Sketches

Recapping

Recapping Italy.

I thoroughly loved my time in Italy. Every city we were in had such an old romantic feel to it. The people we came across were nice but very reserved. From what I had heard I had expected the men to be very forward but I really didn’t see a lot of that. From what I saw I would sum Italy up as classy. I saw so many people from young to old that are so beautiful and suave. My favorite part of the entire trip was Venice. It had beautiful scenery, gorgeous men, and delicious food. If I could make my own heaven Venice would be it. I would put Venice as my top pick for places to see before you die.

Recapping France.

When I went to France when I was younger I loved every moment and everything I experienced. When we went during this trip I also enjoyed the things we did but having already been it wasn’t quite as exciting as Italy had been for me. I found that the men here were a lot more forward. Frankly they were perverts. They didn’t try to hide their feelings for you what so ever. The food however was fabulous! The pastries were to die for along with our daily baguette sandwiches. The city itself felt like a cleaner version of New York City, which I love! Although the men were very forward I still love France and I would recommend it be visited at least once in your lifetime.

Recapping England.

After almost three weeks of not being able to communicate with people it was such a relief to be in a country where you can understand what they are saying and expect them to understand you. It is a beautiful country! I love the city, the small towns, and the country side. I loved that I found Dr. Pepper and other American treats that I had been craving. I loved the candy bars, fish n’chips, and biscuits and clotted cream. Other than that the food was fine but nothing that I will crave once I leave. The people were an in between of France and Italy. We got cat calls but not nearly as much as in France. It is a gorgeous place and it is a must see!

Day 34. August 4. London

Our last day before we leave! We met at the underground station at 8:35 and we were on time! More surprisingly we were the first ones there! We were worried that they had changed the time or that they had already left but we were actually just the first ones there. We got on the train and went to Buckingham Palace. It was another amazing palace with 200 plus rooms. It was fun to see where the Queen entertains her guests. It was all just a lot to take in. We left and Linds, Kait, and Brady wanted to go shopping. I wouldn’t have minded it but my shoe broke as we were walking so I needed to get back to the flat asap. So Ali came with me. On our way to the Victoria underground station we saw a bunch of people, ambulances, and police. We saw that the gates were all closed up so we had to find another underground. After walking for what seems like forever, and with my broken shoe and in the rain, we finally got to St. James Park underground. Ali and I got on the train and a voice came over the speaker saying, “This train will not be stopping at Victoria Station due to a person under the train.” Well turns out that the train did stop there anyway but didn’t let anyone off. It was a way eerie feeling because it was completely empty and knowing that someone had gotten hit just made me feel way sick. Anway, we got back to the flat and finished packing and started cleaning. We are now about to go to get dinner and the Gourmet Burger Kitchen again for our last supper. It’s been a fabulous time. I have loved being here but I am ready to go home.

Day 33. August 3. London

Today Ali and I needed a chill day so while Brady, Linds, and Kait went to an amusement park Ali and I just hung out. I woke up and did some homework and then Ali woke up and we had some breakfast. We started packing our things. We finally got ready and left the flat at 2:00. Our first stop was a cupcake place called Hummingbird.I'm not sure why my hair looks red. But you can be assured that that will be one of the first things fixed when I get home along with a mani and pedi. It costs more if you want to eat in but we decided to do it just because it was such a beautiful day(first warm non-rainy day in 16 days). We both got the red velvet cupcake and it was so good! You will be able to see how much we enjoyed them from the series of pictures. We then made our way to Harrods(a huge upscale department store). We started walking through the different areas. They have a Louis Vuitton section, a Channel section, a Prada section. While Ali and I were in the Louis Vuitton section a very nicely dressed man walked by us. He proceeded to look us up and down and then he snickered at us and walked away. HA! I know I look terrible. I have been living out of a suitcase for the past 5 weeks. I know my hair is a giant frizz ball. I have no other way of doing it! Haha. I felt ridiculous at that point and we made our way down to the gift shop where we thought we might be able to afford something. When a department store has its own gift shop, that’s when you know. Anyway, I decided against buying a small thing of $15 cookies. We left and went to a big grocery store called Sainsbury. I got a ton of chocolate and it wasn’t cheap either. So, if you get some from me you’ll know that I really like you. I then came home and tried to pack it and it isn’t light! Haha we made grilled cheese sandwiches from dinner and then sketched for the rest of the night and went to bed.

Day 32. August 2. London

We woke up early to go to church. It was fast and testimony meeting so we listened to different people’s testimonies. One guy from the Czech Republic got up. I couldn’t understand anything he said until the end when he said, “I’m going through an economic crisis. So please give the Bishop food or money or anything for me.” And then he sat down. It was kind of funny. The ward had just had YW & YM camps so some of the kids were getting up and speaking. It was cute. There were a ton of people from Utah there. I didn’t expect half the ward to be from Utah originally. We came back from church and took a three hour nap and then we made dinner. We made chicken and pasta with pesto, potatoes with butter and cheese, and vegetables. It we spent the rest of the day in our room doing homework and trying not to die from boredom.

