week number 8 via London

So we meet again…sadly very near the end. As is my tradition {whether or not I desire it to be} this entry comes about a week and a half removed from when it originally happened…so while these memories are not as fresh in my mind, the ever present reality that I will soon be leaving the U.K. is…therefore if I digress into an emotional recollection of events please bear with me ;)

I have less than a week…3 days left to be exact…before our group disperses and our semester ends. Luckily I will be traveling for about a week, so I will have some time to let the reality set in…anyway this is not the time to speak about the end…that time will come soon enough—for now let me relate to you the wonderful events and blessings that occurred in our 8th week at HUE.

On Monday the 15th of November

Stephanie, Mindy and I were craving cappuccinos “bigger than our faces”—quote Stephanie.

We headed down the street to our new favorite little place, which I’ve mentioned before, le Pain Quotidian or in English “Daily Bread.”

In the French style they serve your hot beverage in more of a bowl like cup than a traditional coffee cup with a handle…it is quite lovely. We also partook of some snacks…Mindy got soup, Stephanie a scone and cream, and I got a plate of wonderfully wheat French bread and jams!

We had planned to only stay for an hour or so but we actually ended up staying most of the day just relating our first impressions of one another, laughing about the places we’d been, and the people we’d seen…it was a really great way to spend the afternoon.

I’ve been beyond blessed by the people in this group…we’re small 8 students, 2 faculty members, one director {her husband occasionally joins us} and me…and for our small group of 12 {sometimes 13} people we get on so well. We can laugh and have fun, there are no distinct cliques that have caused rifts…we naturally all have our ‘closer’ buds we spend more time with…but overall we can all have a blast together.

No one has wanted to leave or switch roommates or hurt someone…it has truly been a blessing from God that we’ve had such a great experience with one another!

Tuesday the 16th of November

Our last Tuesday trip….

We headed to Bath!...and we ventured out on the train!...it is funny our progression from Tuesday trips on the bus to assignment seats on a train…the main attraction we went for was the ‘baths’.

Bath has been known for its natural springs ever since the Romans evaded and conquered Britain…the site we visited was the temple/resort/city center built and frequented by Roman soldiers and well to do persons during ancient Roman times.

The baths were not only seen as a ‘nice vacation’ or a beauty/health treatment {as newer facilities in the area are seen today}, but the baths were considered to be a gift from the gods and therefore a spiritual experience. If you went to the baths you could ask the gods for help, or you could seek personal health benefits and many times you could take care of political/social business…hundreds of people frequented the baths and a lot of ‘business’ was taken care of while officials and nobles lounged by the bubbling pools.

It was cool to walk through the actual excavated baths’ used by the Romans…however it was freezing outside…so needless to say I moved relatively quickly through the outdoor portion of the exhibition.

After we explored the baths we had free time for lunch and exploration before our train left at 4…a group of us set out to find some food…I was really cold, because I had not wore appropriate socks…I had on flats and footless tights…bad new bears…so after some searching and lack of decision making by the rest of our group I took care of myself and went off into the warmth of a sandwich shop {look at me mom all grown up ;) } and Mindy was kind to come with me…she was also cold and just wanted to sit down ha ha.

After I got a sandwich we discovered there was no seating in the restaurant so we went to Costa’s {my favorite coffee chain} across the street got some coffee and had a seat. We were happy. We were warm. We were eating. : )

We spent about an hour just relaxing, talking, and enjoying being out of the cold. {P.S. I love Mindy dearly she has been such a blessing to me on this trip}

We had decided to meet up with the rest of our original lunch group later in the day to go to the JANE AUSTEN MUSEUM : ) but before we headed over to meet them I decided it was time to buy some socks…ha ha…so I headed into Boots {like a Walgreens} and bought some knee high stockings… a little layering of the two tights and I was good to go…

Bath is so gorgeous. The buildings are very classic…rows and rows of stone apartments, much of what you would imagine a late 18th century neighbor hood looking like.

It was lovely walking through the city center through the rows of homes and shops looking for the Jane Austen Center…the house where the center is located is not the actual house where Jane lived in the latter part of her life…but it is made up to look like the home she would’ve resided in…Mindy and I met up with Lauren, Stephanie, Mary, and Lyndsey just in time to get some ‘I heart Mr. Darcy’ stickers…unfortunately the entry fee was more than we wanted to pay so none of us actually went into the museum…but we did get a picture with ‘Jane’ {a statue} outside of the home and talked to a man dressed in period clothing…we dubbed him ‘Mr. Bingly’ however maybe we should’ve called him Scooby Doo because he did a pretty mean impression…ha ha yes true story.

Scooby...I mean Mr. Bingly informed us that if we’d gotten there just a few minutes earlier we would’ve been able to see Mr. Nicolas Cage….because apparently he lives in Bath during the Holidays….who knew!?!

But he DID tell us where he house was so we went and took pictures of the outside ha ha

After we saw Mr. Cage’s home we headed back towards the train station…and of course we stopped for several photo shoots along the way…the houses were just so lovely…rows and rows…but it did not seem crowded…it just seemed organized and mesmerizing.

{via...this is actually a very famous area in Bath called 'the Circle' but it gives you an idea of the rows and rows of homes/apartments that make up the city of Bath}

Bath was all in all one of my absolute favorite places we visited on our Tuesday trips! I wish I’d had a bit more time to explore, but I really felt I got the essence of Bath in my time there.

Wednesday the 17th of November

Ah yes Wednesday…usually Thursdays are the days when we go on a ‘group outing’ in the city and have a group meal…however we moved the group day to Wednesday…and we headed out to South East London across the river to the Imperial War Museum.

It was huge. There are exhibitions on both World Wars…including simulations—you can have a walk through experience of the trenches from WWI and sit through a London bombing during the Blitz…both were very interesting.

They also had dozen of old airplanes, guns, canoes, cars, boats, and even information on the British Navy and their use of submarines during WWII.

There was a walk through exhibition called ‘the Children’s War’ highlighting the children’s experience during WWII…especially the efforts taken to ‘ship’ London children out to the country side, to avoid injury and death by the bombings…the exhibition also talked about the hundreds of foreign children, including German Jews, Polish, French etc who were taken in by British families during WWII.

I got very emotional in this exhibition…just looking at the little faces who had to leave their families…reading the letters they wrote home to tell their parents about their ‘new’ lives in the country side…

One of the biggest exhibitions they had at the Museum was about the Holocaust…this was obviously very sobering but they did a good job of documenting the progression of Hitler’s rise to power, his propaganda against the Jews, gypsies, etc and the reasoning/logic behind the ‘extermination’ that took place all over Germany and Europe.

There was not enough time to see everything {but Stephanie and I actually went back this past week! Ha ha} but it was a really cool museum and I encourage anyone who comes through London and has time to go to the Imperial War Museum!

After the museum we headed out following our fearless leader Lauren Knight to a Greek restaurant…after some walking, a bus ride, and more walking we found it! {it was in the less ‘photographed’ ha ha part of London aka the poorer side} but we had a great meal!

