MUSEUMS!!

I told you I had to go to all the Museums in London. Today was the National Gallery, Dickens House and the British Library. The National Gallery was amazing ... so incredibly large that I definitely need to go back to fully appreciate the plethora of art that is exhibited there. Of course I loved my favorites the impressionists... Monet, Rembrant, Degas, Van Gogh.






Then we grabbed lunch at this amazing Italian Place. Ashley got a killer avacado salad and I got an amazing pizza. Then we went to Dickens house. To be quite honest it was somewhat dissapointing ... I think my favorite part was the bench out on the patio.







The British Library was really cool though. We got to see a lot of Shakespeare's original manuscripts, original music from Bethoven, Bach, Chopin, Mozart... Then there was this whole Beatles Exhibit with the original lyrics from Yesterday and I want to hold your hand, and tons of other stuff. Soo cool. We also got to see a Guitenberg Bible and one of the original Magna Carta's. Probably my favorite thing that I saw there was this special Sacred Exhibit, which had the Dead Sea Scrolls!! Such an amazing opportunity!! The amount of culture and opportunities that I have to learn and gain knowledge in this city is unbelieveable. I love it. But after all this culture ... we were a little tired.








So on our way home we stopped at 9 3/4. I'm definitely not a Harry Potter Freak like the rest of my group, but I mean, its still cool.

LAZY DAY!

Ok so I finally got to catch up on my sleep... although I think everyone in the program thinks I am the laziest person alive. However, if they all realized how late one has to stay up to get all the reading and homework done--- or ok so maybe just to get the chance to talk to some of you people back at home, then they would realize that its exhausting to wake up at 8am every day!! So, since we didn't have any morning obligations i took full advantage to SLEEP IN. And sleep in I did. I finally got up at 12 (noon). And was the most refreshed and energetic I have been since I've been here. It was awesome. Considering I slept half my day away, I decided to be a little productive and clean my room (or my area in my room) and do laundry. Then, i decided it would be smart to knock a museum assignment out of the way, so I went out with the other lazy's (aka Ashley and my friend Sean) and went to the National Portrait Gallery.

Ok, so the National Portrait Gallery basically has portraits of just about ANYONE thats known to influence Great Britain. I loved the ones of the Queens!! They looked soo beautiful! (ok so not all of the queens were beautiful but their portraits were!!)











My favorite portrait was of George Washington. I know, who would have though they would put up G.W. in the Great Britain National Portrait Gallery, but they totally did, and also a portrait of the signing of the Declaration of Independance. I was totally humbled as I looked up at this portrait of such an amazing man. It was cool.

















I also liked the one of Francis Bacon. Although many don't know who he is, he has greatly impacted each one of our lives through his work.
Again, I did not spend the time necessary to fully appreciate all of the art that was in this Museum, and I wish I had a broader background of art to fully appreciate the talent that it took to paint these figures in such a great way.

Oh, and on the way home we found this cool (ok totally sketchy) alley ...

Shiny Toy Guns

So I really kinda had no clue who this band was... but my friend Ian (from the Aquabats) was headed to this concert and insisted on me going. A couple of the boys in the group were into Shiny Toy Guns as well so we headed out to Camden. We end up at this tiny bar, Dingwalls. Lets just say this was NOT my scene and I was definitely NOT dressed Appropriately. As we walk down these steep stairs to the entrance of the bar all i see is BLACK t-shirted gothish/punk kids. (Mind you, I am dressed in a WHITE t-shirt with a pastel striped scarf). Yes, I know I look cute, but not necessarily Shiny Toy Guns cute. Woopsies. Missed the memo. As we get stared down walking into line I immediately regret my outfit decision. Oh well, too late now. We grab tickets and later on I meet up with Ian. I love hanging out with friends from home in foreign places!! The show was aweomse and as a result I am now a fan of Shiny Toy Guns.

British Museum.