Day 31. August 1. London

It was the first day of our three day break. Linds and I wanted to go to Lion King so we got up early and left to get tickets for the matinee show. We got a private box (restricted view) for just the two of us and for L22.50. We headed back to the flat where we napped and did homework until it was time to leave. We got to the underground station but the escalator to the line that we needed to be on was closed so we rushed to find the other line that we could take (we were a little late at this point as it was)and this was going to put us way out of our way. We were waiting for the train and we realized there is another way to get to the line that we needed to be on. So turns out the train was still running and we made it. When we got off of the train you have to take a lift up to street level and there was a huge line so we decided to just take the stairs. Well the lift was there for a reason. As we started getting closer to the top we heard a voice over the speakers saying you just climbed 180 stairs to get to the top. Ha! We were all sweaty and gross and then we had to run to the theater. But we got there just in time. They showed us to our box and then the woman said “In the first scene you will have a performer in the box with you singing and then he’ll leave and you can move your chairs.” So we were like okay that will be cool. And it was! He came in right before he started singing and said hi and then a huge spot light hit him, and us, and he started belting out an African tribal song. Linds got a great picture of it. When he was done he turned to us and said “You two are gorgeous and then shook our hands and left.” It was way cool. All of the costumes were amazing! I am so glad we went. It was a really fun show. The guy who had sang in our box was in another song and he went out on stage with everyone and he was singing and dancing and then he looked up at us and blew us kisses and started waving. Haha Like who does that during your Broadway performance? It was way funny. We went back to the flat and bummed around for the rest of the day. We got really restless so Kaitlyn, Brady, and I decided to go get a burger from a place around the corner called Gourmet Burger Kitchen. Kait and I split an avocado and bacon burger and fries and Brady got a chicken burger. When we were ordering Brady started paying in all change and he didn’t have enough so we had to pay for part of it. The guy looked so mad! I’m pretty sure at least Brady’s burger ended up with spit in it. It was SO dang good though. We did the happy eating dance the entire time we were eating and everyone was looking at us like we were crazy (I would have too). Ha it was way funny. On the way back to the flat we were trying to figure out the “You’re a jerk” skip. Brady was pretty sure that he figured it out. I’m pretty positive he didn’t. It was a good night!

Day 30. July 31. London.

Today was our last day of travel. We first went to Haddon Hall. It is a medieval home but the cool thing about it was that it was still in the medieval style. Some of the homes we have seen may have been built in that time but have been added on to and no longer look like it. So it was fun to see what it would have looked like in the 1200-1400’s. The lady who gave us the tour took us into the kitchen where she explained how the meals were prepared and how sucky the servant’s life was. So they have two big ovens one had a big pot where they had stew the kicker being that they weren’t too concerned about hygiene and cleanliness so they would just keep adding to the stew. So the things in the stew could be up to a year old that you’re eating and you just have to hope that nothing gross fell in. I just about vomited when I heard that. Linds was in the bathroom when they were dividing us up in groups so we had to leave without her. I felt way bad. But Kait, Ali, and I started getting really restless and started acting really immature. It was hilarious though. We were dancing and other people started doing it too. When we finally got outside we kept dancing. As you can see in the picture Ali and I are dancing down the stairs. I’m not sure what she is doing but I may or may not be doing the Rev Run hand motion. No one really knows? It made it really fun though. We then went to the restaurant where we got our biscuits and clotted cream again. Mmm It’s so good! The bus then took us to Chatsworth. Chatsworth has been the setting for Pride and Prejudice, The Duchess, and Wolfman. We started out by going through the gardens. We found this area that has huge boulders where we sat and ate lunch and then took a little nap. We then went around the rest of the gardens. There was a hedge maze but we couldn’t figure it out. It was really pretty. We then went through the house, and they did let us take pictures here so that was cool. Anyway we then went back to the bus for our two hour train ride back. I had a rough day because I couldn’t find my debit card that morning so I rummaged around and that made us late but I got really worried so I text my mom but I accidentally wrote credit card. She tried to call be but I was in the underground so I couldn’t get the call. I meanwhile was trying to call her but couldn’t. So she canceled the credit card. So then I was worried I wasn’t going to have any money because both of my cards were gone. I was way stressed out about it all day and then all of a sudden I realized that the day before we were doing laundry and I had taken everything out of my purse so I could shake out the sand that I still had from Venice, and then put clothes in there. Well my inside zipper hadn’t been totally zipped up and some of my money came out into the garbage sack. I found the money but I didn’t realize that my card had gone in too. So once we got back I opened the garbage and I found my cards I was so happy! Ha It was a good end to the day.

Day 29. July 30. London

It was our free day today. Some people decided to go to museums, some to see more ancient ruins we however decided yet again to sleep in. We did get out of the flat before 11:00 however. We went to the box office to get tickets for that nights Broadway showing of Billy Elliot. We managed to get three seats on the front row and two just behind that and they are called obstructed view seats so we only paid L25.00 for them. As we had gone into the box office we were admiring the beautiful sunny day it was and as we stepped out of the doors, no longer than 10 minutes later, it was pouring outside. We expect nothing less anymore. Because of this weather I have lost every single bit of color that I once had; Mom and Bruce I’m going to need a good long day of boating when I get home! Anyway, we went to the grocery store to stock up one more time on food before we head back. We found Orangina here in London and are pretty pleased about it. They also have this great cereal here called Kellogg’s Crunchy Nut. It’s so good and if I can’t find it when we get back to the states I’m going to be a little upset about it. We got back and hung out for a while at the flat and then got ready and started off to the show. It was so good and worth every pound spent. It’s about a mining town in England that is on strike and Billy, growing up in a very manly man town, just wants to dance (as Brady puts it). It was cute. Here the F bomb isn’t a big deal at all so we heard that about every other word. But there was this adorable little boy, he had to been about 4, in it and I just wanted to go bite his cheeks off he was the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. I was really amazed how much talent these young kids have. They do such an amazing job! It was a really relaxing fun day!