Shifty Business

(I saw this place today, Hampton Court)

So the other day i was casually browsing the ancient manuscript exhibit of the British Library... (I may or may not be a nerd, I do cool things I promise) when this creepy american student from Ohio stops me. I had noticed her glancing at me while I was in the exhibit and I just thought it was because I must have been wearing something weird. The reason why she had been watching me is because she drew a map of my walking pattern and wanted to ask me questions. I participated in her survey but I left the library feeling entirely creeped out and amazed that i didn't realize someone was following me.

Another account of shifty business involves the weather. I got some ice cream today, it was overcast but soon turned into a drizzle. I decided to walk home with my ice cream, then it started raining harder. I got home completely drenched from the downpour and my ice cream cone was dripping down my arm by the time i got inside. Cords are really uncomfortable when they're soaked.
Final account of shifty business-- onions were everywhere in the dinner today. Onions give me migraines. I have never heard of an onion allergy but I think I have one. I had an intense migraine for a half an hour then just a regular headache for the rest of the night. I was trying to read a sheet of paper and i had 3D glasses syndrome. My right eye read everything in blue and my left eye everything was all red. very very very shifty.

the first day of the last

Okay, from this point on this blog could potentially get pretty boring and depressing so I'm going to try to keep it positive. Today I had my first last moment in london. Our last day trip was today, even though the day was filled with many firsts...

(First time punting down the Cam river in Cambridge. First time sitting in row 3 on the coach. First time i can get my hair into a high bun on my hair without any falling out--its getting longer.)

... it was impossible to forget that this trip was the beginning of the end. I hate count downs, but once the number gets small enough I can never forget how soon I pack up my bag to leave. 24 days and I know it is going to fly by.

So here is exactly what has happened over the past few days.
I spent time at portobello road collecting antique maps, architectural plans and boxing gloves. Tourist season has begun, and because I'm technically not a tourist I can admit to being extremely annoyed by them. I like the fact that tourists exist, but I hate when they stand in huge clumps blocking all traffic or walk so slow that you want to punch them in the back of their heads to get them to walk faster. I have gotten good at weaving through crowds. I also went to the TATE modern art museum and I loved it. Modern art is not as weird as other people think, I can understand it, and its not boring even though some people think it is.

I went to St Alvin's cathedral, the American World War 2 Cemetary at Cambridge. It is hard to feel American pride in London because I dislike every American thing I encounter. (McDonalds, KFC, Pizza Hut) After visiting this place, its hard not to be proud to be an American. The rest of the afternoon in Cambridge was a blast, we went on a relaxing punt tour down the river while learning about the colleges in the town. We rode the coach 2 hours back into London and went to Nandos for dinner. Remind me to not drink a huge diet coke before getting on a long coach ride.

PARIS

Paris blog. I officially won't be able to do anything else until this is posted.

Monday- Travel on the train to Paris, then to Chartres. The first thing said to me in french involved a lot of strange grunting as I walked with Tori, the blonde bombshell. In Chartres we wandered around the town having our first french pastries and learning how to interact with people who spoke a different language. I picked up a few phrases from Mary Kate, so at least I could tell them that I didn't speak french. At the Chartres Cathedral we learned how to read stained glass windows.
When we got back to paris we went to the eiffel tower at night, ate crepes and walked to the Arc de Triumph.


Tuesday- Versailles trip. I wish there weren't 2000 other tourists there that day, I could barely see any of the artwork on the inside of the building. The gardens were not in bloom. I will come back to versailles the next time I am in paris because I didn't exactly enjoy this place. It was very stressful and I was tense all day. After Versailles we went in a larger group of people to the Muse d'Orsay. I have decided that impressionist art is my favorite. I loved this museum. We met at the hotel that night to go on a boat tour down the Sciene. This was my favorite part of the day, probably because it was so low key. I would like to say I am very happy i have a good sense of direction but I wish others had it too. When you are in a group of +6 people and nobody listens to you but you are trying to direct everyone where to go, it instantly makes the day aggravating. I am not a planner, but I am a director--problematic when you want a relaxing day.


