update

Here are just some pictures from the last few week's adventures. I've had such a BLAST in England and can't believe we only have a week and a half left of the program!

But for now, this picture sums up quite well my current feelings:




THE LONDON TEMPLE:

A group of us took a trip to the London temple and did baptisms for the dead. It was a wonderful day!

BLENHEIM PALACE GARDENS:

This train picture is for Adam. We rode it through the gardens of Blenheim Palace.

A PUB:

These are on just about every corner. Kind of like LDS chapels in Utah... kind of.

THE LONDON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA CONCERT:

The whole group went to a concert by the London Symphony Orchestra. I loved it!

TRAFALGAR SQUARE AND ST. MARTIN-IN-THE-FIELD'S VIOLIN CONCERT:

Trafalgar Square at night.

This is a church, St. Martin-in-the-Fields, right in Traflagar Square. A few of us went to a violin concert here that I also loved!

The violinists. This was ONE place that I could actually take pictures INSIDE. So I did.

BATH:

A few girls and I took a day trip to Bath. This is a river that runs through the city.

Cheers!

We got to try on corsets and skirt hoop things at a fashion museum we went to in Bath. It was really fun! Not to mention uncomfortable...

Rachel cinching me up!

Can you BELIEVE this dress!?

The infamous Roman Baths!

At the end of the tour you can try a glass of "fresh bath spring water." So we did...

... And this was my reaction to the water. It was pretty disgusting and tasted like copper.

MINI COOPER (A REAL ONE!):



CORNWALL:

Cornwall is the most south west peninsula in England. We stayed there for three days. It was refreshing to be on the coast and see the beautiful ocean.

Alexa, Sara, Brittney, Me, and Nicole

Me and Lisa Ann

FALMOUTH:

The town in Cornwall that our hotel was in is called Falmouth. We were RIGHT on the coast. It was BREATHTAKING!

Out for a walk with our umbrellas!

Jenni and I walked along the coast one evening. I love the ocean!

THE LION KING:

SUCH a fabulous show!!!

Me, Elyssa, Nicole, and Jenny

PIGEON AT TRAFALGAR SQUARE:

This is for you, Mom! Just for you. :)

GREENWICH:

A group of us took a fun little boat ride up the Thames to Greenwich.

View of Tower Bridge from the boat.


The view of London from Greenwich.

Straddling the Prime Meridian!

WINDSOR:

marvelous monday

Oh my gosh. Monday was AMAZING. This is what I did:


1. Touched the rocks at Stonehenge. No joke people. Basically no one gets to do this, but our program directors "made special arrangements" so that we could! It was SO cool! (major understatement...)














2. Visited to the most adorable village of Wells. We couldn't take picture inside the Wells Cathedral, but we could in the Bishop's Palace and Gardens, which is where the bishop of the cathedral would have lived. You can even have your wedding reception there... oh, what a dream come true that would be!












3. Ate a very delectable ice cream cone made from the fresh cream of local cows.





4. Went to Stourhead Estate. It was gorgeous. Part of Pride and Prejudice was filmed at this location.
















5. Climbed the 205 steps to the top of King Alfred's Tower, which was build in 1772 to commemorate peace with France after the Seven Year's War.







6. Enjoyed the never-ending beauty of the English countryside in our 5 hours of total bus ride. Can I just say one word: GREEN!

This is a picture of one of the many Rapeseed fields. Not that you can tell from this lame photo taken from inside the bus, but the fields are bright yellow and so pretty! (Rapeseed is used to make canola oil.)

hooray for london

What would the world do without moms!? Seriously. Thanks for updating my blog for me, dear mother. It's true, I've been going non-stop since I've gotten here and to add to the difficulty, the internet connection here at the BYU London Center is quite weak so posting anything has been a bit of a challenge.

Here are some pictures from the past week, which has been... to say the least... completely AMAZING!!! London has stolen my heart!

