"go where we may, rest where we will

eternal london haunts us still."

thomas moore

i love the sea, and the sea loves me

After the demanding days in London (which I loved) we decided to take it easy this week in Kent. Our week consisted of shopping, walks through the English countryside, catching up on the BBC Robin Hood series (I'm so addicted), buying lots of chocolate, performing Shakespeare in the backyard, attending church functions, and hanging out with my amazing roommate Rachel and her family, as well as seeing Sian-Amy.

Let me tell you about the title of this post. It seems random. Well, Rachel's little brother, Michael, is very bright and very musically talented and very quirky. We get along, the Bascoms and I. Anyway, Michael wrote a sea chanty/pirate tune, that must be sung in a pirate voice. And it goes like this:

"i love the sea, and the sea loves me!

i say 'hey, young lassie, come sit with me and we can have some tea...some nice green herbal tea'

just give me a bottle of rum, me lad, and a hat to sit on me brow

and i'll have ye walking the plank, ye scad, and you'll meet the locker of davy jones!! because...

i love the sea, and the sea loves me..."

it can go on forever.

Enjoy the pictures.

thank you so much, rachel. i love you!

saying goodbye

June 12th, 13th, and 14th were spent saying goodbye.

Goodbye to London, my favorite city on earth.

Goodbye to the monuments, the statues, the markets, the museums, the squares, the streets, the shops, the tube, the parks, the gardens, the food, the people, the Centre, the cathedrals, the river, this magical place.

Then, Rachel, my lovely roommate came to London and picked me up. Rachel is from a cute little place called Tunbridge Wells, in Kent, which is about an hour south of London. I went to Kent and got to stay with her family for a week. Upcoming post about our adventures there.

the play's the thing!

Once upon a time, there was an amazingly lucky girl named Kylie who spent her 20th birthday in London. How did she celebrate? Let me tell you. June 11 began early for the no-longer-teenager. At 6:00 AM, Kylie and a group of her friends took the bus and then walked to a theatre to wait in the line to get the coveted tickets for this:

(I'm done talking in third person now.) We got tickets when the box office opened at ten. We entertained ourselves by playing "Snog, date, dump." (Best game ever. If you want to know how to play, contact me.) And boy, did we get tickets! Laura and I got a private box with a perfect view of both the stage and the theatre. But, I'm getting ahead of myself.

After we scored awesome tickets, we walked back home via Oxford Street. Oh! I forgot to tell you why all the walking: London Underground Strike. Yes, the tube was out from wednesday-friday. It totally crippled London, too. Imagine, two million people more people are out on the streets, having to use bus, bike, or legs to get to their usual location. nightmare.

Oxford street was fun, though. I did go shopping for my birthday, but to tell you the truth I was so sleepy, so after shopping, I came back to the Centre and found this on my bunk before crashing for a couple hours before dinner.

I made some lovely friends at the London Centre, who share my love of The Office. If you too share this love, you will appreciate the great effort one of my roommates made to put this up. Thanks, Sara.

For dinner, we ate Indian food (my fav) on banana leaves!!! No plates! Just awesomeness!

Then, the play. It was phenomenal. My favorite play I've seen in London. Perhaps ever. It was amazing. Hamlet is my favorite Shakespeare tragedy and I know it front and back. I re-read it for the fifth time on the place ride to England, in fact. This production was incredible. The actors wore modern, dark clothing. The set was simple, and the lighting created the different settings for the various scenes. Hardly any props were used. And the acting, ladies and gentlemen, blew my mind. I have never seen such command of the stage. When Hamlet walked on stage, everyone was mesmerized, and had no problem understanding the Shakespearian language because he made it so simple to follow along with him. Amazing. I was so emotionally exhausted by the time it was through. I loved it!

Of course, after the play, we waited at the stage door to get Hamlet to sign the program. Lucky me, we got a picture, too.

Yes, I met jude law. THE jude law. And, may I just throw out that he is even better in person than on a screen. I didn't think it was possible, either. And, he's an amazing actor. Okay, okay, so when I got my picture taken with him, we had a little conversation. It went like this (K=kylie, j=jude):

k: thank you so much (huge smile)

j: (charming smile and wonderful accent) you're very welcome

k: i loved the play. it was fantastic! you were amazing!

j: i'm so glad that you enjoyed it. thank you for coming. (curteous nod as adoring fans screamed his name, drawing him away from me).

best birthday ever. i defy you to beat me with a better birthday. :)

to be or not to be? this is stratford.

Ah, Stratford-upon-Avon, the birthplace and home of William Shakespeare. If you know me at all, you will know that I love Shakespeare and I love his plays. So, naturally, I loved spending time in the home of the Bard.

Our first stop was at Mary Arden's farm. She was Shakespeare's mother.

Next stop was Anne Hathaway's house. She was Shakespeare's wife.

Finally, we made it to Shakespeare's birthplace.

And walked down the road to where he is buried.

And enjoyed soaking in the Shakespearean spirit.

Now, if you haven't already, check out the past posts that I just put up. I put up the London Eye, Bath, and then another post of pre-Stratford.

clever title

Typing these posts might make me cry. These posts are about the last week of my study abroad program in London, England. We filled up this week with every fun thing, trying to make the time move as slowly as possible, when we know that the time would fly so fast it would be like a dream by the end of it all. And fly it did.

sunday june 6

We had the best timing, being the study abroad group for Spring semester. We got to go to the regional conference, which was like a stake conference for the whole of the UK and Ireland. And, lucky us, we had amazing leaders come to London (the conference was broadcast from Hyde Park chapel): Sister Dibb, Sister , Elder Anderson, and President Uchtdorf!!!

