A much needed weekend in LONDON

We have finally come to an end in our travels. I can't believe it but at the same time I am relieved. As great as it is to travel, it can be exhausting. We've had so much fun though! This weekend was great. We finally got to spend some time around our home. Thursday the weather was absolutely amazing! It was beautiful-sunshine ALL day long. A crew of us went and rented the bikes in the park and rode around for awhile. It was a blast! We were loving it haha.

Friday we went to Stratford upon Avon. This was Shakespeare's birthplace. We got to go inside his actual home and see where he is buried today. It was such a darling little town. Later after seeing his home we were free to do what we wanted until about seven. We walked around the town loving the great weather again. Then when seven rolled around we headed towards the theatre. We got to see King Lear. Let me just throw out there that this play was three hours long! Haha. We all got a little antsy, but luckily the end of the play was entertaining. The thing we dreaded the most was the bus ride home. We were two hours away from the centre and ended up getting home at one thirty that night! As bad as it sounds, it's those memories I will always remember. 

Saturday we all slept in! Ahh. It was wonderful haha. We all woke up feeling a little exhausted and didn't want to do much. So we all "got ready" and went out on a walk. We ended up going to borough market and down town by the tower of London. It was so much fun just hanging out and having a leisurely day. 

Then came Sunday. This Sunday was a bit more stressful because all of the main tube lines were closed. This means you have to completely re-route your way to church. That's not always fun because it just adds to your hour and half which ALSO means you have to wake up even earlier! Haha. For some reason Saturday night a random crew of us got chatting for hours... by hours I mean three in the morning. Ha it was great until we realized that it was daylight savings and that we had to be up in three hours. As we realized this we quickly went to bed. Well, Ashley and I slept through our alarms the next morning... shoot. It was chaotic! Everyone running around trying to get ready for church. Annie and I got in our first fight hahaha. Yelling at each other about the shower... SO funny. Long story short, somehow we got out the door and made it to church right on time.

This Sunday they didn't need me in the primary so I went and helped Ash and Mike in the nursery. Who knew that it would be a complete workout to help out in there. It was well worth it though because the little squirts that were in there were SOOO stinkin cute! We had Vincent, Talia, and Victoria. Victoria and Talia are sisters. They are hilarious... Talia adds a little more to the mix because she has down syndrome. Agh she is the cutest though! But holy cow. That girl won't sit still for one second. At one point I was chasing her through the church and she managed to even get outside! Ha it was a crazy two hours. But like I said, well worth it. I love little kids too much.

It's always a relief to get home from church. I honestly think that Sunday naps are better over here than they are at home. Probably because we are ten times more tired over here. But it's the first thing we all do when we get back. Hop straight into bed until dinner haha. Since it was fast Sunday everyone was starving. We all were praying that Tais would have something just somewhat decent to feed us... 

Funny joke right? Chicken, Shrimp, Mushroom stroganoff. Looking at this picture makes me want to vomit. Haha i'm not trying to complain in anyway, but i'm telling you that this is a pretty regular sight we get around here at the centre. Thanks Mom for sending those soup packets :) Annie and I will be forever grateful haha. 

After dinner one of the bishops from our stake came and talked to us about the Blitz. It was legit hearing about it from somebody who lived during that time. He was literally around for all of the bombings. He had some crazy stories. One of the better firesides we've had for sure!

Monday I don't have class so I spent most of the day in the library trying to knock out some homework. It's rough doing school over here... haha. That night everybody went to the musical Billy Elliot. I won't lie, when I heard it was about a little boy who's dream was to dance... I was not excited or looking forward to it at all! Ha. But it ended up being one of the best plays we have seen while in London; despite it's story line. It was amazing and the main little dude was unreal!

Yesterday I had class all day. For dinner we convinced our professors to just give us all five pounds instead of having dinner at the centre haha. The only reason we got away with it was because we were going to a soccer game. We got to go to the Wembley Stadium and watch England vs. Ghana! It was too legit. Getting to the game was half of the fun because it was so crazy. Everyone and their dogs were trying to get on the tube. I've never been in such a claustrophobic situation! It was nuts. It took us a good hour to finally get to the stadium. The stadium was seriously unreeeal. The game was sold out and there were 80,102 people there. It was a national game so it was much different than the league/club games but we still had an absolute riot.