They cut us a group deal and gave us the lunch price and a lunch special…so we got numerous appetizers including hummus, olives, taziki sauce, with bread, a lot of other weird stuff {ha ha}, then a huge selection of meat, Greek salad, and french fries…I know right! They just kept bringing food out! It was awesome, paired with the Greek music and the ‘fake grape vine’ covered ceiling we felt like regular Grecians by the end.

Great night. Great food. Just great.

Thursday the 18th of November

I had a mission…to find cans of pumpkin. Yes cans of pumpkin…Thanksgiving was a week away and we had to make pumpkin pies duh…and there was only one store {that we knew of} in London who was selling canned pumpkin…so I headed out with my side kick Mindy to Oxford street to find some pumpkin!

It was cold and rainy {surprise surprise} and we got a little mixed up but eventually we wandered into Marks and Spencers John Lewis Food Hall down into the depths where the food was and we ask an associate, “Do you have canned pumpkin?”

She led us through the store {it’s quite nice very much like a whole foods/fresh market} and showed us the coveted cans! Ha ha and I bought all of them! ; ) no judgment.

After we’d purchased the pumpkin for Thanksgiving, Mindy and I went on the search for coffee {we seem to do this a lot but it really is a worth while search…if I haven’t said it before I’ll say it again good…really good coffee is hard to come by in the UK}. We found a Costa’s {we love Costas} after we’d wandered around Oxford street for a while…which was fine with us because Oxford street is like center of shopping in London much like 5th avenue is in New York.

So we found a seat {it was crowded…because of ‘tea time’} and preceded to talk for oh I think 3 or 4 hours! Ha ha we just talked about everything…I told Africa stories, we talked about the trip, we talked about our families, friends, life, God…oh it was lovely. And we saw some pretty cute babies while we were sitting there…several moms came in for a shopping break I assume so we got to stare and smile at their precious children…in a non creepy way of course ;)

After we’d finished our laugh/talk session we decided to walk back… we weren’t too far from our flat…we got a bit lost on the way back but it was still so fun to walk through London and just see all there is to see because there is SO SO SO MUCH!

Friday the 19th of November

Oh yes…today was the day…the day of the HARRY POTTER PREMIERE!!!!

Now if you will recall…we were present at the world premiere on the 11th BUT even though we saw the stars that day we DID NOT get to see the movie…that was just a privilege for the actors and other famous people…rude I know. Ha ha

But we were pumped…we’d gotten our tickets and we were ready to see the film around noon at the theatre in Leister Square where it was premiered to the WORLD! Ha ha

We had assigned seats because it’s a huge theater with a balcony and everything…and the seats are covered in leopard fabric…ha ha

Courtney, Lynsdey, Lauren, Mindy and I went to see the premiere and we LOVED IT!!! IT WAS AWESOME AND I CAN’T WAIT TO SEE IT AGAIN!!! That’s really all I have to say…. Ha ha go see it!

{Lyndsey and me ready to watch the movie!!!}

After the movie I lounged about…Stephanie was writing her Bible paper at Starbucks and when she didn’t come back oh all afternoon I decided to go up there an meet her…see how she was doing…she’d been at Starbucks ALL DAY! But she was almost done which was awesome! So I sat with her for about an hour while she finished up her paper.

We were tired so didn’t do too much which is maybe a bit sad especially since it was a Friday night in London but what are you going to do ;)

Saturday the 20th of November

Ah Saturday’s…I love them.

Especially when we go to Portobello road.

I wanted to go back to get a few things….which I cannot tell you what they are ha ha {wink wink} but plus I just like going there because even though IT’S CROWDED LIKE CRAZY it’s fun…so Mindy, Stephanie, and I ventured out and walked down the long road looking, watching, and just enjoying the surroundings.

We were all so tired…Stephanie from working all day…me and Mindy for no reason ha ha so after we wandering in the rain for a bit we headed back to the flat for a chill rest of the day.

Mary’s parents were in town visiting her and enjoying their own vacation and Mary’s dad was so kind and made our whole flat dinner!

He was hilarious! His name is Danny and he is from Venezuela! He’s spunky and friendly and we all just had a blast laughing and eating some amazing food!

All in all it was a relaxed and fun Saturday.

Sunday the 21 of November

Because this was considered a long weekend {the student’s did not have school on Friday} we did not have to go out to Wembley Church…so instead of going out to Wembley Stephanie and I decided we’d go to night service at Hillsong and in the morning we would go on a luggage search in Camden Town.

Camden Town is in north London and it has a pocket of charity shops, which are like Good-Wills, in London…Stephanie and I both wanted to find a cheap suitcase to help bring back all of our lovely finds from London, even though we will probably have to pay for the extra piece of luggage, better than shipping it back or paying an over weight fee…

Once in Camden town we wandered about looking for cheap suitcases…but were unsuccessful… we did however happen upon a 99 pence store, which was awesome! And so we had some fun in there ha ha and we eventually decided to get these big plastic like bags they sell for grocery shopping…they will hopefully get some of my clothes back to the states….yeah it will…but why pay 13 pounds for a small duffle bag when I can pay a pound 50 and get a huge thick plastic bag….yeah correct decision right!? ;)

As we walked back to the tube station we heard some excellent Jamaican music being played…which was not only awesome, but humorous because it’s freezing cold…there was a party going down on the north side of Camden road…so we decided to stop by…and it was a party! There was a rock band, the Jamacian dudes…people walking around with tattoo and piercing handouts…there were a lot of werid, random shops…it was kind of like the whole place was a ‘Hot Topic’—do you know that store? But then as we walked further it turned into this amazing ethnic outdoor food market! It smelled so wonderful!

Both Stephanie and I were like, “What is this place? And why have we not been before!?” It was the oddest assortment of nick knacks, weird costumes, ethnic food, charity shops, and other hole in the wall stores…ha ha

We had a great morning just wandering around…oh and then when we were ready to leave we discovered that the tube station was closed on Saturday and Sunday afternoons to ‘departing’ costumers in an effort to reduce traffic…so we had to walk about 10 minutes down the road to the next stop…which was fine just kind of frustrating because we had just been down that way about an hour before…

We got back to the flat and rested up before it was time for evening church at Hillsong! It was Stephanie’s first time to go and I was excited! We had a great time and wonderful conversations with some girls after service! I love meeting new people there every week! They are so genuine and always ask you to coffee or to come and hang out with them…they are all so genuine which I feel is something that is hard for a lot of people in American…we want to seem like we have it all together…and so a lot of times our ‘kindness’ comes off as fake or as charity…but not here….maybe it is also the age of the people who attended…most of the congregation is 20s and 30s….hmmm who knows I just know I love it! Ha ha

After church we all decided it was time to go on another Christmas light hunt…Stephanie had seen online that Hyde park had a Winter Wonderful Christmas walk through….so we were like, ‘OH MY GOODNESS LET’S GO!’ So everyone except Mary and Lauren headed out to Hyde Park…we all expected it to be a lights show…or a kind of walk through…lights in the trees etc BUT IT WAS AN ALL OUT CHRISTMAS FESTIVAL!!!! Booths, rides, music, food, hot chocolate, lights, Christmas music….it was amazing. We were all so giddy! It was so much fun!

