Abduction Premiere.

Oh heyyy Taylor.

Dinner is a pretty big event here at Fat Camp aka The Centre.

But we didn't even think twice about skipping it. 

We had other needs to be fed...

Taylor Lautner

We got there early to get prime look out 

spots with the best views.

But of course it being London it started 

to Down Pour right before it started.

The red carpet was flooding because they were 

really smart and put it over the drains. 

So unorganized, but so funny to watch them 

scramble all over trying to fix the problems.

Birds eye ended up being the winner. 

Once all the umbrellas went up there was no way you could see anything being down on the main level.

 Not sure who this odd looking man is but the little 

english girls went Nuts when he showed up. 

He must hold some sort of importance... not sure how though.

Lily Collins

 

Didn't know it was possible. 

But no joke he is even more attractive in person.

 Seriously raped him with my camera. Not even mad.

He was so cute with all the girls, he signed so many autographs and would take their cameras and take pictures with them. 

Crowd pleaser for sure. 

Even though by the end of the night we 

were all extremely drenched... 

I would totally stand in the rain any day to get a glimpse of him!

Our new hobby is definitely premiere crashing.

Just Another Saturday In London.

Changing of the Guards

Millions of people gather on Saturdays to watch the ceremony of changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace. 

In order to get good placement and actually able to see you have to get there super early and hold your ground.

OR

You can show up 30 minutes late...

and get the best seats in town.

Me and Laurel ran to Portobello Market early that morning 

and we were just going to meet the girls there 

so in our efforts to find them we crossed the main 

gate and they blocked it off right behind us.

 Turned around and bam Front Row.

Meet my new best friend. We got pretty well acquainted. 

The crowd behind us would NOT move back so the officer said 

"move or the horse will  make you move!"

Don't worry he started walking the horse 

straight into people, HILARIOUS.  

We were so unbelievably lucky!

It definitely made my experiences that much better 

because I was right in the middle of all the action.

Cuddling with Horsey, talking to the officers, crazy tourist. 

I loved every moment of it.

London Fashion Week

Laurel, Lauren, and Alli

The adventures never end.

After a great morning of once and a life time action.

We headed over to Fashion Weekend!

K lets talk about a million people that looked as if 

they were all popped out of the same exact mold.

Same clothes, same hair, same make up, 

different faces/shapes & sizes.

My eyes were totally opened to new world of designer fashion. 

I guess I was behind in the times in good old Provo.

[oops, don't care. Ross/TJ Maxx is where it's at!]

Time is flying by! I've already been here a month and it still 

seems like I just got here a few days ago. 

At this rate I'll be home in no time.

Every night I go to bed exhausted but it's so worth it. 

Play now sleep in December.

Wicked!

Student concession tickets are the best thing ever invented.

We take FULL advantage of this as much as possible.

We got £90 tickets for £27.50, amazing seats!

Wicked will forever be one of my favorite musicals of all time!

This was my second time seeing it and it was 

just as amazing as the first!

Every Play/Big event we take our  sorority picture. 

Me & Alyssa

Seriously so good, almost better because of their accents.

But just a little bit.

Floor seats, center, half way back - couldn't be happier!

Kew Gardens.

Every where you go in England there are amazing gardens.

The Kew Gardens are one of my favorite ones so far!
Here's a glimpse of some of its beauty.

We almost walked straight through this massive Spider Web.

Our first sign of fall!

Beautiful Rose Gardens.

Even though it's broken I still am determined to use it.

It still half works.

My favorite part of the whole place was this Tree top walk.

It was the coolest thing ever you could see for miles!

Except for when the wind picked up it started 

to sway back and forth.

Not okay.

Biggest green house I've ever seen.

Banana Trees!

This is Fran I absolutely LOVE her.

Peace! [Asian style]

Once again amazed by every new flower and tree I see. 

I have yet to be let down by this amazing town.

I love it here.

My New Obsession.

Chicken Doner Kebabs

For the last three weeks that I've been here my friend Chad has bugged me  EVERYDAY to get one. 

I searched out for the least sketchy place 

until I found this cute little joint

So today was the day! 

I was still a little sketched out by the meat hanging in the back...

 But as soon as I saw it I couldn't wait to try it.

 I fell in LOVE with the first bite.

I ate the whole thing it was so delicious. 

I definitely will be getting lots more of these.

Chad - 1

Julia - 0

Because London isn't cool enough...

...We went to Scotland and the Lake District for the week!

First stop: Chatsworth House

We all know the amazing shot in Pride and Prejudice of Mr. Darcey's house. Well I went there. But of course to our luck they were renovating the front famous shot of it. Yay for big white tarps!

