It's a Tudor (and Pirate?) Life for Me!

Day Five

Linda left early in the morning. It was NOT fun saying goodbye and was really hard to watch Mum say goodbye. These women are practically her sisters and she never gets to see them.

Francis always needed a day off the day after we had been out and about, so she stayed in Surrey while Mum and I headed to Hampton Court - home of Henry VIII and his insane court and later to George II. The place was quite exquisite, actually.

There are two different palaces on the grounds at Hampton Court - one was the original structure (Henry's palace) and the other structure was built several hundred years later by King George on the grounds. It looks a bit weird having structures from two different periods, but they were both beautiful!

Henry's Palace:

George's Palace:

There were period actors walking around the grounds to help you imagine you were in Henry's court. There were different areas to teach you about each of Henry's wives (divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived) and living in Tudor England.

George's palace should look familiar to anyone who saw the most recent Pirates of the Caribbean film.

I had fun taking pictures - the weather was perfect and the grounds were immaculately kept. As if Henry would tolerate it any other way - even in death!

Things that induce laughter/smiles/happy feelings in me today:

1. Skyping with Peter (aka: Harrison Ford).

2. Snowdrops.

3. My aunt was Queen of England after Henry VIII died for 9 whole days.

4. Horse-drawn carriages.

Chaucer, Fudge, and Romans, Oh My!

Day Four

When I booked this trip, I had lots of grandios ideas about traveling to other cities around London to see some of my favorite sites. Alas, we didn't make it to all of them, but we did make it to CANTERBURY!

Francis, Linda, my Mum, and I drove passed Hever Castle (heave a brick at Hever Castle!), out to Canterbury to see the Canterbury Cathedral. There are no words. I love St. Paul's (still my favorite), but there is something almost other-worldly about Canterbury. This place is MASSIVE and was originally built in 1070 (it has had some work done - the most recent major work was in 1834). The stained glass, stone carving, and intricate sculptures are amazing. I think my favorite part, though, are the graves. Yes, I'm weird. Make peace with it - I have.

Francis and Linda had been to the cathedral a few weeks before, so they shopped while we toured the cathedral. I always love to see Edward, the Black Prince's tomb!

The thing about Canterbury is, there's this fudge shop. I have been dreaming about this fudge shop since 2005. I said I wanted to find it as a joke while we were on the way up. I honestly didn't think it would be there. IT WAS!! So, I bought some fudge. :)

Turns out that there is a Roman village underneath the city of Canterbury. (I do not remember this being here before, but it must have been!) There's this strange hole-in-the-wall of a museum with some interesting artifacts (most of which are NOT from the area, oddly enough) and even the remnants of an old house.

Pretty neat!

Things that induce laughter/smiles/happy feelings in me today:

1. Free fudge.

2. The fudge shop ships around the world!

3. I got to Skype with my Mum's other cousin, Chaz, whom I've never met. He seemed very kind - I wish I could get to know him more!

4. The delivery boy at the restaurant where we had lunch set off the fire alarm. It was LOUD.

Touring London

Day Three

Mum and I took off on our own our third day in London. We caught a morning train to Victoria Station and I fell in love British public transportation all over again. Seriously, America - what is your deal?! The trains and buses in Europe are all well-maintained and affordable - nobody drives! I wouldn't dare ride a bus anywhere around here! Anyway - I digress.

I owe an apology to my mother. I am not a patient person and I'm afraid I was curt with my mother more than once while trying to teach her about the trains/buses/tube systems. Sorry, Mum!

When we got off at Victoria, we found a group of French school children. My advice to anyone traveling to England: find a group of French school children and FOLLOW THEM!! Their schools go to England every year and they know the fastest routes to all of the tourist traps. You won't regret it. Plus, they're fun. We followed our group to Buckingham Palace, but the guards were doing a trial run for the royal wedding and it was even more insanely crowded than usual. So, we took a hop, skip, and a jump through Green Park to the side opposite the Palace and hopped on a Red Bus. Another piece of advice if you're going to England: TAKE A RED BUS! That had to be the best decision of our trip. We saw EVERYTHING and if you get on the original Red Bus Company, you can hop on and off whenever you like along the way throughout the day.