{Mindy, Stephanie, Courtney, and I at Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park}

What a great way to end the week!

Thank you for reading! Only a small time left….sigh…a very short time left….

Continue to pray for our group… that the student’s finished up strong…that they study for their finals and that their hearts are prepared for the transition back into life outside the UK! : )

week 7...the home stretch

Well it seems my tradition of updating every two weeks has continued…much to my regret.

It is difficult to remember what happened a couple of days ago let alone two WHOLE weeks ago…it’s even sadder when you inquire after every member of your group presenting them with the question, “What did with do Monday the 8th?” and not one of them can remember…either that day has disappeared in all of our memories or we all slept through it…

So on that note I will begin with Tuesday the 9th of November ;)

Tuesdays, as you will recall, are our trip days!!! And this Tuesday we ventured onto Brighton! A beautiful little seaside town south of London famous for it’s social and party scene.

It was even a popular place to go in the early 19th century…if you will recall that in Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” her younger sister Lydia goes to Brighton on ‘holiday’ with her friend Mrs. Foster, who is the wife of the captain of the local militia… {Maybe a little more information than you wanted to know} but all of this to say it’s been a happening place for quite sometime.

Our first stop in Brighton {…oh yes I almost forgot…we took a train to Brighton…and our group got separated…in a rush half of our group hopped on a train only to have the doors slam behind them and the train pull out of the station as they nervously stared at the remaining students on the platform…luckily Stephanie and I had been grabbing some coffee so we were there to help remedy the situation. It was no big deal really; the first group had just gotten on an earlier train, and so we simply waited for ‘ours’ to arrive. Because theses trains are used so frequently by commuters they run much the same as the metro or tube system. There are no assigned seats you simply hop on and enjoy the ride}

So back to the story…our first stop in Brighton, after we all made it via the train(s), was the Brighton Royal Pavilion. The Pavilion or Pleasure Palace was built by the Prince Regent, later King George IV, in the late 18th century. AND it is large. It is gaudy. It is excellent. ;)

Built in the Chinoiserie, or Chinese, style the interior has carved wood made to look like bamboo; and wallpaper and prints similar to those found in China; but the grandest part of the Palace is the dinning hall…you walk in from the normal sized entry way, covered in subtle pink wall paper, into this massive domed room, complete with a grand crystal and glass chandelier held in the claws of a silver and red dragon…yes a silver and red dragon. It literally took my breath away; and there only a hand full of things that I can say have really had that effect on me; but now I can had this room at the Royal Pavilion to the list.



{this is the dinning room and it does not do it justice AT ALL but hopefully it will give you a little bit of an idea for how the room looks...}

The response I had was exactly what George IV would have wanted; it is how he designed the room and the entrance hallway. He wanted his visitors to literally be taken aback by the grandeur and sheer magnificent of the room. Our guide told us that some of George’s guests refused to sit at the dinning table under the dragon chandelier for fear that it would come to life…

Pretty awesome huh?



{here is a painting by one of George's contemporaries of the room...maybe you can get a better picture of the chandelier from this one....}

The rest of the building was nice, especially the music room, and the kitchen, which was state of the art in George’s time; he was so proud of it he would include it in his tours he gave to visitors.

The other interesting and unique part about the Palace is it’s exterior…it looks like a building that could’ve been taken straight out of India…it has a light stone exterior complete with ‘turnip’ or ‘onion’ towers; think the Tashmahal or the Orthodox cathedral in St. Petersburg Russia. Strange isn’t it? To have something like that in the middle of England…

After we toured the Palace it was time for lunch; and we just happened to come upon a deal to get a whole plate of food for 5 pounds! Which is awesome, so we headed in and of course I got fish and chips.

After lunch Stephanie, Lyndsey, Mindy, and I headed down to the rocky beach; it was freezing but we went down to the water and took a couple of photos. We actually met a group of men from Canada who hopped into one of our pictures with us…ha ha ;)

After Mindy got her feet all wet in the freezing cold water we headed up to the Brighton peer! Which reminded us of Coney Island or maybe the peers in California…except way colored and wetter.

We played a couple of games in the arcade, including Dance Dance revolution and Guitar Hero…yeah Guitar Hero in an arcade! Mindy and Lyndsey also rode a merry-go round while Stephanie and I took pictures! We felt like moms for sure.

After a little dance off between Mindy and me {the video is on facebook} we headed back into town in search of coffee. We were cold!

On the walk back we passed a barbershop and I jokingly told Lyndsey she should get her haircut…she has been talking about doing it for a while. She looked at me and said, “Ok. Let’s do it!” WE were so excited for her! So we popped into this little shop met the awesome hairdresser; he’s been cutting hair for over 20 years; and he’s lived and worked in London and New York…I know right?

A little wash wash a little snip snip and Lyndsey looked GREAT! She got a cute little bob cut! We were so proud of her and she looked good! Yeah for spontaneity!

After a little wandering we made it back to the train station; grabbed a coffee and headed to London!

Wednesday the 9th of November

This day was a lazy day.

It was my goal to find a restaurant for group meal so I headed down the road to this little French chain called “Le Pain Quotidian” which means “Daily Bread.” I sat down and had a coffee {which was awesome and if I haven’t said so before very rare…the filtered coffee here is very bitter and just not good} and checked out the menu. I told them we would be headed their way later that evening and the nice French manager said that was great!

She shook my hand and I headed across the street to look for a planner. The place where I went is called “Paperchase.” I’ve mentioned it before; it kind of a Hobby Lobby, but way nicer and with paper goods, nick-knacks, cards, paint, and expensive office accessories…ha ha They also have a Nero Coffee upstairs; and that’s where I went to have a seat after I got my awesome new cute planner for 2011…weird 2011.

Thanks to the new smart phone I have been using as Harding’s GA I was able to contact, Stephanie and Mindy, via facebook, and tell them to come join me at Paperchase. It was my goal to read, but after Mindy and Steph, arrived that just didn’t happen.

After we sat there for way too long we headed back to the flat to get ready and hang out for dinner!

Le Pain was awesome; it was a major hit with everyone; and it just has the greatest atmosphere. Wooden tables, huge plates and cups, low lights, candles—so French! ;)

After dinner a few of us decided we wanted to look at Christmas lights around London! We decided to start in South Kensington, which is in southwest London, not only because they were supposed to have lights BUT because they had an ice-skating rink!!!! And we wanted to check it out!

Once we arrived we became mesmerized…the ice, the twinkle lights, the swoosh-swoosh of the skates…and that’s when we decided that there was no time to waste…we had to skate NOW! Ha ha

So Stephanie, Mindy, Travis, and I paid our fee, got our skates, and HEADED ONTO THE ICE!

It was so fun! We laughed a lot…Mindy and Stephanie both feel while we were standing on the edge talking to Brad and Courtney {they did not skate} and these two Indian guys started laughing and taking pictures of them!!! I joking went up to them and was like, “Why you taking pictures of my friends???” and they just laughed and were like, “Don’t worry it is funny!” Oh my goodness.

