Composed Upon Westminster Bridge

Composed Upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1803

by William Wordsworth

Earth has not anything to show more fair:

Dull would he be of soul who could pass by

A sigh so touching in its majesty:

This City now doth, like a garment, wear

The beauty of the morning; silent, bare,

Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie

Open unto the fields, and to the sky;

All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.

Never did sun more beautifully steep

In his first splendour, valley, rock, or hill;

Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!

The river glideth at his own sweet will:

Dear God!  The very houses seem asleep;

And all that mighty heart is lying still!

New life goal: see the sunrise over the Thames.

Who Am I?

I made this video for my Psychology final project.  The prompt asked after three months in London who am I now?  Here's what I did:

Click Here for "Sperries in London"

Back In the Saddle Again

First day back to the 801!  It was so good to see my Mom, my Dad, Amanda and Masha!  Oh and of course LOUIE!  He even remembered me!

So there was no real question what I was going to do today was there?

So stoked!  But haven't quite left this yet though...

Love from London

Dear London,

Thank you for the best 97 days of my life.  You have changed me forever and you shall always hold my heart.  Thank you for the adventures you’ve given me, the friends I’ve made, the things you’ve shown me, the things you’ve taught.  I miss you terribly but I’ll always have our memories.

Thanks for the best “four months time.”  Can’t wait to see you again.

Love for London,

Steph

Paris, je t'aime

Bonjour, Paris!

Here's a review of my fun four day trip to Paris!

The good times kept on rollin with Miss McKenzie Mae... literally!!!

We're talking VIP status- front of the line EVERY TIME.  

Look how close we got to Mona.  

BONJOUR MONA!

L'Orangerie!  Oh, j'adore L'Orangerie et Monet!!!

Eiffel Tower Light Show!

Fun at Versailles!

The Champs Elysees with the Arc de Triomphe in the background.

Good times in Paris with good friends!  A girl couldn't ask for more!

Highlights from Up North

Last week we went on a 5 day trip through Northern England!  Here are some highlights:

Probably my favorite part of the trip was the drive through the countryside.  It was so beautiful.  This picture below is one example. In case you were wondering, we DID NOT plan to match.  It just happens when you live together I suppose...

Just kidding it was St Patrick's Day and these were authentic Irish sweatshirts so we had to wear them.

Another favorite was Fountains Abbey.  A huge abandoned abbey, ordered to be dismantled by Henry VIII when he created the Church of England.  It reminded me a lot of Stourhead which I loved so I liked Fountains Abbey too.

Hadrian's Wall

and more awesome countryside.

The Lake District. Oh. My. Gosh. This was the view from our hostel.  AMAZING!  The Lake District was easily the best part of the trip.

Best Crew Out!

And do you notice what was in the marina??? Is that a MASTERCRAFT X2???  Yeah my mind was blown.

On the way back to London we stopped in Preston.  This is where the first LDS missionaries came to Britain.  We spent the day touring Church sites and finished it off at the Preston Temple.  Cool day.

Moral of the story: I will find my way back up north one day because I loved it so much.  I only wish that x2 had been in the water because I would have convinced the owner to take me wakeboarding.  No matter what.

UTAH MAN SIR!

CONGRATS AMANDA!!!!!!  ALTHOUGH YOU GOT INTO EVERY SCHOOL YOU APPLIED TO YOU PICKED THE BEST ONE!  SO EXCITED FOR NEXT YEAR! GO UTES!

IRELAND!

We had the weekend off so a group of us headed off to Dublin in time for 

ST PATRICK'S DAY!

Well Tuesday is the actual St Patrick's Day but in Ireland, home of St Patrick himself, it's a weeklong celebration!

FRIDAY we took a tour through the Irish countryside to Wicklow.

SATURDAY we explored Dublin.  Some highlights: The Spike, I mean Spire in the middle of City Centre.

The Famine Statues. Yeah, they were real.

Trinity College

There was an awesome carnival going on that we went to twice.  Second time around we met Al Roker.  Talk about random.  

SUNDAY McKenzie, McKell, Alexa and I went out to a coastal town called Howth. We were all in the St Patrick's Day spirit and needless to say we stuck out. 

Howth was beautiful and we ate lunch with our feet over the harbor and seals catching our crumbs.  

All in all a great trip and I loved Dublin.  Today London welcomed me back though with sunshine and 60 degree weather.  I LOVE LONDON! Oh and props once again to McKell for the awesome pics.

Getting to the CENTRE of Things

Hampton Court was so much fun.  It's the largest palace in Europe with over 1,100 rooms but we hurried through the palace to get OUTSIDE as fast as we could.  Do you blame us?

Living the Life.

Our next stop was Wimbledon and although this was my second time going I was so excited because we were going to go on the tour to see CENTER COURT (or I suppose it's Centre Court here).  So we start the tour and our tour guide says we're off to Court Number 1 as we walk away from the door to Centre Court...

CENTRE COURT IS CLOSED UNTIL MAY BECAUSE THEY'RE BUILDING A ROOF OVER IT.  Seriously?  SERIOUSLY?  Bummers.... at least the rest of the tour was cool.  Guess I'll just have to come back for the actual tournament to see Centre Court (hint hint Dad).

I Knew It Would Happen Eventually

A little too much NUTELLA

Up Close and Personal

This weekend we went to Fashion Weekend.  It's been Fashion Week here in London and when that is all over they have Fashion Weekend.  We went and saw all of these vendors booths selling cheap designer stuff and then got to go to a catwalk show.  And sat FRONT ROW!  Coolest thing ever!

For photos of the show check this out.  McKell is an awesome photographer!

On Saturday I went to a DG Founder's Day brunch here in London.  It was awesome to go and see other DGs who were studying abroad as well as alum who live in London.  It was cool to go not only to meet new DGs but to remind myself that being a part of a sorority means being a part of something bigger than yourself.

Other than that, nothing new to report.  Just living the life in London.

Setting My Watch

Need to know exactly what time it is?  I gotcha covered thanks to our day trip to Greenwich yesterday.  What's up Prime Meridian!

Yeah, I stood in two hemispheres at once... no big deal.  Spot the Sperries.

At Greenwich we got after it and went to the Royal Observatory, the Queen's House, Old Royal Naval College, and the National Maritime Museum.  Haven't forgotten the DGs though!

Last night Ana and I went and got standing tickets for Twelfth Night which was amazing!  We were a little nervous when we found out we would be standing in the very back of the very top tier but we loved it!  One of my favorites so far!

Weekend Update

This week we went to Stratford-Upon-Avon (holla Shakespeare) and got to see basically the life and times of Shakespeare.  Here's Ana and I with our carrier owls we send back and forth messages to each other with.

We saw The Tempest on Wednesday night in Stratford and it was AMAZING.  We even got to meet the very attractive Ferdinand after the show when Dr Chrystler tracked him down for us. (Yes McKell, he's WAY hotter than Ariel)

We stayed the night in Stratford-Upon-Avon at a youth hostel and took off to Blenheim Palace the next day.  This is the place that Churchill was actually born and it was beautiful! 

 There was even a butterfly house and Triwizard Tournament-worthy maze.  Can you spot Ana?

Yesterday we explored Chelsea and played guitar in Hyde Park because it was a sunny and beautiful day!  That night McKenzie went with me to film a little bit of the city.  Talk about living the dream.