London - Day 6

Today was a pretty good day. I had to make the tough choice this morning of going on a Westminster Abbey tour (which I've done before) and going to the British Library (which I've also done before), but I ultimately chose the free option and went to library. They have an amazing gallery of rare and very important documents, and I got distracted in it all and was a full 10 minutes late meeting back up with my group. I saw the Magna Carta, a Gutenberg Bible, The oldest known copy of Beowulf, Handel's Messiah, and tons of other stuff. It was all very interesting. There was also a mini-exhibit called "A-Z: Murder at the Library" and it had literary examples of a different author/genre/tropes of detective and crime fiction for every letter in the alphabet. And if you were wondering, the letter X was for Xenophobia.

This is a fun bench at the British Library. Sometimes, this is what a good book feels like.

Outside at the library. Not sure if blinking, or just weird eyes in every selfie.

After the library, we walked on over to the Wellcome Collection, but found out after we were inside that the  gallery was closed. Oops. At least I got to see a map of the continents made out dead mosquitoes.
At least the walk over there provided a view of the amazing roof and towers of St Pancras, which is an inspiration for the future castle I'm going to live in.

Yes, I want this type of roof.

Three other people on the trip. This should be used as an advertisement.

After the Wellcome disappointment, We walked to the British Museum, which is the greatest museum in the world. It has everything you can imagine (except King Tut - I did not see him there). The Egypt sculpture hall is astounding. I want to know the history of the actual museum and how they got such MASSIVE things inside, like huge granite pharaohs and obelisks and stuff. I could spend a week there and maybe see everything if I didn't stop to read all the descriptions.

Outside the British Museum.

Egyptian sculpture of some pharaoh, but I can't remember which - there were so many!

The History of Clocks section was pretty cool. I still don't understand how they work.

After the Museum, we went into a store called Primark, which is clothes and stuff for mega cheap. It's like Old Navy/Uniqlo type styles but for a fraction of the price. The most expensive thing I saw were the shoes, which were 6 - 15 pounds. I bought a shirt for 3 pounds! If that store chain came to America, it would be the One Ring to rule them all!
After shopping, a few of us Potterheads went in search of the new Platform 9 3/4 since the one I found a couple years ago has apparently moved as to be more accessible. We found it thanks to the help of a security guard who pointed the way in King's Cross Station, and when we got there, the platform was open so we got to run through it!

This picture is PROOF that magic is real! PROOF!

After visiting the platform we went to the Harry Potter themed shop next door where I continued to geek out over everything there, I thought my wands were fun, but the wands for sale here are the best movie reproductions I've seen! Also the most expensive!

The wand chooses the wizard! The wizard can't afford the wand!

After King's Cross, I went back to the college for dinner and to get ready for the show-of-the-night, "One Man, Two Guvnors," which many of the other students in my group also had tickets for.
The show was SO funny! I was in stitches! It's no wonder this show has no opened in New York! And I got my ticket for super cheap! It cost less than my dinner the other day!

This was about 20 seconds before the rain arrived...

After the show, as we waited for the group to gather, the heavens opened and we were all soaked by the time we reach the Underground station, only a 2-3 minute walk. Everyone else on the tube was wet as well, so we fit right in.
It was a really fun and full day, and it ended with a very funny play that I'd love to see again sometime. I definitely recommend it!

London - Day 5

My stay in London is already halfway finished, and that makes me a little sad. I've been able to see and do some fun things though, and still have a couple more days of adventure ahead, so I can't be too sad just yet.
Today was a very nice day. It's Sunday, so the rush of travelers was less intense that usual, and this morning the weather was beautiful.
I made plans to travel to St Albans, and I set out at 8 this morning to make sure I'd be able to get my train ticket and be there on time, and everything worked out perfectly.
My train arrived at St Albans about 9:40, and I walked right on over to the church where I was going to meet my friends, the Hawkshaws. I was there before they were, but basically everyone that was there was very friendly and welcoming, which made the short time before church very nice and enjoyable.
The Hawkshaws arrived and we had a quick catch-up before heading into services. I made lots of new friends at church that I'll probably not see again, but I was left with nothing but good memories of all of them.
After church I went to Hawkshaw Hall with my friends to have lunch and visit. Their house was very beautiful and was 100 years old last year. It's in Radlett and every house and everywhere you look is a frame-able picture I'd love to have on my wall.

I did NOT take this photo (well, I took it off the internet).

