the last week or so in summary

I am never letting another week and a half go by without posting on my blog! There is WAY too much stuff to condense into one post! There is an incomprehensible amount of information I would like to shove at you.... but for your sake, I'll just give you a few highlights:

this is us at the GLOBE THEATRE. oh, yes. I saw A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Globe Theatre in London - just throw in a Ben's cookie and I can die happy!

Tennyson said that! this is inside the British Museum, which is one of the most fantastic places in London. we went as a group for a small tour, and I definitely want to go back and see everything (you could spend a whole day there and not see everything!) one thing I saw that blew my mind was the Rosetta Stone, and that completely blew me away. I was about a foot from the stone that helped scholars figure out how to read Egyptian hieroglyphics. wow!

this is me, insanely excited to be at Jane Austen's home. yes, we got along very well. swimmingly! One of the most impactful moments in the Jane Austen home was the moment when I saw the writing table that is said to have been the table she wrote at. What an important piece of history to see! She was one of the greatest writers in English history, and it was at a small, unassuming and by all appearances unimportant table that she wrote the words that immortalized her. wonderful! I also got to see where she was buried, the Winchester Cathedral.

Us at the Roman Baths in... Bath. :) yes, I was in Bath! I was excited to go to Bath primarily because it is featured in almost every Jane Austen novel... but as soon as I got there I understood why it was such a popular city! because it's gorgeous, that's why!

Chelsea, me, Kathryn at Tintagel - the site of some Medieval castle ruins and the supposed birthplace of King Arthur (by the way, I am completely disillusioned with the whole King Arthur legend... they keep trying to tell me that it's just a myth. come on guys, he was real. don't argue.)

"scissor arch" at Wells Cathedral - probably my favorite cathedral so far. wait, no, I liked St. Paul's too... dang. well, they're all really beautiful :)

Chelsea and I at Ilfracombe - Ilfracombe is a beautiful oceanside city (I mean, honestly, look at how beautiful it is? okay, the picture doesn't even do it justice). Ilfracombe didn't have any sites that we were visiting specifically, but we stayed there overnight in youth hostels. we got to watch the sun set over the ocean!

the ocean at Ilfracombe

so this is us, at the Royal Opera House, seeing a ballet! it was actually three different (shorter) ballets in one show, and the last one was Carmen, which was wonderful, of course. our tickets were only four pounds (four pounds?!? for a ballet? a real ballet?) but don't get too excited, we were four balconies up, right next to the stage, so we were practically on top of the dancers and had to lean over the balcony to see more than 50% of the stage. fun :)

Every day I am here, I have a moment of realization when I remember I am in London! It's really an indescribable feeling... like being told it's your birthday every day for six weeks! (that comparison fails... being told it's my birthday every day for six weeks would just make me feel old. but you get the idea, right?) Every day I say a prayer of gratitude for the opportunity I have to be here. Oh, and yesterday, I went to Whole Foods here in London. Yes, they have one! Isn't that incredible?? Health food stores make me feel at home... and this one knocked my socks off! three floors of scrumptious food... yum!

PS I've made a list of words I use too much when I talk about London:

amazing

wonderful

incredible

beautiful

wow

I'll work on expounding my vocabulary :)