The Secret Garden

Loooooooooooong day. But tomorrow is going to be even longer so i guess I just need to get used to it! we met up at 7:30 this morning and then we headed off to paddington train station. Then we caught the train out to Oxford. There, we went to Blenheim Palace. 11 generations of Dukes and Duchesses have lived there. It belongs to Sir Winston Churchills family. It was incredible to see. It was built in 1705 and it is huge. Basically someday I am going to live in a palace too. ;) haha! Then we got to tour all the gardens too. We also go to ride on a double decker bus today for the first time!! I loved it! The driving is terrifying though. We all sat on top and so it looks like you are going to just roll right over all of the little cars! It's pretty scary. But definitely a great experience.
After the palace we walked around Oxford for a little bit. It was cool. Just tons of shops with some cute shopping. I even bought some feather earrings! I'm so excited!
Later, we took the train back to Kensington and went to our flat for just a little bit and then we headed out to South Kensington and Knightsbridge. There is awesome shopping there-more like the malls here. Even and H&M. We walked through and then headed off to The Hard Rock Cafe! It was american food and I was very happy. The downside though was that it was expensive :/ but I was hungry and I needed that burger and fries! So I was a very happy tourist :D
British quote of the day- "the Hob" as in the stove. Thats what it says on our pasta bags. "bring to a boil on the hob"

In the back of Blenheim Palace

The cascade garden at Blenheim

In the Secret garden in Blenheim

At the Hard Rock Cafe!!!! With Elyse, Madison, Stephanie, and Griffin.

American food! haha fantastic

Burghley House

Early day! Up at 6:30 we got ready, then off to the train station we went! We headed to Stamford and then to Burghley House. It was incredible. It's an Elizabethan era mansion built in the mid 1500's. All of the old furniture, tapestries, and carvings were there. It was amazing to see! We couldn't take any pictures in the house though. So that was sad, but hopefully I can keep it in my mind. My favorite part though, was that the dining room in the house is where they filmed the scene from pride and prejudice when keira knightly eats dinner with lady catherine. AMAZING!! i was so happy! Also in the little Stamford town there is one of the roads that we went to and that is where they filmed the scene with the soldiers marching in the parade also in Pride and Prejudice! Today was awesome! So now when I watch that movie I can say that I have been to those places! Its one of my favorite movies too. FANTASTIC!
The gardens and grounds for the whole estate are incredible too. There are beautiful flowers and sculptures and bushes, and it was great to see.
It was too bad that it rained on us all day! That was the only down side. It made me cold! Oh well. Suck it up right!? haha
Another cool thing was the little cafe that they had in the mansion. They had tons of pastries and we were told we had to get a scone with cream and jam. We did, and it was awesome! Wow. One of the best little things ever.
Then we all slept on the train home and one of my professors, Darrin, took pictures of everyone sleeping! haha you can check mine out on Facebook. So silly.
Then we went to the grocery store and got food for a few days. I still need to eat at the Hard Rock Cafe here in london. It is only a few blocks from my flat and it is the original one! So I have already told everyone that we are going. ;)
Now its time to eat my crisps (chips) and watch Pride and Prejudice!
British quote of the day: "Jolly good!" - from our guide through Burghley House

Scone and Cream. Delicious!

Vines on the side of Burghley House

Burghley house

Stamford

Stamford

I think I have an obsession...

Biking Adventures!

So I am super duper tired and we have to get up at 6:30 tomorrow so hopefully I can get through this!
Well today was a little different paced. It was just a free day so we could go and do and see whatever we liked!
This morning we went to church. It was stake conference today in London, so everyone was there! It was even better because it was actually a broadcast from Salt Lake. President Monson spoke along with L. Tom Perry. There were two other speakers as well. So it was great to hear from them! Then we came home and took a nap. I slept for 2 hours and it was glorious. Then my friends Griffin, Stephanie, and I went and rented bikes. They have docks all over the place and you just return the bike to whatever dock whenever you want. It's just a pound for the first half hour so we got bikes and then went to Hyde park. It is just right down the road from our flat and it is about 300 acres. But we didnt know that at the time and we were only on the small side of the park the rest was across the street! But oh well it was still incredibly fun. Then we took the subway to Westminster and came right out at Big Ben. We walked all the way down the river Thames and got awesome pictures of the Eye of London (the ferris wheel). Then we needed dinner so we went to this random little metal trailer and they made fantastic belgium waffles! I got nutella on mine and Stephanie got one with whip cream, bananas, and chocolate sauce. They were fantastic!! On our way home, we went to Covent Garden. Just a little square with shops all along the sides. There was also a street performer show in the middle of the square. Kinda fun. Then we headed home.
So it was just a pretty relaxed day and I really enjoyed it. Now I have to get some sleep to get up early tomorrow! We are off to Burkley House.
British quote of the day- "Cheers." (as in thanks)

Griffin, Stephanie, and I in front of Kensington Palace with our bikes!

In Hyde Park on the chair we got yelled at for sitting in because we had to pay for it :)

The Eye of London with Big Ben

A cute chair we saw walking down the sidewalk

Amazing waffles!

