snow day

(Picture courtesy of Alexis because I didn't take one before the snow turned into slush. Thanks!) 

Apparently it doesn't snow in London very often, and when it does, the entire city has a panic attack and half of the tube shuts down (never mind that most of it is underground and will never see the snow).  It makes getting to church an adventure.  And sometimes it's a welcome reminder of winter at home, which for some reason decided not to visit Utah until after I left for Europe.  Funny how that works.

walking

Sometimes when you have to do certain walks for your London Walks Class (where you basically just follow a route on the map and read the background information on the area) it feels like a forced march.  But sometimes you find amazing things, like really authentic and delicious Italian restaurants or Buckingham Palace or Downing Street, home of the Prime Minister, or friendly Londoners (that's pretty rare in my experience) who tell you about quaint and lesser known places to see  - in this case, the courtyard of King's College.  Sometimes when you go walk through London you start out doing it because you want a good grade in a class, and then in the end you realize you're doing it because you're in love with everything that's beautiful about this city.

westminster abbey

Today we visited Westminster Abbey.  If it looks familiar to you it might be because this lovely couple was married there.  I love them.  Seriously.  The abbey was really pretty.  It has a different feel than St. Paul's and I think I liked it a little less but it was still incredible.  We saw memorials to many of the past kings and queens and also to famous people like Shakespeare, Chaucer, Jane Austen, the Bronte Sisters, and even Lawrence Olivier.  We also saw the House of Parliament, Big Ben, and the London Eye.  The statue above is of Richard the Lionheart. Unfortunately I didn't bring my camera today so I just used my phone and a handy app called Instagram. So if the pictures aren't great, you'll just have to forgive me.

do you hear the people sing?

The best thing about London has to be all the amazing cultural and historical significance here.  Yesterday we were able to visit St. Paul's, which is probably one of the most beautiful places I've ever been to.  They don't allow pictures inside so I can't really convey the beauty of this place, but you can look at pictures and take a virtual tour here.  Our guide allowed us to cheat a little and take a picture of one of the staircases.  It's amazing because the stairs actually support each other - the entire staircase is held because the individual steps hold one another.  The railing is purely ornamental.

And if you want to make a day the best day ever, you decide last minute to go to a production of Les Miserables.  It turns out that tickets to shows in London are pretty affordable, especially if you go last minute, so you can end up paying 26 pounds for decent seats.  This production was life changing.  Honestly, it was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen.  The actors and actresses were amazing, and "Bring Him Home" left everyone speechless.  This was my second time seeing Les Mis, but I was still in awe by the end of the show.

the tower of london

Going to church on Sunday was an adventure.  We took the tube to another tube station then to the train station where we caught the train then after that we rode the tram.  

Tube. Train. Tram.  

Then we walked because, of course, we're in London and all we actually do is walk.  Going to my ward was a cultural experience.  Most everyone is African and I can't pronounce any of their names.  I got called to be a primary teacher for the CTR class (ages 4-7, I think).  I'm not totally sure I can control them so next Sunday might be an experience.  Let's just say they had more energy than I've ever had in my entire life up to this point.  If I can at least get them to sit in their seats - say nothing about listen to the lesson or be quiet the whole time - I'll be happy.  I've also learned already that I shouldn't bother to do my hair before church because once I get there the little girls are intrigued by it and play with it and mess it up anyway.

On Monday I had my first experience with pickpocketing.  Imagine having an oyster card (basically a pass that lets me ride the tube for a month) for a grand total of maybe five hours and then realizing it's been stolen.  Fun stuff.  Side note, it turns out that English construction workers should probably have the same reputation as American ones.  Every time I walk by them is a new experience.

Today we visited the Tower of London.  I was very impressed.

There are crows all over the grounds.  Supposedly there's some legend that says that if the crows ever leave, England will fall.  I guess they take matters into their own hands around here because they clip the crows' wings.  Good thinking, England.