I didn’t fall the entire time….until literally the last 5 minutes of our allotted skate time {we had an hour} I was teaching Mindy to spin on her skates and my feet just went up from under me and SMACK I landed to my butt then hit my head…it really hurt. A lot.

The little ice ‘safety man’ came up to ask me if I was ok, and he was like, “maybe you should take a break…” ha ha thanks dude.

We were all glad we’d skated…esp. since it was in London…under twinkle lights, next to the Natural History Museum! Hello best night ever! ;)

Thursday the 11th of November

This day was a great day….it was the day that I woke up at 9 in the morning…and left to go secure our spots at the WORLD PREMIERE OF HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART I……YESSSSSSSS

I was so pumped. I put on all of my warm gear: hat, scarf, jacket, gloves, boots…and headed down to Leister Square, which is RIGHT down the road from our flat about a 10 minute walk.

The students were in class until noon so I told them I would go and secure a spot for us! As I stood in line…it was a bit confusing of actually where to stand…I asked around and the workers basically told me anywhere would be ok…most of the ‘good’ spots had been taken by people who’d been camping out for over two days….two days….

So I just chose a spot and as I stood there I made some friends! One American girl named Penny, she is in school over here; and two English girls named Anna and Rachel, they are in school outside of London and both grew up around the area.

We became fast friends as people tried to push us out of our spots---we became each other’s protectors and also got to complain to one another about what was even going on!? They were setting up this elaborate walk through for the stars walk, for them to be photographed and talk to the press etc…the students arrived and couple of Penny’s friends arrived, but we still held together!!!

At one point it started raining…like hard core get yourself soaked raining…we got out our umbrellas and huddled underneath them…they worked pretty well unless the wind was blowing, at which point many of the umbrellas turned inside out and broke….yeah it was crazy! We were laughing and screaming…ha ha

Around 2 p.m….the stars were supposed to arrived around 5 or 6…we realized, in talking to other people and just common sense that where we had been standing all morning was eventually going to be cut off and only press were going to be allowed to stand there….so we got out of there as fast as we could and headed over to the opposite end of the square…Stephanie had been asking around and found out where the cars were going to drop the stars off at…so we made our way over to the drop off spot…hopefully we would have a better chance of seeing them there.

We made our way through the crowds and eventually my Harry Potter friends from that morning went their own separate ways from us…which was fine…because we got a pretty sweet spot RIGHT where the stars were going to be dropped off…there was only two very large men in front of us…yeah.

So we stood there; and we were rained on; and it was windy and cold; and none of us could feel our feet! But we waited and waited and waited….and then it happened…

Cars began to arrive….it was time. People started getting closer behind us…we were being pushed by about a dozen people…and then it happened

After 8 freaking hour of waiting…he got out of the car

Freaking Rupert Grint, aka Ronald Weasley, got out of his car AND WALKED TOWARDS OUR END OF THE LINE UP TO SIGN AUTOGRAPHS!!!!!! I was freaking out so excited! {I was not one of those girls crying freaking out but I was very excited to see Ron!}

He walked opposite of where we were standing, but I could still see him so that was fine!

Then another car pulled up…and it was EMMA WATSON!!!! She was here cute short hair and all!

She walked to the other end of the line up but we still saw her!!!

Then the Weasley twins popped out! We got to stare at them!

Then the man of the hour….HARRY POTTER GOT OUT OF THE CAR!!! WE SAW HIM WE SAW HIM! I could barely breath because so many people were pushing me BUT I SAW HIM!

About this time Ron was coming up our line…and then it happened HE WAS RIGHT THERE I WAS LITERALLY ONE FOOT AWAY FROM HIM! Ha ha {promise I’m not insane ;) }

Then Dracco Malfoy got out of the car! He’s so cute in real life! He came one foot away from me as well! Wow it was great!

We were freezing though…ha ha so we moved to another spot closer to the red carpet and the entrance to the theatre in the hopes that we would be able to see some more stars…but alas some of the girls were getting cold so they headed back…BUT Courtney and I held on for just a while longer…and via the big screen we got to see Helena Bottom Carter interviewed, Lucis Malfoy interviewed, Jenny Weasly, Harry, and Hermoine yes all of them we got to watch their live interviews from the big scream! So fun.

But we were glad to get home and get our frozen little feets warmed! It was a great day. An epic day. One to tell the grand kids about for sure….

“You know that iconic children’s movie that came out when I was a kid?...yeah I was at the world premiere at the beginning of the end in London England…bam” ;)

via Caroline Damron on Pinterest

{here's a picture of the famous 3 the night of the premiere!!! yeah i saw them ;)}

Friday the 12th of November

We were exhausted from our Harry Potter adventure…so we were very chill most of Friday…we did however venture out to inquire after the cost of Paris tickets!

We ended up not getting the tickets we asked about but some cheaper ones online!!! Whoo hoo

But after we went to the train station, Mindy, Stephanie, Lyndsey and I decided to go on a search for more Christmas lights!!!

We headed to Covenant Garden!!! Where the shops were closing, but we still got to see some lovely lights and displays in the shopping areas…we also got to watch a street performer get out of a straight jacket…oh London-thank you for street performers ;)

Then we decided, even though it was raining a bit, to walk back to our flat! It was not that far and it would be fun to explore the city at night!

We got a bit confused, but eventually came upon Leister Square! {where the premiere was} So after we knew where we were we popped into Pret a Manger…a made fresh daily ‘fast food’ place for some coffee!

We chatted and just had a grand old time before we headed back to the flat!

I love Friday’s in London! I love the wandering and the exploring and the ‘getting lost’ you can do!

Saturday the 13th of November

Ah Saturday. Another lazy morning…I’m sure I did but I cannot recall what….

But I DO remember what we did in the evening…this day was the “Lord Mayor’s Parade” day…when the new mayor of London is paraded through the streets in this traditional carriage type thing…and all of London comes out to watch and celebrate…I’d forgotten about the parade so I did not get to see it {plus it would have been crazy town trying to get a good spot…and I had pretty much had my fill of crowds for the month}

So even though we missed the morning festivities we headed out to watch the fire works!!!! We were going to go down to the river, which is where they were shot off at…but we did not make it in time so we ended up watching them right next to Trafalgar Square…it was a good show….but it was literally one 7 minutes long….

They need to take a lesson from America and have at least 20 minutes if not more of fireworks…come on people!!!

We were a little disappointed but decided to explore and head to the river anyways…the road was block off…and even though the fireworks were over there were HUNDREDS of people still hanging out and walking by the river! It was very similar to a state fair crowd or for all of you Little Rock people a Riverfest crowd…it was large!

So we walked down to Big Ben!!! He is so pretty at night ;) and then Mindy, Steph, Lyndsey and I decided {we’d lost Brad, Courtney, and Lauren} to walked back up to Trafalgar Square then to Leister Square then home!

It is a really nice walk at night…and basically we made a big circle from the flat to Trafalgar to the river to Ben then back up again…it’s all so close!!!

