one crazy british week

So this week has been packed full of things to do, places to go, and people to see.
Here's a little recap of what I've been doing since the Temple on Tuesday.
Wednesday: I woke up not feeling well, so I ended up sleeping through my classes until about 12:30. It felt really good. I then slowly got up and around and headed off to Harrods. Harrods is ridiculous. It's a HUGE department store...I really think it's never ending, full of the most expensive things you could imagine. I just explored around looking at all the things I could never buy. They had a red grand piano signed by Elton John that pretty much made my day. From Harrods I went over to Starbucks and ate dinner while I read Time Out (the theatre happenings weekly magazine) and I kind of felt like a Londoner. It was really nice to have some alone time, I'm always surrounded by people here, and I love them, but sometimes it's good to go explore on my own.

Then was on to 'Waiting for Godot' starring Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen. I have always wanted to see 'Waiting for Godot.' It's kind of a big deal in the theatre world--and I don't think I could have seen a better production. It was so amazing to see these two terrific actors just play onstage. You could tell that they were old friends who just enjoy performing. I loved it. We all went to the stage door and I got my poster signed. It was a blast. I'm so glad we had the opportunity to see it.
Thursday: Thursday was the 'Country Walk.' We traveled about an hour and fifteen minutes out to Kent, England and started a beautiful walk through the gorgeous countryside.
We rounded the corner and were walking through a field of yellow flowers and I was in heaven. It was so beautiful. I can take pictures upon pictures of it but it will never be able to show how beautiful it really is out there. We stopped at a cute little farm store and walked along a little river. We came through this cute little town with old houses and pretty flowers. Everything was just wonderful. We stopped at some old castle ruins and ate our lunches in the beautiful sun.

It really was lovely....until the second half of the walk turned into a hike...and I ran out of water. I struggled a bit, feeling like I might die, until we finally ended up back at the train station. All in all I'm glad I went on the 'Country HIKE' I just wish I had been more prepared!
We rushed home (hailing a taxi that got us back about a half hour before everyone else) showered, ate, and were off to see Shakespeare's 'Much Ado about Nothing' at Regent's Park.
I L-O-V-E-D it. It was a gorgeous night, I had a perfect seat, and it was set in this beautiful outdoor amphitheatre. I've decided that I love outdoor theatres in the spring/summer and I wish there were more opportunities for it.

The production was wonderful. I am in love with the set and the costumes were gorgeous. I was just happy the whole time. This was one of our 'bonus' performances that we didn't know we were going to see, and I'm so glad we did. It was an awesome night.
Friday:
We started the day by going over to Buckingham Palace for The Changing of the Guard. It's a pretty big production and they do it every morning. I can't believe it.

We waited..and waited...and played Phase 10 on the steps...and finally some cool traditional British guard band guys paraded through the street, went behind the fence, played You Can't Stop the Beat (which made my day) and just played songs...and more songs...and it was done.
Not gonna lie...it wasn't that exciting for me. But I'm glad I went nonetheless. Now I can say I've been to the changing of the guard, and I know I would have regretted it if I didn't ever go.
From there Sarah and I went to Hard Rock Cafe.

The one in London is apparently the original... so that was pretty cool. We had a hilarious waiter, who made my day, and having a salad with ranch dressing was divine. I didn't realize how much I missed "American" food until I had some. Yum.

From there we headed to The Globe theatre for a tour and then to see "Comedy of Errors." The tour was pretty neat. We got to see the excavated "Rose Theatre" which is one of the original theatres where Shakespeare's work was produced, so I really liked that. The show that night was fantastic. We got there early so we were able to get spots leaning on the front of the stage. It's so interesting to see a show like that. It really makes me feel like I'm back in Shakespeare's time. The show was hilarious. I don't think I've laughed in a theatre that much in a long time. The actors were great, and the production picked a concept and stuck with it all the way through. The whole performance just worked really well. My favorite Shakespeare we've seen so far.
Saturday:
This morning we were up and going early again.

We went over to Paddington and got traditional English breakfast and then we were on to Portobello Road in Notting Hill. Portobello Road is a huge market with pretty much everything you can imagine. We walked through it for about 3 hours just looking at and enjoying everything there.

I ended up not spending too much, buying a Birthday Present for Nicole and a cool drawing of London for myself. We got Lemon Crepes on the street which were amazing, and then I headed home for a nap. The plan for tonight was to go see 'Company' which I was really excited for...but we left a little later than we wanted to, and the tube line we needed to get on to get to the theatre was closed...and the line we were on had delays...so we didn't make it.
Paige and I headed back home, I stopped at Nando's (this awesome Chicken place one of my friends who served his mission here had recommended to me) and then we came home.
Now the plan is to work on some homework, get things ready for church tomorrow, and go to bed.
I know the next two weeks will fly by. There is still tons I want to get done here, but I'm also getting anxious to go home and be home for the summer. London still feels like a dream to me...so crazy.

