Trip to Oxford

Today our train took us to Oxford where we toured the palace of Blenheim. As usual, when we first arrive I'm not too excited or interested. But once we begin the tour and I learn little by little why the palace is so significant, my appreciation and interest grows. I loved it. The inside (we weren't allowed to photograph again) was filled with things we have just learned in history, such as ormolu mounts and contra parte/prima parte pieces. The gardens went on for acres, filled with beautiful water features and statues. The weather made it even more enjoyable!

Quick fact about Blenheim Palace: Winston Churchill was born in a bedroom here!

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Greek Fret! Love it

People actually live in this bridge!

Today's Destination: the Burghley House

This morning our group took the tube, a train, and then a bus to the Burghley House. This is the house, if you recall, where Elizabeth Bennet first meets Lady Catherine de Bourgh in the lovely film "Pride and Prejudice." The enormous mansion consists of over 200 rooms; it is HUGE! On our exquisite tour we were able to see the dining room where Miss Bennet dines with Lady de Bourgh. The mansion was surrounded with beautiful gardens also! We weren't able to take photos of the inside, but here are some of my favorites of the outside:

I have no idea what this plant is, but it was gorgeous!

The front-ish of Burghley

Kinda cheesey, but can you see the heart?

The weather today didn't help my cold/fever that I somehow managed to catch, but I actually did decently, thankfully, and wasn't too achy. I guess this was the first rain the town of Petersborough has received a good rain within the past few months, so I'm sure the farmers were thankful.

The rest of our adventures took place in the town where a scene was also filmed in "Pride and Prejudice;" it was the one with all the shops and where the militia march down the streets. It was a cute little place!

Mental note: no more late nights aloud. I could hardly keep my eyes open during stake conference! I felt horrible. But it was exciting going to church here. 

After a relaxing afternoon here in the flat, Rachel, Jessica, me, and Benae took a lovely stroll around the block. The buildings just around the corner at the local college are gorgeous - well, actually just about every single building around here is gorgeous; nothing like beautiful architecture! We had loads of fun while taking photo shoots of each other also; I think we gave the locals some good entertainment :)

Dia Tres

Though I wished for a new pair of feet about mid evening, day three was wonderful. Our adventures today consisted of the V&A Museum (Victoria and Albert), the Tate Modern, and then some shopping as well as the traditional meal of fish n' chips- which was splendidly delicious! 

The V&A is massive and we only had a couple of hours to roam the place, but it was cool to see things in real life that we've studied and sketched in History over the past school year. My favorite thing was probably looking at all the beautiful, old chests and clothing. 

The Tate Modern Museum was somewhat disappointing, actually, but a Monet painting made it worth it. It was just a little to extreme for me. Sadly, my camera died after the V&A so I don't have any pictures to post right now of the Tate. Close by the museum were several bridges: the London Bridge, the Millennium Bridge by Calatrava (this is the bridge shown in Harry Potter 6), and the Tower Bridge, along with a few others as well. Set in the background is St. Paul's Cathedral - which is absolutely huge and amazing.

A few of us took a trip to the Hummingbird Bakery for cupcakes that we heard were magnificent; I tried the red velvet and it was mouthwatering. We also dined at Billy's - my first pub experience! The fish n' chips was excellent and our waiter was the cutest. We just might have to go back ;)

v&a museum- very beautiful!

flattened instruments

no thank you!

loved this seating

me and rachel - awesome glass blown structure behind us

 neat pendants at a shop we passed

Day 1 & 2 in London (in London!)

Despite a few moments of downpour, the weather was absolutely beautiful for the first couple of days. I'm slowly getting used to the humidity, but surprisingly it hasn't been too bad (at least yet).

Some of the sites we've seen thus far have been the London Eye, Big Ben, and Hamptons Court, and many more amazing sites in between! I honestly wasn't too excited for Hamptons Court (a place where Henry XIII lived for a bit along with some of his wives), but it was actually really neat. It was encompassed by huge, beautiful gardens.

There are so many things to see it's insane! But I love every minute of it. I'm grateful I've also had the opportunity to go to New York (thanks to one of my lovely sisters), as I feel it was a great preparation for this trip - though I had absolutely no idea at that time that I would ever be here! My feet kill at the end of the day, and I dread the four stories up to my flat that awaits me at the end of the day, but everything is so amazing it hardly matters! I need the muscle toning anyways.

Alleyway that was the inspiration
for Diagon Alley 

Big Ben

Hampton Court