June 4: We were up super late the night before our trip b/c we had Andrei that night. His mom was supposed to take him the day before so we could pack, but in classic form she punked out on us. We dropped him off around 11 a.m. in Lehi (30 min from our house or so) and then booked it back home. We threw together our suitcases and ran some errands then rushed off to the airport around 2. We got there around 3, got through SLC"s PSYCHO security check, and then ate some lunch/dinner in the food court. Our plane started boarding around 4:30 and left around 5:00. We flew to San Francisco (that's right- I went 1/6 of the way across the country in the WRONG direction!), where we changed planes and flew to London. It was the longest, noisiest, most uncomfortable flight of my life. Good thing they had tons of good movies to watch, 2 meals provided (although they were gross) and unlimted drinks. We got off the plane at Heathrow around 1 on the 5th. That's right. I spent almost an entire day on the plane or in airports. SICK!
That first day we just kind of wandered around in a jet-lag induced haze, and crashed around 9 London time.
June 6: We woke up pretty early. Actually I woke up around 4:30 a.m. b/c of the time difference so I washed Emily's dishes and wandered around outside like an idiot until around 7:00 (jet lag makes me loopy and sometimes weird). Around 7:30 I crashed for a half hour before getting up for the day. Emily lives in a suburb called Twickenham about 30 minutes outside of London so we took public transportation to the city. I am now in love with public transportation, btw, and hate the idea of having to drive myself places. Sick. That day we wandered around the center of town and ate lunch at a pub in the financial district with Brent (Luis had fish and chips, I had Yorkshire pudding, and we all ate DELICIOUS puddings and cakes for dessert). We also toured the Tower of London, saw the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, caught a glimpse of Westminster and Big Ben, and walked around the Tower Bridge for a while. We clocked in on my pedometer at around 7 or 8 miles walked. My back was killing me and my feet were hurting, and I was jet-lagged and a little sick to my stomach. It was drizzling rain and kind of chilly, but all in all it was an incredible day. Highlights inluded trying real English cuisine (which is WAY better than people make it out to be), seeing the crown jewels of England at the Tower of London as well as a really cool exhibit about Henry VIII, who is hands down my favorite European monarch. Everything in London looks like a movie set.
June 7th: We all woke up pretty early and took a train out to Windor. We spent the day at Windsor castle, which was the bomb dot com. It was POURING rain and my pants got so soaking wet I just rolled them up and walked around like a doofus. Good thing I was in England where no one notices or cares what you're wearing most of the time anyway. The castle was super cool and I LOVED seeing the St. George Chapel, which is the HQ of the Order of the Garter and the burial place of several memorably famous people including but not limited to Henry VIII! Afterward we ate Indian food, which was one of Luis's requirements for our visit to England since we've heard it's better there. Aftward I dried my shoes off in a hand dryer at a train station because they were sloshing wet from all the rain. That sounds gross and weird, but it was truly hilarious at the time and saved me from being blistery and miserable for the rest of the day. We went back to London and visited a war museum then climbed the Tower Bridge, which was INSANELY tall (I'm guessing 300 + steps to the top). It has the best views of the city, though, and I recommend you try it if you ever go. Aftward we went and saw Romeo and Juliet at the Globe, which has literally been a dream of mine since I was like 9 years old. We were groundlings, which was also hilarious and awesome and fun. It did not disappoint, and I swear during the 3rd curtain call at the end I could feel the great Bard smiling down upon us. We probably walked close to 9 or 10 miles that day, and by the time we got home I literally could barely stand up. It was AWESOME!
June 7th we went to Emily and Brent's ward for Stake Conference. Elder Uchtdorf gave the address which was pretty cool. The rest of the day we just napped and chilled, which was a nice break. It was also good to rest up for the insanity of the following 6 days.
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