The London Temple

So this morning at 6:45 we headed out to the London LDS Temple.
It was one of the most beautiful places I've ever been.
SO beautiful.
The experience at the temple was wonderful.
Truly perfect.
It was so neat to have such a wonderful spiritual experience with all the people from my group. They are all such beautiful people.
I went to the temple today in honor of Aunt Shirley, and it was so great to sit and think about her and remember the wonderful lady she was, and what an amazing family I have.
I love the Temples, they are truly the houses of the Lord.

Adventures in Paris

So. I'm back in London after a completely crazy amazing weekend in Paris. When we play, we play hard, and I'm pretty sure we used every waking hour (and then some) of each day exploring and enjoying the beauty that is Paris, France.
So, here we go:
Thursday:
We were out the door at 9am ready to explore Paris. My group headed up to Montmarete (Sacred Heart Chapel) It was a beautiful building.

We climbed the 248 steps to the chapel to find a beautiful view of the city, and then hopped aboard a little train that took us all around the area. I was just in awe of how beautiful and old and quaint everything is. It amazes me still that I was in Paris, in Europe, exploring these places that I had only dreamed of going to. It was so wonderful. After our little tour we walked down to The Moulin Rouge. It was way cool to see it...but it is in a pretty sketchy part of town, but we had fun nonetheless.

From there we went to Arc de Triomphe and ate lunch outside at a little cafe that faced the arc directly.

We walked over the the arc and then we were onto the shopping district. Everything was way to expensive to buy, but we had fun window shopping, and then caught the bus to...

TOUR EIFFEL...The Eiffel Tower

What a completely surreal experience...I mean...it's the Eiffel Tower. I never in a million years thought I would be standing right there looking at it, and then going up in it! It's a truly amazing structure. The lines to go up were crazy and long, but it was totally worth it. The view from the top was breathtaking...although I'm not gonna lie, the trip to the top was terrifying.

Each of the lifts to to top is windows top to bottom. The first one goes on an angle which is crazy in itself, and then the second one feels like it's never going to end. We were up WAY high and being on an elevator were you watch yourself go that high was pretty crazy. But the experience and the view were totally worth the scariness.
The last part of the day was probably my favorite. We went on a boat tour on the Seine river. In Paris it isn't getting dark until about 10ish, and we got on the boat just as the sun was finally going down. We went along the river seeing the beautiful city in the dark ending with the Eiffel Tower all lit up. I loved it. I just sad by myself feeling the cool breeze from the water, attempting to capture the beauty I was seeing on camera, and thinking and pondering about the experience I was having; trying to take it all in. I was so full of gratitude as we went along the river for the amazing beauty that is in the world, and so much I was able to experience in Paris just in one day. The world we live in is truly magnificent.

Friday:
Disneyland Paris.
Oh. My. Goodness. One of the most magical experiences of my life. I still can't believe I was there. Disneyland PARIS. I have wanted to go there since I knew it existed, but I honestly assumed it would never really happen. When we got off the train and I saw the sign and realized I was really there, I turned into a little kid.

I was just so happy. It's funny how Disney does that to me, but it does. From then on, the day was full of magic as I tried to soak in and do everything in the short 11 hours we had there. (Disneyland didn't open until 10am and then it closed at 9pm even though it stays light there until so late...annoying!)
We had a blast, and although we were rushing towards the end, we got pretty much everthing done we wanted to.
Space Mountain: This was the first ride we went on, and it was crazy! It's way different than the ones in the US, but I loved it. It was totally fast and we went upside down like 5 times. It defienitly got us pumped for the rest of the day.

We ate lunch at "Pizza Port" (how can I go to Disneyland and not eat there, right?) and then we were in Fantasyland. We went on Small World, which was so much more fun now that I had been to more of the countries!


I saw the Alice in Wonderland Land, which was totally packed, so we skipped it and decided to come back later. We then explored the castle.

The Castle:

Wow. That's all I have to say about that. It is huge and gorgeous. Disneyland Paris is unlike and theme park I've ever been to. It is so beautiful. It is landscaped unlike anywhere I've ever been. There are trees and flowers and water galore making you feel as if you are truly transported to each of the lands in the park. The castle has beautiful grass and trees and a waterfall all around it. I could have sat and looked at it all day. There is even an animatronic life like dragon in a cavern under the castle. How cool is that? Needless to say, the castle was one of my favorite things.
We headed over to the other park "Walt Disney Studios." I seriously felt like I was in Burbank as we entered the park. They designed it to look like the real Disney Studios, which was really cool.
One of my favorite parts was actually "Tower of Terror" The cast members working the ride were hilarious. Probably the best experience I've ever had with cast members at Disney. They totally made the magic of Disney come alive, and helped us to have a blast. Also, that ride is way creepier in French...just saying.

We then waited over an hour to go on the new roller coaster "Crush's Coaster," and it was so
worth it.

We were pretty crazy and loud in line...I'm sure the French were thinking, 'stupid Americans,' but we were having a blast so we didn't care. The ride was pretty awesome. It's pretty much Space Mountain but you're sitting in a spinning turtle shell. Amazing. And I just love Finding Nemo, so it was wonderful.

