a london new years

Can I tell you living out of 5-6 suitcases is really the worst. I tried organizing them at least a dozen times and yet somehow the tooth brush was always misplaced or I would swear I left my deodorant in a certain pocket... I would just recommend if you are traveling for over a month try to stay in the same climate. That will be our goal for our next adventures.

We finally made it out the door reorganized and packed for our two nights in London. We picked a train at Hatton Cross station to London Kings Cross on the Picadilly line. A day pass for zones 1-6 is about 8.50 GBP...not horrible but by all means not cheap.

At Kings Cross we walked down to the British Library in the pouring rain. I kinda love the rainy English weather though. There is another free exhibit in the British Library, and it really was amazing. We saw so much. I really couldn't believe all they had in this one giant room exhibit:

• Jane Austin
• Jane Eyre
• A Gutenberg Bible 
• Tyndale's New Testament
• Wycliffite Bible 
• Beatles lyrics written on random paper or napkins 
• Handel's Messiah 
• Music by Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn, Schubert 
• Magna Carta 
• Charles Dickens 
• Leonardo Da Vinci study of mechanics, and notes on arithmetic 
• 7th century Qur'ans from arabia mecca and Medina 
• Captain Cooks journal 
• Shakespeares first folio and other manuscripts
• Sigmund Freud Manuscripts

Afterwords we walked to our hotel. We stayed in Kings Cross Tune hotel, and it was literally 5 minutes from the station, and right next to a bunch of corner shops. I think Kenny about died when he found his favorite pineapple coconut carton drink at the corner shop nearest to us. Over the course of the next 3 days I think we went through about 4 cartons. No objections from me...I loved the stuff. 

After we settled in we spent time shopping/ exploring Oxford street. SO MANY STORES. I really couldn't believe how much shopping there is available in London. Everything was lit up in Christmas lights still, and I was again reminded that Christmas actually happened while we were in Ghana. We found a nice Indian restaurant for dinner. Indian food is everywhere, and Mexican food is no where to be found. After dinner we caught the train further down Oxford, and started exploring. Somehow we ended up in Leicester Square, and the closer we got to the London Eye the more crowded it became. Seriously so many people.

By about 9 we made it to Big Ben area to find the bridge was already completely full and blocked off. I can't even begin to describe the amount of people. It was insane.

 

We found a perfect spot to see the fireworks and basically camped out for the next 3 torturously long hours. I mean squished standing 3 hours. We made lots of new friends especially when we pulled out the ipad. There were moments where I would think 30 or more minutes had gone by, and I would check my watch to find only 7 minutes had passed. hence the first picture below... 

 

 

The one perk to begin completely smooooshed in a giant pile up of humans was I was never cold during the 3 hour wait which was amazing. As we got closer to 12 you could feel the excitement in the air. People were lighting little fireworks. The crowd was screaming and cheering over practically nothing. Teenagers were struggling to get out of the crowd because they were going to hurl from all the alcohol, and occasionally a floating lantern was lit.

When the crowds were out of order a policeman came on a horse to calm things down. I about died the first time I saw them up on their horses...London did not disappoint my childhood imagination of  Europe. 

Eventually we were within 10 minutes of 12. Little lights illuminated the top of the crowd as everyone  tried to position their cameras for the big show. The lights on the London Eye were changing colors at this point, and the excitement was touchable. When 30 seconds hit the countdown began. Giant numbers were being projected onto a building behind the Eye. The last 10 seconds were the best. Everyone was screaming the countdown...10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1!!!!! 

The fireworks were unreal. There were points that you could barely look at all the blurred light in front of you because there were so many. Many were lit through the center of the London Eye, and really it was the best firework show I've ever seen. The only one that comes close would be the Olympics one is SL. So crazy. 

After they were over everyone kinda just stood there dazed, smiling, and still cheering. What a dream. I can't believe we were able to bring in the new year in London. Afterwords the police shut down all the streets, and herded us around like we were animals. We decided it wasn't worth trying to get on the train so we made the 2 mile trek back to Kings Cross. By the time we made it home I was complaining like a crazy person. ha ha The cold finally hit us, our feet were numb from all the standing, and tired was an understatement. Going to bed was seriously the best feeling in the world.

We welcomed 2012 in on the beaches of Puerto Rico, and said goodbye to it on the banks of the Thames River. Couldn't have loved the year anymore. Hands down by far the best year of my life. 

What a night. What a year. I have a good feeling about 2013. 

londons calling

My first impressions of London were in Trafalgar square. 

• London really does have a million red double decker buses. 
• Those little red phone booths are on almost every block.  
• Everything is old...I couldn't believe how amazing all the buildings were.
• Pigeons were sitting and pooping on every statue. 
• There is a monument for just about anything you can think of. 
• The subway is so much cleaner than New Yorks. I didn't see a single rat or mouse. 

The first thing we did was see England (free) National Gallery. It was amazing. We spent only an hour or two, but saw so much: 

• Claude-Oscar Monet
• Peter Paul Rubens
• Rembrandt
• Vincent van Gogh
• Michelangelo
• Raphael
• Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
• Leonardo da Vinci
• Sandro Botticelli

 Afterwords we walked down the street for a bit and I really couldn't believe how close everything is to each other.

 

Big Ben

Westminister Abbey

We made it just in time for an Evensong service. I absolutely loved it, thank you Sarah for the recommendation. They had an entire choir sing the service, and the acoustics within the abbey are unreal. It was about an hour long and so worth it. 

