The End.

Well this is it. It seems like just yesterday I was posting on here about how tomorrow I will be on a plane back to London... and now, tomorrow I will be on a plane back to USA. I have throughly loved every second I have spent here but I definitely am ready to get back to my life, I just want to make sure I don't forget the things I have learned while I have been here.

Today was an awesome day. We started off with our last class. We all got to get up for 5 minutes and talk about our time here and London. We were able to relate different experiences to each other, talk about how we have grown and changed, and if you are me, make embarrassing confessions. It was awesome to hear from everyone and in a way, it was like experiencing London all over again, in 27 different ways.

Everything sort of came together for me today, partly during my presentation, and partly at the Tate Modern Museum, which I was able to visit one more time. I wish I could put in to words everything I am feeling, but I know you probably don't care. Just leave it at how incredibly thankful I am to have had this experience and how amazing these past six weeks have been. I know they are going to be six weeks I will never be able to forget.

I have loved getting to know everyone on this study abroad, the students and the professors, and I feel like I have been able to consume so much culture in such a short amount of time. I just want to lay in my bed this whole weekend.

And if you are still reading this, I want to thank my faithful blog followers.  I have over 1,000 page views which blows my mind, that's super cool. Thanks for caring about my life.

I could go on and on about everything I have learned but you have probably stopped reading by now and I am exhausted and still need to finish up packing. London has been amazing.

It has been fun blogging but I doubt I will keep doing this once I am back in Provo because my life will be insanely boring compared to this awesome summer I have had. So goodbye blog. It has been a fun run.

HP!!!

Well it is crazy that my time in London is coming to end. One more full day and then I am back to my boring life. So obviously I figured I have to make the most out of my last bit here in London... I did a lot today.

We started off the day with trying to see if we could go get tickets to any Olympic event... no such luck. But we got to go see Olympic Park! So it wasn't all for nothing.

My mom really wanted me to ride the London Eye. You would think since I was here for 6 weeks I would find the time but it just never worked out. And it is pretty expensive.

But we did ride this instead.

It went up super high and you got to swing around. It was only 5 pounds and super worth it. The view was amazing!

  After that we went to.....

THE HARRY POTTER STUDIO!!!!!!

It was sooo legit. We got to see the actual sets they used in the movie. We got to see tons of props and we found out lots of inside information on how they made the movie. Now I never really take pictures of things.. But I was going crazy. Everything was just so cool! Instead of making you look through a ton of them- I tried to consolidate it a bit. 

Not even close to the half of it, but you get the idea. It was just so amazing to see everything come to life. I mean the movies are awesome, but here are all the things I have read about in front of me. As a film major it meant a lot, because this is what I want to do. Create magic. I may or may not have cried a little during the opening film... shhhh...

We were there for a good four hours. There was soooo much to see and do. Like drink butter beer!

yuuuummmm

The foam was the best part. It was like this soft carmel marshmellowness of goodness. I could have drank an entire glass of it. The actual drink part was good, but I don't think I would drink it again... Maybe that is just cuz I don't like soda very much.

Then at the gift shop Emily and I obvi had to sport our house robes. Whoever said that Hufflepuff isn't the best house is lying. Well if it isn't the best house it is obviously the best looking house. I am sure you would agree. We were going to maybe buy the robes. Until we found out they were 76 pounds.

Harry Potter was magical. 

I mean look at that. Harry Potter has been an obsession of mine for as long as I can remember, so it was a dream come true to be able to visit the place where it all came to life.

One more day in London. I am not sure if it can get any better than today.

Roomies

Besides my freshman year of college, I have never had to share a room. So imagine the horror when I found out I had to share a room with not just one other girl, but TWO. Just kidding there was no horror. My roommates are AWESOME so it has actually been pretty fun... minus the fact that I think the room we are staying in was originally meant for two so it is kind of small and there isn't near enough space to put all of your stuff (or maybe just my stuff... I brought a lot). But we have been quite happy in room C as you can see

How cozy. 

But really. I got super lucky with my roommates. We all get along and we dont yell at each other. The only drama is when sometimes we can't find our computer chargers or when I talk in my sleep.

This is Laura. 

I don't think I had ever really talked to her before this trip. And now we are super tight. So tight that we are going to an island together this weekend. Well I wish we were. She is. Lucky duck. Laura is awesome at photography. She takes really good pictures and one day when she is a famous DP, I can say I shared a room with her. She also loves Digestives- except she always gets the dark chocolate ones when clearly carmel are the best. Laura is awesome because she is super easy going and she has my back when Jonathan Ying is mean to me. I am stoked work on Weeping with her in the fall. 

