A night at the theatre.

I'm in London so yes, I can snobbishly spell it like that.

I saw Keira Knightley tonight.

(And Peggy from Mad Men + Miss Baggoli from Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen + Barbara Bush in W.)

I even waited outside the stage door with the paparazzi like some sort of freak.

Embarrassing.

But she is BEYOND beautiful.

I couldn't take my eyes off her....even as she got inside her black, window-tinted, waiting car.

Yes, just like celebrities in movies. They really do that.

Oh, the play was good too......very heavy. 

She captured tragedy. 

......

But I think I prefer my musicals.

An evening at Big Ben.

This week we got to visit with Member of Parliament Dave Rutley. 
He so eloquently talked of his political campaign, his governmental duties, and his position as the only LDS member in the House. I found it all very fascinating. It also helped that he looked like George Clooney, with a charming British accent. Because let's be honest, who wouldn't be transfixed?




Then he dropped the enlightened bomb that was exactly what I needed to hear. 


These are the years that define the rest of your life. 
Set a big goal now--a goal that you don't even think is possible. But just set it. 


‎"You will make all kinds of mistakes; but as long as you are generous and true and also fierce, you cannot hurt the world or even seriously distress her. The world was meant to be wooed and won by youth."   -Winston Churchill


Granted, this quote did come from the same man that also famously said, "I may be drunk, Miss, but in the morning I will be sober and you will still be ugly"......but let's try and disregard that fact.



Big goal. Woo & win the world. (I loved that personification.) 


With your blessing Churchill & Rutley, I think I will. I'm not crazy. Thank you.

I do other things but walk London.

I promise. But this is the final, last of the last assignments for this walking class so....please bear with me through this post. Or rather yet, just skip it. You hear me? SKIP IT!

Except you, Professor Crowe. 

The Favorite Three: 

1. Soho to Trafalgar Square.  Mostly because it's really fresh on my mind, this walk was also downright exciting. The West End theater district, the entertainment industry hub, Soho, Chinatown, a protest in the square......they were all places I would have walked around and visited eventually before my leave anyway. The whole walk hardly felt like a class assignment. I was just an American girl out experiencing the British world--kind of like an Amanda Bynes movie.

2. Central Parks. London parks are clean and beautiful. Aerial creatures and their mechanic movements are beautiful. Springtime provides sunshine and blossoming flowers, which are extremely beautiful after this most chilling winter I've experienced. All factors combined made for a golden walk experience I'm not likely to forget. It also helped that this walk was done with Brenden & Spring, and if you haven't noticed, I quite fancy them and their presence. Since I'm feeling extra nice this evening, I'll admit that they are also quite beautiful, too. So it was the complete walking package.

3. Bankside & Southward. A walk really can't go wrong when it includes THE ultimate food mecca, also known as the Burough Market. Time has begun to wind down and I'm starting to have to think about going home and all the London things I will miss. You better believe this place and its yogurt-covered banana chips are number one, all thanks to the introduction provided by this walk. PLUS, all the "Hay" insignia surrounding the area further proved our necessary & perhaps divinely-intended friendship; you just shouldn't ignore signs.



And there you have it. Thanks Professor Crowe, you really made me prove the legitimacy of my name.

T-Con. T-Rex. Or just Trav.

You can call him whatever you want, but this guy is my absolute best friend--has been for four years. Probably from the very day Junior year of high school that he walked into seminary with a fleece blanket wrapped over the entirety of his body (even his head) and sat down, acting dead for the first twenty minutes of that very early morning. I noticed movement to my left, so I looked, only to discover he was pulling out a salad mixing bowl, a full cartoon of 2% milk, and an entire box of Rice Krispies cereal. He had a feast, even managing to look a very annoyed seminary instructor in the eye after having taken her entire class' (already) groggy attention.

He finished two bowls that morning.


Two days later he walked in, late, dressed in proper school attire (without the infamous brown caribo-or-something fleece blanket). He discreetly went to grab his scriptures while the instructor continued teaching. "Rarrrrrmmmm." We all look to see where the loud sound came from. He had sounded a horn he found in the Primary's toy closet.


A few weeks later. We are driving in his car. I'm fiddling around in Angelina's (the name of his monstrous white truck, who just so happened to have just gotten some new "kicks", as he so proudly pointed out) center console, discovering all sorts of treasures like his light-up mouth "grillz" and diamond studded chains. The kid thought he was a rapper, especially on the days he wore his navy jumpsuit. But today, he was singing Michael Buble. It was a very important day. This is the day I found out Travis could sing. I tested him by choosing a few other songs on his genre-diverse ipod. Flawless on every single one. We have sung Chris Brown & Jordin Spark's duet of "No Air" in the car together ever since.


