in my college days, living at the dorms, we used to have all-day access to a waffle machine in the cafeteria. It soon came to my attention that the most delicious way to eat said waffles was with the soft ice cream located just beside the machine. I normally went one step further by adding sliced bananas or strawberries to it. So you see, when I saw this dessert on the menu I just had to try it - never before had I actually seen anyone else do this combination. And it was delicious - the most gourmet tasting waffle topped with slightly cooked bananas, very yummy vanilla ice cream & topped off with a little chocolate drizzle. Oh, and I finally found myself a outlet converter...

crossing the pond

Some of you may know that recently inside my head have been thoughts of taking a trip to the UK. What most of you may not know - until now - is that Saturday I received my passport, and yesterday (thanks to Taylor, my new favorite cousin) I booked my flight. I am more excited than I can even describe.

If you will take a memory trip back with me a few (ok, seven) years...I lived at a little apartment complex near BYU called King Henry. During my summer months there I had the pleasure of having two lovely British girls as my roommates. I have not only kept in contact with them ever since, I have also dreamed of the day when I could visit them in England. And Wednesday my journey to fulfilling that dream will begin.

So did I mention how excited I am?