Conclusion

I feel as though I require some sort of finality to this blog. I will not be posting again until I participate in some other worthy adventure in the future.

The airport day was very difficult. I was very tired, as was everyone else. The flight was extremely long. I had to say a final (for now) goodbye to Bobby, and that was really hard. I will miss him so much. Everything is going to be different now. Hopefully, I will have the opportunity to go visit him at his new school. I'm definitely planning on making that a priority.

After I said bye to Bobby, Ben and his dad gave me a ride back to my house in Bowling Green. Cozy was really happy to see me. I really did miss her. After I'd been back about a half hour, I went over to see Whitney, Elizabeth, and Jamie. They had a welcome home party set up for Jamie and me. That was nice and almost made me happy to be back. I'm glad I have them.

I've been just so sad to be back. I don't mean to sound whiny about it, but I miss it so badly. London was great; the people I met were great. I miss everyone a lot. If I'd had all of my things with me, I could have stayed there forever. Hopefully, I'll cheer up a little as time goes on.

All in all, the trip was wonderful. It was such a blessing that everything worked out well. I'm thankful that I got to do it and that I got to meet the people I met. I will always look back on this trip as one of the best times of my life.

Finishing Up

Tonight is my last night in London. I'm going to try to stay up all night since we have to leave at 5:30 am tomorrow. I am very very sad to be leaving London. Words can't even express it.

Yesterday I went to Hampton Court Palace. It was so beautiful! I've always said it's the most beautiful place I've ever been, but yesterday, it was even more beautiful than I remember. Here's a picture:

You see why this is my favorite place in the world? I sat out in the gardens and read a book first. They have a maze in the garden that is really fun, and even though I was scared, I went through it. It didn't take me that long to find my way out. Then I went inside and viewed some of the rooms. Their theme for the summer is the marriage of Henry VIII and Kateryn Parr, so they had actors dressed as Tudor men and women and staged their marriage. It was really elaborate and cool. The day was beautiful. Afterwards, I went to see Adam (a movie with Hugh Dancy) with Jessica at the Odeon in Swiss Cottage. It was so good! It's about a guy with Aspergers Syndrome. If you get the chance, you need to see it.

Today, Rebecca, Ben, and I went to Wagamama for lunch. Then Rebecca and I went to Kensington Gardens and stayed there for the whole day. We came back to meet up again with Ben, and we finished out our pub crawl, so I got a t-shirt. I took my last glimpse of central London, and we got on the tube and came to campus.

I can't wait to see Cozy and all of you all, but I am very melancholy at this moment. I already can't wait to come back.

Love from London.

Birthday Party Day

Okay. Let's start with yesterday.





It was perfect. Truly perfect. First, Bobby and I met up with Kaitlen and saw As You Like It at the Globe. We were groundlings, and it was so exciting! The show was literally (and I am not exagerrating here) the best performance of a Shakespeare show that I've ever seen or will see (I think). I want to go on and on about how amazing it was, but there are really no words to describe it. That cast will always be the definitive As You Like It cast for me. PLUS as if seeing a flawless performance and getting the authentic experience of seeing a show at the Globe weren't enough, the guy who played Orlando was the hottest man I've ever seen. Even hotter than Rob Pattinson. I swear. Here's a picture--not that I took but I stole it off of Google images.

That's Orlando and Rosalind being in love. Anyway, the actors were perfect. They reacted to the audience and even planes flying overhead. The experience was absolutely amazing. You forget you're standing up because it's so good. You really don't even mind it. And as if God were smiling down on us, the forecasted rain held off until we were at dinner.

After the show, we met up with Nick, who couldn't get tickets for the Globe, and we ate at Wagamama in Leicester Square. Then we went to Godot. I've already explained to you how amazing that was last time, so I'll spare you. Just know, that it was just as good this time. We fought the pouring rain to go to the stage door to see Ian McKellan, Patrick Stewart, and Simon Callow. We got a few autographs and saw some of the world's most talented actors face to face. OMG I'll never have another experience like that. Perfect Day.

