Homesick

"You find no man, at all intellectual, who is willing to leave London. No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford." Samuel Johnson

Just because today I'm feeling homesick for my favorite place in the world, and because I can't believe it was a whole year ago that I was there, I decided to post some of my favorite pictures of my trip.

Classic Phone booth picture

Scotland!

Defying Gravity!

On the cliffs of Cornwall

Meeting Jude Law might have been the highlight of the trip :)

The neighbor across the street from 27 Palace Court

Seeing William, Harry, and the Queen might have been the other highlight :)

Beautiful



Still, the best cupcakes ever

Stourhead. It's gorgeous

Doing baptisms at the London temple was amazing

My second home

Buckingham Palace

Sherlock Holmes

I know I talk about my English 375 class a lot, but I LOVE it. It really is becoming one of my favorite classes here at BYU. This week we read a short story by Arthur Conan Doyle called "Scandal in Bohemia," and it's a Sherlock Homes story. I love Sherlock. I hadn't read a Doyle novel until I went to London, where we were assigned to read "A Study in Scarlet," the first Holmes story. I fell in love. Yes, there is some weird Mormon-bashing in the book, but when you get over that it's fantastic. My friends and I all became obsessed with him after. We even went to 221B Baker Street, which really exists, and it is a gift shop dedicated to all things Holmesian.

There's something about his personality that I love. I always laugh when he comes up with a conclusion and Watson says, "How did you do that?" and Holmes nonchalantly gives a reply similar to, "What, you didn't?" I love it. I also love Irene Adler. Talk about a brilliant woman. She's the only one Holmes can't figure out.

Anyway, if you haven't read a Holmes story, you should! And if you haven't seen the new movie with Robert Downey, Jr., you should! The fact that Jude Law is Mr. Watson is reason enough to see it. And if you haven't been to the gift shop at 221B Baker Street, you should do that, too. :)

With the infamous Holmes figure on Baker Street!

221B Baker Street!

Mr. Watson. Yes, this is really Jude. Not wax. He is so multi-talented that he can be Hamlet as well!

My City.

Today I'm really missing London. I was looking through my pictures from my trip this past Spring, and I want to go back so badly! It's my city. I grew over there, and I had experiences that opened my eyes to all kinds of things. So for now I'm just going to be happy and remember the amazing times I had over there with the amazing people I met, and just be content with that. And now I'm going to start saving up for a ticket to go back. :)

Relief Society

Yesterday I went to Relief Society in my home ward by myself because my mom is in California for a few days. I don't know a lot of the women in that ward very well, so I was kind of being a wall flower and sat by myself. Right before the lesson started, the teacher asked me if I would share something I really like about Relief Society during the lesson. Of course I said yes, and while she was teaching I tried to think about something I enjoyed.

When my turn came to share, I told of my experiences going to church in London. Here I was, a half a world away from people I knew, and yet I wasn't nervous or scared. I went to Relief Society there, and although the women in the Peckham Ward were of different nationalities, races, and cultures, and lived completely different lifestyles than I do, we shared one common bond, and that's the gospel. I absolutely love that. No matter where you are in the world, there is a ward or stake or branch somewhere, and you can go and feel the same feelings that you have at your home ward. Everyone is warm and friendly, and make you feel completely welcome. I love that about our church.

I also really like this video.

Life After London

I got home from London last Monday, and after 12 hours of flying, it was great to see my family! However, I admit I miss my London family. I made some great friends and learned a lot. One of my favorite things that I learned on my trip was respect for other people. I loved learning about different cultures and seeing the way people on the other side of the world live.

London is such a great city to explore because it offers so many different views of life. There are so many ethnicities and cultures in various parts of the city, and I love that. I learned the history of London and of England, as well as the history of other people and places. India has a huge influence over England, so the Indian culture is prevalent in London. And I discovered Indian food, and absolutely loved it!

London was a great experience, and I loved it. I would recommend a study abroad program to anyone! You learn to get outside of yourself and see how different parts of the world work. I absolutely fell in love with London, and I'm counting down the days until I can go back!

Scotland!

Last week we spent 4 days in Edinburgh, Scotland. And I absolutely loved it! It was probably one of the highlights of the trip. The 4 1/2 hour train ride was pretty uneventful, but once we got to Edinburgh I couldn't believe how beautiful it was. It's definitely a city like London, but a lot smaller and more manageable. And everything is so old, but in a really beautiful way.

