Week 7 & 8

Oh, I was so so happy this week because my wonderful mother and sister came to visit me! It was Katie's 23rd birthday, and so, for a heckuva birthday present, mom and her decided to come up to jolly old London!

I got to really play tour guide this time- planned itineraries, tube map instructions, and the like. It was fun, but kinda weird. Usually my mom's the one who has everything all planned out, but this time, it was all on me. But thankfully, everything went really well and we had a terrific time.

I'll give you all a little sampling of what we did every day:

Friday- Kate and Mom arrived, and we had a little problem all finding each other- I told them to meet me at the Starbucks at Victoria Station. One problem- Victoria Station has three Starbucks. It was pretty funny- we were all three Starbucks hopping, and kept missing each other. Teehee. Eventually, we met up and went to Kensington Palace and Gardens. So pretty, and very interesting. After that, we went and rode the London Eye as night fell- gorgeous. By that time, they were getting pretty tired and jet laggy- so we went and settled into our very cool hotel. Literally, you walked out the door and could see Westminster Abbey. Incredible.

Saturday- We took a tour of Leeds Castle, Canterbury, Dover, and Greenwich. Leeds Castle might be one of my favorite places I've been so far- it's this ancient old castle that was totally renovated and revamped, so it has modern decorations interspersed with older stuff- so cool. Canterbury was this quaint little town with a HUGE cathedral. Dover was incredible- we saw the famous white cliffs. Wow. Greenwich we just kinda ran through on the way to Thames River Cruise. We got to see all of London as the sun was setting. Breathtaking.

Sunday- Kate and I went to Madame Tussauds Wax Museum and the Sherlock Holmes Museum while Mom went off and explored London by herself. We all met up in Trafalgar Square, and just kinda explored that area for awhile. That night, we met with Chelsey, Katie, and Stace for church and afterwards, yummu yummy dessert. It was so fun for my family to meet my awesome friends that I've made while I'm here.

Monday- Kate's 23rd birthday! I had boring old class in the morning, so mom and Kate went to the Tower of London. Afterwards, I took them to East London, to see how the other half lives. I don't think mom liked it too much- for once, she didn't talk to strangers! Hahaa- I cured her at last! After that, Kate and I went to Camden Market and shopped til we dropped- it was super fun. We found all these cool hats, these old Ramones t-shirt with this crazy embroidery, shoes, etc etc. Mommy took a little nap while we did this. After that, we went and saw "Wicked" and it was amazing, as always. It nearly made me cry, the fact that I was seeing my favorite musical, with my family, in London. So surreal.

Tuesday- Kate and Mom went to the Tate Modern and St Pauls while I was in class again- it was pretty funny- they walked all the way to the top (900-plus steps) and were definitely paying for it later! We all went to the British Museum, and saw the amazing Egyptian, Greek, and Roman collections- including the Rosetta Stone. Wow. After that, we were pretty beat- so we went and rested until that night, when we got to go see "The Phantom of the Opera." Seriously, the best live singing I've ever heard in my life. They were so talented- it blew me away.

Wednesday- Katie left- boo. And i got a cold- double boo. I basically had a sickie day, watching TV and just chilling in our new hotel in South Kensington while mom went out and about.

Thursday- Feeling better, so I went to work. Mom and I met for lunch at the Tower of London- it was so cool! We just shopped around, walked around the Tower, and got Ben and Jerrys ice cream. I could get used to this, haha. It was such a fun day- we saw "Becoming Jane" that night to get us in the mood for Bath- Jane Austen and her sister lived in Bath for about five years.

Friday, Saturday, Sunday- We left for Bath! Mom and I have just been having the best time here- we just went to Bath Abbey and saw this amazing three hour concert- oh. my. gosh. Incredible singing in this ancient old church- wow. We saw "Factory Girl" which was very good. This city is so amazing- it's just a great mix of the old and new. Architecture is all beautiful- we're staying in this great little bed and breakfast- and it's a total college town, because Bath University is here, so it's mostly all college students. I just love it here. I don't know if they're going to talk me into leaving...

That's all for now!
Love you all
Ev