The beautiful view of the backyard. There was so much more color in real life.

Alan Hawkshaw is a musician, and during our visit after lunch he played some very nice songs on the piano for us. He's very good at jazz improvisation and chromatic harmonization with really strong melodies. I could listen to it all day. Even beside the music, The visiting was very nice, as was the food that Chris made. My plate was all but licked clean!

All too soon, it was time for me to catch my train back to London, but not before snapping some pictures with my favorite English people in the whole world! I'm so grateful for their kindness, from the time I met them in Florida several years back and onward. I hope to be as fun and kind as they are throughout my life, because they set a great example and I love them for it.

Chris, Me, and Alan - they're the best!

The train back was a little slower due to other delays ahead on the tracks (from what I gathered), so by the time I was back in London I was a little too late to go to the Globe to see The Tempest, but I wish I could have been there because my group that went MET GANDALF! I'm a little jealous, but had I also met Ian McKellen I would have just stuttered and looked a fool of a Took.
I got back to Regents, had a bite to eat for dinner while trying to figure out my night, but I felt really tired (all this adventure really wears me out!), so I skyped home, then started to write in my blog.
I must have been more tired than I thought, because I feel asleep with the light on. When I woke up at midnight a few hours later, I was confused because I felt like I had slept through the night. I rolled over and saw that it was dark outside, so had to get my bearings on what time it was and what the heck was going on. I recovered and then finished this post.
It was a great Sunday and I'm so glad that I got to meet up with some of my favorite people and see their home and neighborhood. I'll miss them, but I'm sure that someday we'll see each other again - It is a small world after all!

London - Day 4

Today was so good, and so busy! Once I left after breakfast, my day was basically full of stuff to do.

We started out by walking from Westminster Station to the Tate Art Museum, which is a bit of a walk, especially in the windy cold, but I was happy to see Parliament up closer today.

I think I actually was blinking in the picture, thanks camera for getting it right for once. (Big Ben is just out of the left side of the picture)

One of the towers on Parliament.

 Once at the Tate, I was a little sad to see that a huge portion was under re-development, so after an hour and a half, I had seen everything, but it worked out perfectly with the schedule. There is some very neat pieces there. There are lots of traditional paintings, and also lots of sculptures. The art gets more and more outrageous as the time period gets more recent.

In the background there's an elephant made of car doors and maps, with a circle of car doors on the ground.
In the foreground, a literal cube of garbage.

This piece, "An Athlete Wrestles a Python," was very striking. The detail on the snake was really lifelike.

I loved all the pieces by John Martin - they were so dramatic (and big!) and they command your attention.

After the Tate, we took a riverboat to the Tate Modern. The boat took us right to the Globe Theater, which we skipped for now to get the Tate Modern.
Boy-oh-boy, that place had some WEIRD stuff! I recognized some Picasso and the water lilies piece by Monet, but the rest of the art was really strange. I wasn't really "drawn" to much of it. There was one piece that people had to wait in line for - the installation was three long wooden boxes with that dryer-ventilation-bendy-metal-pipe in each, with a light at one end and a lens to look into on the other. I was curious to see what I would see looking through the lens, so I waited my turn and took a look. I saw down a dryer-ventilation-bendy-metal-pipe with a light at the end. I don't know what I was expecting with that one.
Another piece was a mirror on a canvas. That was literally it. I have the same art in my house that is in the Tate Modern. Mine must be very valuable.
Many of the sculptures at the Tate Modern made me think of the scary sculptures that attack the family in the movie Beetlejuice. Not my favorite things...
It was also REALLY crowded compared to the other museums. I'm glad I went, but I look forward to seeing more "traditional" art in the coming days.

The London Eye

Look Mom, I'm at the Globe!

After the Museums we went across the Millennium Bridge (the one that the Death Eaters destroyed) and to St. Paul's to go on a tour. We got there and discovered they closed early to prepare for services, so I decided to take a dinner break and come back to the service an hour later, but not before getting a picture!

St. Paul's doesn't even look very big in this picture...

 I went looking for someplace to eat and ended up choosing basically the first place I found that was open. It was a regular restaurant, but it was not busy at the time and the guy in charge was really friendly and helpful, and I ordered the food I did based on his advice. I got half a chicken and salad and "chips" (which are fries to Americans). The atmosphere in the place was very calm and it was good to have a hot cooked meal and rest up for a bit.

This was my happy little table with a real flower.

