Olympic Park...or the Lack Thereof

16 July 2012

I got an email from my professor last night saying that classes were going to be cancelled today. Not sure why, but I was excited! We were all ready to sleep in. But of course, we didn’t. At least not very much. Because there is just too much to do here! So at 10:30 this morning, we left to go to the National Portrait Gallery. I really only went because I had to for my English history class. So in a matter of minutes, I went through and found the portraits on my list and then left. But while I was there, I noticed a picture of a man called Henry Lee. Well that’s a name in my family history, so I wondered whether or not there was any connection.

I looked at the family search website later, but couldn’t find anything. So I Googled Henry Lee and according to Wikipedia, “it is unknown if this family was related to the Lee Family of Coton Hall, Nordley Regis, Shropshire, England from whom the Lee family of Virginia was allegedly descended.” My family is the one from Virginia (like Robert E. Lee). So unfortunately, I didn’t make any exciting discoveries about my ancestors, but it was fun poking around a little bit.

After we left the portrait gallery, Palmer, Kylee, and I walked around Trafalgar Square for a few minutes, just to say that we did it. And we got a picture with the countdown to the Olympics:

Once we left Trafalgar Square, Kylee and I went to Westminster Pier, where we boarded a boat for a river cruise down the Thames. It was so fun! I’m glad we did it. We went under the London Bridge (and honestly, it’s just an ordinary bridge since they rebuilt it) and the Millennium Bridge (the one from Harry Potter). So that was exciting.

Waiting to board the boat

On the back of the boat with Big Ben behind us

After our river cruise, we took the tube to Olympic Park. We had seen on the internet that we could go inside and tour the venues for ten pounds. So we started asking around, and nobody seemed to really know what we were talking about. They just kept telling us that there was no public access. So that was disappointing.

But we did find a Primark. When we were at church in Cardiff, Wales, this girl told us about this store, and she said it has super cute stuff for super cheap. So Kylee and I decided to go in. We found sandals for one pound ninety and bags for five pounds! It’s my new favorite store. Too bad there aren’t any in the States.

When we left, we decided to ride a double decker bus back. It was a little weird climbing stairs in a bus, but once we were sitting down, it just felt like a regular bus. So now I can at least check it off my list.

Our next stop was Westminster Abbey. We decided to attend Evensong, and it was so cool! Most of it was singing by a choir, and it was beautiful. It gave me chills. But even though I could feel the Spirit there, I felt so grateful for the Gospel. They gave two lessons that consisted of a reading from the Bible. And that’s great, but the speaker didn’t explain any of it or offer any kind of interpretation. And I just think that it is so cool that we can go to Sacrament Meeting and hear different people’s views and interpretations of things.

I didn’t get to take any pictures of the abbey since I was there to worship, but my group will be going back next Monday for a tour, so I’ll get some pictures then.

This is all I got

After Evensong, we stopped by the William Tyndale statue (we figured out where it was). That was cool. He’s just awesome!

When we got back to our flat, everyone got together for a crepe party, and that was a lot of fun. And delicious! If you’ve never had sweetened condensed milk on a crepe, you need to try it. SO good!

Later, I got to Skype with my mom and my sisters, and that’s always a lot of fun. Even though we’re miles apart, we still have our girls’ nights. :)

The rest of the night, I just studied for my first final, which is on Wednesday. I’m a little worried about it because I’m not sure what the test is going to be like. We’ve only had a couple weeks of classes. So I guess I’ll just go over the slides a lot and then pray! It will be nice to finish and then leave for Paris.

Only Three Weeks Left

15 July 2012

Palmer, Kylee, and I decided to go to the singles ward instead of the family ward this week. But even though the singles ward starts at one o’clock, we didn’t sleep in. Instead, we went to Hyde Park to find Speaker’s Corner. Apparently, people just show up at this place and go on rants about politics, religion, and all sorts of things. But nobody was there when we got there, so we just left.

We realized that we were somewhat close to Baker Street, so we decided to go find Sherlock Holmes’s flat. 221B Baker Street. We found it, and apparently they’ve turned it into a museum…and you can go in for six pounds. We just walked through the gift shop, took some pictures, and left.

Look at this cool phone booth we found!

After that, we went to the Victoria and Albert Museum. That was pretty cool. We didn’t have a ton of time, but guess what I saw while I was there? Apostle spoons! Just like the ones that I bought yesterday at Portobello, only these ones were larger. According to the plaque, apostle spoons were common christening presents from godparents to godchildren. Cool, right? So glad I bought those spoons!

Also, the museum had these awesome chairs in their courtyard:

They're like banana chairs, but better...they spin!

After we left the museum, we walked down the street to church. And it was so great! The speakers did such a good job on their talks. One guy especially really made me think more about the Atonement and my personal spirituality. He said something like, “Even if out of all the people in the world, you were the only one to come unto Christ, He still would have gone through the Atonement. Just for you.” That was so cool!