This is Michelle.

We go way back. To January.We worked on art together for a film and became friends. But for some reason we never hung out until London... that will change in the fall for sure. Michelle sleeps in the bunk above me. She is super cute. And got some hot jeans recently. Michelle is always so happy and smiley, which is a good quality to have. We also are in the same ward so that means we get to spend our sundays together as well. She will also become a famous DP, so I will say I shared rooms with two cinematographers. 

It is sad to think I only have four more nights sleeping in the same room as these girls. But you know what that means? Sleepovers in the fall. 

OLYMPICS

Well it is finally here... The Olympics are in LONDON! And I am here! This is so cool!!! Yesterday, most of the group decided to find a place where we could watch the Olympic torch go by, because come on, when else are you going to have that opportunity. So after doing some research, we set out to this one street by Hyde Park. We got there an hour and a half early so we had prime seating. I don't know what could give you a better idea of what it was like, than this video-

Pretty awesome right? We got super cool flags to wave as it went by. Now I have a souvenir to give to my family. Cuz I know that is what they really want.

Everyone was happy because the sun finally came out.

Although seeing the torch was cool, the funnest part was wooooooing at all the bicyclists going past. This one police man rode past us like three times. He was our favorite.

Tess was good at wooing. But then people starting standing in the street so we couldn't see very well. That was annoying. 

But it was ok cuz we are in London and the Olympics are here so how can life get any better? Tonight we are planning on ordering pizza and watching the opening ceremonies at our flat. Which isn't as cool as actually being there, but it is a lot cheaper. 

    

Recap

As my parents so lovingly pointed out as I was skyping them today, I have been lacking on this blog. So here is a recap to what I have been up to! (cuz I know you really care)

Tuesday
We went and saw this play "Long Days Journey Through the Night." It was awesome but really heavy and hard to get through. Lots of yelling and lot's of drinking. Then I did laundry that night.

Wednesday
It was my best friend Briana's birthday. If you haven't seen it yet, check out the awesome video I made for her. We went to Elltham Palace. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside but they had a cute horse pasture.

I then went and saw Wicked for the second time, and no I am not ashamed of that fact. It was just as awesome the second time and I would see it again.

Thursday
Went to class. That was great. As always. Then we had a fee day so my friend and I went to the Tate Modern Museum and spent some hours in the Edvard Munch exhibit. He is the guy who painted The Scream, which sadly wasn't there. It was a pretty difficult exhibit to get through, lots of vulnerable looking woman. The guy had a rough life. But I found this painting and really liked it.

Went to Whole Foods for dinner and got some Mexican food I had been craving all week, and then went to Handel's Judas Maccabaeus at the Royal Albert Hall.



Friday
TEMPLE DAY

How beautiful! I love that I can say I have been to a temple outside of the US. The grounds were so breathtaking, and you felt this overwhelming sense of peace as soon as you stepped on them.

It was a long day though, we crashed on the train ride back.

We attempted to go clubbing that night, but it just didn't work out. But we had fun on the bus!

Saturday


We had a fun shopping day. First we hit up Primark, like a super cheap version of Target, where I got some cute shoes for only five pounds. Then we went over to Camden Market.

Much like Portobello Road, yet trendy and cheaper, and yummier food. Ended the night by dancing to the Top 100 Summer Jams (Stateside).

I can't believe I have one week left here. Time has gone by so fast. I will be sad to leave, but I am starting to feel like it is time to get back to real life.

Gardens

Today wins for my favorite day of the trip so far. It is funny how things come exactly when you need them. Today we got to go to the Kew Gardens. Amazing. I never thought I could spend six hours looking at plants, but when the time came to leave, I didn't want to. I wish I could put my thoughts into words but it is impossible. Within the first half an hour of being there, I thought "this could be one of the most beautiful places in the world," As the day went on, I changed my mind. It IS the most beautiful place I have ever been to. The pictures don't do it justice.

I know I am no photographer, but everything was so green and beautiful. I usually make fun of people who just take pictures of nature... I apologize for every mean comment I have ever said about that. There is something about trying to capture the beauty you see in front of you. It is hard. 

Side note- my camera broke which blows. It does this weird vibrate shaking thing every time it is on, so I have resorted to the trusty iPhone camera. 

But the day wasn't all about reflecting and thinking and meditating. We had some fun. We found some animals. Like swans and ducks. 

And we had a flower smelling contest. These flowers almost won.

But these smelled better. So they won.

We also ate at the restaurant there. A little pricey but delicious.