When we arrived we hiked up to Arthur's Seat, and after some slipping and sliding, we made it to the top. It was SUPER windy, but the panoramic views of Scotland were incredible. We also toured Edinburgh castle and walked the Royal Mile, which I loved. Bagpipe music was pouring out of each store, and there are kilts everywhere. Seriously. I loved it! I love that heritage and culture is still such an important part of the Scottish lifestyle. Men still wear kilts, and each family name has its own tartan, or style of plaid.

My friend Laura and I on a boat in Scotland.

One of the many guys in kilts!

The Edinburgh castle. So cool!

The famous Royal Mile.

The view from Arthur's Seat.

My London Top 10!

I love watching David Letterman's Top 10, so I thought maybe I would make my own Top 10 of my favorite things of London. So here it goes. And it definitely won't be as funny as his lists.

10. Kahn's Indian restaurant

9. Bueno bars! And British candy in general

8. Regent's Park

7. Portobello and Burrough Markets

6. The Waffle House on Queensway

5. Wicked!

4. Primark

3. Chocolate covered everything from Cranberry

2. Imperial War Museum

1. Minding the gap

This is in no order, and I definitely have more things to add to the list, but these are just some things I would recommend to anyone coming to London.

So Much to Catch Up On!

Stourhead, which is a beautiful garden and mansion.

Defying Gravity!

Touching the rocks at Stonehenge

I'm in the middle of my third week of study abroad, and it is going by so fast. I feel like I've done everything. We've been to Westminster, Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park, and all of the other cool places. Last week we even went to Stonehenge and were able to touch the rocks! It was so cool because no one ever gets to do that.

We finally have hot water at the Centre now, and because of what we put up with, the faculty is letting us ride the London Eye for free! I'm so excited because that was something I wanted to do, but because of the price I wasn't sure if it would be worth paying for.

My new ward, the Peckham Ward, is great. I'm the Primary chorister and I have so much fun. The children are adorable and I love them already. It's so neat being in a local London ward, because I get to see how the Church works in other parts of the world.

Yesterday we got back from visiting Cornwall, and it might be one of my new favorite destinations. We visited Pulperro, Truro, and Tintagel, which have some beautiful beaches and cathedrals. And Cornish pasties are amazing! We stayed at a beachside hotel in Falmouth, and had an amazing time!

I love being here. I've made such good friends and I've learned so much. I'm worried that the time is going to fly by!

In Love.

I have fallen in love with the city of London. For the past 6 days, I have been on the go, trying to see and experience everything. Yesterday alone we went to Westminster, Hyde Park, Covent Gardens, Trafalgar Square, ad Picaddily Circus, and that still isn't everything!

Being here has opened up my eyes to so many amazing things. At St. Paul's Cathedral, I was asking myself how in the world people could build such a beautiful building. Where did they start? How did they figure out how to do it? I can't even comprehend it.

Yesterday at Westminster Abbey I walked through Poet's Corner, where many prominent British poets and authors are buried, such as Wordsworth, Dickens, Hopkins, and Owen. I was so excited because I studied many of these writers last semester in my English 292 class, so to see where they are buried was such a neat experience.

London is so beautiful, and I can't even begin to start telling how grateful I am to be here. This really is a once in a lifetime experience, to actually live here and immerse myself in the cultures and people and food and fashion and everything else that comes with it!

Kensington Gardens...Beautiful!

Kensington Palace

St. Paul's

The Prince Albert Memorial in Kensington Gardens

My home for the next 6 weeks!

Finally! London!

Well, after some long, boring, and freezing flights, I've arrived in London. And I love it! It's still as beautiful, and maybe even more so, as it was the last time I was here. The BYU London Centre is gorgeous, and so is the neighborhood. We got to take a walk around it today and do some exploring. I can't wait to go to the Portobello Road Market and some of the vintage clothing stores.

Tonight a few of us decided to be brave and we took the tube to Picadilly Circus. It was so crowded! Probably because it's a Saturday night. I forgot about how many cultures and types of people London has. I love it! It just makes it so interesting. I'm hoping I can take advantage of experiencing many of them while I'm here. And I need to remember to eat at the Waffle House on Queensway. Waffles covered with Nutella and Belgium chocolate? Can you say heaven? Seriously.

It's kind of fun learning to be on my own and doing things myself. I'm realizing that there are things I'm capable of doing, I just have to be brave and try them out.