It ended 1-1 with Ghana scoring in the last three minutes. I've never seen such happy fans! Haha. It was such a blast and i'm glad I got to experience it. Although it really made me miss playing.. I was antsy the whole time to just go get on the field! Haha. On the way home we somehow lucked out and got into a spacey tube car. I don't know how we pulled it off but we had seats all the way home. Although we did end up getting home pretty late. We were all glad that we didn't have anything this morning!

Belgium & Somme

I can't believe that I am done traveling. March went by so fast I didnt have time to blink! On Monday we left at six in the morning (finally not two) for Belgium. This time we took a bus and luckily for our last trip we got our favorite driver Glynn! He is the greatest. Such a sweet heart, bus so clean, helps us with our baggage and is just the bomb. To get to Belgium we had to get on the ferry which was a good two hour drive. We were all out cold! Haha sadly enough we expected everything to go smoothly... but nothing ever can when we are traveling. We all woke up to our professor telling us that our ferry had broken down and the next one didn't leave until10:30. Yeah it was 8 haha such awful news. Lucky enough we all didn't have to stay on the bus. That meant everyone got off except a few of us who stayed to stretch out on all of the empty seats haha. It was great! Another plus was that I woke up to a big DC on my seat. Mike heard me talking about how I was dying for one and of course snagged me one. Such a sweetheart. Finally 10:30 rolled around and we drove onto the ferry. It was huge! Little did we know it was going to be like a cruise... We got off our bus and went up to one of the restaurants to hangout. It was nice to get off of the bus for awhile. We grabbed a little food and then we went outside onto the dock. It was SO pretty. The ocean about killed me though... I wanted to go straight to the beach. The fact that it was such great weather didn't help either. The ferry ride was only about an hour and a half. Once we got back onto our bus, we had another two hours on the bus. Ugh just remembering that wares me out. We had so much bus time ha. I thought we were never going to make it to Brugge. When we arrived it was three in the afternoon. This time we were staying in hotels! But not only just a hotel... It was an Ibis hotel. Haha these are our favorite hotels ever. They are always amazing and this one was the best by far! I roomed with Annie this trip and it was actually our first time being roomies on the road believe it or not. We all ditched our stuff and headed out into the town. It was so sunny and beautiful we didn't need our jackets. Ah it was so nice. Crazy to think that I was in Brugge three weeks ago. It was fun going back because it was totally different. The plaza was much more crowded and all of the restaurants had their tables out. It was darling as ever! Everyone was loving it. We grabbed dinner and since we all had decided to go off of chocolate a few days before.... we went into one of the five billion shops and just checked it out :)

Yeah it was absolutely delicious. Going off of sugar was a great success this trip. Haha. Everything shuts down super early so we headed back to the Ibis, hung out and watched TV. We were watching MTV and thoroughly enjoyed it! We forget how much we miss it haha. All being crammed into a small hotel room was too fun. I realized how much i'm going to miss my girls and those nights! We were up super late just laughing about all of our adventures. Crazy how they are all coming to an end in about two weeks....

The next day we got up and headed straight to breakfast. Ibis never ever disappoints. After getting plenty of eggs and what not into our systems we headed to the chocolate museum with the group. It was really fun! It was the whole history of chocolate. After we had time to do what we pleased so we went and enjoyed the nice sun, shopped, and maybe tried some frites.

obviously they weren't very good.

After enjoying Belgium we hopped on the bus and professor Dursteler gave us a World War 1 lecture. I absolutely loved learning all about this time period. I didn't know as much as I should have so it was a great learning experience. Following his lecture we stopped at museum and it was awesome. We then walked outside and there was some carnival thing going on. We stopped and tried some scone ball things! They were wonderful. Just like all of the other food in this country. Ugggh. Then we got back on the bus and went on our way to Somme. Happily we checked into another Ibis for the night.

