Chapter Seven

I have fallen in love... with England. It's decided... I don't know if the feeling is mutual, but I like to think it is. 

Thursday we went to Stratford Upon Avon... the birthplace of Shakespeare. It was so fun! We saw Anne Hathaway's cottage and the place where Shakespeare was born.   We seem to visit a lot of houses where someone or other is born... frankly I don't really like thinking about the fact that they were born there.  We tried to see Shakespeare's grave but the church closed right before we got there.  We did see this pretty rainbow though! 

Holli, Sara and I being Shakespearean in front of Shakespeare's home. 

Rebbie and I in this hut. You go in there if you are suffering from unrequited love... I don't know if I am suffering from unrequited love, actually I know that I am not... but since Spenser's on a mission I think that that might count :) 

We finished up the night with a performance of Love's Labors Lost by the Royal Shakespeare Company.  The show was amazing... I really have never seen a better Shakespeare show, which isn't surprising since they are supposed to be the best in the world.  It was the best way to end my lovely Stratford shakespearience. 

Yesterday was a super fun/wonderful/stressful day. We went to St. Paul's Cathedral. I LOVE St. Paul's.  I love the outside. I love the inside.  I love the sparkely mosaics.  I love the whispering gallery, and the all the stairs up the tippy top of the Cathedral.  I have always had this odd fetish for architecture and houses... I would read the Sunday house sales and everything. Anyways I guess that's why I love the architecture here, St. Pauls may be my favorite. We have been learning about the Baroque architecture, which makes it more fun too! I am a nerd. Anyways we trekked up like 500 stairs to get to the top.  The view was so worth it.  I loved it. 

Holli and I on the steps of St. Pauls. It's kind of massive and huge, so its hard to get the whole thing in the picture.

Hello lovely London. 

Chapter Six

Okay, okay I know everyone is probably sick of me saying that this is amazing and that is amazing, but really that is the only way to describe England.  Maybe I need to expand my vocabulary, but until I do amazing will have to suffice.  

This week we went to the north of England specifically Liverpool, Preston, the Lake District, Haworth, and Chatsworth.  As always, it was amazing, but the thing I loved most about this trip was how different each day was.  There were very spiritual, beautiful, and fun things that I saw and felt.  

Our first stop was the Quarry Bank Mill.  We took a tour of the mill and were able to see all the different machines that were used during the Industrial Era.  I had always wondered how fabric was made and now I know! But more importantly than that I really learned a lot about my heritage.  A lot of my ancestors from my dad's side are from a town called Oldham in Lancashire.  Oldham was completely dedicated to cotton factories.  I most likely had ancestors who worked in these factories and it was an amazing experience to see what their lives would be like.  They would work twelve hour days in noisy, polluted, and dangerous conditions.  I can't even imagine working for that long, and it puts my 8 hour office job to shame.  I can't believe I ever complained about sitting behind a desk all day! It made me so grateful for the things that I have and all my many blessings.  

Our next stop was Liverpool, home of the Beatles! Yay.  We visited the Cavern Club which was the first place they played at and reveled in the Beatleness of Liverpool.  It was fun. 

 

The best part of the day was the Liverpool Docks.  These docks are where all of the Latter Day Saint converts left to go to America.  I was able to see where my ancestors left from to give their posterity a better life.   They gave up their homes, their friends, and everything they knew for their faith.  It was so amazing to look at the same body of water that they looked at and contemplate the sacrifices that they made for me.  I am so grateful for their sacrifice so that I can be able to have the blessings of the gospel in my life.  

The Liverpool docks at night.  It started raining and we got so soaked shortly after this.  I love the England rain!

This picture is next to the statue that the church donated and commemorates all the families that left from Liverpool.  

After Liverpool we went to the Preston Temple.  It is so beautiful.  We admired the beauty of the temple and I played ring around the rosie with Francis, Professor Benfell's darling daughter.  She says it's okay to color even though I am almost nineteen years old.  I tend to agree.  

