We went to the North

So for the past five days I've been sitting on a coach. Occasionally we'd get out and see things. We drove to the north of England to see a lot of sites and such. So here's a quick summary of our rainy trip.

Day One

Chatsworth House. It's mammoth, and where Mr. Darcy lives if you love Pride and Prejudice.

Inside Chatsworth...pretty impressive house. I couldn't imagine living in a place like this. Crazy.

Bronte Parsonage. It's where the Bronte family lived including...Emily, author of Wuthering Heights. We just read this in literature so we decided to pay her home a visit. The setting was perfect, it was a foggy cold day. Just like how it is in the book.

Our home for the night...IBIS. This hotel is whack. Okay, it wasn't bad. We just kept finding things we weren't expecting. Like Alyssa trying to call our room only to discover we didn't have a phone. And the beds didn't have anything under the mattress on some sides so if you rolled over you'd collapse onto the ground...and there was a weird piano bench seat built into the wall. And our room cards randomly didn't work. It was a fun night as you can tell by how much I'm writing about it.

Day Two

We walked the medieval wall around the little town of York over to the minster. It was a really beautiful cathedral of course.

Fountains Abbey. It was dissolved by Henry VIII but I think the ruins are sometimes more fascinating.

We stayed in this castle in Durham. Breakfast was in the great hall. And the cathedral was right across the street so we went there for evensong which was absolutely amazing.

Day Three

Hadrian's Wall. It's a Roman wall. We hiked up to it in the snow and slush, it was actually really fun. It was incredibly windy up there and when you stood on the wall you felt like you were behind a big airplane's engine.

William Wordsworth. We've been reading his poetry in class so we came to his house and his grave.

This was a flower in his yard. It's real.

There he is, William Wordsworth everybody.

Day Four

Hilltop Farm. We walked here, where Beatrix Potter lived. She's the author of the children's books with Peter Rabbit and all those characters. It was a pretty walk and everyone was amazed at how green the landscape was. They're not from the northwest.

Preston. We came to this city which is important to a lot of our church history. We saw where the first missionaries in Britain preached and the River Ribble where the first people in Britain were baptized.

After walking around the town with our funny radios that let us hear our guide's voice through our earphones, we got back on the coach so we could visit the Preston temple. We just had some time to walk around the grounds. I love this temple because it's so new and modern. I only wish I wouldn't have been there with fifty other people. It would've been a nice place to sit and think and just be happy.

Day Five

Liverpool. This was the last stop of the trip. The docks were right across from our hotel and I felt so grateful as I thought about how thousands who came before me were brave enough to emigrate to the Americas so I could have a better life. We're so lucky.

We went to the Maritime museum that was all about the transport of emigrants and trade through the docks as well as all the big ship liners that were docked here. There was also a museum about the slave trade and the role Liverpool played during that time. It was a pretty blunt reminder of what humanity is capable of.

Then of course we had to go to the Beatles museum. We were in Liverpool come on.

Many hours later we were back home in London. I am so happy I won't have to ride on the coach ever again. But I'll miss it...how bittersweet. And that's it, our lovely yellow and red coach.

Adeus South Kensington

Today was my last time teaching my primary kids in the South Kensington Portuguese speaking branch and I realized I'm going to miss them so much. They are so funny and cute even though they screech and draw on the walls and hit each other. I realize that it's been a really useful learning experience for me (as opposed to a not useful learning experience...?) and that I've actually benefitted from going to a branch where I don't understand what's being said.

1) I'm comfortable around people who are speaking a different language, so it's not weird going to another country and not having a clue what the people are saying. That could come in handy.

2) I've gotten to experience a little bit of what it's like to go halfway across the world and realize that the Gospel is the same and is as true here as it is anywhere. In every language and every culture the same things are being taught and that's comforting to have the familiarity so far from home.

3) If you just immerse yourself in another culture you'll learn to appreciate it so much more than you would if you stay in your comfort zone and just look on. The people in my ward are so sweet and they all love each other so much.

4) Patience is a virtue. You develop patience in frustrating situations and with perseverance.

5) I won't have kids for a long time. I love them...but that will come far in the future.

This is Pedro and his sister Beatrice. Don't tell, but they are my favorite kids in the class. Whenever I would ask him if he'd done something nice for someone the week before Pedro would talk about helping his sister. He like to do headstands in class and yell...And Bea always showed me what she learned in ballet and how high she could jump. Adorable.

This is Pedro dancing. He's really good...as you can see. Such a funny kid.

Here Comes the Sun

We were out the door at 6am this morning so we could go to Abbey Road and recreate the infamous Beatles picture. I feel sorry for everyone who drives past that zebra with all the tourists standing in the middle...we only got honked at a couple of times. That's why we went so early in the morning...less traffic. After we got our picture, I went home and slept for 3 more hours.

