Day 39: Every Snog Begins with Harrods

Saturday, June 2

Today was our last free day in London... at least during the free travel week.  A few of us girls had originally planned on traveling to the Chatsworth House (where Pemberly was filmed in the new Pride and Prejudice).  I bought my ticket to go there before realizing that it took three hours on a train to get there.  So I decided to go explore London instead!

Katherine, Jaden, and I visited Borough Market (the food market- a.k.a. heaven) one last time.  We ate our Jacket Potatoes and raspberries quite happily.  This time, I also discovered salted caramel ice cream that was truly yummy.  After the caramel ice cream, we needed another caramel macaroon and so we went back to Covent gardens for the third time this week (Jaden's first time) to get one.  Happiness was upon each of us as we devoured those yummy little things!

Jaden and me with our Jacket Potatoes.

During the rest of the day we did new things!  Michal Savage- you would have loved to do these things!  We went to the V&A (Victoria and Albert Museum).  The most interesting exhibit there was on fashion through the ages.  I saw absolutely gorgeous dresses and ball gowns from over the years.  We tried to find a place that we could supposedly try on corsets and hoop skirts.  We asked someone there to help us but instead got talked to about American gun laws, JFK and the mafia, and plastic bullets for almost 40 minutes.  That was no help whatsoever!  So we left without finding or trying on anything.

We finished the day at Harrods- the world's largest and most expensive department store!  All I can say is... WOW.  

It's really unfortunate that I could not take pictures inside.  It was six stories high.  On the first floor, there were rooms upon rooms filled with designer handbags, many large rooms with cosmetics, rooms filled with designer jewelry (I may or may not have raised my standards for my future ring... oops), and a large dining area.  There was also a floor of women's apparel, a floor of children's apparel, a floor of home items (furniture, silver, chandeliers, etc), a floor of electronics and a floor of athletic gear.  In the area of the escalators there was a singer on a balcony singing live opera.  I just thought, "What kind of world have I walked into?"  We touched scarves worth over 700 pounds each, a fur coat worth over 2500 pounds, and walked through basically giant displays of evening gowns/ wedding dresses, shoes, and HATS.  The hats were by far my favorite part.  I saw a hat that looked exactly the same as Victoria Beckham's that she wore to the royal wedding last summer.  If they all weren't 600- 1000 pounds I would have bought one!  Michal- you would have LOVED this.  If you ever come to London with me, I am taking you here.  Jaden and I wanted to just buy ONE thing from Harrods and so we found what we wanted and what we could afford... a cupcake. I was one happy woman after purchasing it.  :)

Isn't it a beautiful cupcake?  It even looks expensive!

Tonight, we are spending time indoors with another movie night.  We have studied John Keats in English and so we are watching Bright Star, a movie about his life.  It's so sad but cute!  I still need to prepare my lesson for tomorrow and I'm looking forward to an even better Sunday than the one before.

Natalie: "He's so cute!  Is there anything wrong with him?"

Jaden:  "Um.. he's dying..."

Jaden:  "Hey... want to snog?"

Katherine:  "Who opens up a frozen yogurt shop and names it snog?"

Lauren:  "That's like opening up an ice cream shop and calling it make out... or nicmo."

Day 38: Happy Day

Friday, June 1

I woke up today thinking, "Today, I am going to have a fantastic day!"  And so I did.  :)


It started with a tour of Kensington Palace.  I have probably mentioned that I live just a short walk away from this Palace in Hyde Park but I've had never toured it before today (probably because it's not free).  Amanda and I bought tickets to go in and loved every minute we spent there.  


On a seemingly random but related note, I absolutely love the movie The Young Victoria (Grandma- This is the one I have told you to watch that I keep borrowing.  You will love it!).  It's the story of how Queen Victoria and Prince Albert fell in love.  Seeing this movie sparking an interest in me to learn more about Victoria and her life.  So you can imagine my excitement when I saw the room she was born in, her wedding dress, as well as an exhibit about her life!  I cried (NOT an exaggeration) when I read what she wrote about her love for Albert and what she wrote when he died.  They were an amazing couple that I would like to be like one day.  At the gift shop I bought a huge biography about Victoria so that I can study her life and learn about her even more.  If you haven't seen the movie GO WATCH IT! :)

Victoria's wedding dress- she was only five feet tall!

What Victoria wrote when Albert died... this made me cry.

We also saw an exhibit of five of Princess Diana's gowns.  They were so beautiful but what struck me was that she wasn't a small woman.  I expect all beautiful and classy women to be very skinny but her dresses showed that she had a very nice figure.  It's a confidence booster to those of us who are normal, don't you think?  The gown really were stunning... the pictures can't do it justice.  

The tour also included access to the old Kings and Queens apartments as well as an exhibit on Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee.  Victoria was the first monarch to celebrate 60 years on the throne.  The current Queen's Diamond jubilee starts tomorrow and she will be the second monarch to reach this milestone!  

(Writing postcards to Victoria)

Seeing this public side was wonderful but I wish we could peek into the private side of the palace where Diana lived and where William and Kate will be living soon... oh well. :)

(Toilet signs)

(Will and Kate pillows)

(Me with the future residents!)