Today was also really great. Even though I'm aware (as I'm sure you're all aware) that my birthday isn't until Tuesday, I wanted to do a little celebration here since, I mean, I am in London after all. I was planning a low key get together, and my friends really made it awesome. Ben, Rebecca, Shraddha, Cat, Miranda, and Mia met me at Harrods, where we got some fancy desserts. It was like Heaven in there. Desserts as far as the eye could see, and you can choose whatever you want! And they just give it to you (after you pay of course)! Like you're the queen or something! So we took our desserts to Green Park (Rebecca bought mine as a gift---awwww) and sat under a tree and ate them and talked and laughed and bonded and all that. Then we went to Adam's Rib for dinner where I, of course, got chicken nachos. Without my knowing, they had all gone in together and gotten me a really cute, fancy cake at Harrods and gave it to the Adam's Rib waitresses to bring to us when we were done eating. They even sang me Happy Birthday! And it had a candle on it! I was so surprised because I haven't been friends with these people that long, but they made a bigger deal about my birthday than anyone has in the past few years (except my wonderful family of course), even people I consider really close or even best friends. It was so sweet. I had such a great time, and I'm really thankful for it.

I'm going to try my best to post pictures of my birthday party tomorrow.

Love.

Another Day

I haven't really done much that would interest you guys since my last post. On Sunday, I went to Fortnum and Mason and bought some tea to bring back to the States with me. Then I went to Eat. (a really good restaurant that just has take-away sandwiches and stuff that Dr. Flynn introduced us to last time) and went and ate it in Kensington Gardens. While I was walking there, I found a really cute used bookstore and bought an illustrated copy of At the Back of the North Wind from the 20's.

On Monday I just mostly rested. I finished a paper for class, went to class, and then Monday night we watched Jane Austen movies as a class--Emma (with Gwenyth Paltrow) and Clueless. On Tuesday, the class went to Syon House. Just like Kenwood House, it meant nothing really to Jane Austen, and I have no idea why we went there. Bobby was happy though, because they shot some of Gosford Park there. Afterward, we (me, Bobby, Shraddha, and Jessica) went to Westfield Mall, which is the biggest mall in Europe. I bought some pink leather gloves at Marks and Spencer that look like they came off the set of Shopaholic. I can't wait to wear them! After that, Shraddha and I went to see Coco before Chanel, which was a biographical movie about Coco Chanel in French with English subtitles. It was so amazing! It's definitely one of my favorite movies now.

Yesterday I went to class again, and Professor Rutledge said he absolutely loved my paper. I was shocked because I felt like that paper stunk, but he's not the type to give out false praise, and he did read it aloud in class, so he must have meant it. Dinner on campus was gross, so we went to Pizza Express for dinner instead, and then Ben, Rebecca, Shraddha, Cat, and I went on a pub crawl. It was a little bit of fun, but not that much. Plus we didn't even get a shirt because we didn't make it to all five. We are planning on finishing it this weekend, so hopefully I'll get a shirt then.

Today is going to be great! We're going to see As You Like It at the Globe and then Godot later this evening. PLUS Kaitlen's going to be with us!!!! I'm very excited. I'll be telling you all about it later, hopefully with some pictures.

Love.

I am so tired!

Really.....SO tired.

Okay, where did I leave off. Thursday we went to Bath as a class. It was pretty boring actually. We went on a walking tour in which they took us to every obscure Jane Austen place in the town. It was difficult to care about. It was more fun when we were able to break off and do our own thing. Bobby, Jessica, and I went to the Roman Baths (including the Pump Room), and then just Bobby and I went to the crescent houses and then book shopping before getting back on the train to London. We went to sleep early because we had to meet up at 4am for the Paris trip. Here are some pics from Bath.

Me going into the Pump Room--just like Catherine Morland

Me at the crescent houses--like Catherine and Anne

And finally, a hilarious picture of Bobby proposing to the Regency statue at the Jane Austen museum. She clearly was not interested.

As I mentioned, we went to Paris on Friday. The group was me, Bobby, Katie, Caley, Ben, Rebecca, and Professor Rutledge. We left campus at 4am. Caley was late of course, and everyone was mad at her. She somehow made it to the train station even though we left her at 10 after. We arrived there around 10 and spent the rest of the day walking around and trying to spend as little money as possible. The group quickly broke up, as we all had different interests to pursue (mine including speaking as little French as possible, though I was the one who knew the most French). The whole group went to a cemetery to see Oscar Wilde's grave (and some other people, including Jim Morrison and Moliere). Following the tradition, I applied my sparkly pink lipstick and kissed the tombstone. Here's a picture.