So we have all these assignments to visit bascially ALL of the museums in London (ok so maybe thats a little dramatic, but we have to visit a lot of them). So after class on Wednesday we decide to knock out the British Museum. Having NO idea what is inside, I honestly wasn't too stoked. If only I would have realized what I was about to see. It was amazing. All of the Agean Marbles from the Parthenon were there, Assyrian inscriptions, THE ROSETTA stone. Ah. I never knew I could have such an incredibly spiritual experience in a museum. It probably helped to go with incredibly intelligent and spiritually sound women who taught me so much about these amazing artifacts. I am so grateful for the knowledge that we have about our ancestors and our history.

After only 2 hours of sleep I woke up at 6:30 to go on an excursion. Exhausted, and NOT a morning person, I'm not quite sure how I survived, however, here is a description of my day...

Jane Austen.
This turned out to be much cooler than Shakespeare's cottage ... It was adorable with a beautiful garden. As we walked through the house we learned much more about her personal life, and how that relates to each one of her novels. For my english class we read Persuasion; which is a novel I was unfamiliar with. However, as I read it, I fell in love (ok so i'm a total girl, but we all know that!). Jane Austen's love life resembled that of her character, Anne Elliot in Persuasion (although unfortunately for Jane, she did not get the guy in the end.) Anyway, throughout the cottage there were costumes from the Anne Hathaway movie that just came out, and even the original Manuscripts for the last chapters of Persuasion!
























Stonehenge
After a fabulous time learning about Jane, we traveled to Stonehenge, which is sooo cool, however, I thought would be bigger?? Maybe if I had gone on the much cooler night tour, and had been able to walk up to the rocks, they would have seemed bigger, but from my perspective outside the rope, they didn't seem all that big. During this time I thought I had lost Ashley, but apparently she was just ahead of the group the whole time. Too bad i didn't realize this until the end of the trip, and didn't get to take any pics with her. Sigh.











Bath.
After checking out a bunch of random large old stones we headed to Bath. Oh Bath. How could Jane Austen hate this place?? I suppose it is cool to us because it remains in the same condition it was 200 years ago, and still have the same functioning drain system as was built by the ROMANS! (well ok so they are just roman hot springs ... so think Glen Ivy mud bath?) Oh, and drinking the Bath water!! We drank, ok SLAMMED the Bath water, because its supposed to be good for you with all these minerals. Anyway, I loved Bath ... But I suppose the fabulous boutiques and funny Brits were in addition to my liking. We finished off our Bath trip with these beautiful gardens and the bridge over Avon.

The Woman in Black.




I would like to throw a shout out to the recommonders of The Woman in Black. An amazing play. Only 3 characters (one of which was the most CLASSIC old man!!!) Ok, wait, so let me fill you in on why this play was soo cool. It was a SCARY play!! Like, a total ghost story! We were screaming and jumping and everything!! So so fun. Ok so after the play we were walking home and happened upon a brand new PHANTOM Rolls Royce... so of course we had to stop and talk to the driver (not the owner, the driver) and take pictures of the beautiful (yet way too expensive) vehicle. THEN we walk by this beautiful building, and we're not sure what it is. So we walk up and realize its the opera house. Rigoletto had just let out, so the audience members are leaving, right? So this HUGE (Tall huge) brushes by me, and walks in front of me as we are headed towards the tube. I look up and realize that this can NOT be a woman. 6'7". Blonde Wig. Black see-through lace dress (except for the important parts which were covered) and platform black shoes (which he/she could not walk in). Being the tourist that I am, I pull out my camera, take the flash off, and as I am about to get the best back shot of this person, I hear,
"Wow, that's gotta be the best view in town"
Startled, I turn and see these 2 classic old man laughing, and we say
"um yeah, we are trying to figure out if thats a girl or..."
before we can finish our sentance, they both say
"umm thats definitely NOT a girl! haha"
Unfortunately, my picture got blurred (as you can see below), but the chat with the old men was worth it, and getting caught making fun of a Tranvy ... I guess i deserve it.





Only in London.

IAN FOWELS -- MY ROCKSTAR!






The Aquabats had a show lined up in London this week, so of COURSE I had to represent!! Ian ROCKED -- the show was amazing!! Here are a few pictures...


