Wednesday- victory! THE PERFECT DAY. I don't exactly have time to describe everything but here is the layout for the day.
Notre Dame- Rooftop tour



St. Chapelle- amazing stained glass

Berthillion Ice Cream

Cluney Museum- Unicorn Tapestries

Eiffel Tower- all the way to the top

The Pompidou

The Louvre


(And Yes, I did listen to Viva la Vida when I saw this)

The top of the Arc de triumph

My feet were hurting like they've never hurt before but I was so glad that I got so much accomplished.
Watch this awesome video of anna, reesa, carolyn and sarah struggling to walk through the Louvre.


Thursday- Early breakfast at Angelinas (recommendation from MK) where I had a Criox Madame, one of the best breakfast sandwiches I have ever had and Hot Chocolate. (more like melted chocolate) .
After this breakfast we went to l'Orangerie which is my ALL TIME favorite museum in france. It was small and i loved every single piece of art there. We walked down the Champs- Elysees and stopped at NAF NAF and looked for a longchamp store. Finally found one next to the Opera house. We then went to St. Denis to look for this church for an assignment. DO NOT GO THERE. I can only describe it as the french bronx, only worse than what one could imagine. We got back to the Gare Nord train station and took the train home to london. It was a really weird feeling when 27 Palace court felt like home.

2017 please come fast!

Dear Ben Manning,

Remember when we took passport pictures back in April 2007? Remember how I had a huge bump in my hair and you failed to tell me about it even though you watched as they took the one picture that would define my life for the next ten years? Yeah, well I would like you to know that every time I pass through boarder control the agent double takes and for a split second I can see the evil in their eyes saying.... lets not let this girl through. So I am waiting for 2017 when I get a new passport, and for now I hope that the boarder control keeps double taking because I guess this split second of indecision means that I am not quite as unfortunate as my picture makes me look.

For now, LONG LIVE THE TERRORIST!

Symphony

I thought when I went to my first concert (five for fighting) I would never be at a venue with so many people so much older than me. Well, lots of 60+ year old men and women go to symphonies on friday nights. I am on the culture committee at the center but going to the London Philharmonic Orchestra isn't a requirement. Anyway...... here is an illegal video clip i took at the orchestra. don't watch it, just listen.


AND PARIS ON MONDAY!

A Stalkerazzi's Treasure

Now that I have been blogging for about three months, I need to confess something. I am a blog stalker and I love fellow blog stalkers. I like how people put their stuff out for the world to see and there is some suspense in not actually knowing if people read it or not. Bloggers love blog stalkers because when those blog stalkers admit to stalking your blog you realize that all the time spent writing and reading has paid off. So as I was blog stalking this morning I found an awesome film. This is A Fine Frenzy, one of my new favorite artists--cred to anna hayes. I hope you enjoy this stop motion short as much as I did.

Hike and Jane Austen Trip

We went on a 9.6 Mile hike through the countryside on tuesday. Here are some things you probably already know about me: I think sheep are great. I like being outside. It is a secret fantasy of mine to live out in the wilderness with no electronics. I used to pretend I was a sheepdog in 4th grade.

So with these few facts you can only imagine how much I loved the hike. I have been cell phone free since April 17th and I didn't think I would enjoy it as much as I have. I completely admit I was an addict, but no longer am. I didn't bring any electronics on my hike, but that isn't much different than everyday life here in london. I made a random horse friend when I gave it my apple and played with a chocolate lab puppy that mucked up my clothes. I fulfilled my life long dream of herding a large quantity of sheep, now I only have to renounce the world as I know it and live out in the boonies.



Today we went to a bunch of Jane Austen sites for our day trip. Beautiful landscapes, and I helped Jake catch a duck. When we got home, we watched Pride and Prejudice (2005) where we saw many of the places we went that day. I don't think I would mind if my guy friends dressed like Mr. Darcey.


A day trip wouldn't be complete with BEAUTIFUL scaffolding. dang it.

Marathon

I was the most productive I think I have ever been on a Saturday. Here is what went down.

I woke up and ran through Hyde park. I showered and went to Portobello Road where I bought an antique camera and picked up a muffin and a cup of tea to tide me over for the next few hours. I took a cab to this salon where i made 2 appointments for me and my friend Karalyn. Went back to the bond street tube station and rushed back to the center for religion class. Sat through an hour or so of religion, then talked to friends about the rest of the day. This is when everything gets stressful. A combination of realizing that we are more than halfway through with the program and the fact that we have sooooo much to do created a massive anxiety attack with every person involved. Stress can be good, and stress can be bad. In this case, I didn't like the pressure in the beginning but it forced me to have a crazy productive day. We made a list of the MUST do things for the rest of london and went to five of them on the list.



