j'adore Paris

So I have a new favorite city. This past week was spent in the beautiful city of Paris, France. On Monday morning we had to get up at 4:30am to catch the first train to France. Going through customs was actually fun because I got my first stamp in my passport! Exciting right? After we checked into our hotel, we headed straight to Notre Dame Cathedral. It had gorgeous stain glass windows and an incredible view of all of Paris. I fell in love with Paris here because it was where I saw the Eiffel Tower for the first time. Dani, Chelsea, Hayley and I then headed into the Latin Quarter to find a Patisserie, I experienced my first French chocolate croissant... it was delicious to say the least.  We then wandered to the Pantheon, which is another huge building where many famous people are buried. It was really nice because our program provided us with a 5-day metro and museum pass so we were able to get into almost everywhere for free. From the Pantheon we decided to walk to the Eiffel Tower. If you’ve never been to Paris then you wouldn’t know that this is a VERY long walk but we wanted to see as much of the city as we could. We passed through the Luxembourg Park, which was beautiful. There were little buds on the trees. We saw the statue that the Statue of Liberty was copied from. My first experience at the Eiffel Tower is one that I will never forget. We were there around sunset and got to watch the sun go down behind the Eiffel Tower. The sky was clear and blue and had fluffy dark clouds with sun shining between them. It had rained earlier in the day so there were puddles everywhere and you could see the reflection of the tower in them. We could not stop taking pictures as the sun went down and it began to light up. Then we crossed under the tower to the other side. When we were on the bridge crossing the Seine, we stopped to take a picture for another group of tourists when the Eiffel Tower began to sparkle. I literally gasped and at the same exact moment it began to pour rain. Within a second we were all drenched and were running to find cover in a souvenir shop that had a descent view of the tower. It was literally like a scene from a movie. Perfect.

            Tuesday morning was spent going to the Musée de Rodin and Musée d’Orsay. A group of us then headed to Love Lock Bridge, which is a place I have seen on Pinterest and have always wanted to go. The tradition is to “lock” your love to the bridge and then throw the key into the river below. Obviously I put Kass’ and my initials on it… so hopefully that means we are forever J it was really cute and I got some good pictures. Maybe one day I’ll be able to go back with Kass and find it one day. We went to the Arc de Triomphe and walked around the Champs Elysées. It was pouring rain again so we decided to get some macaroons in Ladurée. Macaroons aren’t my favorite but I’ll admit the pistachio flavor was pretty delicious.

            On Wednesday we started at the Louvre. That place is HUGE and I couldn’t get through the whole thing if I spent a week there. So, instead I chose a few big things (Mona Lisa) to see and then just wandered for the rest of the time. I headed to the Musée de l'Orangerie to see Monet murals. As a group we toured the National Opera House, it was cool but I’ll be honest… I couldn’t understand one thing our guide said. After we headed up to Montmartre. It was an amazing view of the entire city in all directions. There was a cute square where dozens of artists were selling their original paintings. Adorable. I’ll admit though, hot chocolate at Angelina’s was by far my FAVORITE part of the day. It was AAAAMAZING. I have never tasted anything so rich, creamy and delicious. I thought I had died and gone to heaven. It was well worth the 8 Euros.

            On Thursday I went to Versailles. My favorite part was the garden but honestly it would have been so much more incredible in the summer because most everything was dead and bare. Versailles took most of the day so when I returned to Paris I met up with Chelsea, Dani, and McKenna for dinner. I had the best bowl of soupe à l'oignon (French onion soup) I have ever had. Friday was our last full day so me and a few of the girls decided we just wanted to wander and enjoy the city, especially because it was sunny and beautiful. We spent most our time around the Eiffel Tower riding the carousal, eating crepes, ice cream, cotton candy and any other treat we could find. We also climbed to the top. I can now check that off my bucket list.

            Paris is a lot different than London. I would go back to Paris in a heartbeat but I’m not going to lie it was nice to come HOME to London. I feel so much safer in London and am comfortable with the city, people and even the food (I know it’s a miracle).  Paris was a lot dirtier than London. Not knowing the language was difficult. I mean I know they speak French in France… obviously… but it’s really not a joke… they speak FRENCH. Sometimes when ordering food I would just have to aimlessly point at what I wanted because no one could understand me. I have no idea how to even pronounce French but it’s amazing that I survived a week only knowing 3 words (hello, thank you & excuse me).

            Sorry this is so long… but now for the food. Pretty sure all I ate the whole time I was there was sugar, carbs and more sugar with a semi-real meal here and there. The pastries and crepes were INCREDIBLE, not to mention the gelato & baguettes. Seriously though I was in heaven and I don’t think I have ever enjoyed a plain croissant more than I did in France. I probably ate 6 chocolate croissants a day, I was on a sugar high all week. London really is “home” now and a piece of my heart will forever be in London. 

Welcome to Scotland

I'm truly trying to stay on top of the blogging, its difficult and I know its not fun reading without pictures but there's nothing I can do about it (at least for now). Last week we took a tour of the Houses of Parliament. It was incredible. It honestly blows my mind to walk through these amazing places and wonder how the crap did people so long ago build such detailed and gorgeous buildings. Pictures don't do justice. I try to take pictures of the beautiful stain glass windows, wood carvings, arches, and all of the above so I can always remember how amazing they are, but it doesn't even come close to the real thing. You have to see it for yourself. 

Anyways... after I learned somewhat how the government works here, we took a lovely little ferry ride down the Thames River to Greenwich. It was surprisingly not freezing cold, chilly but manageable. Being on the water made me incredibly happy. (I am such a warm weather and water kind of girl, I learn that more and more about myself everyday here). Sitting on a boat with a even a chance of sunshine is my happy place. 