He also gave us five questions to help us determine whether we are coming unto Christ:

1. How often do you have intimate conversations with God?
2. If you seek revelation, how much do you value what you already have? How often to you actually study your scriptures?
3. When was the last time you went to the Temple, having prepared yourself beforehand?
4. When was the last time you devoted your fast to truly uplifting another person? Do you pay your tithing?
5. When you are in the middle of a trial, do you focus on others and give yourself to the service of others as Christ would?

I just really enjoyed his talk. :)

My last stop today was the Natural History Museum. That was a really cool museum. They had this super awesome escalator:

They also had an earthquake simulator and a robotic tyrannosaurus rex. It was a pretty cool place. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the cooksonia plant for my brother-in-law, Ben. But the museum was still neat.

Afterwards, we went back to the flat and had breakfast for dinner! Then Palmer and I watched the final episode of the first season of “Sherlock.” Love that show!

Anyway, this was my last Sunday in London. I’ll be in Paris next Sunday, and then we leave London the following Wednesday. I’ve really enjoyed my time in London, and I plan on enjoying what time I have left here!

Portobello Road Round 2

14 July 2012

Today after classes, we went back to Portobello Road to look around. And I took a picture this time:

And I found some good stuff. I got a shirt and cardigan for ten pounds. Not bad! I also found more spoons similar to the one I got last week. One has a castle on it, and the spoon is from “the continent” as they say. The other two are called apostle spoons. They each have figures of an apostle on the top of the handle. They’re really cool. I like them a lot.

After we left the market, we went down by Big Ben and the Tower Bridge. Look at what they did for the Olympics:

Surprisingly, those two things took basically all day. So after that, we just got gelato waffles (SO good!) and then went home. I worked on homework for a couple of hours (I know, it’s boring, but I had to do it). After that, Palmer and I watched an episode of “Sherlock.” I’m becoming a big fan of that show!

Sorry about the boring post, but that’s all I did today. But hey, I go to Paris soon!

I'm Related to THIS Guy?

13 July 2012

Good news! I didn’t have classes today! It was so great. Instead of holding class, our group hired a bus for the day so that we could visit some important, historical sites.

Our first stop was Battle, a town built around the site of the Battle of Hastings. In case you don’t know what that is, here’s a very low-key history lesson for you (otherwise, you won’t understand the significance of our visit there):

So you’ve got the Saxons in England, being ruled by Edward the Confessor, and then there are the Normans next door in modern-day France, who are under William, Duke of Normandy. Edward and William are cousins, and Edward at one point tells William that he should inherit the English throne. But by the time Edward dies, he changes his mind and tells his brother-in-law, Harold, that he should have the throne. So the nobility (who are in charge of appointing the new king) choose Harold as the new king. Well, William is infuriated. So he decides to sail to England to fight Harold and take the throne. That battle takes place at Hastings, and William and the Normans destroy Harold and the Saxons. So William is now the new French-speaking king of England (hence his nickname, William the Conqueror). And it is because of this invasion that English (which used to sound closer to German) now sounds semi-French. The Battle of Hastings was the most significant event in the history of the English language.

So you can see why, being students of English linguistics, we absolutely had to go there. (And apparently, I'm related to William the Conqueror...not sure how I feel about that.) Now, there is an abbey built on the battlefield. It was William’s way of commemorating those who died there, including King Harold.

It was really interesting to be there. We were able to just walk around the grounds, and it felt similar to walking around Gettysburg. It was hard to imagine seven thousand men dying there. They also have a stone laid in the very spot that King Harold died.

Battle Abbey

Battle Abbey...again

Inside the Abbey

"The traditional site of the high altar of Battle Abbey founded to commemorate  the victory of
Duke William on 14 October 1066. The high altar was placed to mark the spot where King Harold died.

"This stone has been set in this place to commemorate the fusion of the English
and Norman peoples which  resulted from the great battle fought here in 1066."

After that, we made our way to Canterbury. And on the way there, we kind of saw the Cliffs of Dover. We didn’t have time to stop. I wish we would have.

Cliffs of Dover

Canterbury was cool though. We got to walk through the cathedral there. And this cathedral is really significant because it’s the death place of St. Thomas Beckett. William the Conqueror had him killed because he wouldn’t sign a document that would have given the king more power and the Church less power. But what really makes it bad is that William’s knights killed Thomas in the cathedral. They didn’t even have the decency to take him outside. So now, a lot of people will go on a pilgrimage to the Canterbury Cathedral to commemorate St. Thomas.

Canterbury Cathedral

Canterbury Cathedral

The spot and memorial of St. Thomas Beckett's death

After we left Canterbury, we went to a really nice restaurant and ate dinner as a group. And that was a lot of fun, just being together (and getting a real meal that was already paid for!).

By the time we got home, we were exhausted. I wish we could sleep in tomorrow. But we have class. But that’s okay. I can sleep once I’m back in Utah, right? :)

British Library...My New Love!

12 July 2012

Today, we got to go to the British Library, and it was AMAZING! I absolutely loved it. First of all, look at this awesome bench:

I want a bench like this for my awesome library that I'm going to have in my house someday.