Backstage before the show ... Ian's girls (he even dedicates a song to us during the show!)


























Getting Pumped before the show!
























All hands in --



















The Band.



















Oh Spencer ...


















The Oath of the Aquabats.



















Backstage AFTER the show (note the sweat ... eeewwww.)




















We LOVE Ian!!!


What a GREAT night.

I love my life.

First thing we hit up Portobello Road. Oh Em Gee. Probably like the best thing in London. Tons and tons of streets of open air markets-- everything you can think of. Produce, Food Markets, FRUIT SMOOTHIES, jewelry, shoes, scarfs, antiques, purses, etc etc etc. Literally anything you would need, you can find on Portobello Road.
"Portobello Road, Portabello Road ... "

After a short break from Portabello Road we walked across the street to Hyde Park and found the Tour de France. Ahh!! So amazing!! Averaging 33 miles an hour, these men flew by me again and again and again. I LOVE IT! Such an amazing opportunity.

Only in London could one have such an amazing day.

Just another day in Paradise..."

We finally had a DAY off from the program and what did we decide to do? Go Shopping!! Starting out at Covent Gardens and ending up at Harrods, we had a pretty fabulous day. Harrods was everything I though it would be AND MORE! The architecture and details are amazing. To a point where I started taking pictures ...

HAIRSPRAY!!!












On our way to hit up Mama Mia on Thursday night, my girl friend Kim and I see a mass of people surrounding a Movie Theater. After relentless screaming and a chant of "Amanda" we look up and realize its the World Premire of HAIRSPRAY! (Starring John Travolta, Queen Latifa, Amanda Bynes, Brittany Snow, and many others...). We rush the crowd and I bully a couple of guys on a bench to catch a view of some of our favorite stars. Although Queen Latifa and John Travolta didn't show, Amanda was there as well as Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prince!

"And I'm Proud to Be an American"

Ok, so this doesnt really show the whole outfit, but imagine underneath the coat a navy blue sweater, jeans and fab red flats.


Today was the 4th of July. I've never felt so homesick. This time last year I was (a) sleeping in (b) heading to Huntington Beach to soak up the SUN (c) hanging with my girls (d) bbqing (e) watching fireworks. I can honestly say that none of the above occured this 4th of July. Instead, it was spent in a classroom, and then out in the rain, and then onto the GLOBE to watch Shakespeare. Ok, I'll admit Shakespeare was a LOT cooler at the Globe than reading it. The Merchant of Venice took me a little while to get into when I had to read it; but at the Globe, they immediately capture your attention when the crossdresser comes on stage, and a Joker is wearing a "no camera/no cell phone sign". It also helps that they encourage audience participation ... they actuallly have you help put together the set right before the show starts, and you have to be attentive if you are front row because cast members tendto spit on you and occasionally throw up on you. But its all in good fun, and for the betterment of the show. In case you don't know, the globe is an indoor/outdoor theater-- where the top of the roof is left open. Considering our recent encounters with all the RAIN, and our vulnerability to it with the open roof; we were anticipating a downpour. However, lucky for us, it was a clear night.

After the show a few of us walked across the Thames on the Millenial Bridge and sang Patriotic songs, like the national anthem, and toby keith's "I'm proud to be an American". I'm pretty sure all the Brits around were upset, but it was the most patriotic I had been all day. Ok, so I lied. My outfit must have been the most patriotic ...

BYU rides the short bus?




Today we went on our first offical bus trip to Stratford on Avon (where Shakespeare grew up) and then onto the Blenheim Palace (think Pride and Prejudice...) and then to Oxford. Shakespeare stuff was cool, and the countryside was beautiful and green...although we were all hating the rain and savoring the little sun that we did have. Blenheim Palace took our breath away, it was more than any of us anticipated. Oxford was classic; especially when it decided to downpour on us, and oh, did I mention there was HAIL involved?? All in all, the Blenheim Palace definitely won us over.

Stratford on Avon




Blenheim Palace-- no picture can fully capture the magnitude and magnificence of this place.