Past Couple of Days

Regent Park.  BEST PLAYGROUND EVER.  Props to Mckell for the pictures.  Afterwards a nice long chat in a cafe with the twins.

Burrough Market.  It was so good last Saturday that we had to come back again this Saturday.  I confessed my love for the man handing out Cranberry samples, it is just that good. 

Fun times in London.

Yeah, You're Jealous

OH MY GOSH.  So you know Pride & Prejudice, the scene when Mr. Darcy first proposes to Elizabeth, THAT'S WHERE I WENT TODAY.  It's called Stourhead, and was arguably the most beautiful place ever.  EVER!  Probably my favorite place we've been so far.  After Stourhead we went and gave props to Jane Austen at Winchester Cathedral on our way to Portchester Castle, where we climbed to the tallest tower and looked out over the ocean. Hold your breaff, here's a load of pictures (not really in order due to the fact that Blogger hates me):

Jack Da Rippa

Tonight we went on a Jack the Ripper tour following some of the places that Jack murdered his victims.  McKenzie held on to Alexa and I tighter than anyone else has ever held on to someone for something not that scary.  Needless to say when the tour ended we hurried as fast as we could back to the Centre for our nightly Nutella treats.  Don't mess with McKenzie and her Nutella.

I'm A Lumberjack and That's Ok

It was so warm today that we decided to have a picnic

 at Trafalgar Square before going to the 

Annie Leibovitz exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery.

(Which was awesome!)

Water & Rocks

Bath. Loved it. Touched it. Drank it. No joke.  

Stonehenge. Rocks. Too many pictures. Here is a selection:

Not Too Bad So Far, Thanks Barack

Today we got in free to the very pricy Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum because we are American.  (I couldn't believe it!  FREE!)  The British love Obama; absolutely love him.  So with a valid American identification we got to look at wax statues of other famous Americans… in England.  Still doesn’t make sense.  Oh well, I’m not complaining.  So far you could say I’m a fan of Obama’s presidency.

It’s interesting to watch my country’s history unfold from another continent.  I feel that sometimes the British view, especially in the newspapers, can get a little skewed but I have been most surprised how important the United States is to the UK.  I mean, the US makes front-page news EVERYDAY.  American celebrity gossip IS British celebrity gossip.  The US economy completely affects the UK’s.  Barack Obama presidency in no way affects only the United States.  It seems as though the entire world (well I can only say London for sure) is holding its breath to see just what Obama can do because his presidency affects SO MANY PEOPLE.

Well, we’ll see won’t we?

Lost in a Little British Town

We didn't have class yesterday because it was Martin Luther King Day so we went out to Wimbledon.  Every tourist spot in London is either on a map or has very clear signs pointing exactly where to go.  I thought Wimbledon would.  It didn't.  But that was okay!

We took the Tube out to 'the Wimbledon stop' and walked in only a few circles, asked only a few people, and had to turn around only once until we finally found the stadium.

As we were walking I decided that there is no where I would rather be than lost in a little British town.  It was a great day.

Oh and I got a meat pie at a pub Mom, just for you.  (It was awesome.)

Treat Night

At the end of a very long Sunday everyone brought a fun British treat to try.After this picture was taken we all fell into a sugar coma.  British sweets are too good.

A Series of Fairly Embarrassing Pictures

From the past week:

Chinatown, doing as the Asians do.Graffiti, doing as the white posers do.Natural History Museum, doing as the whales do.

Today:

I found my new London Love: COVENT GARDENS.  We shall definitely be returning.  And not just because of the delicious cupcakes pictured below.  

But they are definitely a factor.
Here is a terribly embarrassing picture of Ana, Molly, and I enjoying said delicious cupcakes. 
After Covent Gardens we went to Evensong at Westminster Abby.  This was not only my second time to Westminster this week (actually twice in two days), it was also my second Evensong this week.  In one week I've been to more Catholic Church than most Catholics go to in a year.

Where I'm Transferring

Cambridge is exactly what I pictured "college" to look like: old, distinguished buildings and smart looking kids.  Ana, Molly, and I got to see Cambridge from the student perspective as we would linger by locked doors until a student came by to swipe their cards and we would hurry in the doors after them.  Sneaky, sneaky.  Here's a picture of a cool library that we snuck into.

We spent a few hours at Cambridge where we walked around town, went to the Fitzwilliam Art Museum, and grabbed some dinner.  As a group we all went to see Evensong at Kings Chapel which was super cool and the first Catholic service I've ever been to.

Today we also made some other stops on our way to Cambridge including an American World War II Cemetery.

Recently... IN LONDON!

Abby, Connie and I were assigned to the Mitcham Ward about an hour and a half away.  It is the farthest ward in our group but it took us a little longer than usual to get there because we missed our stop and had to backtrack.  This is us lost:

We eventually found it and had a great time.  We are all assigned to Young Womens which should be so much fun.  Here's some other stuff that I've been up to the past couple of days.

Hanging out at Trafalgar Square with Molly, Ana, and Sarah.

Lloyds of London, for Dad.

Molly and I with St. Paul's in the background, just after visiting the Tate Modern.

It Only Cost a Few Galleons

They finally let me in!

Hogwarts here I come!