A large group decided to go to Greenwhich (pronounced gren-itch) in the afternoon but after researching it, I had no desire to go out there.  At first I wasn't quite sure what to do.  I decided to continue to pursue my interests through the day and spontaneously went to Wimbledon!  

Wimbledon is a borough on the outskirts of London where one of the largest tennis tournaments is held each year.  It is the only large tournament held on grass.  I took a tour through all of the main courts, press rooms, and toured the museum there.  It was absolutely wonderful!  I don't even watch professional tennis that often and yet it was still very exciting.  

I saw court 18 where the American, John Isner, played the longest match in the history of tennis in 2010.  Because there are no tie-breakers at Wimbledon, the match lasted over three days for a total of 11 hours and 5 minutes!  As you can see in this picture, the grass is very short.  During the tournament, it is kept to 5 mm.  Each September, it is removed and new glass is replanted.  As the tour guide continually said, "We take our grass very seriously."

This is the press room where each player comes after each match.  They are generally interviewed for 10 minutes except for Roger Federer who does his interviews in four different languages which takes about 20 minutes.  On each wall, the clocks are Rolex clocks who is the largest supporter of the tournament.

We concluded our tour at Centre Court!  It's the largest and most well taken care of court here where the finals are played.  No one plays on this court except for the two weeks out of the year.  There is a security guard there 24/7 and they bring out dogs at night- this is specifically to keep urban foxes (which are plentiful) off of the grass.  That's what a big deal it is!  You can see the royal box in the picture... this is where invited guests sit.  Those invited guests have their flight, accommodations, and food paid for and they get these seats worth thousands of dollars all for free!  Last year, the Serbian president sat here along with Will and Kate.  This year, Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf have been invited.  I call that a sweet deal!

The retractable roof over Centre Court.

I sat in a seat at Centre Court... no big deal!

After the tour concluded, I went to the museum they had there.  I didn't spend much time in the museum but enjoyed seeing the signed clothing of famous players.  These are the outfits of Serena Williams, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer.  Cool right?

These are the woman's singles (plate) and men's singles trophies (cup).

I made a couple of great purchases while I was there including this shirt and 2012 Wimbledon tennis balls.  I don't think I'll ever play with them because they are so precious to me. :)

After returning from a wonderful tour, Whitney and I went to Nandos again for dinner.  I think they need one in the United States because it is so delicious and the customer service is lovely!  This time I got a chicken burger (basically a delicious sandwich). 

To end the night, a few of us did the quick walk to Hyde Park to watch the newest musical in London: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe!  I wasn't sure what to expect with this.  I wondered how the music would be, how they would do the animals, how the acting would be, etc. I can say that it was one of the most enjoyable performances I have been to!  We bought student tickets for 25 pounds and were given seats that were worth 60 pounds- a great deal.  The theatre has been build temporarily in Hyde Park in a large tent.  The stage is circular and moves around.  There are scenes projected onto the tent above the stage, it snows, and the animals are similar to Lion King animals but less obvious.  Asland was especially impressive as it was three actors inside a large animal.  The witch was scary and all of the actors were so talented.  Each detail was taken was so well taken care of and I continually thought of the Gospel parallels in the performance.  Until June 4, kids get into the show free and so it was fun to watch it with them as a majority of the audience.  They all squealed at the scary parts and laughed at the funny parts.  It was a wonderful way to finish the night and then walk home through the park.

(The tent in the park)

(The stage inside the tent)

(Myself, Kayley, Lauren Fine, and Whitney)

One sad moment of the night was when we saw Jimmer and Whitney's wedding pictures on Facebook.  That's it... he's no longer single.  We took a moment of silence to mourn his bachelorhood.  I thought he'd change his mind and marry me someday but I guess that's a fantasy I'll just have to give up on!  We couldn't stay sad for long because we know we'll all find men better than Jimmer one day (Katherine already has... woot)!

Despite Jimmer... I was so glad that I chose to have a great day. :)

Day 37: Focus on the Positive

Thursday- May 31

If I start talking about today, I will most likely be negative.  Let's just say that instead of dreading coming home because I love London so much I am now starting to feel like I'm ready to come back home.  One of my goals for the trip was to be positive while I'm here.  So I'll give you a list of events, pictures, and focus on what went well in hopes to maintain that goal.


-  Soane's Museum

- Jeremy Bentham's body

- Highgate Cemetery... cool to see the "managed neglect" here.  I'm glad Sam (Dr. Mason's son) came with us and that I got to talk with him a lot.  He reminds me of Hayden.

- Keat's House

- Half of Dr. Jeckel and Mr. Hyde

- Alone Time and movie night

Positives...

- I found a street with the same name as one of my most favorite people!  Love you Holly!

- The Centre has a copy of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and I got to watch it twice in one night.
- I had the Centre entirely to myself for a short time today.
- I am confident in my ability to ride the tube by myself.
- I got to talk to Sam, Cree, Lauren Fine, and Bronwyn today which I normally wouldn't have much time to do.
- Katherine is a great example.
- I treated myself to a nutella and white chocolate milkshake from Fenton's.
- The internet is working well.
- My family loves me.
- I'M IN LONDON!