The next day was probably one of my favorite day trips. We first went to the largest cathedral in Europe. It was called the Notre Dame d'Amiens. Yeah it was another cathedral... but it was massive! Pretty cool. Then we got to wander around a bit before we had to leave. It was a fun little town. Our next stop was absolutely amazing. It was one of the best preserved battlegrounds from WWI. Just another one of the most eye opening experiences I've had on this trip. We got to walk through the actual trenches. It was sweet! There were all of the different burial grounds too. I loved it!

We then got back on our bus to go back to the Ferry. Super quick trip. Yes it was a long haul back but luckily everything went smoothly and we got home before midnight. Just in time for everyone to crowd the library to finish up homework for the next morning. A great way to end our travels!

Ireland

I won’t lie; I never thought that I was going to travel to Ireland. Let alone be there over St. Patrick’s Day! We left at three on Wednesday morning to get to the airport on time. Luckily everything went smooth this time and Ryan Air gave us zero problems. Although we had a good laugh when we “crash” landed. Ha no joke we were all dead asleep and hit the ground so hard that everybody woke up from being thrown forward or into each other. Haha Carly and I literally smacked heads... hard. I don’t know how the airplane didn’t fall apart! Too funny. Everyone on the plane was freakin out.

The unfortunate part of flying with our whole group was finding the same flight for that many people. Yup didn’t happen. We were split in half and of course I was in the first group and had to wait in Dublin for an hour and a half for the other group to arrive. Luckily I was with all my pals!

Once everyone was in Ireland we hopped on our bus… which was the nicest bus we have been on. Haha we were loving it. Our driver was awesome too. His whole dashboard was covered with leprechauns and funny decorations. The first place we went to was the Guinness storehouse. Who knew that the Y would let their students go to a brewery? I won’t lie it was actually pretty cool. Probably would have been a little bit better if I drank but whatever. It was a huge! There were five levels. Up at the top there was a bar and if you took your ticket to the top you got a free drink. Funny how we all had to take the 18 and younger ticket so we could get our cokes! Haha. It was sweet though because there was a 360 view of Dublin up top.

After we finished up there, we went and checked into our hotel. It was called Jury’s Inn and it was very nice. I roomed with Bevs and Anne! We were all pretty exhausted so we took a nap and around four headed out into the town. Dublin wasn't quite what we all expected. We were right in the middle of the city and it was almost St. Patrick's Day. So it was super busy and wasn't the cleanest place haha. It still was great and had some cool sites. We walked around and explored until it was dinner time. For dinner that night our professors made a reservation for all of us at the oldest pub in Dublin. It was such a blast and was the best meal we have had in awhile. 

The next day we had the day to do what we wanted. Yes this included some extra shut eye. Then me, Liz, Carl, Anne, and Ash spent the whole day checking out the sights and shopped of course! They had some of the cutest shops we have been to. Avoca was the name of one of them. It was like an Anthro but a little different. We went crazy in there haha. We also put together our St. Patty's day outfits. Carroll's was the store where we got all of our junk. It was amazing! They had every kind of green thing you could imagine. We loved it. Then for dinner we went to some restaurant that seemed American... our bad. Only two meals out of seven were even decent. Ha we laughed, went to the grocery store and headed back to the room for a girls night. 

Ha our theme of the trip... notice the shortbread in hand!

The next day was St. Patrick's Day... little did we know what was ahead of us. It was fun getting all decked out in green! Haha. There was a parade on the main street at 12:30. Obviously it was extremely crowded, but we were loving every minute of it. There was such a variety of people it was crazy. We saw the Crowe's and a big part of our crew who had front row spots some how. We hung out around them hoping we would be able to squeeze in once the parade started.

my gells

this kid...

Before the parade started we were just going crazy. Haha. Talking to everyone that walked by, blowing our stupid whistles and horns, getting asked to pose in pictures with people, doing some jigging with everyone haha. It was nuts but I couldn't have been happier.

Just posing with people who wanted pics with us...... haha.