On our way the crowds were still very significant and they got even more so once we made it up to Leister Square…it was wall to wall people. We lost Steph in the crowd…tried to go underground to the tube but literally abandoned that plan as so as we got down there…you could barely move there were so many people trying to get down to the tube! We decided to head back up to street level and just keep walking!

After we B-lined it home we could finally breathe!!! Like I said I was done with crowds so I was SO READY to be out of there! Bah!

So that was our Saturday…it was good. I was crowded.

Sunday the 14th of November

Ah Sunday’s in London…we arose early in order to catch the tube then the bus to Wembley Church of Christ…it was a great Sunday full of baby watching {there are the cutest babies there}, singing, and eating!!! It was a potluck Sunday and the church members were so sweet and insistent that we stay and share a meal with them!

It was awesome to have a home cooked meal…not cooked by me…there was Indian food and salad, and desserts BAH so wonderful!

And as we left…we realized it was our last Sunday at Wembley…which made us sad and also confirmed just the end of the semester was coming BUT before we left the parking lot we saw Brad sitting outside by this kid who is always helping to pass our song books and attendance cards at church…I always remark to Steph that I think he’s the coolest kid ever!!!!

And I finally introduced myself to him that morning SO when we saw Brad with him I was like, “Darren…what are you doing sitting here with this guy?” He smiled as he ate his bread and ham…”I don’t know I was just sitting here eating and he came up and talked to me…”

Darren had been eating outside…and Brad saw him so he had decided to keep him company…we all started talking to Darren about why was he eating outside? We thought he was so cool. I always saw him passing out the pens….

I said, “Darren you’re so cool! And you’re always so good about passing out pens! You’re the pen guy!”

{remember this kid is talking in a British accent really really fast} “Pen guy? What do you mean pen guy? I’m the attendance card guy!”

ha ha oh Darren the coolest 10 year old EVER!!!

He also told us about why Christmas is called Christmas….”Well you see back in the Roman times ‘mas’ is the Latin term for birthday and ChristMAS is Jesus’ birthday so it’s Christ’s mas which means Christ’s birthday…”

We just all laughed and were very impressed, even though I’m pretty sure that’s not true at all ha ha ha….then he told us something about his sister and how she has a lot of mass…like not a lot of birthday’s but she’s fat…and we were all shocked and laughed at his perfect ‘little brother-ness’

Sadly we had to leave and go back to the flat…so there we left Darren sitting in the drizzle eating his lunch…oh man I will always remember him! Ha ha

I went to Hillsong church that night and as always I was so blessed and so encouraged! I made a new friend a lovely Londoner woman…she was so sweet and I just love meeting new people every week who love the Lord and are seeking to serve and honor Him.

Also the speaker for the evening was one of the leaders who’s associated with Hillsong Sydney….she and her husband are running an organization which is seeking to save, rehabilitate, and relocate girls and women who have been sold into the sex trade in Europe…and she spoke with such authority and such passion!

Her topic was that as God’s people, “We are able…” and that if we go into a situation already defeated then we are taking power away from the one who is in control in the first place!

She used the story from Numbers…yeah Numbers when the 12 Israelite leaders go into the Promise land to check it out…and how they come back saying it’s impossible to take the land…all of them but Joshua and Caleb said this….but what she points out is that before they even left to go and survey the land God TELLS them it’s THEIRS…he tells them he’s going to give them the land, and yet they come back complaining and filled with fear at the obstacles they see!

She also pointed out that it is clearly stated that the 12 men who were selected were leaders of their tribes…they were faithful, strong, good men BUT because they took their eyes off of the promise and the promise giver, God, they lost sight and they died in the wilderness!

We all have plans for our lives, we are all meant to do great things for the kingdom, in all sorts of situations and ways BUT if we let ourselves be defeated by fear or by our situation then we will end up like the 10 men who died in the dessert…they did not receive the promise land even though that was God’s original plan for their lives…

It’s all about perspective…and keeping it on the right place…God.

Powerful right?!?

So blessed. So wonderful

Well that was our 7th week in London….stay tuned for the 8th!!! Loves

how is it our 6th week already?!?!

“Hallo, Hallo? Oh yeah I can hear you now.”—now imagine a tall English guy saying this as he walks through the grocery store on his phone…this is my life.

Ha ha I love the accents over here. I love the life and the vivacity that their words have when they pop out of their mouths…generally different accents or languages have this affect on me aesthetically BUT I just had to comment it on it.

Ok NOW for an account into our 6th week {oh my goodness so long} in London!

Monday the 1st of November

Aside the fact that November is my birthday month, I love this month because of the fall associations and the family celebrations that come from it.

However on this November 1 I was still not feeling too well…if you read my account of our 5th week in London you know that I was plague by a crazy cold/fever thing since Thursday…and it continued into our 6th week.

I got up Monday morning—got dressed and ready for chapel—I was determined to feel better especially since Tuesday was my BIRTHDAY!!!

We basically concluded after chapel that I’d been having a low grade fever…this would explain the prolonged illness, the headache, the tiredness etc.

But in my efforts to feel better I went out to coffee with a student…but in the midst of fanning myself and a bit of nausea I decided to go back to bed…and that in a nutshell was my Monday.

Lame.

Tuesday the 2nd of November

MY 23rd BIRTHDAY!!!!

AND A TRAVEL DAY!!!!

We headed to Stonehenge and Salisbury---

Woke up. Got ready. Put on my shiny blue ‘happy birthday’ garland crown {it’s just the garland for decorating rooms but I made it into a CROWN! ;) }

Drove on to the Stones at the Henge…got some coffee. Got my audio guide and headed across the road and towards the STONES!

The audio guide us that the sight and what we see today is the result of over 3 waves of construction and different influences…they neglected to tell us about the aliens…but don’t worry we all know who REALLY made the rock formation ;)

We got to the sight around 10 a.m. and it was not very crowded but after we’d been there about 10 minutes a HOARD of Asian tourists spilled onto the sight! They were snapping photos all over the place---but the funniest part of the morning was probably when two of the girls, Courtney and Mindy, walked up to Stephanie and I very quickly and said,

“You will never guess what just happened!”

And I was like, “Oh no did you attack some Asian tourists?”

And they said, “NO! They attacked us!”

Some random Asian men had asked to take pictures with Courtney and Mindy and then all of the sudden a whole group of people stopped to take pictures with them in front of the stones….so freaking random. Then one of the men kissed Courtney on the cheek after the photo shoot was over…

We hopped back on the bus drove down the windy roads for a bit…and unfortunately I got car sick…I still was not feeling 100 percent and the wobbly bus ride did not help.

We stopped at Avery…another standing stone sight…but my goal at this stop was to find sustenance because when I get car sick eating helps…after about a 10 minutes search through the small town I found some potatoes chips and diet coke! Ha ha not ideal but better than nothing.



{an impromptu birthday photo shoot at Avery! like my crown?}

I found the group wandering through the Avery stones which stood in a green field covered with sheep poo…so that was a bit of a challenge to navigate BUT not as much of a challenge as trying to climb over a fence to get back to our bus…

Another 40 minute drive…a little nap and we arrived in Salisbury! Which is NOT the home of the Salisbury steak…just FYI ;)

It was lunchtime so we hopped off the bus and everyone so sweetly accompanied me for a Birthday lunch celebration! It was so fun and nice to be with everyone—but probably this best moment was when they all sang happy birthday as Lauren out a BEAUTIFUL CAKE {candles and all}!