We then took a tour of Preston, which is the first place that the missionaries taught in Britian.  I learned a ton about the history of the church in this area and saw the place where the first baptisms took place.  It was really great to see how the church developed in England and all the amazing miracles that took place.  

This is the River Ribble. The first converts to the church were baptized under that bridge... well at least that's what they think. The bridge has been rebuilt. But they were baptized in the River Ribble.... River Ribble, has a nice ring to it huh?

The next day was one of the best days, among all of my many best days. We went to the Lake District, which is one of the the 1000 Places to See Before You Die. So I guess now I can check it off the the list.  It is such a beautiful area.  I really loved it and would love to own a home there (I guess I'll have to have a bunch of summer homes in England).  The whole Lake District is filled green rolling hills and mountains.  There are little creeks running everywhere and sheep just roaming about. I love sheep. The lakes are so beautiful and realllllllllly cold. I would know. We went swimming on our first night.  I guess I should have figured that my skin would be numb after getting out, after all the lake is glacier fed. But it was really fun and was one of my favorite parts of the trip.  And don't worry mom I am not sick, and did not catch my death or anything. This is the view of the lake from our hostel.... it's okay I guess :)

The Lake District is home to some famous people.  We visited Henry Wordsworth's cottage. It was really adorable and unfortunately I hadn't ever read Henry's poetry... shame on me.  I do like it now though and am adding that to my to read list when I get home.  We also visited Beatrix Potter's home, called Hilltop Farm.  It was as cute as all her stories... and would be the perfect place for a lady like Beatrix Potter to live.  I saw Peter Rabbit's garden too!

Hilltop Farm

I thought it would be cute to do bunny ears for Peter Rabbit.  Some people weren't as enthusiastic as me I guess. 

We spent the rest of the day exploring Ambelside, which is the town we were staying in.  Almost all of the buildings in the town are made with the grey stone and there are all these stone walls everywhere, some of them are hundreds of years old. I loved it.  We ate at this cute restaurant named Lucy's On a Plate and I had the most delicious macaroni and cheese and lemon cake. It was so good.  Then we found a trail to a waterfall, just off the road in the middle of town.  I love exploring.  After our waterfall adventure we went back and had the real "hostel experience."  We made friends with the hostel workers and had a jam session.  My friend Holly is so amazing and sang some of her songs... she is going be discovered one day.  It was just an all around good day.  I have had so many of those here.  Days where there is nothing you can complain about and you go to bed completely content.  I love it.  

These are some of my friend here. Alex, Jordyn, Sara, Me, Rebbie, Brooke, and Marin. 

Our last stop was Chatsworth and we saw yet another amazing palace.  Seriously.  They are like a dime a dozen here.  Well not really, but there are a lot, and they are all so amazing.  They filmed that new movie the Duchess here, which I haven't seen. So I will have to see that.  The whole palace was filled with beautiful art, decoration, and sculpture.  This particular palace was neat because the current residents, the Duke and Duchess of something or other have a bunch of their art there as well. It was kind of fun to see the new art mixed with the old art, and just fun to see the art in general.  

 

After Chatsworth we had a nice long bus ride... like four hours.  So that was fun. The bus and I have become very good friends this past month.  This week was so great for so many reasons.  I really learned so much about my heritage and my faith.  It was such an amazing experience to learn about the lives of my family and what they sacrificed, and also the history of my church.  The lake district was fun and beautiful.  This whole experience has been so amazing and I can't believe I still have two whole months! I don't know how can get any better... but I have a feeling it will. 

Chapter Five

Yesterday we went on a day trip to Blenheim Palace and Oxford University.  I know I say this a lot but it was amazing (seriously everything here is amazing).  The palace was beautiful and Oxford was beautiful and everything I do here seems to be beautiful.  

It was freezing at Blenheim Palace... well maybe not freezing but cold, and windy.  Which makes it very cold.  I think it is finally fall now.  It is getting cold and the leaves are starting to change.  I love it.  Blenheim is a Baroque Palace and it was so pretty.  There were beautiful gardens and beautiful rooms in the palace. It was the place where Winston Churchill was born too! 