I felt like I had been dreaming about going to Abbey Road after I had woken up for the second time today.

I went to the National Gallery...my favorite art gallery here in London. I found Josiah's birthday present...a brown tie with sunflowers! Like Van Gogh...plus he could always use a new tie right? And I might have gotten a ring with a sunflower on it for myself. I've discovered since I've been here that I'm obsessed with three things: Outdoors, sunflowers and birds. I think you can tell that by looking through all my posts.

Then me and Sarah went to Camden market where everyone has a mohawk and 20 piercings and wears plaid pants with chains. I love London. It almost reminds me of Olympia sometimes. We ate lunch at Nando's...the best restaurant in the world. Really, I'm not lying. I don't know why we don't have them in the United States. I vote we get one in Washington.

We took the tube back to St. Paul's Cathedral for Evensong. We came here for the first London study as a group which was back in January, so it's been a while. I forgot how beautiful it was inside, it's so different than any other cathedrals. And we got to hear the choir sing! It was a pretty good Saturday.

Hampton Court

I took the train to Hampton Court today. It was Henry VIII's summer house. We went there for our London study and spent a few hours wandering through the palace. There was a fireplace in the kitchen and I loved standing by it...I didn't want to move. I miss campfires so much. That's one of my favorite things to do-just sit by a fire and stare at it. So many happy memories with campfires! But anyway...the palace was really fun and we found a lot to do.

I love being a tourist with an audio guide and headphones! But really. I do like it.

We found some really comfy floor pillows. They might have been my favorite part of the palace. So there's us...laying on the wood floor...

Look, a fountain! This is in the back of the palace...I want a big yard when I have my own house. Maybe not a fountain, but definitely a big yard.

There was a big green field, we couldn't not take jumping pictures. We kind of succeeded.

There are daffodils everywhere! These yellow flowers make me happy. We took the cheesiest pictures...kind of a repeat of senior pictures.

We found the maze...and thanks to Arrin being on Sarah's shoulders we found our way out really fast too.

Lion King

Oh yeah, I saw The Lion King on Tuesday night. We got there literally 5 minutes before the show started but luckily still got seats. I love this production for the costumes and dancing. This is picture is from the opening scene. Pretty incredible. The grown up Simba was a little too fruity for being a manly lion. Let's just say there was no chemistry between him and any female characters. But we'll forgive him.

The End. Almost.

Wednesday was the beginning of the end...our last daytrip. *Really sad face* They are tiring and long but we get to see so much in one day. And I don't mind the long coach rides, actually I really like listening to my ipod and falling asleep on the person's shoulder next to me. But today was the last time that will happen.

But not really, because we're going on a five day trip to the North next week so we'll be on the bus for a long time. Longer than I want to be...but anyway. There's no free time here anymore because everyone is realizing how little time we have left here (including the professors) so this is my quick summary of our daytrip.

St. Alban's Cathedral

We've been talking about this Cathedral in our classic civilizations class so it was even more meaningful seeing it with my own eyes after reading about it in our little green book.

The pillars in every cathedral are absolutely gigantic...they remind me of the redwoods in California. I love them, as you can see.

Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial

The men and women who died for our country in foreign lands are commemorated here. Our guide told us the stories of a few individuals and it just makes you realize that even though all you see are names, each one had a story. Each had a family and a life and gave it up for us. I'm thankful for everyone who has sacrificed for our freedoms, we are forever indebted to them.

I want to go to Arlington National Cemetery now. This is just a small one...puts things in perspective doesn't it?

Cambridge University

We went to the King's College chapel, home of the world's largest fan vault ceiling! Cool huh? That's right it is! I love just sitting in the pews and trying to soak the architecture in. You can't, it's just too incredible.

Here's a part of the campus...I can't believe students get to go here everyday for school. How amazing would that be?! Very.

We went punting! It's a long flat boat...almost like a gondola. I went on a relaxing boat ride down the river with a few girls while a funny guy who goes to the university got us down the river with his long stick and told us about the history of the town.

That's where the second year students live. If only the housing at BYU were like that.

We just walked around the town until it was time to go back to the coach. Everyone rides their bikes there and they all have wicker baskets...it's so cute. I want to live there just so I can ride my little bike around the cobblestone streets. Someday...

Happy Thought

This has turned into one of my favorite quotes. It's very applicable right now...and always.

"The Lord doesn't expect us to work harder than we are able. He doesn't (nor should we) compare our efforts to those of others. Our Heavenly Father asks only that we do the best we can—that we work according to our full capacity, however great or small that may be."

Dieter F. Uchtdorf