June

I'm determined to catch up so sit tight, this could get long. The last month has been super busy with with visitors. Gwen came the second week of June. Although spending a lot of time in Europe (her mother is French) she had never been to London, so I had the pleasure of introducing them.

After working in the London office on Friday we went to see the crown jewels in the Tower of London and then wandered across Tower Bridge, past London Bridge to The Globe, and walked across the Millenium bridge to end at St Paul's Cathedral. Our little feet were so tired but we then had to rush to catch Les Mis. I had been dreaming of seeing Les Mis in London for some time and although it was amazing I really missed Alfie Boe :(

The next day we woke up and went straight to Borough Market where we ate yummy bread, cheese, fresh juice and...oysters. This was a first for me (oysters) and I'm still not sure how I feel about them.

 

We then explored Parliament Square, Trafalgar Square, and the National Gallery (my fav). After eating the rest of our goods from Borough Market on the steps of the National Gallery we continued on our mini walking marathon to see Buckingham Palace, Green Park, Fortnam & Masons and Harrods. Sadly, Gwen hopped on a plane the next day to head back to Geneva but it was so fun to have her visit!

Kayce came to visit later that week. Although I had to work while she was here we made the most of the evenings and weekends. The second night she was here we went to see Once and I fell even more in love with this music...and was just loving all the Czech.

That weekend we headed for Amsterdam. I saw this deal for a 'Rail&Sail' package from London to Amsterdam. This consisted of a 2 hour train ride+8 hour boat ride+another 1.5 hour train ride. Sounds fun, right? Well, as much as I love trains and boats, I was pretty exhausted of both by the end of the day.

That night we went to the Van Gogh museum which was open late for the weekend. They had an awesome DJ and the art was just incredible. This was prob one of my favorite things we did all weekend.

Saturday morning we went straight to see the Anne Frank house because I had heard that the lines get pretty crazy. Although the line was pretty long, it wasn't the worst part. It was rainy and cold and oh so windy. I quickly bought an umbrella off a street vendor. It lasted me 5 min before it blew inside-out. This super nice couple next to me tried to help me fix it but the umbrella had none of it. So I let it sit there all mangled above my head...better some cover than none, I thought. Then this nice man from the museum came out to lend a few umbrellas to people standing in line. When he saw my destroyed umbrella he handed me one. This one was much sturdier and showed promise. Indeed it was sturdier, it lasted a whole 6 min before flipping inside-out by the wind. I felt terrible. But I looked around and found comfort in the fact that I wasn't the only one who had destroyed the museum's umbrellas. We eventually made it inside and I loved being able to see this house that I read about so many years ago and see the diary itself.
 

Afterward we wandered through the city, took a boat tour of the canals and just enjoyed the sun that finally decided to grace us. I have to admit that I wasn't sure how much I'd like Amsterdam but I was pleasantly surprised to find it quite magical.

The next Friday Lauren and I went to see The Taming of the Shrew at the Globe. This is one of my favorite plays and the weather was perfect. It was the longest day of the year so we also had daylight through the whole play. I loved it so much that I don't think I'll ever go back. I just can't imagine ever topping it.

The next week Meggan came for a few days. She really wanted to go to Bath and Stonehenge so we rented a car and went out. Although I had already seen both I was happy to go back with the prospect of nicer weather. It didn't disappoint. We had a great time wandering through Bath and this time Stonehenge was still open when I got there so I finally got to take a closer look.

Isn't England just beautiful??

Cotswolds

For Laura's last weekend we rented a car and headed out to explore the Cotswolds. It's a region of towns built from the cotswold stone, making them just charming.

We headed out Friday night and soon discovered that the rest of London had the same idea because it took us FOREVER to get out of the city. We finally made it to our cute little B&B (below) late that night but I'm so glad we battled traffic on Friday because we woke up to a beautiful day on Saturday all fresh and ready to go.

I don't remember all of the towns we hit but we saw Cheltenham, Slaughters, Abbots Grange, Bourton-on-the-Water and Stow-on-the-Wold. Aren't those the best names ever?

We explored the town a bit and then started driving through some of the most beautiful countryside I've ever seen.

 We made sure to swing by Stratford-Upon-Avon, which wrapped up our day.

Sunday morning we went to church then stopped by a couple of more towns on our way home.

One final stop in Oxford rounded out our trip.

