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