The inside of the house was amazing. 

Every ceiling was covered in huge murals and the walls were decked out in fancy wall paper.

The art work and sculptures were something else, it could have been a museum for how much they had.

Look familiar?

The gardens were absolutely stunning! 

They were so huge you would get lost without a map.

I definitely wouldn't mind living there.

After seeing the most gorgeous elegant house I've 

ever seen we drove a few hours to our hostel

I wanted to turn around and go back to Chatsworth as soon as I took a step in. It smelt like D.I. x100849856 it was disgusting. I'm usually pretty open to new experiences but that was more than I could handle that night. But I made it through the night and back on the bus.

Next Stop: Hadrian's Wall

It wouldn't be study abroad in England without rain and wind! 

The first 30 minutes were miserable it was so cold!

Luckily it cleared up real fast and made it that much more fun to look at stones on the ground that use to be something years ago. Great experience.

This was part of the bath house,

not really sure what the function of the holes are 

but it made for a great picture!

I'll give it some credit though it was absolutely gorgeous there

and the old stone buildings and and remains of the wall were actually pretty cool.

Back to the bus!

Next Stop: Edinburgh, Scotland

Once we arrived we dropped our stuff off at the hostel 

[MUCH BETTER]

then we were off to hike Arthur's Seat.

They told us it would probably be a little windy. 

That was an UNDERSTATEMENT!

The higher we went the more windy it got.

Every step it would seriously push you back.

The top was an adventure in of itself. 

We're talking like 70mph wind.

At times we had to drop to the ground just so we wouldn't fall over.

I was laughing so hard at times I thought I would pee my pants. 

It was a rough go. But I  LOVED every second of it!

If you watch the movie One Day with Anne Hathaway this is the hill at the end of the movie they were walking up.

Smart City Hostels. 

Definitely changed my views on the Hostel situation.

I'm pretty sure they stuck us in the crappiest hostel the first night so that anything after that we would think everywhere else we stayed was great.

This Hostel was the ultimate teenage hang out spot!

We mad lots of new German and Scottish friends in Bar50 that was located below us. 

Edinburgh Castle 

Unbelievable. It was a full on castle. 

The whole town is like walking through a fairy tale!

I felt like I was in Shrek walking through the kingdom.

The Elephant House

I didn't even know this was in Scotland. Oops!

So glad I got the chance to go! 

It was the cutest little restaurant!

The food was delicious

and the walls were covered in pictures of elephants.

Adorable

Harry Potter Bathroom

Don't worry of course I signed the wall!

and I couldn't help but to bring Babe Heaven to Scotland :)

Scotland was great. I would love to go back and spend more time there. I will be back!

Thursday morning... back on the bus!

Next Stop: The Lake District

Our religion teacher warned us that it would be raining and cold the entire time we are there and it'd be a miracle if we saw the sun...

We got there and it was the most beautiful warm sunny day!

They sent us out hiking to explore the beautiful country side.

It was gorgeous! 

Rolling hills filled with sheep and cows and awesome views of the lake. The little towns are adorable with cute little shops and houses on the hills. 

I could see myself living there!

We stayed at this cute little hostel up on the hill that felt like a cabin. It was great! Except for the fact that the fire alarm went off all night. Who needs sleep anyway?

William Wordsworth

[Dead persons house #1]

The Dove Cottage house #1

Then we made the trek in the rain to house #2

Rain boots = Life savors.

I found my tombstone while we were 

looking at Wordsworth's grave.

After a long day of Wordsworth history and playing in the rain

we made our way back to the bus.

Next Stop: Best Western Hotel

Hotel for the night? Yeah, not even mad.

Own room? Life couldn't be better.

Last Stop: Brantwood, John Ruskin's home

[Dead persons house #2]

It was our last day of our Northern tour 

and we were all exhausted

We had one last stop to make. Of course it was pouring!

So we got dropped off at the trail head and we made the hike in.

Let me just paint this picture for you

45+ people mostly girls hiking through the pastures 

in the pouring rain. Slushing through swamps of mud and water that went up half way up our calves, not to mention all the cows around so there was the added in factor of pooh all over the place. 

But we made it! [Very wet and probably smelly]

You really can only see so many dead author's houses before they all kinda just look the same to you.

Luckily the gardens were really pretty and the rain let up

We made our way down to the lake and it was absolutely gorgeous.

A perfect ending to a great week.

Everyday I wake up and I get to have another adventure in this amazing place. I'm so lucky to get to see all these places around Europe and gain a better understanding and love for these people. I couldn't be more blessed.