The gardens were so pretty. The first thing I wanted to do when I got off of the bus was sing "The Hills Are Alive" from the Sound of Music.  I didn't but I did take a picture frolicking in the grass with my friend Hailee.  It was very satisfying. 

After Blenheim we went to Oxford.  It wasn't what I expected, well really I don't know what I expected but whatever it was it wasn't what Oxford was. That was confusing. But I did love Oxford, I guess that's all that matters.  We went and toured Magdelene's College. It was really pretty.   Here are some pictures to illustrate: 

The highlight of the day was punting down the river. Punting is a way to steer a boat down the river.  You stick this long pole to the ground and use it to push off and steer the boat. It was so fun! I gave it a go and was so close to falling in the water. Not fun. It was really hard though, especially because I have zero upper body strength. My friend Alex who didn't go with us really did fall in the water.  She has a whole new Oxford outfit now... lucky her.  Here are some pictures from my punting adventure.

We finished off our Oxford adventure with evensong.  It was so amazing.  I love being able to learn about new religions and their customs.  The service was beautiful and the mens choir was really great.  I really enjoyed being able to worship my beliefs in a different way and to learn about how other Christian religions worship.  It was a perfect end to a really great day.  

Chapter Four

So this past week, has been very crazy. I have had so much schoolwork (well really I have been catching up on schoolwork because I was off playing here).  So most of the evenings I stayed in and caught up on reading and whatnot. This semester has already been so amazing and I can't believe that I have been here almost a whole month! Ah, its crazy.  I have learned so much about so many different subjects and myself. I love being in a different culture and seeing different people.  You might not think that the British culture is much different but it is.  There are so many different ethnicities and customs here and it is a really great place to be a part of. Anyways that was may have sounded really corny, but it's true. Now for the really cool things I did this week.   

Buckingham Palace

We took a tour of state rooms of the palace. Apparently they only open these rooms up every so often so I was really excited to be able to get to go.  It was so beautiful inside! Unfortunately I wasn't allowed to take pictures during the tour so I don't have any on the inside, but in a way that was nice because I could just take in the decoration and architecture of the palace.  The tour was really great and I learned a lot about the history of the palace.  

The Globe Theatre

Since I am a drama nerd I loved The Globe.  We saw a Midsummer Night's Dream here and it was so fun.  We were "groundlings" which means we only had to pay 5 pounds for our tickets but we had to stand for the whole show.  Luckily the show was really funny and engaging so I really didn't notice that my knees were about to collapse (that is an exaggeration).  Other than the standing it was really fun. 

A Stroll Through the Country

On Saturday a man from one of the stakes that we go to took us on a lovely walk through the country.  London is SO beautiful and green.  Since green is my favorite color I love it... among other reasons.  We hiked nine miles through fields, farmland, and quaint country towns.  We ate lunch at a castle... at an actual castle.  One day I would love to buy a country house and visit every summer.... I don't know if that will ever happen though. I was talking to one of the men from London about it and on the lower end of things a small town home could be about 400,000 pounds, or 800,000 dollars.  I better start saving now. 

Other Highlights:

1. Ivanov- an amazing play by Anton Chekhov.  Kenneth Branagh played Ivanov and it was the best play I have ever seen.  I was speechless at the end.

2. St. Bartholomew's Cathedral- the oldest church in London.  It looked old and smelled old and was so cool.

3. Gelato Mio- the BEST gelato I have ever had. They have delicious flavors like pear and plum.  So delicious.  

Chapter Three

This past week we went to the West of England.  I really had no idea where we were going or where the west of England was and what there was to do there.  I just got on the bus and hoped that it would be an exciting three days... and it was.  The west of England is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.  

