Friday, January 22, 2010

swans!

It has been an incredible week. Study abroad is amazing. I am already having such a great time! Some highlights from the week:

friday - 15th
•The Tower of London. I absolutely loved the Tower. If the guards there would let me, I would spend an entire day just looking at the crown jewels. Seriously. Also, I wish that the chopping block was still there for people to see. After reading many historical novels about Anne Boleyn in elementary school, I have had an irrational fear of being beheaded. Seeing it would have helped me face my fears.



•Borough Market. Only the most amazing collection of unique food vendors that I have ever seen. The market runs every weekend, and I am most definitely going to return to drink some more of the most delicious apple cider in the world.
•The beginning of kitchen crew. Actually, this wasn't a highlight, more of an awful event that had to happen sometime since each student has to do it for two weeks throughout the semester. It was not until later in the week that I started loving it.

saturday - 16th
•Portobello Road - again. We walked the short couple of blocks to Portobello Road in pursuit of crepes. And let me tell you, we will be returning, for sure. Nutella, bananas and crepes. I don't know if there could be a better combination.

sunday - 17th
•I was so excited to go to my new ward because I had heard that everyone always has incredible experiences at church. However, after going on the tube for an hour to the ghetto side of London and following our directions perfectly, my church group found a locked gate and a friendly person who told us that mormons hadn't met there for over a year. We'll try next week.
•Family trip to the National Gallery, my favorite museum and sunday afternoon activity.

monday - 18th
•Other than a kebab run for lunch, Monday was rather uneventful. I was too scared to go on the Jack the Ripper night walk, so I caught up on homework for most of the night.
•Gelato Mio for the first time. Practically a life - changing experience. The best news is that it is only two blocks away. Also, they have a punch card and I will have no difficulty getting enough for a free one. It is SOOO good.

tuesday - 19th
•British Museum
•Gelato Mio, again. I told you, it is SOOO good.

wednesday - 20th
•Stonehenge. Even though it was freezing, raining and muddy, it was extremely cool to see.

•Salisbury Cathedral. Gothic cathedrals are incredible, and this one is no exception. I got a ton of really good pictures inside. It is so beautiful.

•Bath. Bath is the cutest town that I have ever seen. We went to the Roman baths and Bath Abbey, which were both great. I was particularly excited to see the Assembly Rooms that are written about by Jane Austen. Also, I am already excited to go back to Bath in the spring.

•Pasty Presto. Who knew pasties were so good? Before today, I didn't know what pasties were.
•This is not a highlight, but is hard to be forgotten. Me+long bus trips=car sickness. Definitely not something that I am looking forward to every week.

thursday - 21st
•We have classes pretty much all day long on thursday, which is boring. BUT, some of us took a break to walk to Hyde Park and feed the "cute" ducks at the pond. Sounds fun, right? Wrong. I never knew that I was so afraid of birds. Ducks, geese, swans and pigeons came from all directions just to devour our heels of bread. I thought we were going to be attacked. I did not have the courage to actually feed the birds. It was bad enough to observe from the side. Terrifying, traumatic experience.

•Kitchen crew. I can't really explain why this was a highlight. But i looked forward to this night all week, and it was not disappointing. Some of the best fun and conversation that I've had while being here.

friday - 22nd
•Westminster Abbey - so beautiful. Seeing all of the important royalty, authors, scientists and other people graves was really cool too.
•National Gallery, again. Apparently it is becoming a bi-weekly tradition.
•Roommate night! This included shopping on Oxford Street and a visit to Gelato Mio. We really need to control ourselves. The gelato is seriously SOOO good though!

Well, that is pretty much my entire week. Classes are so good. I love them. I also love doing homework at museums, it is so much better than just reading a book. I acquired some earplugs which facilitate sleeping and homework.

Everything is amazing and I am excited for another week. We are just trying to plan out the weekend. I think that a trip to Borough Market is definitely being considered.

"SWANS!" - anna hayes

1 comment:

  1. When you said you went to portobello road for crepes, I definitely read it as CREEPS and was a little bit worried for you.

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