We went to the Sherlock Holmes museum, the Elvis Presley store and the Beatles store.


We walked through regents park where we thought a swan was dying. It turns out, it wasn't... but Anna and I were very very concerned. I almost cried.




After regents park we took the tube to leicester square and walked to the national portrait gallery, grabbing PRET on the way. This is my FAVORITE fast food. it recycles 96% of everything they sell, plus, it is healthy. We got to the National Portrait Gallery and spent 2 hours there. I got home around 6pm, had my first dinner... then went out to get a burrito and look around the nike store up at piccadilly circus. I got home, talked for a bit then researched the Endymion Crater for my mythology paper. This is the only non-productive thing I've done all day. I'm not sure if that counts though. Sometimes I feel like blogging takes a lot more energy than real work. Okay, off to writing my paper. Cheers!

Oh, and did I mention that it is MARCH FOR MARCH. I will not ride a lift, I will not stand on an escalator. This means that every time i get to the queensway tube station I have to climb every 125 stairs. Today I went up and down them 3 times. My quads are going to be RIPPED. I encourage everyone to march for march. Also, I am considering running a half marathon. I don't want to kill my legs with a full marathon, but this means I am going to get a little bit more serious with my running schedule. Training suggestions anyone? Pole Vaulters run 79'6" for 16 steps.

I LOVE MY WELLIES

We went to Keats House and the Hamstead Heath for our friday day trip. I have never loved my wellies so much. I was regretting wearing them until we got into Hamstead Heath, a large park (seen in Notting Hill--the movie). London is wet. It is a fact, and anyone who would argue it probably needs to be shut up in an insane asylum. So on this sunny friday afternoon, we trudged through the muddy paths of the park on the way to the house. While everyone was dodging the mud puddles I slipped like crazy and enjoyed the grime. Anna wore her golden TOMS, I wasn't there, but apparently, people carried her along the way.



After I enjoyed the house, accidentally trudging mud clumps along the way, I sat outside and pet some DOGS. My favorite dog was the white golden retriever. I love dogs more than I love wellies. Hands down. I would sit in a park and play with random dogs all day if I had no inhibitions and nothing to do. I could probably dedicate an entire post to dogs, and how awesome they are... but you probably don't want to know about it.


DOGS>CATS. No contest. The end.

my new friend, sort of.

CYMRU

So I have procrastinated with this post for about a week and I think I need to do it before I go on another trip tomorrow.
WALES--was very pretty, very windy and very much like the england. We were in england for most of the entire second day and I had no idea. We stayed at a hotel in Cardiff, and enjoyed what seemed like a honeymoon with Anna Hayes. This was the first time in about a month and a half since I had slept with only one other person in my room (instead of the normal 13).
We went to stunning tintern abbey--cool because it didn't have a roof. I think it made everyone think very deeply for the entire day because there is something weird about seeing a church with lots of normal things missing.

I hung out in a coal mine later in the day. I didn't like it. I was terrified that the tunnels were going to collapse on me and I was going to get stuck in there with the rats and the carbon monoxide. And this picture isn't the coal mine, its the Benbow Farm.

Our last stop for day 1 was a replica welsh village at the Welsh life museum. A bull licked my hand, then I thought it was going to charge me. I thought we were friends, but I guess not.

The next morning we went to Caerphilly Castle right outside of cardiff and had a blast running through the ruins and fighting the cooper boys with invisible weapons. I am still a kid.

For the rest of the day we went to herefordshire, a place where much of the LDS church missionary work occurred during Joseph Smith's time. I found names in a baptismal record book that were possible ancestors, and walked on roads that my great great great.....great great grandparents had walked. We also hiked the herefordshire beacon--one on the windiest places I have ever been. It was the tallest hill in herefordshire with no trees. When I jumped, the wind pushed me so I would land a foot away from where I jumped from.

I loved Wales, I love england, I love MIKA. ( I went to the concert last night--he is an incredible performer )