Tuesday the Third of May

We woke up for breakfast at 8 and then class was just quick at 9am giving announcement and talking about where we were going today, which is: HAMPTON COURT!

It was super pretty and super big and super cool. We took a train out to Richmond where it is, and toured the Exhibits about Henry the VIIIth and the Gardens, which are beautiful. We spent all day there, and just enjoyed. We didn't get to watch one of the shows, but that was okay.

A quick note about our classes: So far, for Martha's class all we have to do is take notes in our notebook on her lectures (both in class and in museums) and do free writes on our visits. Basically we pick an aspect of our visit, something we saw or something we were interested in, and write half a page or more on it. Sometimes she gives us more direction, like write about this painting, but she doesn't ever tell us what to write about it, so it's up to our own discretion. It has been really fun to find and write about things and has made me think deeper about what we are learning than I would have in other cases.

Anyway, here are the Hampton Court pictures:

(That's Cecelia Peek, our other teacher)

I just love alleyways, and this palace was FULL of them!

It was so dark in the castle! There were plenty of windows, but the light never seemed to reach us.

Gilded ceilings

The only remaining symbol of Anne Bolyn and Henry's Marriage, hidden in a design in the Great Hall

Riding in the Royal Carriage

Same Bro

There There

Cool Backdrop for this cliche Telephone Booth Picture

And saying goodbye to Hampton Court

THEN! For dinner we had traditional bangers and mash. I ate mine before I took a picture. So here is my plate after wards?

After dinner we headed out to go see Wicked!! It was so good! I had forgotten basically the entire second half of the show, so it was really fun to re-watch. And it was a stellar production too. I went to bed very happy :)

Monday Mayday

Today we were back in the swing of things. Annie and I went running which ended up being bad for her knee, but was beautiful. We just casually ran through KENSINGTON PALACE GARDENS. I waved at some guy in the window and he waved back to me and that was cool. I mean I'm sure he was a butler, but still. Also happy birthday to Princess Charlotte. But yeah, Annie got Runners knee, which meant she was in pain for the rest of the day, so that's no fun.

Prince Albert Memorial

This about sums my feelings about mornings

Yup. Kensington Palace. That's how cool we are.

We ate breakfast and came to class for an hour and a half. Then we set off for the Imperial War Museum. We saw a lot of cool things and walked through the Holocaust exhibit which was really interesting. Enjoy my random pictures from the walk through.

Airplane... with a target on the side?

 

Buy me this

Then Annie and I went wandering again. We went to Regents Park and wandered Queen Mary's Gardens which will be much prettier once the roses bloom, but was still really pretty.

Then we headed down to Liberty (which is like Harrod's but less scary), and grabbed lunch at Byron {proper burgers}. It was SO good.

After walking around Liberty we hopped on the Tube and came home for FHE and hung out and planned our trip to Wales this weekend. We are just waiting on approval from the Directors for us to go. Anyway, tomorrows another busy day so... G'night y'all!

Does this remind anyone of a certain time travel machine we all know?

Make a Wish

Sunday Funday (May 1st)

Today we went to CHURCH! The 40 total students were split into groups of about 8 and sent to different wards in the Wandsworth(?) stake. Our ward is the Mitcham ward and meets at 10am, and it's about a 45 minute commute. We gathered at 8:45, but we had to wait for some people and then we had to top up our cards at the station, so a tube and a tram later we ended up at our building at Mormon Standard Time (aka 10:01). Our building isn't the same layout as Utah buildings, but as far as I can tell, it was built to be a meetinghouse, it isn't just a community building that they use. Anyway, we weren't really assigned callings as much as shoo-ed into rooms. So 4 girls got assigned to primary, 2 of us to young women's, and 1 girl got called to be a Sunday School Teacher, but wasn't told where her class was or who it was. Hopefully next week is a lot more enlightening on what they want us to do. I think it will be a really good experience.

True to fast Sunday afternoon form, I got home and took a nap until dinner. After dinner, we watched Northanger Abbey and I got to skype my family :) Altogether, today was a very laidback day, in preparation for a crazy busy week!

Saturday the 30th

Today was a Free Day. So guess what I did? Slept in :) Just until 10. Then two groups of us went (separately) to check the TKTS (1/2 price ticket booth). Because of tube delays we ended up beating the other group, but the line was long and the girls didn't seem happy with the selection, so we ended up walking up to Foyles aka the oldest bookstore in London. But it was just kind of depressing because there are SO many books to buy and so little money or suitcase space. *insert crying face here*

 

funny card at the store

 Then the group I was with headed for Portobello Road Market, and I road the tube (on my own!!! #strongindependantyoungwoman) and met up with the other group at Borough's market, which is a food market. After walking around for a bit, one group decided to go back and take a tour of Kensington, but me and Annie decided to walk around Big Ben and Westminster Abbey and through St. James Park and around Buckingham palace and then we came back to the center as well so we could go Running through Hyde Park! Annie is definitely faster than me, but I kept up. It was pretty! Then we went to the store and grabbed granola bars and fruit for the week, and we ate leftovers for dinner. Did low key things like showered and laundry, then watched Sense and Sensibility and off to bed.

These maps are our lifesavers!

Maybe I should come work here :)

Classic :)