And most importantly, we saw the Crown Jewels.  They don't allow cameras in there so I didn't get any pictures, but they were amazing.  And it turns out that some of the crowns are around five pounds, so it's no wonder that in the pictures Queen Elizabeth looks like she can't hold her head up.

trafalgar square, piccadilly, & covent gardens

Today I woke up at 5:00 and couldn't fall back asleep, so I got up and got ready.  It turns out that the guys had been awake since 4:00, so we went to breakfast.  Favorite story of the day:

While we were walking around trying to find something to eat for breakfast, we saw a couple riding their bikes and holding hands and we just thought it was kind of cute but mostly cheesy.  They stopped right in front of us, got off their bikes, and started to kiss each other goodbye (key word being started).  After about 10 seconds the guy flung his bike down - loudly and dramatically - and pulled her in closer.  I didn't know if I should laugh or just cover my eyes, so we walked away really quickly.  I thought the French were supposed to be the passionate ones?

There are tons of breakfast places in London, but none of them were open except McDonald's (and when we walked by later - around 9 - they still weren't open), so the first meal I bought here was a Sausage McMuffin.  It tasted the same as it would in the United States, but they did have some weird things on the menu (like a "Bacon Roll," which is a bun with canadian bacon and ketchup . . .) 

Later in the day we went on a walk and saw some of the sights in London.

Covent Gardens

Statue of the inventor of Sunday School

The National Gallery and Saint-Martin-in-the-Fields

Trafalgar Square (I look scary in this picture but I loved this area)

Eating chicken schwarmas for lunch

Trafalgar Square was amazing.  The architecture is beautiful and there are statues everywhere.  After we saw it we went out for lunch.  We decided to be brave and try Lebanese food.  It wasn't bad, but it turns out that here they charge you to sit down inside instead of "take away" (take out).  The menu on the outside of the restaurant was a take away menu and it said the food was about five pounds, but once you sit down inside they give you a different menu, so my little tiny lunch ended up being about nine pounds.  At least now we can say that we've tried overpriced Lebanese food.  After lunch, we went to the National Gallery of Art.  They have paintings by famous artists like Monet, Renoir, Cezanne, Degas . . . it was really amazing to see paintings I've studied before in my classes.

Our wards were assigned today and I'm going to the Mitcham Ward with two other girls.  I think I'll miss being able to drive for 30 seconds to get to my church building.  Here, I have to catch the tube in order to catch a train in order to catch a tram and then after that walk for a while.  The directions say that the ward meets in the back of what looks like an old house.  Hopefully the area isn't just a neighborhood of old houses because they didn't give us an address.  I won't wear my high heels just in case.

And most importantly . . . 

Someone is turning 13 today! Happy birthday Rachael. I'm sorry I can't be there, but I hope you have a great first day of being a teenager.

day one

This is 27 Palace Court, where I'll be living for the next few months.

I wasn't completely convinced up until today, but it turns out that jet lag is a completely real phenomenon.  I know because right now I feel like a zombie.  But I'm finally in London!  After several delays and a lost passport (luckily not mine, and the owner will be joining us here in London soon) we finally arrived at Heathrow this morning.  Customs wasn't as bad as I was expecting and we only had to wait two and a half hours for the bus that was supposed to pick us up right when we got there (we were instructed to find the “coach marshall” but since none of us knew what that actually meant and apparently neither did the airport officials, it took a while).

It's really nice except that it has a million floors. Actually there's only six, but for some reason there's like two flights of stairs between each floor so by the time you reach floor number four (where my room is), it feels like you probably climbed the equivalent of the Eiffel Tower. At least I'll be in good shape here.  Here are a few pictures of the Centre.

The entry way

The dining room

The sitting room

The classroom

My bedroom

The view from the window. You probably can't tell in this picture, but all those cars are parked, not moving.  I guess people just park in the middle of the road around here.

To keep us awake, my professor took us on a walking tour of our new neighborhood. I took plenty of pictures, but the internet in the Centre isn't great so I'm only posting a few.

This is Embassy Row.  It's across the street from us and it's where lots of ambassadors live.

In The Da Vinci Code, this is the headquarters of the London chapter of Opus Dei.  I hope no weird monks actually live there because it's right around the corner.

The epitome of British-ness.

Portobello Road

And of course our street, Palace Court.

Tonight we're heading off to see a question and answer type session from Ralph Fiennes. Apparently he's a Shakespearian actor, but you might know him better for this role.  I hope he doesn't get offended if forty people in the audience sleep through his entire forum.  

Update: our professor still said we were bobbing like drunk sailors.  Poor Ralph.