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Ice Skating in London

Monday night we went Ice skating @ the Natural History Museum. We all were a bit slow @ first but eventually got into the groove & I am happy to report that there were zero casualties in our group. We all had so much fun! Jordan opted to stay off the ice & take pictures for our posterity. Good thing, he got some great shots although I was sad that everyone else was holding hands on the ice. Erika came to my rescue & held my hand so I wasn't left out :)

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Oh, how we love Paris in the fall.......

Sunday afternoon we returned from 4 fun days in Paris. We shopped, ate, shopped, ate & saw all the sites. We started out our first day by going to Saint Chapel, Notre Dome & the Eiffel Tower. Friday we got an early start & headed to Sacre Coeur, Musse d'Orsay, Moulin Rouge, The Louvre. Saturday we headed to the Flea Market & got a lot of fun stuff. There is so much more that we fit into our 4 days but I can't think right now! Sunday we headed back to London where we all decided feels like home. When we arrived back to Jonathan's flat we was making us a full on Indian dinner complete with our friends Dean & David! We all are having stuff a great time & can't believe that our trip is drawing to a close.

Our travel journal.........

Wed 11-19-08:
We arrived around 8:00 AM- hopped on the Tube all the way to Jonathan's, checked into our flat
Walked around Chelsea, Kings Road, Hyde Park
Had our first doner kebab of the trip @ a Lebanese Restaurant in Chelsea
Saw the King Albert Memorial
Jonathan cooked us a fabulous dinner of Lasagna, Salad & Bread

Thurs. 11-20-08

Big Ben
Parliament
London Eye (saw it)
National Portrait Gallery
Harrods
Trafalgar Square
St. James Park
Buckingham Palace
British Museum
*Funny side note.....after we all got home Thursday night Andrew, Erika & I ran to the sainsbury to pick up a few things, when we were done we decided to hop on the tube and just ride anywhere.....we were gone for about 90 minutes. We went to Westminster & just saw the sights @ night! Breathtaking!

Friday 11-21-08
Changing of the guard
Leicester Square
Piccadilly Circus
China Town
Covent Garden
Wicked Musical

Saturday 11-22-08

Breakfast @ Jonathan's
Dean & Jonathan took on us a bike tour of London
Downing Street- place of resident of the Prime Minister
Soldier Memorial
Ride to Southwark- Borough Market...best cheese, meats, chocolate brownie, sausage sandwich

11-23-08

• Today we went to the Hyde Park Ward. We went w/no idea where it was, just new the area it was in. We got out to the bus stop @ about 8:15, it was pouring rain & no buses were coming. We waited about 20 minutes & finally a bus came by.......it drives right past us. Jordan was just about over standing in the rain & I just told him to have faith......well the next bus came about 1 minute later & the first person we saw was a missionary! I walked right up to him & told him that we were going to church & that we were going to follow him!! We made it to the chapel right on time!
• Since church was right by the Victoria Albert Museum, we decided to go walk around. We all instantly fell in love. We had to go back a few days later!.....my personal favorite was the fashion wing!
• After the museum we went to Hyde Park preachers corner. Loved that as well! There were probably about 12 different preachers there all yelling over each other. There was even a bit of a yelling match between an old lady racist preacher & a young man....good times!
• Cabinet War Rooms/Winston Church Hill Museum....fabulous! It was so neat to see what happened during the war & how Winston Church Hill handled it.
  
• Westminster Abbey- Beautiful! We went to an organ recital there Sunday night. We all actually fell asleep listening to the music, not because it was boring, it was beautiful but we were SO tired. Note: Erika did not fall asleep!
  
• Dinner @ the Slug in Fulham. Jordan got bangers & mash & I got Fish & Chips! Pretty good!

11-24-08

• Notting Hill- we all loved this area. It was quaint, quiet & lovely! The flats were so cute & I would live there in a heartbeat. We walked up & down Portbello road where Jordan & I had our first real English breakfast. It was so good! Then we went into a bunch of shops where I founds lots of fun things to buy!
• St. Paul's Cathedral- Absolutely Beautiful! This church was SO amazing. It was huge! We walked around the church then went up to the Whispering Gallery. We had to climb up 257 stairs to get up there. It was well worth every step. After the WG were we able to go onto the roof where the view was beautiful. We all got some great shots & then walked back down to the crypt. This was also great but a bit creepy (I hate cemetery's) We had to walk down a few steps in the crypt & Erika fell in slow motion down the stairs. We all found it quite funny.......even Erika!
• Tower of London........really what can I say. All of the buildings in London are so old and beautiful. We didn't end up going in but we did walk around & got some great pictures.
  
• Tower Bridge- we walked up & down by the tower bridge getting lots of photos!
• V & A Museum- we had to go back & get all the souvenirs that we fell in love with! Some may even benefit!
• We also went back to Leicester Square.....we all love this place. There are lots of people, shops & food around.
  
• Well in the square we decided that we wanted to see another musical before going home. Sound of Music it was. Jordan opted to not go & let me just tell you......he missed an amazing show. It was SOOO good. I loved Wicked & you really can't compare the two. If it ever comes your way.....go see it! Andrew, Erika & I can't stop singing all of the songs. I think Jordan wishes that we would stop however :)
• South Kensington- we walked around some shops, bought some yummy pastry's & bought a delicious loaf of olive bread!

11-25-08

• All of us but Jordan got up & went & had an English Breakfast down the street from our flat.
  