And there was also a man in the pub, his name was Vince, and it was his birthday as well! He kissed my hand and wished me a happy birthday! He also offered me a drink but I kindly declined! Check out my new blog for a more B-day details and pictures {even Vince makes an appearance}

After cake we made our way to the beautiful cathedral in Salisbury complete with yellow fallen leaves that covered the front lawn. Sigh. It was a perfect fall day and reminded me of why I love having my birthday in the fall!!!!

We checked out the cathedral, which has the tallest spire in the UK, and also has one of the only 4 surviving copies of the Magna Carta. The famous document King John signed in the 12th century to give more rights over to the public and the influential Lord’s etc.

After an impromptu photo shoot in the fallen leaves we rushed back to the bus!

It was a great day and an especially wonderful birthday!!!!

Wednesday the 3rd of November

Alrighty then the day after my birthday ;)

I was still feeling tired especially after our busy day before…so I slept in and made it my goal to actually get up and leave the flat! I was feeling better so I decided to venture out to Starbucks with my good friends Stephanie and Mindy!

We chatted and read, and just enjoyed the essence that is Starbucks in the UK---and the essence is especially full of CHRISTMAS! Because the Brits don’t celebrate Thanksgiving {hello we have Thanksgiving because we peaced out on them….} so after Halloween they have NOTHING stopping them from starting up the Christmas celebrations…and you know what…I kind of like it.

I like seeing Christmas lights on the trees and snowmen in the shop windows—red garlands hanging from ceilings and Christmas flavored coffees featured. Sigh. I don’t hate it. Although I am going to miss the honey ham and stuffing…but we are going to do our best to have our own HUE FEAST!

Maybe it was all of the Christmas decorations or maybe it was just because I was feeling a little better BUT I was in a baking mood. And if you know me you know that I do not {or try to avoid eating} white flour and sugar. Just for personal dietary and health reasons…so one of my favorite things to make is whole wheat chocolate chip cookies, because as weird as it sounds I use Splenda to sweeten them so they are ‘healthier’ for you.

And don’t poo-poo them just yet because my brothers LOVE THEM! And the first time I made them just thought they were ‘normal’ chocolate chip cookies!

But any ways…I picked up a couple of things from the store and headed back to the flat to make some cookies! They didn’t have chocolate chips, but they did have REALLY cheap dark chocolate bars {off brand} so I bought some of those and chopped them up…yes dark chocolate chunks! Amazing.

Our oven got a little crazy and slightly burnt a couple of the cookies but over all they were AMAZING and they were a HUGE HIT with the girls!

Yet another accomplish for whole wheat ;)

Also it was fun baking because we were simultaneously watching ‘Sixteen Candles!
Mindy’s mom sent her a package and in it included some movies…one of which was the classic 80s film starring Molly Ringwald. But the crazy part was is MINDY AND LAUREN HAD NEVER SEEN IT!

So Steph and I excitedly prepared them for one of the best moments of their lives! {well that’s probably an exaggeration but we were excited to watch a fun movie together}

And with the smell of chocolate chip cookies wafting in from the kitchen we watched with laughter and tears {jk} ‘Sixteen Candles’ and they loved it! And we’re so glad because we love it. Ha ha

So all in all it was a great night! And I was feeling TONS BETTER! PRAISE THANK YOU JESUS!

Thursday the 4th of November

Today was museum day! And we made our way to the ‘attic of London’ the Victoria and Albert {the V & A} museum.

It has everything from fashion exhibitions, paintings, sculptures, tombs, architecture, basically anything and everything the UK has collected over the last couple of centuries hence the nick name “attic of London’

It was fun wandering about but it was a lot to take in.

Mindy and I, my faithful museum buddy, wanted to see a couple of specific things, such as a plaster caste of Da Vinci’s ‘David’ and this huge column thing that is in Rome {I don’t’ remember the name! for shame}

One of the coolest things we saw was a collection of costumes, sets, designs, and videos of theatre actors, actress, directors, chorographers, etc. it was very cool seeing all of the costumes and watching videos about techniques.

After the museum we all met up at the famous excellent noodle bar called Wagamama’s for a group meal!

{it has started to get darker earlier, as in the states, around 4.30 p.m. so that threw everyone off so by the time we arrived at Wagamama’s we were super hungry!}

Friday the 5th of November

Remember, Remember the 5th of November!

Bonfire and Fireworks celebrations were happing this weekend in memory/celebration of when Guy Fawkes tried to blow up Parliament…yeah I think that’s what he tried to do. {ha ha}

But instead of joining in the London festivities Stephanie and I headed to Oxford to visit Lauren Knight and see what all this hype in Oxford is about ;)

We hopped on a train from London Paddington station {and no I did not see any abandoned bears…thank goodness} and arrived in about an hour to a rainy Oxford and a smiling Lauren!

We headed over to her and her husband’s flat {her husband Tyler is in the MBA program at Oxford and Lauren is the coordinator for the HUE program} and it is so cute! Small but has a window looking out onto one of the sources of the Thames River! And a playground, with some noisy kids, but hey better than noisy college students ;)

Lauren showed us around town {we had been on a group tour there and I had also been once before with my mom but it was fun to get a ‘residence’ view of the town} and we had dinner at this Italian restaurant that is owned by the UK equivalent Martha Stewart this guy named Jamie. And I cannot for the life of me remember his last name or the name of the restaurant BUT I can tell you that we waited for almost 40 minutes to get a table and it was one of the most delicious burgers I’ve ever had in my whole life…yeah not exaggerating here it was fabulous!

After dinner we wandered about a bit more, but it was rainy so we did not stay out long, but we did get a taste of Oxford night life and the fashions appropriate for going out…the girls were wearing high platform heels and short mini skirts with no jackets in freezing rainy weather!!! I do not know why or how they were doing it but they were and I think they are crazy!

We headed back to Lauren’s flat and made our cute little palate bed thing on their living room floor! We feel asleep to the noises of their neighbor’s whiney dog ;)

Saturday the 6th of November

We slept in because it’s Saturday and we’re lazy like that—and that’s what you do at sleep over right!? ;)

Lauren made cinnamon sugar toast and coffee—it was great! {I had banana and peanut butter but the coffee was perfect and the toast smelled amazing}

Then we got dressed and prepared ourselves for more wandering about the town! And it is so cute and just well enchanting—you kind of have to look around and say ‘how is this real?’
Here is a great example of one of those moments---we ate lunch at this precious outdoor café in the Radcliffe {pretty sure that’s the name} courtyard…outside of the University Church of St Mary’s. So basically we were in an outdoor café sitting in-between these two beautiful buildings that are hundreds of years old, just sipping on our coffees and slurping ours soups.

And then as we are finishing up eating a group of graduates happened to walk by on procession for their degrees {when they graduate they sign up for a day to ‘walk’ and a group of students, who are ‘walking’ that day, proceed through the town in their black robes, lined with white fur on the hoods, in basically a processional on their way to receive their degrees} and while this is happening bells from the church are ringing….