This picture just seemed appropriate to begin with. Who doesn't hear the word 'London' without a picture of Big Ben popping into their head!? It was obviously a gray, rainy day. But what else would you expect, right!? It's England. The bell inside the tower is actually called "Big Ben," not the clock itself.

We were walking around the city one day and found this adorable group of British school children. We talked with them for 10 minutes or so. They were so excited about talking with Americans! (And needless to say, we were pretty excited ourselves to talk with such darling British students!) I told them to all wave for a picture, so they did. Just after I took it, a little girl ran up to me in a panic and said (with her sweet accent, of course), "But I wasn't in the photo!" She was so distraught! So I took another... just for her. Such cute kids!

Tower Bridge, although often incorrectly referred to as "London Bridge" (which is somewhere in the States... go figure).

Relaxing in Hyde Park, which is just across the street from the BYU London Center where we live.


Hyde Park

Standing across the Thames river with the Houses of Parliament behind us. The clock tower with Big Ben is part of the Houses of Parliament.

A view of the city from the top of St. Paul's Cathedral.

Buckingham Palace. Notice the flag is up on top of the building, which means that the Queen is there. If there is no flag up, she's gone. We hope to see her when we go to the Trooping the Colour, where the Queen takes the Royal Salute after her troops have marched past.

Afternoon tea, or shall I say cake and crumpets, at the Orangerie in Kensington Gardens. So delicious!

St. James's Park



The North entrance to Westminster Abbey. All cathedrals face east so that worshipers enter from the bottom of the cross (the west entrance) and move toward the top of the cross (eastward) toward the rising sun, which is symbolic of the resurrected Christ.


The west entrance to Westminster Abbey.


College Gardens at Westminster Abbey.


College Gardens, again.


Pretty flowers!


Les Miserables! It was SO good!


This is Portobello Market. It is HUGE. It goes on and on and on forever. The first half is a lot of antiques and the second half is a lot of fresh food. So fun!


Fresh baked goods at Portobello Market.


Some street I wandered onto today.

Growing up I had a small needle point pillow with a red double-decker bus on it that I hung on my bedroom door handle. Stitched into it was the phrase, "I'd rather be in London." I remember looking at it often really wishing I could go back to England one day. Well, that day has come and I can hardly believe it! I am so happy to finally be here again! Hooray for London!

alive and well in London!

Maryanne here. Well, apparently Brooke is SOOO busy with exploring London, going to plays, eating Fish-n-Chips and CHOCOLATE, yada, yada, AND yada, that apparently she just doesn't have the time to post on her blog. And I know there are many people out there waiting for her to post something. Anything! So......once again, mom to the rescue!

Here are a couple of photos she has sent us:

After church in Hyde Park with some of the other girls in her group. Look at that blue sky! Something we didn't see a lot of when we lived there.

Standing on Centennial Bridge. You can see the famous Tower Bridge far in the distance behind her.

And something is burning back there too. Hmmmm, maybe... "London Bridge is burning down, burning down, burning down...." Didn't we sing that as kids?

Oh woops! That was London Bridge is falling down. Sorry, my bad. And I'm sure that will embarrass Brooke to no end (to quote her from last week, "Mom, you are such a dork.").

holiday

Nine days. That's right. Nine days from this very moment I will be on holiday.

I imagine myself somewhat overwhelmed, but especially excited as I find my way along the pavement, my luggage in tow. I have just arrived from the Tube, still adorning the jumper that has been my cozy companion for the past 15 hours. The hustle and bustle of a big city seems exhilarating. The smell of petrol and fags infuse in the air. 'Round the corner I spot a pub. The scent of fresh fish-and-chips wafts through the air. I come to a zebra crossing. I look left, first. Musn't forget. Then right. Okay to proceed. Finally, a pillar box catches my eye: 503 Kensington Court. I look up. A twee flat. Perfect. I then find myself entering what will be my new home for the next two months in the posh neighborhood of London.