That lipstick mark is MINE! Here are some more pics from Paris.


Me at Notre Dame

The view from Montmartre (remember this from Amelie)? Apparently a lot of artists used to gather here.

Me at....well you know what that is. Paris was so much fun! We left at about 9pm, so it kind of felt like a dream (as Bobby said). Anyway, it was great, and I'm really glad I got to go even though it was extremely exhausting.

Today, as though we were gluttons for punishment, Bobby and I left campus at 6am (after about 5 hours of sleep) to go to Dover and Canterbury. I wasn't really expecting to have a great time because I was so tired (plus I have killer blisters on my feet from walking this lovely city about 6 times over). However, it was the most fun day trip of them all! Dover was absolutely beautiful. I've been there before, but last time it was rainy and cold, and all we did was go to the castle. Today we saw the white cliffs in all of their splendid glory. I don't think I've ever been that completely pleased with my surroundings. The beach was glistening teal blue and looked like someone had spilled glitter all in it.

Then we hiked (literally hiked. It was severely uphill) to the castle. But we finally made it, and it was worth the effort. They had some of it set up as it would have looked in the 12th century when Henry II would have lived there. Some of it was dedicated to WWII and how it served to keep the Germans out of England (since Dover is the closest point in England to France---it's a short 21 miles away and visible across the Channel). We viewed the War Time Tunnels that were constructed for the Napoleonic Wars and then were later really important in WWII. They had it set up, so we really got the feel of what they would have been like in the 40's. They had projection of soldiers, sounds like voices and air raids and even the smells. After that, we walked out on the pier, so we could get a better view of the white cliffs, and we sat there on a bench for a while, ate a candy bar, drank some water, and watched a canoe race.

After that, we went to Canterbury. We went to the cathedral, but it was raining, so we avoided walking around. We got a train back to London around 6:00. Here are some pics from today. Me in front of the castle

The infamous white cliffs


The infamous me in front of the white cliffs
The VR on this mailbox means it's Victorian, which means I love it. It's the only Victorian one I've seen even though I've had my eye out for one, so I was so happy to see it at the castle.

And here, of course, is Canterbury Cathedral.

Those are my last few days. Now, I can't wait to curl up and go to bed. Plus, I'm not setting my alarm for tomorrow. If it's not too late when I wake up and pretty outside, I may go to Hampton Court Palace tomorrow. Of course, I'll let you know.

Love from London.

Thanks for reading.

Since the Moors

Mkay...
I've been resting up since my exhausting trip to the moors. The next day, I just basically slept all day. Also, I did a lot of resting on Monday.

Yesterday was a bit more eventful, though. I went to Leicester Square to get tickets for Oliver. I finally found some that were reasonably priced. Then I went to Buckingham Palace and watched the changing of the guard. That was pretty exciting for a few minutes, but it did get a tad redundant after a while. We are lucky enough to be here during the 8 weeks (the only 8 weeks) out of the year that Buckingham Palace is open for tours, so I stood in line for about an hour for a ticket and went it. I cannot describe how beautiful it was. Unfortunately, I can't show you because the queen doesn't want us to have pictures of her house. Buckingham Palace looks huge, but in reality, it's even huger because most of it is underground. No joke. I walked around like a hillbilly, staring up at the ceiling and even gasping sometimes. As I walked up the staircase, I pretended that I was going there for a party (lol) in a fancy dress and shoes. Anyway, it was more special than all the other random palaces and castles they drag you to over here because in those, they're like "This is where Henry VIII did this blah blah blah." But here, at Buckingham Palace, they were like "This is where the queen holds her ball every year." It just seems more special because it's still in use, and someone we've actually seen on tv uses it instead of some abstract historical figure.

So anyway, afterwards I met Bobby for dinner and I went to Oliver, and he went to Phantom. Oliver was really good even though they changed the story around a lot.

