London July 13th-July 15th

July 13th, Friday:
Friday the 13th! Ahhh...Scary! Not really. Sleeping in is great...for those of you who never do, try it sometime. It does wonders! So, a bunch of us (Kim, Anna, Patrice, Heather, James, Holly, and Me) went to find where our good friend Charley resides in Londontown. You may know him as Charles Dickens. He wrote some obscure books like "Oliver Twist" and "A Christmas Carol" or something like that. In any case, after running around like American tourists (because that's what we are), we finally found the house. It had a green door, which was wonderful for me. Dickens charged us 8 American dollars EACH just to look around. I mean, c'mon, my house is bigger and I don't even charge that much to tour my house. Whatever. Anyways, it was a nice small house, and I got to see a copy of "Oliver Twist" that he autographed, it was way cool (In face, I'm actually in the midst of reading "Oliver Twist" right now, and I'm really really enjoying it so far). In any case, it was a joyous time.
After Dicken's house, we split up, and Holly, Anna, Kim, and I went to the British Gallery (or something like that...not the same one I went to previous, a different one). This museum was also very interesting. We didn't have to answer any questions for this class, which was nice, because we were able to just walk around and enjoy (although we had to listen to some of the audio tour). My favorite was seeing some of da Vinci's actual work. Also, I saw Monet's actual real painting of the water lillies and japanese bridge. This was quite the breathtaking experience for me, because I've been staring at that picture my whole life every time I go to the bathroom! Mom...I got a picture of the ACTUAL painting of this, and I had to do it secretly, because you know these heavy security art people.
After the museum, I decided it was time I jet over to Foot Locker for some new shoes (because I was to go on a 9-mile hike/meander on Saturday). Parents be proud moment: I spent only 30 pounds on new Nike shoes. Very proud of my frugal self.
Then, I went to Whiteley's very quickly, and bought Enrique's "Do You Know?" single, and I had to include this, because for all those haven't heard this song yet, you must. A little friendly promotion there.
After din din, I got ready for the night. The night didn't even begin until around oh...say...11pm. Lexi, Anna, Kim, Kiley, and I went out to 1 Leicester Squre AKA Sound. We basically needed to get out of this center and dance dance DANCE. We were basically the most dressed up, decent looking, and fun people there (oh I crack myself up). But seriously, it was a pretty ghetto club, and it cost 10 pounds. When I walked in, I started yelling at the lady, because it was advertised in a magazine for only being 5 pounds. And she was like, "That's only if you come before 9PM". Who in their right mind goes out before 9PM? So, that was a little crazy. But, OTHER THAN THAT...we had soooo much fun just dancing in our nice little Mormon circle. Everyone loves the Americans. We owned that dance floor. I really don't know how else to explain it. It was a lot of fun. **Note: bottle on table NOT OURS. We just wanted to sit down...and bottle was there...non-alcoholic beverage anyways.** Then, we left the club around 2AM, and since the tube stops running at midnight, we found our way back by bus. It was a good experience to learn the bus system in case I ever need to use it again. On the way back, I was talking about my Dad and my Spanish tapes we listen to, and how instead of saying Espanol, it tells us to say Castilliano. This really nice, sweet lady chimed in, and started telling us all about Castilliano as a dialect of Spain. She's from Barcelona, and she told us all about Spain. She lived in NYC for a year (so we connected on that level). We just make friends wherever we go. Well, we got home at around 3:45AM, I ate some food, took a shower, and got to bed at 4:15AM...and had to wake up in 3 hours for the hike. Sean you crazy kid.