After dinner I went back to St. Paul's for what I thought was a choral music recital, but it was a service. It was full of inspirational music, and the words of the Canon in Residence were inspiring too. It was a new experience, and I'm glad I got to see it, as well as look at the insides of the magnificent building.
While at breakfast this morning I was trying to decide on a show to see tonight, and made a spontaneous choice and bought a ticket for "Viva Forever," which is to the Spice Girls what "Mamma Mia" is to Abba. I got a decent deal, even though my seat was in the top balcony (but at least it was in the center!). So tonight I got to the theater and went to the desk to get my ticket, but the girl there told me that they had to change my seat. I was almost bummed, thinking that I wanted to be in the center, but then she said the magic words, "You've been upgraded." She was NOT kidding! I went from the nose-bleeds to THE SIXTH ROW! And directly in the center! It was truly the most perfect seat. And I paid very little for it!
The show was fun and I knew the songs, which made it even better. It was silly and entertaining, and I would not be one bit surprised if it's made into a movie someday. It has a MUCH better plot than the actual Spice Girls movie did (but clipping your nails has a better plot than that movie, so...)

Viva Forever! at the Piccadilly Theater.

Tomorrow I'm off to St. Albans to visit some of my favorite people that I met on my LDS Mission in Florida, the Hawkshaws! I hope I can figure out the train system and don't get too lost or anything. Either way, I'll write about it! See you tomorrow!

London - Day 3

Today was mostly a day at the museums. I didn't take that many pictures, but some other people did, so I hope to get some from them that I can post later.
The first museum I went to was the Victoria and Albert Museum. It is one of the most spectacular places ever. I truly think that I could be there for 6 hours and still not see everything. Today alone I only really saw two sections. The first was a really fun exhibit on English fashions from the 1500's to present. I read every sign for every item. I just couldn't stop thinking about how all the older stuff was made exclusively by hand. There was a long wedding veil of the finest lace, and it had to have been done by hand! There was also an ivory fan with the most intricate carvings. I can't even imagine the skill it would take to make it. I spent at least a full hour looking at that stuff before moving up to the British history rooms. I tried on a metal gauntlet that was really cool. I think I want one of my own.
The courtyard is magnificent! There is a wading pool (but it's freezing) and an astonishing facade (see below) that is so grand that my camera just does not capture it. My group was ready to go, so I called it quits too, but I hope to go back to see more of the museum.

The back facade of the courtyard.

 Right after the V&A museum, we went across the street to the London Science Museum. The stuff there was pretty cool. I saw a real moon rock! And a really neat lighthouse beacon - it was made out of several concentric prism rings to magnify the light without a bigger flame and a huge glass lens - the sign said that the prisms still weighed 3 tons! Also, this specific one was made to have three parallel beams shoot out across the sky - I would have loved to see it! The picture below is from the back of the beacon.

This is my Candle on the Water.

 There were also lots of different vehicles, and I thought they were fun too. Below is a stack of cars that reached to the ceiling.

 Also at the science museum, there was a special exhibit from Google called Web Lab. There was some pretty cool technology on display: there was a camera that would make a line drawing of your face, and then a robot arm would draw the picture in sand! It was pretty cool. People online at home can also interact with the people in the "web lab" too, making it extra fun.

This is the picture of the sign on the wall. Yay.

After that museum, I went to Piccadilly Circus to see about getting Phantom of the Opera tickets for this evening, but they were pretty expensive, so I decided to head back to the college for dinner. I stayed in this evening to rest up because my feet and legs are beat from walking so much (and I'm sure from climbing endless stairs to get to my room). Even my shins hurt! I did some planning and stuff for the following days, so hopefully I can rest up and have some good adventures for the rest of the trip!
It was a very educational day!
Come back for more tomorrow!

London - Day 2

By going to bed before 10 pm, I was wide awake by 5:45 am, which has never happened to me in my life. I think I was in the process of adjusting to the time change. Anyway, I had a great day and walked about a thousand miles and got really sore feet and legs. I'll suffer in silence though.
Because I woke so early, I went for a morning walk to the garden across the street, where everything smells like spring flowers and the birds are not afraid of people. It was very nice to get out and get some fresh air before setting out for the day in the city.

Queen's Garden (I think that's the name) at Regents Park.

A bird with her chicks.

 After breakfast, we set out. I rode the Tube, and I'd forgotten how loud it is! Also, I've been spoiled be Seoul's metro system, so London's was a bit more cramped and bumpy comparatively. The station we came out of was at the base of Big Ben, and we were in the area to listen to it chime 10 o'clock. It was fun to hear.