Today Bobby and I went to the Globe tour, and we bought tickets for As You Like It for £5. Then we went to St. Paul's and back to campus for dinner.

I've got a really eventful weekend coming up. Tomorrow the class is going to Bath. Friday a group of us is going to Paris for the day. Saturday Bobby and I (and maybe some more) are going to Canterbury and Dover. I'll let you know how it goes.

Love.

The Best Trip Ever

I've just had the most wonderful experience of my life this weekend. I've done things I never thought I would do--seen things I never thought I would see. I'm a different person now because of the experiences I've had this weekend. Let me start with the boring stuff...

We went to Stonehenge. It was okay, but there's not really anything to say about it--we saw it, we walked around it, then we left. It was cold and rainy. Here's a picture of me with it.
Then we went to Salisbury Cathedral. I'm not even going to post any pictures of that. It's beautiful, and it's kind of cool because they have one of the four original copies of the Magna Carta, but other than that, it was no big deal, really.

Professor Rutledge, Bobby, Ben, Rebecca, Shradha, Miranda, and I left the group and got a train to Haworth instead of returning to London. For those of you who don't know, Haworth is the home of the Brontes, and it's literally the ends of the earth. We had to get a train to Leeds, then a train from there to Keighley, then get a taxi to a hostel in Haworth to even get close to the Bronte house. Then we had to walk up cobblestoned hills to see the parsonage where they grew up and lived. They've turned the parsonage into a wonderful museum dedicated to the Brontes; they have the actual couch Emily died on! Needless to say, I was speechless and emotional when I was there. They also had some costumes from the most recent Wuthering Heights adaptation, including the Heathcliff outfit that Tom Hardy wore. They had Charlotte's dresses and gloves, locks of her hair, her shoes....everything really. Here I am in front of it. Now this is where it gets exciting. Our destination was Top Withens, the supposed inspiration for Wuthering Heights. However, they told us it would take more time than we had to walk there, so we opted to stop at Bronte falls and return, so we could catch our train. We somehow got on the wrong footpath to the falls (let me take this opportunity to say that you cannot drive to the falls. Thankfully, they have not developed this area, and the moors are just as lonely and isolated as when Jane Eyre and Catherine Linton wandered on them. When trying to define the moors, I said, "They are the complete and total absense of everything"). This wrong footpath led us to places I never thought I'd go. Through sheep farm after sheep farm, crawling through fencing, climbing over ladders, traipsing through sheep poop, mud, bogs, creeks. It was the most pastoral I've ever been, and ever want to be for that matter. I wasn't miserable though, and in fact, I later asked Bobby if I had been whiny or acted like a diva and he said no, but he had been waiting on when I would start. The trek to the moors made Hazard look like a metropolis, and I got closer to sheep than anyone besides a shepherd should. I had a sheep bah in my face! The hills were beasts, but through some miracle, I kept up with everyone. Here's me (pretending to be) lost on the moors.When we realized the error of our ways, we climbed up to the footpath we were supposed to be on and soon after that, found Bronte Falls. It was beautiful, and I just couldn't believe I was actually there. Where they used to go as children and make up stories. It really is just like the books make it sound--a lonely, scary place but with a certain romantic quality that attracts people. It's always in the back of your mind that if something were to happen to you (like, I don't know, being attacked by sheep) no one would be able to get to you to help you, and even though I was with a group of 7, I somehow felt so alone. I lay in the grass next to the falls, and I was so happy. I didn't need any outside sources to be happy, just me and my surroundings. I really loved it there, and I want to go back. Here are some pictures of the falls.

This is me on what they call Bronte Bridge. Obviously their only claim to fame is the Brontes...

After we walked back, through a much easier way than the one we came on, we took the steam engine to Keighley and from there back to London. It was a long, difficult trip, but totally worth every second. Here's me hanging my head out of the steam train.

Anyway, it was a great weekend. Probably the best I could ever hope to have. Today, I'm just hanging around campus and catching up on some homework and studying.

Love as always.

Out of Town

In a matter of moments, I will be leaving London for Stonehenge and Salisbury. I'm leaving Salisbury for Haworth, home of the Brontes. I'll think about you all when I'm wandering around on the moors like Jane Eyre, and I promise to tell you everything about it when I get back tomorrow night. Of course, there will be pictures involved.