• West Brompton Cemetery......once again, I hate cemetery's but I totally took one for the team. It was actually pretty cool. It is really old & grown over. There were TONS of squirrels & pigeons we fed them for a bit & are now convinced that the squirrels understand us because as Matt was telling us girls to go sit on one of the graves & feed all the animals, a squirrel decided to climb up Matt''s leg! It was pretty funny watching Matt squirm a bit :)
• We finished our day shopping on Regent & Oxford Street. We also went to a store called Liberties...........LOVED it

11-26-08

• We took a boat ride on the river to Greenwich-Where time begins. It was actually not that cold. Greenwich it It was pretty cool. Well there of course we went to the market, had lunch, all the boys & Erika had fresh roasted pig sandwiches, I had this amazing fresh Turkish bread w/feta & spinach & Dalea had some Chinese. We stopped by the National Maritime Museum where we were able to drive a boat in the simulator & then went up to the Royal Observatory where the longitude it at 0.
  
• Dinner- we made Jonathan fajitas tonight. They were so good of course. Why would we eat/cook something that wasn't just fantastic? Then for dessert we had some spotted dick! It was good as well!
  
• Tonight we all packed & we are off to Paris in the morning. We have a full schedule there & I am already convinced that we will be a exhausted by the time we get back to London.

11.27.08- Paris

• Took the Euro star to Paris in the morning. Checked into our cute boutique hotel & headed out.
  
• Saint Chapel. The stained glass in this old cathedral is absolutely breathtaking. It is a must see when visiting Paris
• Notre Dame. Also a must see while visiting Paris
• Latin Quarter. Love this area of Paris. Lots of food & shops. We started off with a baguette, crepe, pain chocolate & some amazing roasted potatoes- yum!
• Left Bank
• Arc de triumph via Champs Elysees
• Christmas Market

11.28.08

• Sacre Coeur
• Musse d 'Orsay
• Musee d' Louvre
• Moulin Rouge- don't worry we didn't see a show however, Jordan was begging me to go!!!!!!! J/K
  
• Erika used a street toilet.......SICK
• Fondue Dinner in the Latin Quarter.....Yummy!

11.29.08

• Flea Market- we found lots of fun treasures
• a long nap
• A long walk around the Latin Quarter followed by one of the best donner kebabs & gelato

11.30.08

• Back to London where we were greeted by Jonathan & a delicious curry dinner. Dean, David & Beth also joined us for the night.
  
• Relaxed for the first day in two weeks!!!!!

12.1.08

• Shopped, Shopped & shopped some more. We went to Regent, Oxford & Carnaby St. We also went to Covent Gardens where we founds lots of fun things!!!!!
  
• Ice Skating @ the Natural History Museum
• Dinner @ Pizza Express followed by ice cream of course

12.2.08

• Back to Notting Hill- had to pick a few gifts- Rained Buckets!
  
• Lunch at a really cute Cafe..great pizza, roasted carrots & potato's w/ rosemary
• Imperial War Museum- very fascinating. The Holocaust exhibit was almost too much to take in. The entire time we were thinking about how much our friend Russell would love this place
• Harrods- this place is so big & expensive it is crazy the only thing that we could afford was chocolate :)
• Leicester Square- went to Lillywhites to shop & to get another donner kebab.

All in all so far this trip has been so much fun! So many memories made & so many pictures taken!!!!!!

*Mental note: Next time we come to Europe in the fall we will pack like 7 really cute/warm coats. I am sure that you have noticed that we all always have our coats on! The other day I had to wear two coats!

London- days 5-7

Globe Theater


Walking to Hyde Park Corner
On top of St. Pauls Catherderal.....AMAZING
Fish & Chips...Yummy (yes, I made my own fry sauce)
Bangers & Mash.....soooo good!

More to post tomorrow!

Highlights from the last few days.........

Sound of Music @ the theater
St. Paul's Cathedral
Tower Bridge
We saw the Queen 5 times & had tea with her.....thanks to Jonathan
Erika tumbled down the stairs in the crypt after climbing 300 stairs to the top
Notting Hill
A squirrel climbed up Matt's pants
Saw Hugh Grant @ the park in Notting Hill where the movie was filmed
Cabinet War Room & Winston Churchill Museum
Private performance from Posh Spice & David Beckham @ the Chelsea stadim
Shopping
Organ Recital @ Westminster Abbey
Group discounts @ St. Paul's
Saw Prince Harry @ the Hyde Park Ward.....have you heard he joined the church?
Lunch with the Duchess of York @ the doner kebab shop down the street
Speakers Corner in Hyde Park...good times



Enjoy.....

London: Day's 1-4 (In no order)

We are having a wonderful time here. We are running around from sun-up to sun-down......well we have slept in a few days. The first day we got here it was all about staying awake. We walked & walked & walked. Yesterday we went to Covent Gardens, Leicester Square & we also went & saw Wicked...LOVED it! We saw the changing of the guard @ Buckingham palace. We also went to the British Museum & the national portrait gallery. London rocks because all (most) of the museums are free to get it. We also have been eating some amazing food, Mostly doner kebabs....they are pretty much worth the trip over here if you ask Jordan. We have converted Andrew, Erika & Delea to the kebabs. Yummy! Today Jonathan rented us all bikes & we rode around the entire city of London. It was amazing. Jonathan & Dean were great tour guides. I must admit that I was a bit scared at the thought of being on the road with buses & crazy traffic, but once I was on the bike it was fine. We saw things that we never would have seen if we had just been on foot. We biked to a market in South London (we thought of you Chris) & had a blast.Biked along the river tames, around Hyde Park, to Buckingham Palace, over to the globe theater, to Big Ben & by Westminster Abby & House of Parliament! We just got back from some delicious Indian food & the guys are awaiting the BYU/Utah game to start @ 11pm here. GO UTAH!!!! Tomorrow we are going to the ward here in Chelsea & then to Hyde Park to "Speakers Corner" & maybe Notting Hill & maybe to Westminster Abby for a organ concert. Here are some pictures from the first few days....We hope that you enjoy!