Journey to a land of English!!!!

As you can tell from the title I was extremely excited to be able to speak English to the person sitting next to me and they would respond IN ENGLISH and I could understand them (for the most part) and I could ask for directions and the response would actually help me and ah!! it was amazing! London was amazing and it wore me to death! We walked all day and night and still didn't get everything done that I hoped for. But we did see TONS and loved it all.

Britt and I began our journey at 4:50 when the taxi picked us up in Spain to take us to the airport. We arrived in England and had to take an hour bus ride to London where we got on the tube and then began our attempt to find the hostel. We, of course, got lost right away and I do know that miracles happen because right as I finished a little prayer in my head I turned around and looked up only to see Rebbie walking towards me!!! It was SO fun to see her and to play with her for a couple of days. I had missed her SO much and what best friends can say they explored London together?!The hostel was lovely and we scored bigtime with the suite room but only had to pay for the cheapest priced room for each night there! Saturday we went to Borrough's Market which is a huge food market with the most awesome food! We ate delicious veggie burgers! These are mushrooms!! Ever seen them so big and so much variety?Then we went to Trafalgar Square, The National Gallery (where we saw famous paintings by Rembrandt, Leonardo de Vinci, Michelangelo, Monet, Van Gogh, and more...just a few, I know), and walked along the Thames Rivier to see all the beautiful bridges! The London bridge wasn't even cool but the Tower bridge was amazing! And at the end of our walk was Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament! Oh and it was pouring rain ALL day and SO cold and we didn't like being wet and cold so then that night we went to the cinema and saw Solace of Quantum, the new Bond movie which I don't even think is out in the states for a while still. Pretty cool huh?Sunday morning we walked thorugh Hyde park, St. James park, Green park and Kensington park that lead us to Buckingham Palace where the Queen lives. It was so beautiful, just wish I could have gone inside! Then Britt and I evetually made it to the singles ward, which was so fun to attend church and be able to understand it. I LOVED it! It made me realize how much I miss participating in the discussions and being able to read. Afterwards we were able to go to "the center," which is where the BYU London Study Abroad is. I got to see where Rebbie studies, eats, and sleeps(all in the same place.) We also got to eat dinner there that night and meet all the girls. It is SO beautiful and made me very jealous of them. It looks like so much fun! Then that night we went on a walk to see lights at night and had a little photo shoot....haha and then walked down Oxford street, which everything was closed so they could all decorate for CHRISTMAS!!!!

Monday we met up with Hillary, Britton, and little baby Nora! She is so big and so stinkin cute! She is pretty much a perfect baby and I was so glad I got to see them. Hillary and Nora took us around all day and were literally the perfect tour guides. We hit everything with perfect timing so we saw the changing of the gaurd and soldiers on horses without having to wait and got front row views. We had lunch with Britton at Wagamama's which was amazing! We went to the British Museum where we saw amazing things you only see in your text books like the Rosetta Stone. I could spend a week there. I loved it so much and only skimmed the surface of that huge place. Next we went to Harrods or as Britton put it best "The Great and Spacious Building." Oh my goodness!!! It was huge and full of everything you can imagine and prices you shouldn't even imagine. It was SO amazing! Now I know where the Celebrities really do shop. It was intense but fun to look through. The fur coats were my favorite and almost affordable at 55,000 pounds thats around $100,000!!!! Then to top the night off perfectly we got to see Mamma Mia!!!!!!!! I loved it!!!!Tuesday was another day full of walking and sight seeing. We started off with the Tower of London, probably one of my favorite sights we saw. It was so fun to see the biggest diamond in the world, The star of Africa, and get a taste of how things were back in the day when it was in full use. After the best part of the trip....SHOPPING!!!!! I went only a little bit crazy. I was quite proud of myself for the bargain deals I got. Topshop and Primark are my two new favorite place to shop. Unfortunately the dollar is almost worthless so it makes things quite expensive but I still managed to find good deals. We shopped for about 4 hours and then met with Britton and family to have dinner and gelato. We sadly said our goodbyes the them and then decided to ride a double decker bus. I have no idea which one it was, it was just the first to come to the bus stop we found so we got on and rode for a bit and then got off and found our way back home.All in all, you can tell that I loved every bit of it. It was so tempting to stay and never come home! I am so grateful for Rebbie, Hillary, Britton, and Nora's time and hospitality! They made our trip amazing and it really couldn't have been better! Hope you enjoy the pics! (once again excuse the wild hair and the billions of layers so I look like i'm puffed up or something! haha)