Love.

Today

Today was fun.

I feel as though I start off every post that way, but each day usually is fun.

I woke up and went to class, found out I got a 98 on my first paper, and watched Pride and Prejudice (with the class). Then I went by my self to Covent Garden for some shopping and walking around. I went to Marks and Spencer and H&M then down to the Piazza and the Apple Market. I browsed around before going to Trafalgar Square where I just sat and looked around and thought. Alone time is very valuable these days since I'm almost always with someone. I've grown accustomed to being alone with my thoughts quite often after living alone for a year. It was nice to have some quiet time.

I had to come back to campus for our Stonehenge orientation. This weekend, we are going to Stonehenge and Salisbury. It's just a day trip, and some people were talking about going the the moors. Of course I really really want to go (I've dreamt about going there for so long!) but I just don't know if I want to. I think I'd rather go there alone. It's a personal thing for me; something that will mean a lot, and I don't want it lessened because of the people I'm with. Plus I don't know how much it will cost, so I'll make a decision when I know that.

After orientation, Bobby and I went to Kensington Gardens and strolled around in the most beautiful park in the world. It's my new favorite place in London for sure. We saw the Peter Pan statue and some Princess Diana Memorial things--plus lots of trees and birds and dogs.

I've promised you pictures, and here they are:

Kenwood House. The only thing about it relevant to Jane Austen is that they shot the 90's version of Mansfield Park here. Also, it's in Notting Hill, the movie with Hugh Grant.

The theatre where we saw Billy Elliot, the best musical ever. If you notice, most of my pictures are of theatres because most of what I do here is go to plays. Nika, I know you're reading, and I want you to know that you're partly responsible for this. lol

Me and Bobby about to see Billy Elliot!

One of the many pretty views at Kensington Gardens

The really cool Peter Pan statue

That's all for now. Thanks for reading!

Love.

The Day

Last night was the best night of my life (okay sort of). Bobby, Caley, and I went to see Billy Elliot, and it was AMAZING! Words can not possibly begin to describe. I laughed; I cried. It definitely deserved all the Tonys it got, and Elton John has outdone himself with the music. I recommend everyone see it if they are in a position to do so.

Today was good if not exciting.

We went to Kenwood House, which is really just a big, fancy house that our professor tried to make relevant to Jane Austen. It was pretty fun even though not really important to anything. I made some new friends, so that alone was worth the bus ride up there. We came back, and Katie and I did laundry. It was nice bonding with her. Later we went to the Tower of London, but we were too late. We're going to go back earlier in the day some other time. I'm not really sure I want to go since I've been there before, and I need to save my money.

Kaitlin (my friend from my last London trip) is coming to London, and I want to be able to hang out with her without worrying about money. I'm so excited about her coming! We're going to see Waiting for Godot, As You Like It at the Globe, go bookshopping, eat at Wagamama, and go to Oxford!

Speaking of Wagamama, Katie and I ate there for dinner. She's going to see Chicago tonight, and we were already in town, so I just hung around and ate with her. Who could pass up Wagamama???? No one.

Tomorrow, I feel like going shopping (even though I said I wanted to save money). I probably won't buy anything, I just love the shops here. Then Thursday, I'm meeting Jeanie for lunch. I'm so excited to see her!

Pictures tomorrow (probably)!

Love.

What you missed before Edinburgh

Lots of exciting things happened before we went to Edinburgh, too, but I didn't get a chance to tell you because of all of the Internet problems. I told you we went to Charles Dickens's house. Here are some pictures from that. This is the actual writing desk on which he wrote his last words. If you know how I feel about Charles Dickens (and how could you not, really, if you know me at all?), then you know how special this was to me.

The next day, our whole class went to Chawton to where Jane Austen lived and to Winchester, where she died. That trip was really amazing, too. We saw her cottage, some dresses that were actually hers, the table where she wrote, and a quilt that she and her mother and sister had made. She had an amazing garden with beautiful flowers and walking paths (I'm pretty sure the museum people put them in, though). Then we got to see the house where she died (but we didn't get to go in) and her burial place in Winchester Cathedral.The actual table she wrote on

Her bedroom (a recreation, but it's supposedly pretty accurate). This is an actual dress that belonged to her.