The parade started and let me tell you, it was the creepiest thing we have all ever seen! HAhahah. I cannot even explain!! Let's just say the US knows how to do parades because this was the scariest thing. I honestly can't even post pictures because they are so odd. We watched maybe ten minutes of the parade and then bounced. The streets everywhere we went were just jam packed! We met some friends from all over. Our favorites were our Brazilian pals though haha. Then we went and checked out the carnival they had going on.

one of the creepy floats

By the end of the day we realized that we were making the holiday ten times better than it was really cracked up to be. Haha. We figured the parade would have been much better if we would have been intoxicated. Although we still had a great time but were pretty tired. It was getting colder too so we just went and hung out in the hotel lobby until we had to get back on the bus. 

typical.

For our third night we drove into Kilkenney. It was a much smaller town but I think I liked it better than Dublin. Much cleaner and was so darling. It was also more in the countryside which made it seem like we were in Ireland ya know? It was pretty late at night when we got there so there was a pretty good crowd out with some festivities goin on. We got dropped off right in the middle of a concert venue..ish place. Haha it was a riot! The band performing was so awful and was just screaming. Ha it was crazy. We then walked to our hostel. It was the best place we have stayed at! The lady who owned the place was darling and it was SO clean. The rooms were actually cute too! We could not have been happier. Although it was fun to find out that they were community showers the next morning... hahaha yup. That's a good story.

That night we went and found some pizza place for dinner. It was delicious and tasted just like home! Good old Papa John's pizza. It was late enough that not a whole lot was going on in the small town so we just went back and hung out at the hostel with everybody. We had some fun encounters on the way home that's for sure. Ohh Ireland. Haha.

The next morning we had free time until about two. So we just went and saw the sights.. which was basically the castle and the houses on the streets. It was fun! We stopped and sat outside of a little restaurant. The weather was beautiful so we stayed a little longer to catch some rays.

Then we headed to the Rock of Cashel. It turned out to be a castle.... none of had any idea so it was kinda funny. Ha. It was freezing so we quickly checked the place out and hopped back onto the bus. It was nice finally seeing the true countryside of Ireland. It was gorgeous!

We headed back to the airport and luckily got to all fly together. The airline this time was Aer Lingus. This airport was so legit! But the downside was that there were US ports and flights going out everywhere. We all were dying and felt like we should have been going home. Haha. The plane ride was wonderful! Once we got back into London we still had an hour and a half bus ride back to the centre. We ended up getting home a little before one. The weird thing was that since we slept all day, we were not tired at all... haha. It was Bev's bday the day before and her Mom had sent her the greatest package ever. Soooo we ended up eating all of it and went to bed at three. Luckily it was Saturday and we could sleep in! Such a great week.

March Madness

The fact that I am already half way through March and will be seeing my family in a month blows my mind. It's weird to think that I have been here over two months now. It really has become my home away from home. Although as much as I love wearing the same thing everyday, eating unhealthy, sharing with 12, and doing kitchen crew.... the US isn't sounding too bad. Haha.

While all of you are making your March Madness brackets back home, I am having my own kind of March madness. I'm making my countdown chart, living out of my suitcase, trying to do homework, and making sure I do everything possible in London. Sounds like a dream.. which it is, but also it's own madness!

Tonight at 3 in the morning we are all taking off for Ireland. On Ryan Air of course. Haha this leaving at the crack of dawn thing has just become part of my routine. Along with being constantly exhausted. I won't lie though.. I am stoked! St. Patrick's day while being in Ireland. No complaints here. I'll try to update this as soon as we get back. Blogging isn't necessarily the most appealing thing when getting back from a trip and having to rewrite everything! 

Quick shout out to my Mom... HAPPY BIRTHDAY on March 15 :) I love you soooo much and be expecting something in the mail soon. I hope you have a great day!!!!

Wales

This past weekend we spent some time in Wales... not Whales haha. No one knew what to expect from this trip because it's not a place you hear about everyday. On Thursday we hopped on the bus at 8:30 and were in for a good 3 hour bus ride. Quality nap time! BYU requires a certain amount of hours of road trips to be church history sites... typical. So we spent the whole day with Peter (our guide from Preston) going around the Cotswolds checking out church sites. Yeah it got pretty old pretty quick but that is when we have the best time and make the best memories it seems like haha. The most fun thing we did that day was climb to the top of this Beacon. He told us it was a little leg stretch.. pfff we were all panting and stuggling getting to the top! But it was well worth it. Although we have never experienced anything as windy as it was up at the top!