Entrance to the library

Unfortunately, those are the only pictures I was allowed to take. But I got to see so many things! There were a lot of original manuscripts of famous texts, like The Canterbury Tales, Persuasion, Rebecca, The Exeter Book, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Handel’s Messiah, Beatles lyrics, William Tyndale’s translation of the Bible, and—best of all—Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre. In case you don’t know, that is my absolute favorite book in the entire world! I fell in love with it the first time I read it when I was fourteen years old. I seriously almost cried when I saw the original manuscript. I read the page that was displayed, and I wish I could have turned the page and kept going!

Okay, so actually, Palmer managed to take a picture of Jane Eyre with her phone…YES!

Everything else in that library was incredible too! It was amazing to be able to see the authors’ drafts and their actual handwriting. I could live in the British Library and be happy for the rest of my life.

Tonight was also mine and Palmer’s night to cook dinner for our flat. We decided to make zucchini pizza (we found the recipe on Pinterest, of course). It turned out well and was really good! This is why we love Pinterest. :)

I also got to Skype with two of my nephews, Jaxon and Broden, tonight. It was so fun! Jaxon (who just turned four) has gotten more used to seeing me on a computer screen, so he just carried on like normal. And he asked me when I was coming home. I can’t wait to see that boy again! Broden (who recently turned one) took a bit longer to understand that Aunt Jessi was in the computer. But after a few minutes of staring, he finally cracked and broke out a big smile. He even said hi to me and blew me kisses (several times!). Needless to say, I was feeling pretty loved. Those boys are just so great!

After that, Palmer and I watched the first episode of the first season of Sherlock. It’s so good! I’m already hooked to the show. Haha. We would have watched another one, but we have to be ready by 8 AM tomorrow morning. We’re going to the site of the Battle of Hastings!

Music in the Park :)

11 July 2012

Kylee and I mapped out what we’re going to do basically the rest of the time we’re in London. There’s so much to see and so little time! Hopefully we can get to everything on our list. This is what we have so far (that we haven’t already done):

Victoria and Albert Museum

British Library

Natural History Museum

*Take a picture of a cooksonia plant for Ben ;)

Double Decker Bus

London Bridge

River Thames Boat Ride

Millennium Bridge

Westminster Abbey

Tower of London

St. Paul’s Cathedral

National Portraits Gallery

Olympic Park

Trafalgar Square

Tate Modern Museum

Abbey Road

Attend Shakespeare Play
Hyde Park
Kensington Gardens

It should be a fun couple of weeks!

Today after class, Kylee, Palmer, and I went to Victoria Embankment Gardens to find a statue of William Tyndale. We couldn’t find it anywhere, and when we asked someone about it, he just told us it wasn’t there. Failure. But we did find a piano just sitting on the lawn in the park for people to play. Awesome, right? Well we just couldn’t resist. So we all took turns playing, and we were there for quite a while. It was so fun! Some guys from Manchester sat down on the bench by the piano and started asking me to play come random songs. Yeah, I’m not that good. Haha.

After we finally left the gardens, we headed over to the British Museum. That was so cool! They had a copy of Discobolus, the mummy of Cleopatra, and a lot of other awesome stuff. We didn’t have tons of time because Kylee had to get home, but we could have spent hours there.

Discobolus!

There wasn’t a whole lot that happened after that. I Skyped my family after we finally got the internet to work. But yeah, that was about it.

The Blessings of Too Much Smoke

10 July 2012

Today, we just went to random places. We found Olympic Park, but we’re going to go later, when it’s closer to the Olympics. Then we walked through a market and went to a bookstore. The bookstore was cool. It’s been there since 1797, so the building was cool. We all just looked around for a while, which was fun.

That all sounds like nothing, but it took a good four hours! Once we were back, we just relaxed while eating strawberries and Cadbury chocolate from a jar. That stuff is SO good! I’m pretty sure that there will be Cadbury chocolate in heaven. :)

Later, while Molly and Kylee were making dinner, one of our directors ran upstairs to tell us that the fire alarm for our flat was going off downstairs. I’m not sure why we couldn’t hear it, but we opened all of the windows, and we all started trying to fan out the kitchen. I’m sure it was quite a sight! Luckily, everything was fine, but we were a little concerned about what would happen if a real fire were to break out. We wouldn’t have heard the alarm! But our director told us that he’d run up to save us if it went off. Haha. And it actually turned out to be a blessing. Keep reading.

The rest of the night was pretty uneventful, except for when our internet went out while I was trying to Skype my sister and in an effort to get a better connection, I hurried out of my room, letting the locked door shut behind me…with the key inside. Yeah, that was awesome. But since we had opened the windows earlier to get some ventilation, someone suggested that Palmer climb out the window, onto the scaffolding (for once, I’m grateful for construction!), and squeeze through our window into our bedroom. Keep in mind that these windows have openings that are less than a foot tall. Good thing Palmer’s so thin! She did a fantastic job, and she was able to unlock our door from the inside. So I’m happy to say that we did NOT have to sleep in our kitchen. :)