The cottage--the only place Jane Austen could write.

The Cathedral where she's buried

her grave

The house she died in

Back in London

Okay, so the stars have aligned, and the Internet is working again on our campus--at least for now. I just got back from a nice weekend in Edinburgh, Scotland. The weather was rainy and cold, but I got to wear my green trench! Also, I bought these adorable pink and white striped cashmere fingerless gloves. Our lodging there was much better than ours in London. When we arrived on Friday afternoon (after a 4 or so hour train ride that nearly killed me I believe) we have a very long, sort of boring coach tour of the city. Then we were free to eat dinner and go to sleep. The next day, we went to the castle and to the museum, where they have a real Viking skeleton. That was exciting to me though I don't really understand why. The next day we went to Sir Walter Scott's house, which is right on the Tweed River. It was one of the most peaceful places I've ever been, but my camera was dead, so I'll have to steal pics from a classmate to show you. Edinburgh is a beautiful city, and what I saw of the rest of Scotland was really pretty, too. Here are some pictures of it.

Edinburgh Castle

The view of Arthur's Seat from my room in Edinburgh

The view of the castle that greeted us as soon as we stepped off the train

Me at the castle

A street in Edinburgh

hello readers.

I'm not dead. I'm in Scotland. I paid 1£ for 15 minutes of Internet access, so I can't be long. I promise an extremely long blog with details and pictures as soon as I return (which is tomorrow evening).

Love from Edinburgh.

Boo Internet

So Internet is down on campus, so I haven't been able to keep you all updated. I paid a pound for an hour of Internet access at a fast food chicken place down the street, so I'm kind of rused. Yesterday we went to the Charles Dickens house, otherwise known as my favorite place in the world. I will elaborate and post pictures asap. Tomorrow, our whole class is going to Chawton where Jane Austen lived and we're sightseeing around there all kinds of important places in her life. Then on Friday we are going to Scotland for the weekend, so I won't be able to blog again for a while. I'll let you all know how it goes when we get back. I took some really awesome pictures yesterday, so I can't wait for you all to see them.

Love.

More Pictures

Hi friends!

Today is our first class day, but class doesn't start until 1:30, so I'm in the computer lab with intentions of sharing some pictures with you. Here they are:

The building where I'm staying.

On our way to the theatre.

This is the theatre where we saw Waiting for Godot.

This is the poster for the play! I want to go on and on about how awesome it was, but I'll spare you.

Alright, that's all. Bye for now.

Another Day

I'm sitting here reflecting at the end of another day here. It was a really great day. I still haven't seen Caley. I was kind of getting worried, but no one else seems to be, and she's not in the same dorm as Bobby or me, so it's reasonable that we wouldn't see her unless we had specific plans to meet up.

We went with a group to St. Paul's. Bobby and I were planning on going there anyway, and the group came along. The cathedral is beautiful, and the service was very spiritual. Our group however, thought it would be socially acceptable to get up and leave in the middle of it because they were tired of it. Not to mention they were making snide remarks through the whole thing. Bobby and I were irritated and talked about it when we left. We came to the conclusion that we shouldn't be mad or irritated, we should feel sorry for them because they don't know what it's like to love God and have the pleasure of worshipping...especially in a place where people have been worshipping for centuries. I took communion there, and I reflected on how many people have remembered Jesus and the holy sacrament of communion right there where I stood. That's an amazing feeling.

Next it was time for the moment we've been waiting for--Waiting for Godot (with Ian McKellan and Patrick Stewart)!!! It was everything we thought it would be. Seeing such amazing actors perform together is a rare experience. Neither tried to steal the show or be the star; they just continued making each other look good, and they succeeded. It was THE most amazing non musical show I've ever seen. The set was gorgeous and the theatre was very ornate. I'm so glad we got to go.

We came home after that because we're both pretty tired. We at some sandwiches in the room and now we're down here in the computer lab. I'm guessing it won't be long before I crash. Tomorrow, I'll probably just hang around here since we have class. I'm hoping to be one of the smartest, most insightful people in my class. I don't think that will be hard since most of the people aren't English majors. Plus, you all know I'm known for my intelligent insight LOL!