 We kept around Westminster for a bit on our way to watch the changing of the guard at Buckingham, but the guard-changing was split up, and in 3 separate pieces. If I remember right, last time there was only one "parade" and it had quite the pomp to it.

Part of the group in front of Westminster Abbey.

This is the fountain/monument directly in front of Buckingham Palace.

The Guards are changing!

Accidental shot of my foot.

Buckingham Palace! The tulips were astonishing!

 Later in the afternoon, I met up with my friend Dani, whom I became friends with last time I was here. It was very fun to catch up, as well as to go out for fish and chips and some really good onion rings.

I don't know what this place was.

 After dinner (and changing my shoes) I went on a London Walk. I chose the "Haunted West End" walk, and  had a great time. The guide was funny and told lots of good ghost tales. Parts of the walk were down spooky alleys and were lit by gas lanterns. It was a fun way to spend the evening.

I didn't catch any glimpses of ghosts, but maybe there's one caught in the picture...

After the walk, I went back to the college, but found the back gate locked. Not a big deal, I just had to walk around the side to the front gate. I WENT THE WRONG WAY! I should have gone to the right, but I was sorta turned around and went to the left. I walked ALL the way around Regents Park, by myself at 10 pm. I was just about the only person in sight the whole time too. It was an hour of walking, and wondering where the heck I was, but I figured that I was on the right block, I just needed to keep going. And keep going I did. I will never make that error again. I showered the city grit off and went to bed and was asleep before I could count to 10.
Check back soon for day 3!

London - Day One!

What a LONG day! Flying all day makes me to tired, and flying into the sunrise means that nighttime lasts only a few hours. I hardly sleep on flights anyway, so as of now (besides from a short half hour nap on the plane), I've been up for about 30 hours. I can feel my eyes trying to sleep, and I can hardly type.
That aside, I had a nice first day in London. I got minutes on my phone, my Oyster [tube] card, and even got some pictures in. Since I'm falling asleep at the keyboard, I'll post these pictures and call it a night.

This is part of the view out of my room. I'm on the fourth/top floor of an old building with many stairs and no elevator. I love it! 

Atop Primrose Hill, which looks over some of the most famous buildings in London. It was windy and a tad rainy too. Like I would have expected any different?

This old house was at the bottom of the hill, and I basically want one of my own.

So, the day was spent getting things done, and then trying to stay awake until an acceptable bedtime, which is 9:30 tonight. I'll take way more pictures tomorrow (hopefully) and write about my day, so check back!

Small Adventure

Last week I saw the worlds most famous singer live! That singer/actress/dancer/model/magician was none other than the fantastic Miranda Sings!!!

"Hey guys, it's me, Miranda"

The show was in Salt Lake City, so my friend and I drove up and met another friend there. The show was so  so so funny, and the comedy club we saw it in was packed! I don't remember seeing any empty seats in the place. Miranda sang, danced, taught people how to sing, read her hate mail, etc.... I would love to see her again.
After the show ended, Miranda treated her MirFANdas to a meet and greet, and we got our picture with her - and she liked my shirt! I hope she continues to put smiles on faces and never stops singing her precious heart out.
Afterwards, we drove to my aunties house just outside of SLC to stay the night, and we watched Les Miserables (the musical) before calling it a night.
Since their house is on the market, we had to clear out early the next morning so the house could be shown, and while the early morning sun could potentially turn me to stone or whatever, I woke up early and got ready for the day, and my two friends and I went out into the big city for day two of our small adventure.
We went to the City Creek shopping place in SLC but a couple stores were not open because we were there at like 9am. We still had fun. After that, we went to the LDS Conference Center for a tour. I hadn't been there since it was being built in 2000 or so, so it was fun to see the place again. The weather was really perfect, so we were able to enjoy the rooftop gardens as well.

That organ has lots of pipes!

Terrace overlooking Temple Square.

We ate our lunch at a place called Charlie Chows, and it was SO GOOD! we got STUFFED for like $8 and I would totally go back if I'm in the area.
After lunch, we decided to call it a day and we parted ways. The drive home was pretty good and my friend and I had good conversation and I heard new music ("Imagine Dragons" and "Killers"). It was a fun day-and-a-half adventure. I should get out more and do fun stuff! I think I'll start by going to London in a few days. Stay tuned for that and lots of pictures!