To Market, To Market

I have JUST set down my copy of Oliver Twist, which is now FINISHED, and am now finally able to write about the excursions of the past few days (and yes, I did enjoy Oliver very much.... even if he did consume a good amount of my free time)... it's a great feeling!

So, how's London you ask? Absolutely fabulous. I have simply adored this week and I honestly fall more in love with this place and it's people more and more every day (minus the food service people--the waiters here could learn a few tips from the Americans on how to be hospitable and friendly hosts.) Wednesday we woke up super early and got on a bus and drove to Stonehenge! Let me say that as cool as it was, it was so much smaller than I thought it would be. Nonetheless, I had a fabulous time taking pictures with everyone in the snow/slush that was falling from the sky and which proceeded to ruin my then-straightened hair. Good news though--I got a really awesome Stonehenge ring which I love and wear almost every day. New obsession forming in London: rings.

After seeing Stonehenge, we hopped back onto the bus and drove on over to Salisbury Cathedral and took a tour through it. The architecture was very beautiful and I got to see one of the original four existing copies of the Magna Carta. After our tour, we had lunch with Susan (Dr. Howe--she's our English professor and she's one of the most awesome people in the world and we all are apart of her fan club), and then headed back on over to the bus, headed to the city of Bath.

Once we arrived in Bath (or as the British say, "baaahhhth") we headed straight to the Abbey which had the baths which the Romans used to bathe in. It was so gorgeous and I am determined to have a natural hot spring that looks exactly like the one in Bath in the courtyard of my future home. After going through the Abbey we went around and walked through the city, which is very European... cobblestone roads, little shops and alleyways, beautiful architecture in random places...I loved it so much and would love to go back there... especially since you can find free samples of delicious fudge in Bath. We went to this place called the "Fudge Kitchen" where two very attractive British men worked there and fed us free fudge. Could life have gotten any better? I think not. We eventually met up back with our group and went to the halls which hold the setting for Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen, which was very neat to see considering I started the novel over Christmas break and got to the part where the characters go to such rooms in Bath. After looking around, we walked around some more and I tried my very first cookie from Ben's Cookies (a famous cookie chain in Europe) and let me say that it was simply DIVINE and that when it comes to saturated fats from Ben's Cookies, I will always completely surrender.

That night since we didn't have dinner at the Centre, everyone went out to dinner, and so Macy, Caitlin and I ate at this popular Italian place called "Zizzi" and it was so great! I absolutely loved it--they had the best tomatoes I have tasted in a while. Thursday was a pretty relaxing day for homework, and Jenny and I watched the newest episode of Grey's Anatomy and it was fun, for an hour, to feel like I was home again. Then I realized I'm in London, which is ten million times better than Provo.... Friday we took a group trip to Westminster Abbey where I got to see some more beautiful architecture, as well as the tombs of individuals such as Isaac Newton and Mary Queen of Scots. It was a good experience, but it would have been much better had we stayed in Westminster Abbey for an hour less than we did--I mean you can only be in a cold church surrounded by dead people for so long. Afterwards, Caitlin was so kind as to let me bum under her umbrella as we all walked to Trafalgar Square together. There, we all split up and instead of going to the National Gallery, Emma, Jenny, Caitlin, Macy, Calvin and I all went back to Borough Market for Ostrich burgers (again... they're seriously my new favorite hamburger) and goodies. Afterwards, we went to Oxford street where I finally bought an (super cute) umbrella, and may or may not have browsed around some more at Primark..... ahem.... after we got back to the Centre and had dinner, Macy and I pulled mattresses from our room down into the classroom (beginning with Jerry's) and we watched Young Victoria with a bunch of other people. It was a really good movie and it actually made me cry, which in all reality was probably the result of a number of different things, but STILL, a movie that can bring out tears in me is always a movie worth watching.

On Saturday, Macy, Cailtin and I woke up and went to Camden Market, which we started thinking was merely Hot Topic's site of origin, however, we soon found out that Camden Market is our new favorite place to go! It's basically this massive street with tons of little vendors everywhere, and I mean EVERYWHERE. There's tons of food and treats, vintage shops, jewlery stands, scarfs, mirrors, useless things you'll never use but want anyways, etc. They literally have everything! It was so much fun to go and see everything, and I got a couple things (a scarf, necklace, and fake Chanel earrings) which I ended up buying for a few pounds less than the marketed price, thanks to my oh-so-wonderful bartering skills. On our way back, of course all of the tube stations that we needed to get on or off at were closed, so we had to try to make our way back via bus. Having to resort to travel by bus for the second time has made me very grateful for the tube....especially considering that I'm finally really figuring out how to work it. After a long journey, we finally made it home, with Macy laughing the entire way because I had tripped down a couple stairs at Camden Market and had thus ended up laying on the ground amongst tons of merchandise and accented "are you OK?"'s. After getting home, we tried to go see the Woman in Black AGAIN but when we got there there were only three tickets when we needed five, so thus again our goal to see the play was postponed. So, while we couldn't see a play, we went to the next best thing--a restaurant! We went to this place called Wagamama's and while I was less than impressed with their classier imitation of Top Ramen, I really enjoyed the atmosphere (hint hint..) and may actually go back to try a new dish and allow Wagamama to redeem herself.

This would be me, at a pub in Camden, before eating what is probably my 100th crepe since I've been in Europe. Nutella + banana+ coconut.... mmmmm :)

Today was a pretty usual day... I went to church where Jen, Reesa, Calvin and I were all asked to bear our testimonies in sacrament meeting, which I enjoyed, and then I taught my first lesson in Primary. My class was composed of three kids ages 8, 9, and 10, who were pretty much the most well-behaved children I've ever met in my life--the boy is Ammon (sp?), and then the two girls are Sophie and Arena. Ammon is from Brazil and Arena is from Portugal, and while they all speak English, Portuguese is clearly their first language. But it was a good experience and I think I'm going to enjoy teaching--I lucked out and got some really great students. After my class I went to Relief Society since Primary didn't need me and sat next to one of the sister missionaries who translated the whole thing for me, which was really nice since Sacrament meeting was in Portuguese and well, let's be honest, my lesson in Primary consisted of Arena telling me all about the school systems in Portugal... as well as her allergies to nuts, eggs, and fish. I really am enjoying my ward so far and I think that it's going to be a good experience... and I think I actually might pick up on some Portuguese which I'm sure my dad will be glad to hear!

Also, today I had an amazing and much needed Sunday nap, and worked on homework for the majority of the day. We had a ridiculously delicious dinner which consisted of turkey, mashed potatoes, salad, butternut squash and bacon, and rolls....but the salad was so delicious (lettuce, strawberries, kiwis, candied cashews, and some sort of raspberry dressing) that I basically just ate a massive helping of it with some turkey and then gobbled down my slice of the amazing chocolate cake that was served. It's been a great week and I think we have some fun things planned for next week! I have a plan to try to get more sleep and ration my time better, but it's so hard because when you're here, you don't want to do homework--you just want to go out and be in London!! So hopefully my attempts at responsibility will be successful, and if not, oh well, I am making memories here that will last me a lifetime....oh how cliched London is making me... haha gotta love it.