What an amazing and picturesque moment! So wonderful and so Oxford!

After lunch we took some photos, walked some more, it’s just such a beautiful place—stopped at a charity shop {basically a goodwill but for specific charities and a bit nicer} and then we made a final stop at Primark…

I do not remember if I’ve mentioned Primark, I’m pretty sure I have, but it is basically like a Wal-mart of Target but with just clothes and accessories…and they are super cheap! A pair of tights, which in the states would be like 10 dollars, is only 2 pounds here! Which is basically half of what they cost in the States!

So basically this is the place where we have several times been sucked in and came out with probably more items than we needed to…

Stephanie got the real jewels on this trip a part of peep-toe pumps for 12 pounds! Girls that is basically 20 dollars USD and I got an amazing chunky scarf {which I’ve been wanting for a while} for 8 pounds about 15 USD.

I know be jealous ;)

We headed back to Lauren’s grabbed our stuff and booked it to the train station!

We got there literally 2 minutes before our train for London left…and because we got there so close to departure time we had to stand up the whole ride….not the beset 45 minutes of my life but it was fine. A good friend and good convo always solves those situations.

We got back to the flat after a bit of a trek through the underground BUT we made it and we were tired from our Oxford adventure!

But we were glad we’d gone and so blessed to just relax and hang our with Lauren for the day!

Sunday the 7th of November

Today. : )

Today has been a good day—woke up for church. Ventured out to Wembley. Our trek takes us about an 1 and a half a little longer if we miss the bus, but not too bad because we only have to change one time to hop on a bus! And that is super nice!

The people at this church are just precious and SO FRIENDLY! They refuse to shake your hand they will only give hugs! I love that! I talked with a few women this morning one from Nigeria and the other a local who is actual headed off the Texas this next week for a friend’s daughters wedding! : )

After church we headed back and most of the students got pizza but I made a grocery store run…and what was intended to be a quick trip turned into my ‘big shop’ for the week! Ha ha there were so many great deal on veggies and hummus that I just decided to go ahead and get what I needed!

I also went a little crazy and made a chicken rice and veggies dish for lunch…and for dinner and probably tomorrow’s lunch…I made way more than I needed to! Ha ha but it was really good! I guess it’s a good thing I enjoy cooking because Lord willing I will be cooking for more than me one of these days and better to enjoy it than hate it---right? ;)

Thank you for listening/reading my ramblings I’m so blessed to have faithful readers and I really appreciate it!

Continue to pray for our group! That we utilize our last few weeks in London to encourage each other and just have fun! Oh and to make sure and study ;) who wants to study when Big Ben is 10 minutes walk away?

With much love,

<>< caroline

our 5th week in London

Why hello there—long time no see/read : )

I hope you’ve not been in TOO much turmoil at the lack of blogging from my end of the world.

But if you have been in distress DO NOT FEAR your suffering is at an end—here is an account of our 5th week in LONDON FREAKING ENGLAND {that’s the official name over here ;) }

Monday the 25th of October

Stephanie and I decided that we needed to go and explore—we just needed to walk and not care where we ended up and so….WE DID!

After we grabbed some flat white’s {my new favorite coffee drink ever} at one of the numerous Starbucks’—we walked towards the River Thames.

As we walked we suddenly started to realize HOW FREAKING CLOSE WE ARE TO EVERYTHING IN LONDON! We walked maybe 5 minutes and came upon Leister Square—which is the location of the official half price tickets {TKTS} booth AND the location where UK movie premieres take place AKA red carpet, stars, paparazzi, etc.

It was very chilly outside so we popped into one of the numerous souvenir shops and purchased a 2-pound scarf—yeah I know. Cute. Convenient. Warm.

As we turned the corner and made our way into the actual “Square” we came upon A FAIR! Yeah I know basically a country fair in the middle of London—including games where you could win large stuffed dogs AND bumper cars…

But our bliss in glittering frivolity was interrupted when we saw AND heard a group of screaming pre-teens girls…we got closer and they were all holding Justin Bieber signs…..as we got ever closer we all realized they were screaming “JUSTIN. JUSTIN. JUSTIN.”

Steph and I looked at each other and ran over like, “WHAT? Justin Bieber is in London?” But after about 3 minutes we asked one of the girls what was going on—and she informed us that all of the screaming was not FOR Justin BUT in petition for Justin to come tour in the UK…so we still don’t know if they were screaming at Justin’s agent or one of the producers from the radio station that they were outside of…I guess it will just remain a mystery.

But it is funny that for just a second we thought we’d seen iconic preteen sensation Justin Bieber

Stephanie had wanted to seen “Flashdance” ever since she’d heard it was in London…So we left the screaming Bieber fans and headed to the half price ticket booth and got tickets to see “Flashdance” for that evening.

We both agreed that in under an hour it had turned out to be a pretty excellent outing BUT we continued towards the Thames and came upon the National Gallery WHERE there was another crowd. However this time there was no screaming or flyers, no blonde girls covered in glitter yelling for Bieber…it was a street performer! {ha ha}

He was funny. Crazy. But funny. Kind of reminded me of the type of person you would pick out to play Dr. Jekyl/ Mr. Hyde…yeah. So we watched for probably 45 minutes as he screamed and embarrassed and made several crass joke WHILE contorting his body in such a way that he ended up rolling around on the pavement…legs behind his head, arms flaying about…yeah.

So after we watched “Showtime” {the ‘name’ of his street show which he had tattooed on his back} we walked towards Big Ben, but then decided to take a detour to Buckingham Palace and walked around some of the parks in the area.

It was such a nice day—chilly but I had my scarf so I was good—there were kids everywhere a lot of ducks—it was just nice to be out in London.

And my Mom and I had ventured through this same park when she came to visit me after I went to the France program in 2008—so it was fun for me to relive those memories.

After we inquired after the Queen {she wasn’t home} we decided to go and look for this chocolate shop Stephanie had heard about…they make a lot of the chocolate in house and it is super gourmet AKA super expensive

So we hopped on the Tube {I cannot express to you how much I love public transportation} and made our way to the Chocoholics dream shop. Truffles, dipped fruits in chocolate, chocolate bars, chocolates filled with anything from Earl Grey flavoring, pepper {yeah I know but it was awesome}, raspberry, pistachio, chocolate covered almonds and cashews…it was great! And it was a super cute shop!

So of course we had to indulge! Steph went a little crazier than I did {especially since I’m still on the ‘no-sugar’/ ‘no-white flour’ life style…and yes it’s still going strong after over a year and a half}

Let me just say that I got 3 or 4 pieces {can’t remember exactly} and it cost me 3.50 pounds…the exchange rate for the pound to the dollar right now is .60 GBP to 1 USD….you do the math.

But it was worth it! They were excellent. I mean I would not suggest buying a box for Christmas or anything but if you have that kind of cash to spend by all means! Feel free to buy me some too ;)
After our chocolate excursion we headed back to the flat to rest a bit before we went to FLASHDANCE!