Pics tomorrow.

Love from London.

Pics!

Hello friends. I'm up early yet another day, but I think I like it. I get more done. Plus London looks really pretty from my window in the early morning; I have a beautiful view of the skyline. Unlike NYC, London does sleep, and it's like I get to see it wake up. It looks kind of like a writer waking from his sleep to hurredly write something down, so he doesn't forget, but he's kind of old, so he can't move as quickly as he used to. And all the lights coming on are the ideas crashing around in his head.

You all know what I did yesterday, so I don't need to repeat. As I promised, here are some pictures from it.

Today we're going to St. Paul's and to see Waiting for Godot. I will not be walking as much as yesterday because my feet still hurt like the blazes! lol

Love from London.

Good day

Today was fun. It is nearly over, as it is 9:08 pm here in London, and I am SO tired. After our coach tour of the city, Bobby and I decided to not come back to the dorms but to explore a bit around the city. It had a really great time. We leisurely strolled around the Thames, stopping to rest and take pictures (and laugh, of course) along the way. We walked everywhere, only getting on the tube to get back home. So added up, we walked about 7 hours. We're thinking we might be skinny when we get back to the states. That would be so great, wouldn't it?

It seems as though our friend Caley did get left behind at St. Paul's, and I haven't talked to her after that, so I hope she made it home okay. I felt guilty, but there was really nothing we could have done; she was late for the coach, and we didn't notice that she wasn't on it. We'll find out when I see her again if she's mad about our possible negligence.

I am enjoying London immensely. I love just sitting on a bench next to the water and feeling the wind and light rain on my face (take notice I said LIGHT rain its heavier counterpart I enjoy considerably less). One of the best things that happened today was this: we were driving through Trafalgar Square at the tail end of the coach tour, and our tour guide was mentioning that something was going on there and that something was always going on there. He continued to list all kinds of ethnic celebrations and religious observances blatantly excluding Christianity. When we got off the coach, we heard singing, and we were walking through Trafalgar Square to get to Piccadilly Circus, and right in the middle of the square was a huge Christian worship going on. People handing out crosses and brochures for a church and a band singing The Wondrous Cross. I was overwhelmed because I hadn't expected something that familiar to me and so happy that in the midst of all of London's diversity, Christianity still has its place. London's Christians are still evangelizing to the masses.

As I said today was fun. Tomorrow will be even more fun because we are going to worship at St. Paul's and going to see Ian McKellan and Patrick Stewart in Waiting for Godot!!!! I'm so excited! We've been planning this play for months, and it's finally happening. Classes start Monday...we'll see how that goes.

I'll do everything in my power to post pictures tomorrow.

Love from London.

Day 2

Hello friends,
It is 6:50 am here in London, but I'm doing well because I was up at 4am. Probably because I went to sleep at 9:30. Straight up fell over from exhaustion. Yesterday, my friend Caley and I went to Pizza Express for dinner. This is a well known pizza chain with fancy pizza, not really like Papa John's or anything. Every pizza had like some weird topping or something. THEN I saw it. Cheese and pepperoni. To my chagrin, they had named this "the American." I did decide to order it, though. I said, "as much as it pains me to say this, I want the American and a Coke." He laughed, but not in a condescending way.

I'm very happy to be in the land of the best candy bars in the world. I ate an Aero bar last night, and I realized I had forgotten how much I loved them.

I have a friend named Jeanie who grew up on Lyttle Blvd with me, and she and her husband and daughter currently live in London near Notting Hill. I'm looking forward to meeting up with her and catching up. Maybe speaking with her will give me a little touch of home.

Later today, we're going on a coach tour of the city. I guess I'll let Bobby have the window seat since he's never seen it before.....lol

Love from London
Savannah

I'm Here!

As the title states, I'm here. In London. Finally. And besides the little twitch in my heart that occurs everytime my little cat daughter creeps across my mind, I'm perfectly fine. I'm very sleepy because the flight was exhausting, and I didn't get any sleep. This is a very short post; I just wanted to keep you all updated.

There are no pictures to speak of yet, but soon. I promise.

Love.