The Hills are Alive!

A bunch of us went to see "The Sound of Music." It was obviously a bit different from the movie, but SO good. There weren't any men attending the performance dressed as girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes, which was a little dissappointing. ;)

Hampton Court

We went to Henry VIII's home, Hampton Court, as a group today. The palace itself was, of course, incredible, but my favorite part was all of the gardens (what else is new?).

Out for a Walk

I think the effects of living with 40 girls 24/7 are finally starting to set in . . . these are such fun people. Most of these are from a walk we took along the Thames the other night. One is of my lovely bruise that everyone in the center is constantly giving me a hard time about. My roommate, Abby, elbowed me hard when we were playing soccer (in the same spot where I had already been bruised the day before). I'm actually pretty proud of it :)

York

We were so exhausted when we got to York, but managed to have some fun nonetheless. Jorvik, the Viking city was . . . smelly, but kind of interesting. There were a lot of cute little shops and an amazing bakery. We also saw Scarlet Pimpernel the musical.

More Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Deb, I don't know how you ever left Scotland! I loved it! We were only there for 2 days but we made it count. We went through the Edinburgh Castle, which was awesome. They have these books in the castle with the names of all the men from Scotland that had been killed in various wars, and I found a bunch of Daly's that were killed in action. In one of the rooms where those books were found it had a quote on the wall that gave me goosebumps: "The souls of the righteous are in the hands of God. There shall no evil happen to them: they are in peace."

We hiked to Arthur's Seat when we first got there. It was an intense hike, but the view at the top made it worth it. It is such a beautiful place! I loved all the bagpipers (is that a word?), the fun pubs, the hostel, and the slower-paced/friendlier atmosphere of Edinburgh--in comparison to London.

For the boys . . .

My street, Palace Court, is a pretty posh part of town. This LOTUS (my apologies, Jeff) belongs to one of my neighbors. If you drive your own car around here, chances are it's dang nice.

Pizza and a concert

A few of us found a cute pizza place and then went with the entire group to a Baroque concert at St. Martins-in-the-field church; it was a lovely evening.

Kew Gardens

I have become obsessed with gardens and all things nature in the past year or so. I would post more of the hundreds of pictures I have taken of flowers and trees but I think Dad is the only one who would appreciate that :)

Les Mis

I went to Les Miserables the other night; there is not an adjective I know that describes how much I loved it! I sat in the 7th row and either my jaw was dropped or I had a huge smile on my face the entire time. I was balling during the very last song. It really is quite religious and made me think of the plan of salvation when their friends that passed on came back through the veil and sang "will you join in our crusade." We're all fighting the same war, no matter what side of the veil we're on currently. I'm going back to see that one again for sure!

Football

I had the most fun I've had since I've been here the other night: a bunch of us played football (soccer) in Kensington Gardens about an hour and a half before the sun went down. The weather could not have been more perfect. I started things off with a bang when I slipped on the grass and ate it in such a way that would win me a lot of money on America's funniest home videos. After bruising my pride, I proceeded to bruise just about every other part of my body in the following hour. I slipped many more times and have the scrapes and bruises to prove it. I scored a goal and had a couple of assists. I felt like I was reliving childhood; it was such a blast! We're playing again for FHE tomorrow night . . . better believe I will be wearing my game face for round 2.

Beachy Head

It was super windy but the views were incredible!

Canterbury and Rye

Ezra Pound's Home and Kensington Garden