Now I will not linger on this topic long…it was not the worst show. It was ok. The main girl was pretty good. The main guy I was like “why is he acting?” but then again he kept me interested so he must not be too bad…but ultimately what made Stephanie and I hate it the most of the amount of unnecessary scantily clad women! We were not having the excess of skin that was going on—so with our eyes closed we got through those scenes and finished out the show.

The dancing was GREAT. But by the end we were a bit disappointed that we’d chosen to see Flashdance…sigh.

Tuesday the 26th of October

Trip day!

But this day was a bit different because the place we were headed to, Hampton Court, could be reached by the train/underground system easily. So we did NOT have to wake up at 8 a.m. to catch a bus/coach PRAISE! But we got to sleep in and leave around 10.30.

Hampton Court is one of Henry VIII’s most famous hangouts. It’s a huge royal palace along the River Thames about 45 minutes out of London via train.

After we arrived, in the rain, we looked down at the scheduled events for the day and realized that if we hurried we could make the court dance lessons that were being taught in the dinning hall! So we picked up our skirts…well not really, but if we’d been in Henry’s day we would have…and rushed to begin our lessons.

Only four persons from our group—Stephanie, Mindy, Lauren Knight, and I—wanted to participate! So we made Travis hold all of our stuff, while he and some of the other students watched us dance!

It was simple, fun ‘line’ dancing, and my favorite part was where we had to ‘whinny’ like horses…oh yes and we stomped our feet and brought our fingers to our heads to make antlers…yeah they actually did this in court! Ha ha oh Henry the VIII so funny of you.

We continued to wander about Hampton Court, which was also a home and hangout to monarchs after Henry, and eventually made it to the cloak room where we found…yes. Cloaks.

All day we had seen these kids and adults wandering around with coats/cloaks on—and we assumed they were wearing them because they were a group or a school BUT once we arrived in the cloak room we realized that the cloaks were available TO ALL GUEST in an effort to make us more presentable for the court ;)

So we grabbed a couple of cloaks checked ourselves out in the mirrors and headed back out into the rain! Ha ha

After a bit more wandering and a neccisary trip to the gift shop ;) we headed out in search of lunch…it was almost 3 p.m. by this time!

We found a Pizza Express, which is an excellent pizza chain over here, and enjoyed ourselves, immensely.

Aside from my feet and shoes being absolutely SOAKED it was a wonderful day!

Wednesday the 27th of October…..

I cannot for the life of me remember what we did on this day…but I DO remember that I got a ‘new’ fan—our flat is on the 4th floor and gets pretty hot—so in my excitement I faced it full on towards my face right before I went to sleep…and there it stayed all night…so unfortunately I woke up with a sore throat. Blah.

Thursday the 28th of October

As I mentioned I woke up with a sore throat and I attributed it to the fan being on my face all night…so I drank some tea and hoped for the best.

The group was getting pumped for our afternoon excursion to Westminster Abbey! We were supposed to have gone earlier in the semester but because of a private ceremony taking place inside we were unable to visit…so needless to say we were all ready to experience the Abbey ;)

They provided free audio guides, which is always helpful, so we partook and basically all dispersed. I saw people occasionally on our wanderings through the Abbey, but for the most part I was ‘alone’ from the group to wander. Which was nice, however after I had puttered around for an hour or two I decided it was time to find some tea…my throat had gotten worse. So I went to the gift shop to wait for people.

Gift shops are usually a good place to convene…however no one came. So I bought a few post cards AND a book “ Brief lives of the English Monarchs”—we’ve all been determined to figure out this monarchy family tree thing and so with the purchase of this book and Stephanie’s huge poster of the line of king’s and queen’s I hope to become an expert or at least become unconfused.

I found a Starbucks {I’m not joking when I say they are on every corner} and a spot to sit while I waited for the time when we were supposed to meet back up as a group.

It was kind of surreal because I sat by one of the statues on the side of parliament Square, I think that is what it’s called, the little square with Big Ben, Westminster, and the Thames surrounding it…yeah I just sat there and watched the cars drive by…read a little bit about William the Conqueror until it was time to go.

By this time I had started to deteriorate…I had a runny nose and my throat hurt…and I was getting a headache.

We headed to Covent Garden for dinner, but before we ate we had some time to wander around the shops and stores…after a quick trip to the excellent new Apply computer store with Stephanie I headed to a pharmacy and got stocked up on cold meds and cough drops.

Boo for always having a cold in the fall no matter what side of the world I’m on.

We ate dinner at a place called Gourmet Burger Kitchen—it was really good. The Burgers were massive but I wasn’t feeling too well so most of the night I just sat in a stupor and listened to the conversation around me.

Headed back to the flat and WENT TO BED!

Friday the 29th of October

I slept late because I’d woken up sick.

My cold had gotten worse and I was extremely tired so I decided I would just sleep it off…I got up and did a couple of things around the flat AND I watched the Halloween episode of the Office {duh nothing can keep me away} but in general I was a lazy sick bum.

Saturday the 30th of October

I got up in hopes of feeling better but that was not to be the case HOWEVER I could not stay in bed all day because we had a Halloween party to get ready for!

Lauren and Tyler were coming in from Oxford and Lauren had sent me a list to get from the grocery store—she had an awesome spread planned—so I woke up early to go to the store and then came back and went to BED!

I woke up expecting Lauren to be cooking, but she was no where to be found…her train got delayed because of engineering work and she didn’t get into London until around 5.30 almost 4 hours longer than her original plan.

But it worked out fine because some of the girls started cooking for me and then I started on some stuff---so we got it all done. And it was all great. But I was not feeling too hot.

BUT IT WAS HALLOWEEN AND I HAD AN EXCELLENT COSTUME SO I HAD TO BE ‘WELL’.
I was Hermione {and for those of you who are either oblivious or unaware she is one of the main characters from Harry Potter}. My mom sent me my brother’s graduation robe {she couldn’t find mine} one of the girls lent me her Gryffindor scarf, I know awesome that she had one, I teased my hair, grabbed a stack of books and I was ready to go!

Our party was pretty low-key. Food. A lot of food. Games. Dr. Organ dressed at the scary guy from scream, Travis with creepy green contacts in…yeah it was a fun night.

But I was for sure ready to go to sleep!

Sunday the 31st of October

Muahahaha all-hallows-eve ;)

I woke up to Stephanie telling me we were not going to church {her and I} because she had been up all night sick and she knew I still felt like crap so she intervened and called the shots—we were sleeping in!

And we did! I slept most of the day.

It’s not fun having to blog about days when you were sick…nothing happened and I feel lame having to tell you that all I did was sleep.

Ha ha but I did—and it was neccisary because apparently I had a pretty bad cold—because when I did get up and try to exhert myself…aka the Halloween party…I was worse for wear afterwards.

But anyways—Steph and I spent a leisure Sunday sleeping in and I read a lot…luckily this sick time allowed me to read almost half of my “Brief lives of the English Monarchs.”

For space sake and for your sake I’m going to end this post here and continue details about our 6th week on another!

Thank you for reading. Hope you’ve enjoyed!

Loves