Oh ya. There was also this thing where you could walk up in the trees. That was pretty sick.

Overall, a very amazing day I would say.

ALSO SHOUT OUT TO MY NEW BEST FRANNNN TKKELLY_PRODUCERFORLYF3 luv herrrr

OXFORD

Best. Weekend. Trip. Ever. Oxford is such a cool town! And we had an awesome group. So it was tons of fun. We started off by waking up bright and early to catch our train. Everything was going great until we get off the train and Twyford to switch onto the train that would take us to Henley on the Thames. As the train is pulling away I hear Stephen yell "Dang it!" 

He left his wallet on the train.

But it's ok cuz this nice older gentleman, with great facial hair, called the train and they found it. So while we took the train to Henley, Stephen caught a train to Reading to pick up his wallet and then planned to meet us at the station. Minor setback. But it was actually a good thing (maybe?) because while we were waiting for him, we found this awesome playground with a zipline.

It was fun. Stephen finally arrived so we grabbed some breakfast at the local pastry shop and waited for our bus.

We get on the bus. We were going to the William Morris House. An artsy fellow. We were expecting to see some great architecture and wallpaper. For some reason though, the bus doesn't stop at the stop we wanted. And none of us realized we had missed our stop. So when we finally did, we had the bus driver stop and we got out. In the middle of nowhere. A very pretty nowhere though. Thank goodness for GPS. We found the house and realized we just had to walk up this highway for a little to get there. Longest. Walk. Ever.

We stopped to take pictures a lot. Turned out to be a much longer than we thought. Probably a mile and a half. With our heavy backpacks. And we had to dodge busses and trucks that drove by us. We made it to the house though! It was a little confusing because they kept talking about William Morris and then this Lord Nuffield guy and I could never really figure out who was who or whose stuff I was looking at. But then once we made the connection that they were the same person, it helped clear things up quite a bit. He was described as "the modest millionaire," and we learned a lot about his love for cars and bicycles. The next realization cleared everything up. We were at the wrong William Morris's house. The William Morris we wanted, was not the William Morris who lived in the house we were at. Ha. But it was still really fun! And he was a cool guy. With beautiful gardens.

After having a good laugh about how many mistakes we had made that day, we got back on the bus that would take us into Oxford. Well we had to change busses like 3 times. And each bus stop was like in the middle of nowhere. I don't understand who would even get to a bus stop like the ones we were at without a car. Sometimes the bus was late.

But we FINALLY got on the bus that should take us right by our hotel. Well... our bus driver didn't know what he was talking about and told us to get off at a stop that was way far away from our hotel. So we got to have ANOTHER nice walk (through the city this time, not the wilderness). We made it though. 

Look how cute our room was. 

(not really it smelled like smoke and urine and I think the bedding was full of diseases and bugs and they gave us towels that were greasy and when you flushed the toilet it sounded like the pipes were going to burst and water was going to rush out everywhere and every half hour this strange knocking noise started from somewhere in the bathroom.) But who is complaining?

We then walked the streets of Oxford looking for something to do. We started the eventing off with a nice boat ride on the river. It was one of those boats that you paddled with your feet. Great. More exercise

. 

It was perfect though cuz it stopped raining so there was sun and the current wasn't too bad. Hmmm oh yeah then we found this nifty little candy shop. We went back the next morning again.

We walked around some more. (we did a lot of walking this weekend.) Saw Oxford... beautiful campus... and decided that we were finally hungry enough to eat. We ate at this delicious english pub. Sadly I didn't take any pictures so you will just have to picture it in your mind. We made our way back to our hotel, hung out for a bit, and then crashed. Literally I don't really remember falling asleep. We got up early the next morning so we could take full advantage of the day ahead of us. What better way to start then a free complimentary traditional english breakfast?

Makes you salavate just looking at it right? We checked out and walked back into heart of the city. We weren't as lucky with the weather. It was pretty much drizzling all day. We hit up the candy shop again, this super cool toy store, town hall, a pub where CS Lewis and Tolkien used to meet up sometimes, saw this incredibly beautiful church, walked around the outside of Oxford Castle, and found the first pub Radiohead ever played in. Colin and Greg were very happy about that. 

In honor of Radiohead, we ate our lunch on the sidewalk there. Mostly cuz Drew started eating her bread and cheese and we all realized we were hungry.

The railroad station was pretty close so we hopped on the next train back to London and that was that. Stephen and Colin played chess over Tess the whole time.

Overall this little weekend getaway was THE BEST. We walked about 15 miles (no joke), ate lots of great food, saw many cool sites, had lots of great conversations, and laughed a lot.