The buses are terrifying if you sit up top. We sat on the top, in the first row and I had to hold in my gasps of terror more than once. Motorcycles and smartcars disappear under the bus like you would not believe. At one point, I decided to stop paying attentiong and try to focus on what the guide was telling us (our first guide was AMAZING) and taking everything in.

We hopped off first at a little pub for some fish and chips and then headed up the street to St. Paul's Cathedral - my favorite place in the world (that I've been to). Another apology to Mum - we spent a tad over 2 hours in St. Paul's. SORRY!

After St. Paul's, we hopped back on the Red Bus and had the worst tour guide ever. Everything he said was complete bullocks and even I knew it. What a load of pork pies! I ignored him as much as possible as we wound our way through downtown London over to the Tower of London so that we could see some family history! Our great-great-great-great-aunt, Lady Jane Grey, was held prisoner and beheaded in the Tower. We saw the site where she was actually beheaded and the glorious monument erected those precious few who were beheaded within Tower walls. We walked through the building she was held prisoner in and saw her name etched in the walls by her ladies in waiting. Then, we went in the chapel where she is buried, also within the Tower. I had been to the Tower before and never knew that I was related to this woman from the past. What an experience!

We spent so long in St. Paul's and the Tower that we didn't do much else, except complete the cycle of our tour. We saw all of the highlights of the city, but didn't alight from the bus for all of them.

It was a great day!

Things that induce laughter/smiles/happy feelings in me today:

1. Shakespeare's Globe Theatre.

2. Authentic fish and chips. YUM!

3. I wish I had words to describe standing at the grave of your beheaded relative. Talk about moving.

4. Pasties. :P

5. I think I'm the only person in the world who enjoys British food.

The (London) Temple

Day Two

The London, England temple is not in London. Actually, it is quite far from London considering it is called "The London, England Temple". The temple is actually in Newchapel and is farther from London than Surrey.

Regardless, it is breathtaking, as are the grounds. I wanted to go inside SO BAD, but, I'm not endowed, didn't have a limited-use recommend, and the temple was closed that day. Also, my cousins are absolutely NOT religious.

I was so moved walking the grounds that I had to wipe away tears more than once. There is such a strong Spirit at church sites in England; I'm not exactly sure why. It is definitely something I wish that everyone could experience.

I think I'll let the pictures speak for this post:

Things that induce laughter/smiles/happy feelings in me today:

1. Francis and Linda can be a bit catty - even with each other. Poor Francis was constantly being compared to a pirate by her sister!

2. I bought a dress in Surrey this day - it is SO cute!

3. We went to the park in Surrey for a bit also. The schools were off for Easter break while we were there and the weather was actually quite hot, considering it was England.

4. Magnum bars.

Woops!

It has been ...quite a while... since I have blogged. *shame*

So, when last I left you lovely people, the mean folks over at LDSPlanet were trying to encourage me to no longer a be a disappointment to my mother. That has not changed. (:

I did, however, go to England! (This post actually takes place BEFORE me being a disppointment was brought to light, but in case you haven't noticed, I am not the best blogger these days.) I'll break this up into a few posts so that I don't overwhelm people TOO much.

Day One:
Mum (haha) and I arrived at Heathrow airport in London a bit later than planned and Francis and Linda were worried that we had missed our flight. Luckily, they waited for us outside of Customs and there was a happy reunion in the middle of the walkway for a moment - until we realized we were in the middle of the walkway and then moved. I hadn't seen Linda in probably around six years and I don't recall ever meeting Francis, although, I know I have. None of that mattered though - instant best friends and close family.