After a full day of church sites we got to our hostel at about seven. I don't know where to begin. This hostel was nasssst. We are talkin Hotel de Hollande status (still not as bad). Ha of course me and the girls I was roomies with all got stuck up in the attic. No joke, we were ducking to get into our room and there were six of us just crammed in there. We had to put on our own sheets, pillow cases, duvet, and mattress cover. I was sick to my stomach. Just stains and hairs that were NOT mine ALL over. It was not okay! We made a great documentation of it all that's for sure hahah. Our bathroom was a freakin sauna and our window would only open not even half way! What an experience.

Op.. not hers.

bottom bunk literally on the ground.

hahahah hanging from Annie's bunk!!

Getting the picture? Luckily the next day Elise and I could redeem ourselves with a run. It was so beautiful! Such a small little town though. Why we went running... I have no idea. I had to SHOWER in the sickest shower ever. I probably have an STD or a staff infection that I don't even know about. The shower smelled so so gross. I just got in and out and tried to hold my breath the whole time. I felt more dirty than when I got in before! Haha. Shoot. It was sick.

After my glorious shower we got back on the bus and headed to Tintern Abbey. This was like Fountains Abbey. Not as big, but just as cool for sure. We weren't there for very long but had a good time.

Following Tintern we went to the Big Pit. This is a large coal mine. It was ten times cooler than we anticipated! We got to suit up with helmets and head lamps and go underground into the mines. We had such a riot because our tour guide Rob was the bomb! We loved him. He told us the coolest stuff about the mines. It was ten times more interesting than I thought for sure. So Rob was just crackin jokes left and right. Elise's head lamp had dropped and he was making fun of her  

for it. Later on mine fell off as well and he heard me say "shiz." So he stops (we were in a group of about 12 girls) and said, "What did you just say?" "Do you guys say shit in America?" 

Something along the lines of that. We all started cracking up and got into a big language discussion.  

He would not drop the topic and ended asking me if I needed to take a shit. I lost it. Ha we were all  

rolling. So the rest of the way he just kept joking back and forth with me. He found it a little too amusing. When we got back to the lift to take us back up, he announced to his buddy that the blondie who dropped her light was dying to take a shit. OH MY. Not quite something you want to be announced to anyone especially when it isn't true? Haha. At least everyone got a laugh out of it. It may not sound very funny typed out... but I won't lie, it was pretty hilarious. 

When we finished up at the Big Pit, we headed off to Cardiff. We were finally in a decent part of Wales where we could enjoy ourselves and something was going on! We also were in a hotel. That's always a plus haha. We headed out to Cardiff bay. It kind of reminded me of newport. It was so pretty and had a big shopping center and restaurants everywhere. We also found a "merry-go-round!" You better believe we got right on it when we saw it.

We went and ate at Wagamama's and then walked around for a bit more. Then we just went and had girl talk back in the hotel. It was a much better day than the day before! And the fact that I was sleeping in my own hair was a bit more comforting....

Saturday we woke up and headed into the town of Cardiff. This was also much better than expected. There was a big Rugby game that day between Wales and Ireland so there were people everywhere! We were set free to do whatever we wanted for the rest of the day before we went back to London. The first thing we did was go buy all of our souvenirs of course. Then we just walked around the town. It was darling and the fact that there was game that afternoon made the environment! There was a small market than Annie and I went and checked out. We tried some fresh little Welsh cakes... yummmy. Whenever Annie and I get separated from everyone else something always happens. We got attacked by a man who wanted to paint our faces for the game.. did we let him? Yes. Hahah. It started out great with the dragon but then he added some red blob to the other side of our cheeks. He then proceeded to grab my camera and snap a picture. We had a good laugh and so did everyone else when we got onto the bus.

Cardiff Castle

To finish up our experience in Cardiff we went to Fagan's Museum. It was a museum of an old Welsh town. It was so cute! It was a big farmland. We couldn't figure out why we had such a great time there haha. Overall it ended up being another great trip to add to the list!

baby sheepies!!!

The old School