 

 London Eye and a blissfully happy Kenneth. 

I realize we look photoshopped into this London Bridge picture, but we aren't so just imagine it twinkling at night.

Picadilly Circus was covered in Christmas lights and bustling with people. Reminded me so much of Times square. 

london temple and a football match

Claire and Julie Smith were to Alan's house by around 830 to pick us up so we could go to the London temple. The drive was beautiful, and I started to fall in love with the rolling hills. I couldn't believe in the middle of an England Winter everything could still be so green. I was amazed, and so grateful I was worried everything would be dead. I was completely wrong. The fields were completely green, and filled with plants or sheep...I preferred the sheep scattered hills. The temple is south of London in such a beautiful area, and the ground around it are stunning.

We arrived 30 minutes early which rarely happens for Kenny and I when it comes to making a session. It was so nice to clear our heads and be ready to be in the temple. The most amazing part was we were chosen to be the witness couple. Being in the temple with Claire was wonderful. So much has changed in her life to bring her to this point, and it is amazing to see firsthand the way the gospel can change you and your life for the better.

The spirit was beautiful, and I had so many thoughts and impressions come to me. I love the temple. I really can't imagine a greater blessing in my life than attending the temple with my husband. Nothing makes me happier.

Afterwords it was raining, but we walked the grounds for a minute with an umbrella while Claire and Julie shopped at the distribution center.

Such a wonderful morning/afternoon. I can't imagine a more perfect way to start our trip here in England. On the way back they dropped us off in Wimbledon for a football match. Kennys been dreaming of actually attending a football game in England since he started his mission so he couldn't have been happier. It rained a little throughout the match, but overall we were lucky. We were worried it might be canceled because of the rain so that turned out well. I don't think I've ever heard so much swearing in one place before, and I don't think I've ever laughed so hard in my life. Their cheers were absolutely awful and they rhymed and I couldn't help but laugh at all of them.

Thank goodness we had Jonathans gps phone for our travels back. It told us where to walk, what bus to take, what train to take etc. all the way back to Alan's house.

 We finished the night with my first cup of Horlicks...(which I loved), and a movie with Alan's family. I think I stayed awake for about 20 minutes of it.

ghana >>> england

Kwami came to pick us up early so we could stop at the temple distribution center before we headed to the airport (it was closed yesterday while we were there). We wanted to buy a fante book of mormon, and also garments are 1 cedi for a top and bottom...which is like 50 cents here. After only two or so weeks in Ghana I was welcoming any clean clothing to wear. 

We made it to the airport perfectly without any traffic which is amazing for Accra. Thank goodness people are still not working because of the Holidays. Our flight left around 11, and we arrived in London Heathrow airport around 6. By some miracle we were able to find Elder Price, we didn't have a phone or anything to call him on, and believe me when I say the London airport is insanely giant. Biggest airport I've ever been in. We then drove on the wrong side of the road to their home in Feltham which is about 10 minutes or so from the airport. 

They had an air mattress and everything for us, and it was so fun to meet Alan's family. They were so welcoming, and I think his adorable mom was grateful to have another woman in the house. She lives there with 5 boys...that has got to be rough at points. We talked about period dramas, downton abbey, pride and prejudice, jane eyre....etc. I love her. 

The best part of all of this travel Ghana and England are on the same time so we didn't have to worry about jet lag issues! 

kakum and goodbyes

We woke up extremely early so we could make it to Kakum by 830...we made it by 9 which is amazing for Ghana time. We did however miss the next tour so we had to wait till 930 to go. Sammy met us at Kakum so we could spend a little more time with him before we left.

The walk to the bridges was as gorgeous as ever. I love being surrounded by jungle. We let our small group go ahead of us, and we took our sweet time walking across the bridges, listening to the jungle, and trying to take it all in.

We got to about the 3rd platform when I saw a flying ball of fur jump from one of the trees. I literally gasped/yelled monkey. We ended up watching a family of monkeys for the next 20 or so minutes as they jumped/swung from branch to branch in a tree right in front of us.

It was amazing. I was so excited they showed themselves for Kenny as well. He thought crabs were amazing... I think there were up to 12 or so of them, but we can't be sure. Amazing.

We said our goodbyes to Sammy, and I promise I would take him home in my suitcase if I could. Oh how I love Sammy.

We eventually caught a tro back to cape and waved our goodbyes to Sammy. Our tro had 26 people in it on the way back to cape, and we gave every single one of them a sucker as we said "oo fishio paa" which means Merry Christmas!

We met Barshiru at the crab to say goodbye. I'm going to miss that guy. He is seriously the best.

We made it to Doris's house grabbed our bags, and she walked us out to the street to catch a drop taxi to the tantri station. I hugged at least 6 times. I'm really going to miss her, and everything she brings to the world. She is truly one of the greatest people in my life.

our bedroom while in Ghana..

We made it to tantri lorry just in time to sit in the back of the tro for our windy ride to Accra.

I felt that lump in my throat begin to grow as I watched all the familiarity begin to slip away. What a dream these 2 weeks have been. What an absolute dream.

This is the bridge I talked about in my first post about arriving in Cape...

We made it to Accra by around 4ish, and met Thomas the nativity guy at the temple so we could pick up our nativity and Noahs ark. They are unreal. Seriously he does such amazing work. We got a drop Taxi from there to our friends place, and finished the night packing everything up for our journey the next morning.