A year later. Senior year is winding down, but the final activities are just starting to gear up, including the first year of Mr. Wolfpack, which I was stressfully planning. I begged Travis to be one of the contestants (it was a male beauty pageant). I knew he would make it unforgettable. At one point, I even think I recall using blackmail....he was nervous about the talent portion. I told him to sing. And I recited his car-concert repertoire. He had it in the bag. No practice was even necessary.

He sang "Can You Feel The Love Tonight." I was so proud.


We graduated. I moved away to Utah. He moved away to Utah. I was overly depressed about this strange, new phase of life and the loss of a boyfriend that meant a lot to me. He was overly depressed about the strange, new phase of life and the loss of a girlfriend that meant a lot to him. He got me through it. I tried to do the same.


He moved back home. We both lived our separate lives and he eventually started preparing for the day I hoped would come but was dreading at the same time, his mission.

To Concepcion, Chile.


I received this in an email from him a few days ago: ".... next good story has to do with a noche de hogar (family night) we had with my favorite fam here, the Oportus'. They are hilarious. They think to speak English you just put a -tion at the end of any spanish word haha. Like to pray, orar, but to make it english they say oration. Ha oh man. Anyways, ya somehow even here in Chile they found about my singing. Yes that's no lie my friend, my singing at Mr. Wolfpack. Oh my word, thats all I have to say. Soooo..they made me sing it in front of 20 Chileans, haha it was so funny. My companion died laughing."


It's been days and I'm still dying of both laughter and nostalgia. He's the best, funniest, kindest person I've met. Amongst all the hilarious moments he's provided, he has also had some that are more mellow and sweet--like the time I was extremely sick from food poisoning and was left in charge of house sitting and two children under the age of four for a weekend. While I was doing my best to keep my head out of the toilet, he was playing Animals with them upstairs and folding the laundry. Or the time he fed my horses for a week while my family was in Hawaii. Or the time he stayed up until three in the morning quizzing me for an exam I had to take the next day. Or the time he made me the best birthday card the world has ever seen, complete with rhinestones and the Trump towers. He's a one-of-a-kind friend. And again, I'm beyond proud of him.




For those who aren't as youtube informed as the Chileans:

The magic of a bus and this continent

...is that you can get on one and be in another place, cultures apart, within a few hours. Emphasis on few--we are talking like one, two, three tops. Not double digits, like the states. It's quite the luxury these Europeans get to enjoy. And that I get to enjoy, at least for a few more weeks.

Amiens, France.

It's not the Eiffel Tower or the Louvre, I realize. But it's the home to the biggest cathedral in all of Europe, charming French neighborhoods that make you want to swoon, and the Somme Battlefields of WWI. Which is just as cool. 

Cathédrale Notre-Dame d'Amiens:
The head of John the Baptist is alleged to be here, a relic brought from Constantinople in the Fourth Crusade. You could see the wear and tear of time on the ceiling and walls and for whatever reason, it made the building even more beautiful. It made it real.
Why I would want to be French: 
(Excluding the pretty language, fashion expertise practically a part of their DNA, and delectable cuisine). We found this area just outside the cathedral. I couldn't help but imagine a life of waking up in one of the cute, curtained homes and eating a small portion of baguette and Brie cheese with the sounds of a violin being played down the street at a nearby cafe. I'd make my way to my home design studio across the square, where I'd then boss employees around for not getting the right bolts of pretty fabrics and materials for my latest and most pressing projects, all before meeting a few darling, fabulous friends for a late lunch. You should also know that in this day-dream I had some very chic bangs....I go for the complete picture.

In Flanders Field  WWI Museum: 
We do have scholastic requirements. I mean, this is school. Even if everything you do seems too fun to be. This museum was one of the best, most well-done and interactive museums I've ever been to. Their use of audio and visual tracks was chilling.

This isn't intended to be a political statement, but the last room really got to me. WWI was supposed to be "the war to end all wars." In a short two decades we were fighting another, perhaps larger war. There have been over 126 armed conflicts since (as of 2008). I've had John Lennon's Imagine stuck in my head ever since (no, not the Glee version :).

The WWI 2nd British front-line trenches: 
I got to walk through these! I've been to the South and visited Civil War battlegrounds. I've been to the east coast and seen sites of the Revolutionary War. But neither of those experiences compared with this. It was beyond moving. Truly an unreal experience. This was the earth that the German and British soldiers fought each other from. Where they lived with dog-sized rats and picked up all manner of diseases. Where they died. Where a lot of them are still trapped in and buried. It was one of the coolest things I've done. And I almost feel like a different person because of it, as silly as that sounds.