Leeds, Canterbury and Dover

After our whirlwind trip in Italy Laura and I decided to 'take it easy.' Yeah. That somehow turned into a 14-hour road trip.

Our first stop was Leed's castle. A real stunner. There's just something so charming about water...even when it's murky.

We stopped at Canterbury, which I thought was a cute little town but no pics, I'm afraid...they were all a bit uninspiring. BUT we made our way down to the Cliffs of Dover and you have to admit they're pretty amazing. I had been wanting to see these for so long. Laura and I both agreed that they'd be even more stunning without the spots of green on them. Darn hearty plants.

We drove down the coast and caught the sunset in Brighton. The town is totally hippy and we didn't really love it at first but it kind of grows on you. Finally, we then made the long trek back home. It was a super long day but packed with lots of great sights, don't you think?

Italy

Laura came to visit! But first she stopped in Italy, where she served her mission, so I went down to hang out for the weekend before we came back to London.

It was my first time to Italy and was so pleased with our first encounter. Saturday we visited all of the towns in Cinque Terre. I had high expectations and these little towns did not disappoint. 

 

 

 

The next day we went to church with Laura's friends and then set off to see the Tower of Pisa and explore the town a bit.

Later that afternoon we drove over to Lucca for a bit more exploring before we caught a late flight back to a not-so-sunny London. Needless to say the entire weekend was just lovely...a bit of a whirlwind but still lovely.

Salzburg

We had a bank holiday the first weekend in May so I hopped on a plane to Salzburg to visit my friend, Jenny, and her husband, Berni. I just love these two.

It was a delightful weekend full of late-night chats, a young women activity, sightseeing (castle, smallest house in Salzburg, Mozart's birthplace and the cute streets lined with shops), and even snuck in a lovely Sunday nap.

Not to mention the food...but I always mention the food. I had some yummy goulash, a sausage sandwich (pic below) with this awesome mustard (which I don't normally like but kind of loved this time) and, of course, chocolate.

I flew home early Monday and still had the day wide open. So I put on some walking shoes and set out to explore. I discovered Sloane Street and Sloane Square and we became fast friends. And then the lovely three-day weekend came to an end :(

April in London

I am so frightfully behind and feel totally overwhelmed with all the things I want to share. I'll catch you up to the end of April and will have you post more later, I'm afraid.

A few weekends ago (April 20) I decided to hop on a train to Windsor Castle. Apparently the Queen had the same idea because she was there that weekend. We chatted a bit over some tea and scones...at least that what I envisioned as I walked around the lovely grounds and through the incredible halls.

I've seen a lot of castles in my day but I have to admit Windsor Castle still charmed me.

After Windsor Castle I met up with Lauren and we walked through the dreamy neighborhoods around Notting Hill and then wandered down the not-so-dreamy Portobello Road.

Earlier that week I discovered a delightful pub (George's Tavern) not far from my flat and finally had some fish and chips and sticky toffee pudding...so good!

That week I also took myself to Singin' in the Rain. I sat on the second row and could not have been more giddy. I just love the music, I love the story and I loved getting splashed while the actors danced on stage in the rain. This pic is certainly not my most photogenic moment and doesn't really capture how excited I really was...but it's proof I was there :)

The next weekend I met up with a friend from MBA school and her husband (Michelle and DJ). Michelle is also doing an 8-month rotation in London for her company. We met at Brick Lane for some Indian food. The food was yummy but it was especially fun to catch up with friends.

The next day (April 27) I went to the London temple. I mapped out the journey before I left and saw that the temple was 'only' 2-3 miles from the train station so I thought I might just enjoy a good walk rather than take a taxi or wait for the bus. It turned out to be quite a walk, much of it without sidewalks so I must be the rare person that walks that stretch of road. But I made it! Luckily it was a bright sunny day...also pretty rare.

That afternoon I decided to go check out Columbia Road Market. It's known for its flowers but unfortunately it was still too early in the year for them to set all of their flowers out on the street. However, I still had fun wandering through the cute colorful shops that line the street.

The ward had a talent show that night. I normally dread talent shows...I just get so nervous and/or embarrassed for the people performing. But I was pleasantly surprised by this one...(most) everyone did really well.

We had a special treat at the end when Dominic Miller (who is not a Mormon but his son is) performed. He played a solo version of 'Fields of Gold' that made me cry it was so lovely. He played a second song with his son, Harley. They played 'Teach Me to Walk in the Light.' It really was incredible to hear him play and really wonderful to see him play with his son.