Shakespeare~

What a day. What a day! Today was a complete whirlwind of London. So we got up to got at 9:30 then headed off to the V&A (the Victoria and Albert museum). It was like a history museum. Tons of british artifacts all the way back from the 1500's till the 20th century. There were so many amazing things to see, and after learning about them in school made it even better to see them in real life. Especially the chaise lounge by mies van de rohe, the Mackmurdo chair, the chippendale chair, and the artichoke lamp. Awesome! Then on our way back to our flat, Mary, Stacie, and I stopped and the LDS church. It took us forever to find a member, but we finally found like a mission president from Arizona and we asked him what time sacrament was. So tomorrow we are going to Stake Conference at 10:00 in London, England. Kinda fun :)
Then we headed back to the flat and got lunch. Then we were off again! We took the tube to the city center of London. We walked for hours. We got to see the humongous Tower bridge and the London bridge. Plus we could see London city hall! It is very modern and awesome. (google it!!!) Then we headed off to Tate museum of modern art. It was (to say in the nicest way) interesting. I'm not big on art museums anyways and modern art just gets incredibly weird. It just looks like crazy people drew up these things! Terrifying pictures, naked crazy people at nudist camps, violence. JUST WEIRDNESS! I didn't even know if I should be allowed to see some of those things. Ya I wouldn't recommend that one. But to make up for it we went to a Greek restaurant. It was so good and I tried so many new things. I found that I like Hummus with flat bread. Pretty good!
Then our random adventure was that we went to see a professional Shakespeare play in the Globe! It was incredible and the play is so much easier to understand than just reading it. We saw All is well that ends well. It was hilarious! We got tickets at the last minute so there was only standing left, but it was only 5 pounds and we got to be right at the front! I really loved it. Then we walked back to the Tube and then found our way home. We got home at 11:30 so we had been walking for over 12 hours! My feet hate me. And so does my back from my bag. I think I will need surgery after these 6 weeks! Its only been 3 days and I'm already broken. Oh goodness!

Chihuly Glass Sculpture in the V&A. Fantastic!

Hanging, flattened instruments in the V&A.

Artichoke Lamp in the V&A.

LDS church

Tower Bridge

Shakespeare's Globe where I saw the play.

Hello Henry!

So today is day 2 in England! It still is not sinking in that I am really here. weird....
But since I am apparently, we traveled to Leicester Square again today to see a few more places. We even got to see the inspiration for Diagon Alley in Harry Potter. Then with a struggle we got on the tube. Everyone was heading off to work and I had a few armpits in my face. At least they all smelled good! :D Then we switched two trains then got to the actual train station. It was very confusing for me. I don't know why. Probably just because I am exhausted. So then we took a real train to Hampton Court. This is the main palace for King Henry the 8th. It was amazing! We toured the whole thing. The many rooms, the wonderful gardens, and the beautiful chapel. There were also actors around the palace. They were dressed and talked like there were in the 1500's. The one main guy we saw around was the servant to the king. He was so funny! We got to ask him about his clothes and he told us all about rank with materials and colors. Then he saw my purple shoes and said, "Purple is a very royal color. So I would assume that you are a royal. I would say that you are a duchess." I laughed and flipped back my hair and said, "of course!" Later, I saw him and king henry walking around and the servant introduced me to the king as a duchess and then they tried to set me up to get married. But since I didn't have any land they figured that the guy wouldn't be interested. haha!
We also got to do some sketching! We went to the chapel and got to sketch in there. It was so quiet and relaxing it was hard to stay awake!
We ate dinner and the coolest place. It was called Zizzi's. It was an italian place i think. We had great pizza! And it was so cool because there were Thonet Chairs there and I had to take a picture in one! They also had a quote from Frank Lloyd Wright on every napkin. Kinda cool!
We then had to get ourselves home. I was nervous to go on the trains without Darrin and Susie (my professors). But somehow we made it! I am becoming so independent ;)
Quote of the day : "Mind the step."

 The inspiration for Diagon Alley

So many olives!

I am obsessed with these

The gardens at Hampton Court

Now thats a royal throne!

Thonet Chair

EUROPE!: London Day one!

WOW WHAT A DAY! Well 2 days I guess of straight traveling! Arriving in London was a mind boggling experience. We had to get on the tube (the subway) to get to our flat in Kensington. So the train is all underground and then when we came out of the stairwell and into Kensington it just took my breath away! It was incredible! It is so much more then anything I've ever seen. The buildings and architecture are just gorgeous. I also love the accents. haha! So we got to our flats, did some grocery shopping, toured our neighborhood in a monsoon, then headed to Westminster. We got a quick tour of the area and got to see some awesome places! We saw Big Ben, Buckingham Palace Gates, and Westminster abbey. I definitely need more time to tour all of these amazing places!! Today was fantastic.
My favorite British quote of the day, "Drop me a line. " :D

The Ferris Wheel!

Big Ben

Lamp Post :)

Telephone Booth

Awesome guy!

Blogging!

Well I am new to the blogging world! So hang in there with me while we travel through Europe! :D