Our first stop was Stourhead Estate.... my future home.... I wish. It was so beautiful and had a mansion that could house probably about 100 people comfortably.  The mansion wasn't even the most impressive part of the estate.  The gardens were.  They surrounded a lake and were filled with dense trees and perfectly manicured lawns.  I can't even express how beautiful it was.  So here are a few pictures that will attempt to do so (although it is a rather poor attempt).  

The next place we went was Thomas Hardy's cottage. I didn't really know who Tom Hardy was. He is an author... a pretty famous one. But aside from that his cottage was cute.  It was nice to see a real country cottage.  The inside was tiny! 

So basically I didn't know that the water in Britain looked like Hawaii.  We went to this cove and it was beautiful! I live by the beach, and I am still amazed.  The water was crystal clear blue and perfectly picturesque.  It was surrounded by cliffs topped with bright green grass.  The whole place was beautiful.  Again. My description can't do it justice.  

The next place we went was St. Michael's Mount.  It was magical. That's really the only way to describe it.  St. Michael's is an island off the coast of Penzance and when the tide goes out you can walk to it on this little old path, but when the tide goes in you have to ride on a boat to get to it.  On top of the island is this old castle and a family still lives in it! How awesome would that be? But it was the first castle I have seen on my trip and it was beautiful.  It was amazing to think that there had been battles on the same ground that I was walking on (and I know there were from the really cheesy documentary we watched about it).  Really though. Things like this are only supposed to exist in fairy tales.   

After St. Michael's Mount we drove about 3 hours to Exeter and stayed the night at a youth hostel... real fun, it really wasn't that bad.  The next morning we wen to Exeter Cathedral, which was absolutely gorgeous.  The building had so much history and portions of it dated back to 1112 AD.  Most of it was in the gothic style, which is just beautiful.  I can't imagine the sacrifice that must have gone into the extreme detail and ornamentation of the building, not to mention the building itself.  The pictures below really don't illustrate how impressive it was.  It was hard to get good ones because the lighting was funny and there were people everywhere, but anyways these were the best I could do.  

After Exeter we drove to this darling town called Lyme Regis.  It was so cute! The beachfront was lined with little shops and cafes, and these cute bright colored sheds.  I got the most delicious ice cream I have ever had in my life... and I have had a lot of ice cream.  We were so lucky to have beautiful weather the entire week.  We just sat out on the Cobb (a pier thing) and attempted to take in the beauty and maybe get a little sun. Unfortunately I am still just as white as I always am.  At least I fit in among all the fair-skinned Londoners.   

So basically this trip was amazing and this really is a brief and inadequate description of the trip and leaves out many details such as our excruciatingly long bus ride and our stay at the really classy YMCA (and I really can't help but put a picture up of the YMCA, so here you go).  

Chapter Two

My uncle Roger came to visit me in London! It was so fun. I can't even say how nice it was to have family around... don't get me wrong the first week was fun, but kind of hard because I didn't know everyone yet.  So getting a break was just the thing I needed.  We went to this delicious Italian restaurant that had this cute little old Italian man.  So rather than adding that to my list of brief highlights I decided to do another post.  The visit deserved that! 

Chapter One

Hello all! I have created this lovely blog for all things London, and I suppose all things Lauren... well really all things about Lauren's study abroad in London.  

So I have been in London a week and I am loving it! I have already learned so much and have seen so much and I still have a little more than three whole months left.  It has been kind of hectic, and kind of stressful, and now I am kind of tired, but it has already been one of the best experiences of my life.  

This is my new home... the BYU London Center. I love it! All five stories of it! I live right down the street from Kensington Gardens and Kensington Palace,  it is such a nice location.  I share a room with 12 other girls... which is fun? Really, it is fun, and I really love all of the girls here... and the one boy that is in our group as well.  I have already met so many amazing people and I know we will all become really close throughout the semester.  

I am a little overwhelmed by how much I have done, and am not going to do a day by day debriefing of all things Lauren in London... it would be a bit too much, for you and for me.  So here are the highlights of the past two weeks. 