The entire group. It's not often we get a picture. (Notice our cute professors & their families--the Crowe's and Dursteler's. They are the best.)

Soho to Trafalgar Square.

My last and final London walk. Hooray!  

I didn't intentionally save the best for last. If I had, I would have thought it through a little better and made sure I wasn't the only student to do so. You see, as fate would have it, I didn't think things through and DID have to go at this walk alone--in all my Asian tourist-esque map-following glory. But this isn't me complaining. I actually quite enjoyed being able to go at my own pace.

This walk was the Jack of all [walking] trades.
Diverse. Cosmopolitan. Rousing...plus a plethora of other positive adjectives you'll only roll your eyes at because I have a problem condensing my vocabulary. But you hopefully get the idea.

It led me through the center of both the textile & fashion industries, past the Twentieth Century Fox offices, to William Blake's (the poet) birthplace, into the hub of the music and film industry (I was quite twitterpated here....), around the red-light district (which is almost nothing in comparison to that found in Amsterdam--a good thing), among the jubilee of Chinatown, and against the throng of protesters in Trafalgar Square. Eventful would be an understatement. 

The highlight of the walk, I will admit, was reaching the arches of Chinatown's main street. I've been mistaken a time or two of having some sort of Asian heritage and now can't help but feel an abnormal kinship to their fun, vibrant culture. Once I was even approached and asked by a true Asian continental resident. (I probably wasn't wearing enough eye make-up that day.) Kaylee was waiting nearby for a Chinese feast we'd had planned, which was delicious though devoid of fortune cookies. I wish I could understand the unfortunate overlook...the cookie is my favorite!

fries, lace, waffles, & a little something called CHOCOLATE.

Yes, I'm talking about Belgium. 

The most amazing place I have visited to date. 

To start, I need to address the fact that I'm starting to feel like a celebrity on tour....or something. Not because the Europeans gawk at my American presence in their streets or because I have an entourage that follows me around to make me look pretty (it's actually quite the opposite--they think we are silly & I've never felt this hygienically gross in my life), but because for the last month I've very literally been waking up each day in a different place. It's been crazy. I even woke up the other day not remembering who or where I was. 

It was nuts. 

Anyways. Let's talk about the quiet, quaint town of Brugge. Our introduction was made with a canal boat ride that very literally bewitched me. The canals forked all around the city center and provided the best scenery, especially of the many tall church spires reflected along the serene surface of the water. Mmm. So lovely.

The sites only got better by night. (As if that was even possible.)

You know those times when something is so physically stunning your gaping mouth can't close? Or the happy, invincible feeling you get from endorphins after running? Ya? Are we on the same page? Can you imagine what it was like to see and smell chocolatiers on every street?! It was pure bliss and torture all at the same time.

The woman at Depla Chocolatier managed to pull out ahead of the competition, beating even the experts at the Chocolate Museum (which you better believe we visited). She's a confection genius. Somehow, by some twisted miracle, I conjured up the willpower to limit myself three pieces--one of which included the truffle. It changed my life. It rocked my world. It penetrated my soul.

And I'm not even being dramatic.

The Choco-Story Museum gave us some laughs with their chocolate statue of Obama AND their frequent depictions of the cocoa bean (NOT a potato). 

The next morning we woke up to sunny skies & warm weather. We rented bikes. I learned tandems aren't so easy to steer.... But we were on uneven, cobbled surfaces. And my mind was aloof on the blossoms. That's the story I'm sticking to.

Other aspects that made Brugge so great:

A. The cute man playing the accordian on the street. Yes, the accordian. My mother used to play it, too. 

B. Exploring the city at night & reaping the benefits from Brenden's unsung photo-taking dexterity.

C & D. The fries & waffles. And hot chocolate, oliebollen, and croques. It's so nice to travel with these boys because they NEVER pass up the opportunity to experience the edible culture. They order everything. Which means I don't have to. They allow me a nibble. It's a great system we have worked out.

E. The evidence of spring's presence could be seen everywhere. I relished having sun shining on my face and being able to play outside in the fresh flowers without a constricting jacket on. London is still behind..

F. One of the exhibits in the Choco-Story Museum was this toy set of a dentist--the exact same lego toy set I used to play with when I was stuck at my dad's dental office for the afternoon in elementary school. It brought back a river of memories. The exact same toy! So random.

And as if our visit to this country wasn't already perfection incarnate with the included, we came across this carnival during our quick stop in Leper to visit the In Flanders Field WWI Museum. But that's a different story for a different day...