Then it was back to Disney. In a whirlwind of two hours we did:
-Phantom Manor (Karina, I have tons of pictures and thing to tell you about!)
-Tried to go on Thunder Mountain, but failed
-Indiana Jones
-Pirates of the Caribbean
-The teacups
-Snow White in French
-Found Cinderella's Carriage
-Had amazing Disney French pastries
We got almost everything we wanted done and then we were onto 'Disney Village' to go shopping and eat dinner.
But first, the sad story of the day.

We got back to Alice in Wonderland, land....and to my dismay...it was already CLOSED. I'm not going to lie, I almost cried. It was one of the things I wanted to do the most there and I could not believe it was closed. I guess I'll just have to go back, now.

So. After shopping and a yummy dinner at Planet Hollywood. (American food/music videos/movie clips made me very happy)
We walked to the train station to find that the trains back to Paris had already stopped for the night.
My stomach sank.
The next 4 hours consisted of:
-trying to find a bus route in French
-getting on the 'Noctilian' night bus into the Pairs, being the only girls/Ameicans on the bus
-getting dropped at a random bus stop with no idea how to get to our hotel
-having scary french guys try to talk to us in the streets
-trying to catch a cab for 6 with no avail
-another bus ride, to another stop we didn't know how to get home from
-a kind French man directing us to our hotel, in French, in the dark, at 4am
-arriving home, a little shaken up, but so glad to be safe.
Moral of the story. When using public transportation know when the last train leaves, okay?

Saturday:
Going on about 5 hours of sleep and being completely exhausted, we were up at 10 to check out of our hotel. From there we made it to the train station to drop our luggage off in a locker and then on another journey to Versailles. Not going to lie, I didn't really want to go. All I wanted to do was go home, but I'm so glad I went.
It was so beautiful. It is a huge Palace with amazing gardens. I was in awe.

We rented a golf cart and were able to go all around the ground for an hour.

We had a blast. One of my favorite things is to just be in nature, taking it all in. This was a perfect way to do Versailles.

After that we found a cute little French road, had A-M-A-Z-I-N-G French Pastries and were off to take the Eurostar home.

The trip was exhausting and long, but beautiful and completely surreal.
I'm so glad for all I was able to experience in the 4 short days I was there.
It was most definitely something I will never forget.

Marie, the baguettes, hurry up!

So I'm in Paris right now.
It's pretty much ridiculous.
I can't believe it.
It's been a crazy, crazy, couple of days.
Yesterday consisted of:
-Class
-'Carousel' Matinee (which I won't go into...it was a horrible production that I didn't enjoy at all. The first show I haven't likes since I've been here. Sad times)
-Ran across the river for dinner and then the evening performance of "All's Well that Ends Well."
REALLY interesting concept. I really liked it.
-Paige and I bought matching National Theatre T-shirts. We were pretty happy.
-Next was home to pack for Paris...I got to sleep for about 1.5 hours (literally) and we were on the 'Night Bus' to King's Cross Station (my life was a little Harry Potter for a minute) to catch the EuroStar at 5:25 AM for Paris.
whew...LONG day.

Today in Paris has been wonderful, although I think I'm experiencing a little bit of culture shock which is resulting in a little bit of homesickness...but this city is absolutely stunning. It's just beautiful. The buildings, the roads, the river, the trees, the people. Oh my. I love Paris.

We arrived at about 9:00am, got a taxi to our hotel, put our stuff in the locker (because we couldn't check in until 2:00pm) and were off to find something to eat. We crossed the street and ended up in a very french little cafe. They didn't speak English, but luckily one of the girls with us knows a little bit of French, so we managed to get "Hot Chocolate" and "Ham & Cheese Sandwich" out of them so that's what we all got.

And let me tell you, it was delicious. Paris and baguettes go very well together.
Then we met up with Steve (my Grandma's friend's son who lives here) and we had a blast with him.

Without him we would have been totally lost. I'm so thankful he was here to help us get started in Paris. He helped us get our metro tickets and told us how to get everywhere we wanted and then took us on a wonderful walking tour. He knows EVERYTHING about Paris and it's history. It's so awesome. We walked around the islands and went in to Norte Dame, which is the most stunning building I've ever been in. It was just an awesome experience.

Going on about 3 hours of sleep, we headed back to our hotel to check in, shower, and nap.
Then we were off the the Musee du Louvre (Louvre Museum)

I'm not much of a museum person, but it was really neat to see a lot of the famous art I've always seen, in person. I've now seen the Mona Lisa in person. Craziness.

We walked and saw the tip of the Effiel Tower and ate at a little Cafe. I had a cheese crepe and it was fantastic.

We ran into a little market, and headed back home, because I am exhausted!
When I think about everyting I'm doing I honestly can't believe it. I feel like I'm in some sort of fairytale European world. I really never thought I would be doing these things and going to these places. I am so blessed.
SO blessed.
Europe is amazing.