Day 12-13

Day 12:

On Sunday I went to my official ward for the first time. Getting there was an adventure. With all of the strikes and tube closures it took us two and a half hours church. We took four tubes and went to two different train stations before we got there.  In the end traveling two and from church it took about 3 to 3 and a half hours round trip. We were an hour late, but about a third of the ward was also because of all of the tube closures. Our ward was very small. It was mostly Africans, there was one Irish family, one Tongan family, and two English couples. Only two of the families there even had children. The ward was really excited to have us there. The bishop asked all of the kids from BYU to come up and bear their testimonies. It was a really neat experience.

Day 13:

Monday was such a great day! We had English in the morning, which is a great class. We talked about Twelfth Night and Shakespeare the entire time, and had some really great discussions. After that discussion I like twelfth night a lot less than I did before after going more into detail. We talked a lot about how the plot isn’t well developed, the crudeness of the play, and the bisexual references. Before I just thought it was a fun lighthearted play, but after discussing it I don’t think so any more.

After English we had a free day! That doesn’t happen very often, so we made the most of it! Jaden, Amanda, Kayley, and I did some things on our list that we aren’t doing as a group. First, we went to Buckingham palace. It was a beautiful building. We were sad that we couldn’t go inside, but the grounds nearby, St. James Park, were beautiful. I can’t believe how green it is here! I think the parks and the green space here in London is amazing.

After that we walked down a street called the Mall which leads to Trafalgar Square. We got a picture with the lions and the best part was trying to climb up them and a get a picture. It was raining so we were all slipping on the pillar we were trying to climb. It was so funny.

We went to the National Gallery of Art next which I had already been to, but it was even better this time! The National Gallery is huge!! We all loved it! We spent two and a half hours there and it was not enough! We saw Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Monet, Manet, Da Vinci, Michelangelo, and many people we didn’t know. I wrote down all my favorite paintings, but the list got far too long. There were so many neat paintings that I had never heard of before that were just incredible. I think it was the highlight of the day.

We found Jeremy Bentham, a man who died in 1830 who asked for his body to be preserved. He is still dressed and his body is still there. Some students stole his head a while ago and then it started to look funny, so they put a wax head in. We found the case that he is displayed in, but it was closed because it was a bank holiday! Literally all of the exhibit was open except the body. We were a little sad about that.

Yesterday we ate a lot of great food also :). I tried some Salt and Vinegar and Cider chips (they call them crisps here). They were amazing! I can never have regular Salt and Vinegar chips. I think I am going to have to bring a lot home! We also went to Scoops! Great gelato. I had cookies and cream, hazelnut, and pistachio gelato. Surprisingly their cookies and cream was incredible! It was seriously the best ice cream I have ever had!

I’ll write for today later!