Once we got to Greenwich we ate at a fun little food market, I couldn't help but try all sorts of yummy treats (and spent way too much money). Then we headed to The Royal Observatory where smart people (like Sir Isaac Newton and such) first looked at the stars and moon. It's also the international hub for time in the whole world because the prime meridian (where latitude and longitude are both 0 degrees) runs through it. I got to stand with one foot in the Eastern hemisphere and the other in the Western hemisphere. I've always wanted to be in two places at once.. so I guess that means that another one of my dreams came true... haha. On the boat ride back to London, the sun was shining and there were blue skies. I decided at that moment that I never want to come home (sorry Kass and family). It was amazing to feel the sun on my face. It was a good day to say the least. 

Last night I got home from a week long trip to Scotland and Northern England. It was a lot of being on a coach (some of the funniest moments happen on there) but so so worth it. Scotland was amazing. It was really cold and foggy but I would definitely go back. The people were so much nicer there than they are here in London and I loved the Scottish accents. We visited a couple castles (Edinburgh & Durham), Durham Cathedral, Fountains Abbey, York, Hadrian's Wall, Newcastle & Lindisfarne Priory. 

We saw a lot,

 walked a lot, 

froze a lot, 

ate a lot, 

spent a lot,
laughed a lot,
stayed up too late, 
 and had A LOT of fun.

One night a group of us went on a ghost tour (Edinburgh is known as the most haunted city in Scotland). Fortunately we didn't see any ghosts but it was fun walking through cemeteries & underground vaults while listening to scary stories. We also visited The Elephant House where J.K. Rowling wrote Harry Potter on napkins and looked out the same window overlooking Durham Castle that inspired Hogwarts. We also saw the "real" Tom Riddle tombstone, went on a tour of a dungeon, shopped for cashmere & kilts, listened to the bagpipes, had a Scottish sausage and experienced my first hostel (not looking forward to living in one for the last two weeks here).  

I can't believe how little time I have left here. I only have 3 full weeks left in London (on top of my other travel weeks). Next week we are headed to France and Belgium!

xoxo, 

Christina  

February

Everyone has been bugging me to post on my blog about what I've been doing so here goes. I'm going to try to do a brief overview of February so sorry if there's a lot of words again. Honestly the time goes by so fast here. I cannot believe I've been here for 2 months and I'm halfway through my adventures, it literally blows my mind. Anyways, we ended January with a trip to Oxford, Stratford-Upon-Avon & Coventry. Oxford was one of my favorite places. It was warm that day which might have helped, but it was so beautiful. I got to see many places where Harry Potter was filmed as well as see Christ's College. It was literally the coolest university campus I have ever been to.

 Stratford was great. I learned a lot about Shakespeare, went in his cottage and saw where he grew up. We also had the privilege to see two Shakespeare plays performed at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre which I surprisingly and thoroughly enjoyed. We ended our trip in Coventry where we went to Warwick Castle. It was so fun climbing up steep, windy steps into the towers and overlooking the whole town. I can't help but to imagine what ancient places like that have seen and how much history has occurred there.

February was very fun and very cold. We didn't travel much outside of London other than a few day trips. The first week we spent a day at Cambridge. I was too big of a baby to go punting (where a tour guide rows you down the river in a small boat) because it was literally  miserably freezing cold. I know I complain about the cold a lot but really, it was sooooo bitter cold outside. My mom wasn't lying when she made me pack layers and layers of clothes. I still enjoyed the day though, looking around the tiny little streets. We ended the day by going to evensong at King's College. That was a very cool experience for me because I have never attended a meeting for another religion before. We watched the boys' choir sing and listened to verses from the Bible, it was beautiful. 

Throughout the month we toured Westminster Abbey, Hampton Court, The Leighton House, The British Museum, Guildhall, The British Library (where I saw manuscripts of the Messiah, Magna Carta, and tons of other really cool things) and others that I can't remember right now. I kept myself busy going to markets (my favorite), plays, and trying to keep up with school work. 

Valentine's day was weird this year but it was honestly so much fun celebrating with all my new friends. We thought it would be fun if we took each other on a secret "date" that included a scavenger hunt, flowers, dinner, the London Eye and games. I seriously love all the girls here and the London Eye was one of the best nights so far. We brought an iPod speaker and had a dance party while overlooking the whole city of London. I will definitely be going on the Eye another time before I leave.

Another one of my favorite nights was going to the British Music Awards. My dreams came true when I got to meet Taylor Swift on the red carpet. She's probably the only celebrity I would care to meet and it's safe to say I was starstruck (as embarrassing as that is). I may have shed some tears and lost my voice... haha. I also got to see her perform along with Mumford and Sons (my favorite), One Direction, The Muse, Justin Timberlake and other British bands. It was worth every penny (or pence) I spent.

Our study abroad group put on a fireside for the YSA ward in Brighton. It was quite the experience. From traveling hours on delayed and slow trains, spending hours in freezing train stations, running to catch buses, meeting a group of Dutchmen in red suits covered in hearts, to having the underground close down on us and walking at 2AM back to the London Centre. It was definitely worth it. The spirit was so strong though and I'll always remember that day.

I also had the opportunity to go to the London temple to do baptisms with the Hyde Park YSA group. Just because it's called the "London" temple, doesn't mean its actually in London. It was another long day but such an amazing experience. I got to baptize names for a girl on the trip with us, which made it that much more meaningful. 

Thanks for reading :) 

xoxo

Christina