Day 36: Free Travel= Free Time

Wednesday- May 30

First of all, I would like to give a big congratulations to my brother Hayden who graduated from high school today!  

I can't believe that he graduated and that I did the same thing two short years ago.  He will be going on a mission soon and it seems like time is traveling too fast.  He is such a great kid!  He has become a really hard worker, he is a great friend, and a comedian.  Even though he is quiet, I know he loves me.  I appreciate when he texts me back or responds to my Facebook messages.  He may be a lot taller than me but I'm still his big sister and can't believe how fast he is growing up.


Today is the first day of free travel.  We have days where we have the option to travel outside of the UK with permission from our directors.  For me, free travel= free time in London.  After stressful planning and trying to work everything out, I felt like the best option for me was just to spend more time in the city I love!  That gives me an excuse to come back to Europe one day.  I didn't want to go somewhere fantastic and feel rushed or miss a lot of things.  I would rather do more in London.


My free time began at the National Portrait Gallery.  We had an assignment to do there and so Katherine and I went to do it together.  It was great!  I especially enjoyed the Romantics room because we have been studying almost everyone that is portrayed in the portraits there.

We stopped for yummy sandwhichs at Pret A Manger (our favorite fast, fresh food place to eat) and then went to Cecil Court to look at old bookshops.  On this road there are so many shops with old books in them!  I went into one that was specifically children's literature.  I saw sets of the Chronicles of Narnia, shelves full of Alice Through the Looking Glass, fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen and the Brothers Grimm, but my favorite shelf was full of Peter and Wendy and Peter in Kensington Gardens.  (Have I mentioned my love for the book Peter and Wendy?  I'm sure I have!)  They were beautiful!  I found an absolutely beautiful version of Peter and Wendy that had beautiful pictures throughout the book.  The cover was a leafy green and on the front was a gold embossed Peter with some fairies that looked JUST like the Peter Pan statue in Hyde Park.  I wanted it so badly but when I asked for the price I decided that 225 pounds was out of my price range.  It was so fun to hold and look through though.

After window shopping for books, Katherine and I walked up to Covent Gardens. Interestingly enough, Covent Gardens are not gardens or a park but a giant marketplace (silly me for thinking gardens meant gardens).  If you've ever seen My Fair Lady (one of my favorites) with Audrey Hepburn, this is where the movie opens and she famously sings "Wouldn't it be Loverly."  So we stood beneath the columns Eliza Dolittle stood under and sand the song.  It felt like another "I'm living in a movie" moment.

Lots of chocolates for me to eat.  Lots of coal making lots of heat.  Warm face, warm hands, warm feet, oh wouldn't it be loverly?

In Covent Gardens we found the most delicious and beautiful French macaroon shop!  I got vanilla, raspberry, and salted caramel macaroons.  They were almost too pretty to eat but when I did bite into them I wished I had more!  So we went back later and got more caramel macaroons.  That's how good they were. :)

This is Katherine.  I like her a lot.  And we like caramel macaroons a lot.

We proceeded to go cheesy souvenir shopping at Cool Britannia... the largest and touristy tourist shop.  I left with my very own Will and Kate mug, "I Love London" playing cards, and several pins.  Jealous?  It was a successful shopping trip.  I thought I should take some cheesey pictures while we were at it...

I ask myself this question every day.  Just kidding. :)

For dinner we had pizza and gelato from Portabello Road, two things that always make me happy here.  The two of us ended the night by going to see another musical... Top Hat!  (I forgot to take a picture outside of the theatre for the first time!  Oops!)  I guess this is a movie with Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire (Erika can correct me if I'm wrong) that they turned into a musical.  When we walked in we felt a little underdressed and outside of the age demographic.  Most of the people in the theatre were quite a bit older (white hair older) and were dressed up in suit jackets and hats and dresses.  I didn't know what to expect out of this musical at all and I was purely delighted with it!  It was so wholesome, beautiful, and funny where the talent of the actors and dancers were well portrayed.  Mom and Ashlyn- there is a character like Aldolfo from Drowsy Chaperone in this play and I think you would love it!  I loved the classiness of it all.  Two thumbs up to this musical and to the whole day.  I like having all of this free time!