Tuesday, September 9

Today we started an assignment for my London Walks class (yes I get credits for walking around London).  The walk followed the path of the old Roman wall that surrounded the ancient city.  It was amazing to think that there are still remnants of that wall.  Anyhow, as exciting as ancient walls are, I enjoyed seeing the real current London a little bit more than thinking about the ancient wall.  

I got to see awesome things like the tower of London, with my new friends...

And finding awesome churches, like this one, where mother goose was buried.  I know the door doesn't exactly tell you a lot about the church, but I liked the picture. So I am putting it on here.  

Okay so maybe I am a nerd, but this was my favorite spot of the walk.  It contains remnants of all of the time periods in London's history (well most of them).  The mossy rock in the right hand corner is part of an old Roman tower that was on the Roman wall.  The brick strip on the left hand side is pre-WWII, as are the other walls.  They were all bombed during the WWII air raids.  They found the Roman wall when cleaning up the remnants of the bombings.  Then there is a contemporary building on the right and an old church on the left.  That is exactly how London is though, there are these beautiful old cathedrals, with a modern skyscraper right next door.  They build new in with the old.  I love it.  It is so amazing to be able to walk through the city and see over a thousand of years of history.  Anyways, nerdy moment for the day. I thought it was awesome though.  

Wednesday, September 10

Today we went to Bath and Stonehenge.  The whole day was so amazing (I will be saying that a lot, because everything I have done has been amazing)!  Stonehenge was so cool.  There isn't a whole lot to know about Stonehenge except for the fact that they don't know a whole lot about Stonehenge.  So after seeing how awesome it is we just took a bunch of awesome stonehenge pictures.  It was really fun though, and although they don't know a lot about Stonehenge there is a lot of history behind it.  The rocks apparently came from some mountains in Wales.  It is amazing to think that somehow these ancient people brought these huge rocks to this random field.... I am assuming that whatever it was used for was pretty important.   

After Stonehenge we drove to Bath.  For those of you who are unaware (as I was), Bath has a very long history.  The city started as a Roman temple.  There are ancient baths in Bath (who would have guessed).  The amazing part is that the baths that you see when you are there still use the original drainage and pumping systems, as well as the original sealant for the baths. The picture below is of the baths and Bath Abbey (which was also beautiful).

The city was also home to Jane Austen and two of her books were set there. Anyways enough history. I loved Bath! It was perfect, like out of a book.  The whole city was absolutely pristine and looks as though it hasn't changed since the time that Jane Austen lived there.  Around every corner there were charming houses and gardens.  We went and had a tea at the Pump Room and drank the healing bath water.  It was lovely.... that's really the perfect word for Bath. Lovely. 

I really think I must fast-forward through the rest of the week as this is taking much to long to write.  And really Bath and Stonehenge were the highlights to the week, and I have so much more I must tell you about.  So highlights of the rest of the week were: 

Parliament: went on a tour with the group, absolutely amazing how much history and tradition there is in British government.

National Gallery: I have fallen in love with art. I have never before been so awestruck by it, I cannot believe the amount of detail and beauty in each painting. My favorite was "Madonna of the Rocks" by Leonardo Da Vinci.  

Walk Along the Thames: It is a really fun area of London and has a different feel than central London. 

Portobello Road: So fun. It is this awesome market with antiques and fun shops.  I got cute new shoes and a new wallet to hold all of the change that they give you in Britain! That is one thing I am still getting used to.

Thames Festival: I ate delicious Moroccan food.  It was delicious.  

Vivaldi Concert: I hadn't really ever love loved classical music, like I liked it, but never loved it.  This concert was so amazing.  I love classical music now. 

The Tube: I love the tube. It is a great place to people watch, and a great way to get around London.  I think I have a pretty good handle on it now, although I still have to use the tube map. 

I feel awful for skipping over such amazing portions of the week, but it might take me a whole week to explain them in detail. Everything I have done has been so amazing... that's really the only way to describe it.  Amazing.