We drove out to Francis' house in Surrey, completely in awe of the beautiful countryside. I don't know that I will ever get over how absolutely gorgeous England is. And of course, Francis and Trevor live in this beautiful little suburb that has a country feel to it with a quaint little downtown. When we got to the house, I met Trevor (again - I know I've met him before, but I don't remember). He has to be my favorite person ever - he has that naughty, cheeky Brit thing going for him and he looks kind of like Mick Jagger. Anyway! We visited for a bit and then off to bed (I didn't sleep at all on the flight over and I don't know that Mum did either).

The next day, we hung out at the house with Francis and Trevor's sons and their families. I have never met Mark or James - let alone their wives and kids (or soon-to-be kids). I was pretty shocked when I saw James; he looks A LOT like Josh. And then Mark looks like a mash up of Jereme and Josh, with more Jereme. It was REALLY funny. I love their families, too! James' wife, Meaw, was a bit sick, so we didn't visit much, but she is very sweet and keeps her kids in line like only a good mother can. She was a bit hard to understand because she's from Thailand and has a British accent on top of it all. James' wife, Eva, is from Slovakia and wonderful! She's expecting their first child and was very loving.

After a while, Francis, Trevor, and Linda took Mum and I to my great aunt and uncle's resting place - this charming little memorial park in the center of town. It is beautiful and very peaceful there.

Alright - that's it for this post. More to come!



Things that induce laughter/smiles/happy feelings in me today:
1. The guys on the flight to London who played cards THE ENTIRE FLIGHT. I kid you not - the ENTIRE FLIGHT from when they were first seated until we landed and they HAD to put the deck away.
2. James is almost as cheeky as his dad!
3. I think I watched 3 movies, 2 episodes of Big Bang Theory and one episode of IT Crowd on the flight over.
4. Trevor making everyone a cuppa before visiting the Land of Nod.

How to Not Disappoint Your Mother Any Longer

For those of you who can't read what the e-mail says, allow me to illuminate: "How can you make mom happy this year? Meet a special guy."

Because you can't make your mom happy without a special guy.

Gee, whiz!

Things that induce laughter/smiles/happy feelings in me today:

1. Pleasantville. I LOVE this movie.

2. Magnum bars. Yum.

3. The sound of my nieces' voices. They are SO precious.

4. A day with my family in my home ward.

5. Movie quotes and Wii.

6. Pain happens for a reason.

Vacation - FINALLY!

I'm taking a real vacation and I can't believe it. I know, I know...I went to K-Town to visit my Stella in September, but that only involved ONE DAY of no work. (An AMAZING trip, but not really a "vacation".) A few amazing things about this vacation, though. Are you all ready?

1. I'm going with this wonderful woman:

MY MOM!!

2. We'll be gone from 08 April though 18 April.

3. We're going here:

LONDON!! (AKA: Home <3)

4. And quite possibly, here (for one day):

PARIS!! ('Cause Momma's never been and I wouldn't mind a delicious gyro from that one place that Andrew and I ate at every day we were there. And yes, I still remember it is and how to get there).

"I love Paris in the spring-time..."

la-di-da-di-di-da...

5. My work loves me, so they're giving me and my mom tickets to see ANY STAGE SHOW we want while we're there, which means:

WICKED!! (At long last!) - Not just Wicked - FREE Wicked! IN LONDON!!

6. Family. We're staying with my mom's cousin, who lives just outside of London, in Surrey. I have only met Frances once and am SO excited to see her again, and meet her husband and the kids of hers that I have not yet met. AND my mom's other cousin, Linda, is coming from Germany for a few days, as well!

I am SO STINKING excited it isn't even funny!

Things that induce laughter/smiles/happy feelings in me today:

1. Uh, this ENTIRE post. Happy 25th birthday to me!

2. Shauna's home!!! Congrats on a mission well-served.

3. My 2 countdown widgets for my phone.

4. Replacing those 2 countdown widgets pretty much the day they expire with other exciting things!

5. SALISBURY, HERE I COME!!!

6. Portobello Road.

7. Oxford.

8. A glorious 9 days free of work.