It was so interesting to feel like part of "you good European Saints" while we heard their messages. I felt so uplifted after hearing their words during the conference, as it was broadcast to a chapel on the other side of London.

In the evening, though, we got to go to the Hyde Park chapel and attend a special YSA fireside where these leaders spoke to us. I cannot deny that President Uchtdorf's talk totally inspired me and I could have listened to him for hours more. He is just an amazing man! He even quoted Harry Potter in his talk: "It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities." :)

All in all, a wonderful Sunday. This photo was taken as I walked home through Hyde Park/Kensington Gardens after the fireside. Beautiful, no?

monday june 7

Okay, listen up. In Kensington Gardens, there is a playground themed "Neverland" and it is the Princess Diana memorial playground. This awesome playground is surrounded by tall fences and trees and is only accesible if you are under 10 years old, or are a parent of such a child. Since we, at the London Centre are neither ten years old or younger, neither are we parents, we are not allowed to go in. That is, until monday, when we heard a rumour that people in our situation could enter the park for half an hour in the morning before it opened. So, we took advantage of that, and explored the most awesome playground imaginable.

After our adventures in Neverland, we jaunted over to the Tate Britain for a little while. I love art galleries! I think they are SO cool! To see the actual pieces that the artist himself painted! I mean, Monet really really painted that stroke of this famous piece! Incredible! The Tate Britain actually has a lot of Turner paintings, which is really cool, because I love Turner.

From the Tate Britain, we went to Covent Garden, because Monday is market day over there. We bought yummy frozen yogurt and then wandered around there for a while. I love Convent Garden - it has a cool vibe.

After dinner, three of us went to see Phantom of the Opera!! Loved it!

tuesday june 8

Tuesday consisted of a jaunt through Chinatown, a completed pilgrimage to Platform 9 3/4, and seeing The Lion King on stage. Good day.

and i love london!

a charming place

Four of us got up very early on Saturday, June 6, to catch our train from Paddington Station to Bath. I went with Alexa, Annie, and Laura to have a lovely day trip in the city that I've read about/seen in Jane Austen books and films.

Note: Do NOT buy tickets for a train that leaves at 7 in the morning, especially if you are not a morning person. We were very very tired. We got up at 5.

Anyway, our first stop in Bath was to tour the ancient Roman baths! This was amazing, because the baths were built by the Romans in the first century AD and the water comes from warm springs and it was so interesting! Also, picturesque. And, the baths are just right in the middle of the town.

After the Roman baths, we went to have a brunch at the Pumproom, of Northanger Abbey fame. We tried the water from the baths (warm and minerally. sick.) and then pretended we were posh as we ate our crumpets and jam, listening to the string quartet. I love England.

If you are familiar at all with Bath, then you have heard of or seen the Royal Cresent. This was our next stop. It was exactly as I had hoped it would look! I wanted to pretend I was running after Captain Wentworth, but decided that I was enough of tourist already with my shopping bags without making a scene down the Royal Cresent. :) Following the Royal Cresent, we toured the fashion museum. Some parts were interactive a.k.a. we got to dress up in corsets. You must note that during all of this, there was tons of shopping to be done, including discovering a wonderful shop that is one of my favorite stores ever. It is called Apricot. Pretty sure I bought two dresses there. Love it.

We ate lunch at Sully Lunn's, which is situated in the oldest house in Bath. We ate the famous (and yummy) Sally Lunn rolls and chatted in the old townhouse before we went to walk through Bath Abbey and then explored some more shops. Including chocolate shops. mmmmm.

Then, sad day, we had to leave this wonderful place called Bath and headed back to London. What a wonderful day!

"Bath is a charming place, sir; there are so many good shops here."-- Northanger Abbey, Jane Austen

a note

you should all go to the post called "the rooftops of london" from june 12. i started that post and finally finished it, so check it out! i'm catching up slowly, but surely. :)

out of order

dear reader: this post is non-chronological. i will post soon of my adventures since brighton. the following is written in all-lowercase because i couldn't be bothered with the shift key.

this is how i'm feeling:
depressed and so sad to leave london.

tonight is my last night in the london centre. i packed for a little while this afternoon, but got really bored with that really fast. and now i have to be ready to go for tomorrow. i am so so sad. you know how i don't cry? well, i might. right now i have lump in my throat and i can't tell if it's because i'm going to cry or if it's because i'm crinking my neck against the pillow in my cave and it's after one in the morning. i do not want to be done. i love london with all my heart. i feel so at home here. i'm glad i get to stay with rachel, but afterwards i want to come back here.
i just know that when i come back to london in the future, it probably won't be for the long extended time that i've had here and it's just won't be the same as living and learning here in such a unique experience and environment and making all these friendships through the things we've done and seen together. oh, gosh, the lump might be a crying lump.

on the rooftops of london...

Once upon a time, in a magical place called the BYU London Centre, about seven weeks ago when we arrived to begin the wonderful adventures, we were informed that the hot water heaters in the building were broken and that there was no warm water. They estimated that it would take a couple days to remedy the situation.

It took two and a half weeks. Two and a half weeks of ice-waterfall showers where you get a brain-freeze just standing there, screaming a little bit, not feeling warm nor clean after the shower, which is usually how a shower is supposed to be.

So, because our professors thought that we handled the ice water so well, they told us that they would pay for us all to go on the LONDON EYE!!! awesome.

Twenty-five of us all got one "pod" together and had the time of our lives overlooking London! We went at sunset and it was the perfect time to go. I'm glad we chose to go once we have been to all the famous places in London and to see them all from above. magical.

enjoy the pictures. i took over 100 on the london eye.