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July 14th, Saturday:
Well, needless to say...given the night I had Friday, I was EXHAUSTED. I slept the whole train ride to Shoreham. And, then I started to crave candy, but there was no candy machine. So, I made a scene out of that. We started on our walk, and it started out pretty hard going up this steep hill, but (and note to self) once you focus your mind on the countryside and conversation rather than feet, the hike becomes so much easier. I had a lot of great conversations with people about Idaho, Vegas, Special Education, Jersey, etc. I really enjoyed myself throughly. It was so peaceful, and we ate lunch in this anciet Roman Castle (only the walls were still up, and those were even withering away AKA Eynsford Castle). Spencer and I took some more token jumping pictures (see below), and the lavender fields (in Kent) were just BREATHTAKING. Seriously, for people getting on England's case for raining so much, they don't give the English countryside the justice. It's gorgeous to say the least. I pet about a thousand dogs (every dog I saw I had to pet)...I miss Tucker lots! Holly and I got lost nearing the end of the hike (Lavender fields), so we found our own way back to the train station. It was actually really nice to get lost, we could walk at our own pace, and stop to see the things we wanted to, and go at our own speed. But, we were so confused on how we could get lost. I posed the question to her, "How could they not notice the loudest girl and the loudest boy missing from the group?", and Holly just said, "They probably left us on purpose saying, 'Oh Sean and Holly are distracted with the Lavender and Lemon Curd, now's our chance to leave them!'" It was pretty hilarious. But no worries, we got back in time for the train, and met back up with the group there. PS: I found a weird sign on the way back on one of the connecting tubes, "Anti-climbing paint used"...what does that EVEN MEAN!?
After we made our way back, and got off the tube at Bayswater, Spencer, Melissa, Lauren, Amy, and I went out for a nice Indian dinner at Kahns. It was decorated so nicely, and the food was DELISH. I got a spicy chicken tikka masala meal, it was hott.
Then, the whole group watched the movie "Notting Hill". It was pretty good. It was fun to see London in a movie, and point out all the places we've been to. Just like in Harry Potter when they flew past Londontown on their broomsticks (I think I saw them flying across the Thames the other day actually). ALSO, in Notting Hill, the actor from the play "Landscape With Weapon" that I have a picture with in an earlier blog post, is in that movie! I had NO idea until I saw the movie. It was one of those..."Oh wait a second!" moments.
After the movie, I yes IIIII found my Italy group a cheap, great proximity hostel to say in while venturing in Rome. Can't wait!

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July 15th, Sunday:
So, basically, some days I get up on time. Wait no...that's wrong. Every day I get up late. However, this time it was SUPER late! Whoopsie! My church group called my room to ask where I was, because they were leaving the Center for church, and I was still in bed catching Z's (which is so unfair, because I went to bed so early the previous night)! Anyway, I got ready SO quick, like the Flash or Quicksilver. I got on the tube with my Strawberry, Apple, Blackberry Granola (perfect for a Sunday), and I got to the train station. OH MY GOSH moment: So, I go up to buy my ticket (I'm buy myself obviously, because everyone left me), and the ticket guy was already pressing things on his computer and before I could say ANYTHING, he said "Round trip to Blackheath, right?" WHOA! Weird...like he totally read my mind, and how does he even know this! I've only been to church so many times since I've gotten here, and HOW MANY people go through that train station every day? Lots. Craziness. I got on the train, and made it to church in time for Sacrament Meeting! INCREDIBLE! I can't believe I pulled that off. It was perfect. Only 15 minutes late, and I had to tube it, train it, walk it, and everything.
But yes, church was amazing as always. There are 2 new missionaries in the ward. One from Idaho (And no Mom, I didn't get to talk to him), and one from Italy. I talked to the one from Italy, and he's from a small town outside of Bologna. I totally reminisced of my lovely time in Bologna (the scavanger hunt that we won, the Neptune fountain, McDonalds ("Uh, volio numero quattro"), and H&M). I talked to him in Italian actually (sort of). I went up to him and said, "Mi chiamo Sean". He said it was very good! But, then I couldn't carry on a conversation after that. A year of Italian in high school, and I only retain about 3 things. It's wonderful.
After church, Kiley and I went to St. Paul's Cathedral (and it was quite the trek to St. Paul's...For example, we asked a public worker how to get to St. Paul's and he didn't even know where St. Paul's was! I'm like "YOU WORK HERE" and "UM...IT'S ONLY WORLD RENOUND!"...some people...golly-gee). But we got there, and that's what matters. We attended the Evensong service. The singing was AMAZING! And, we had to read this thing "It's part of the service," and I accidentally said "I believe in the Catholic Church" or something like that, whoops! Well, we all know I don't. Love catholics so much, but I'm a Morm. I thought it was funny. Kiley just looked at me and was like, "Uh...Sean?!" And, the sermon the lady gave was kind of strange as well. She talked about how the singing people (choir) were able to AND I QUOTE, "take exams, have pillow fights, and YES...even water fights." What that has to do with church, or anything really...I don't even know. Great service though, obviously. And while exiting, one of the "high ranking" singing ladies said "Bye", and I said "BYE" and waved my hand and went all out. I totally didn't even realize what I was doing, and then, Kiley laughed at me...and I realized how rediculous that must have looked.
When we got back, I was ALL about dinner. Two church things?...I was CRAVING food. After being spiritually fed for so long, I needed some food in my rumbly tummy.
After dinner, not much noteworthy things came to pass. And so ends my Sunday.
This Monday through Friday, I'll be in York, Lake District, Edinbough (Scotland), etc. I wont have my laptop, so I'll have to blog about that when I get back. I'll be so busy, so let's hope I can remember it all.
Check you all later! Cheers!