London Lists

I was "rummaging" through my files the other day and stumbled across this forgotten list: 


My Favorite Things To Do in England

Favorite Intellectual Spot

· The British Library (my most favorite thing I did in London in this regard--Handel’s "Messiah," Dickens, Wordsworth, Bronte manuscripts)

Favorite Places to Eat

· Nandos--Portuguese Restaurant--delicious pitas!

· The Waffle House--best waffle recipes in the world

· A lot of pubs have delicious food ☺ but be careful where you go...

· Pret--chicken salad sandwiches and croissants! 

· Tesco--amazing bakery aisle

Favorite Beautiful Spots

· White Cliffs of Dover

· Countryside of Kent

· A lot of the historic spots were my favorite beautiful spots...

· Cambridge University 

· Hampton Court--beautiful gardens

Favorite Historic Spots:

· Tower of London--funny guards--the key to London’s history

· Osborne House--Where Queen Victoria & Albert lived for a time. It was one of my most favorite places on the Isle of Wight (have to take ferry to get to it)

· Cambridge (again--absolutely stunning)

· Fountains Abby (amazing ruins, absolutely beautiful)

· Warwick Castle--tons of neat interactive activities and beautiful

· Wallace Collection--amazing Paintings--Rococo

· Definitely favorite art museum--The Tate Britain--beautiful Romantic style paintings such as The Lady of Shallot

· The British Museum, Victoria and Albert,  Imperial War Museum (very impacting)

· Stratford-Upon-Avon

Favorite Must Dos:

· Walking along the Thames at night (either by the Millennial Bridge by St. Paul’s at night (a little more dangerous though) or Parliament at night with Big Ben and the London Eye--definitely a favorite thing to do)

· Musicals obviously--Les Mis, especially

· Going to Harrods--such a neat experience

· Going punting (boat rides--these are at Cambridge etc.)
· St. Martins-in the field for concerts (classical

 I am so glad that I wrote this list down because I had already forgotten some of my favorites. Reading this list makes me want to go back. Let me rewind, in 2007 I went on a Study Abroad to London through BYU and was able to live in London for two months, and I loved it. In fact, love is too insufficient a word. I adored it. I relished it. I know I made that list for myself as a future "guide" if I ever go back (oh, how I long to go back!), but I decided to make a list of what I remember most now, seven years later. Wait, seven!? It can't be seven! Did I do the math wrong? That's insane. It feels like yesterday. 

~I made some dear life-long friends. We even had our last names make an acronym: COSMOS. We had too much fun together. Oh such dear memories! These friends helped sustain me through, although a joyful, a very difficult time as my dad had been diagnosed with a grave cancer five days before we left, and I was very worried. They helped me through my occasional emotional-ness :) They are some of the best girls I have ever met, and each of their examples had a great impact on my life. 

~I loved the feeling of belonging I had in England. I have always had this unearthly connection with Great Britain; when I learn about it, I feel like it is part of my identity. It's hard to explain. Maybe it's because of my heritage. Maybe it's because of my love of British literature. Or maybe it's just because I love the rain, history, and delicious food. They love bread. I love bread. It totally works out. 

~I loved that Study Abroad gave us the opportunity to participate in the wards there. They divided us all into groups and spread us throughout wards surrounding London. I can't remember exactly how long but I know that it took at least an hour to get to our church, and my group rode the tube, a train, and then walked to get there. It was so worth it. The members were diverse and had so much faith. We even had the opportunity to be given assignments there to help out.
~Speaking of diverse, that was the thing that most shocked me when I arrived in London. I had read too many Victorian novels. It was not filled with a bunch of white gentlemen with top hats and proper ladies. The streets of London are some of the most diverse I have been on. There were many Indians, Africans, etc. that gave London a very international flavor. Yet somehow, simultaneously, London feels very British. 
~I loved that my homework was to go to plays, museums, ballets, etc., of course, we had real homework too, but I loved being able to apply what I was learning Humanities (my minor) to real life. 
~The musicals, ballet, and plays are events I will never forget as long as I live. They were as good as they come. I discovered a love of Shakespeare when watching Shakespeare plays: The Merchant of Venice at The Globe, Macbeth in Regent's Park, and King Lear in Stratford-Upon-Avon (Shakespeare's birth place).
~I loved riding the tube! It was such an efficient way to get around. That doesn't mean we never got lost or missed a stop, but once you get the hang of it, it's hard to imagine life without it. I miss the reminders, "Please mind the gap between the train and the platform." 

After two months of living there, there was still so much I had to leave unseen. I  could write hundreds of pages about why I love London, but Samuel Johnson says it best, "Why, Sir, you find no man, at all intellectual, who is willing to leave London. No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford." Yes, Samuel Johnson, you couldn't have said that any better.

Doing our nightly Parliament walk. 

At Hampton Court

At Edinburgh Castle

In Ireland!

Our whole Study Abroad group lived here. I loved this place so much. What's even more special is my mom did Study Abroad through BYU and lived in this exact building twentyish years before. 

Everyone wrote their favorite things to do on the bunk bed. I spy Courtney & Katie's entry! 

Sharing a bedroom with twelve girls is one of the most exciting things ever! 

At tea! (We just had scones :)