Our travel day to London was incredibly relaxing!
We had a rather long drive, but we broke it up by stopping at Stratford-upon-Avon, where Shakespeare is (allegedly) buried.
We walked around the town, saw some of the memorials, and went into the church where his burial site is.
We also had lunch at a place called Rose & Crown, where people have been dining since 1596.
I had the best garlic bread I've ever tasted in my life there!
After Stratford-upon-Avon, we drove another few hours to get into London!
I was already in heaven as we were driving into and around the city.
I won't lie when I say that London wasn't top on my list for the whole trip.
I was more excited for Switzerland and Italy, but London ended up being the highlight of the entire trip along with Switzerland.
That night we went to the Hyde Park LDS Visitor's Center where we spent some time with some of the missionaries, and we also had a business visit.
From there we checked into our hostel... which ended up being one of the worst experiences of the entire trip. More to come on that later... :)
The next day we had a City of London walking tour.
Our guide was Greg, and he does all of the P.R. for the City of London.
He was so knowledgeable and I really liked learning more about the city from his business perspective.
The architecture was so cool!
It was crazy to be walking around downtown along these beautiful cobblestone streets where the Vikings walked, with incredibly historical buildings sitting right inbetween these massive new-age business buildings. The first one pictured up there is "the egg," and the one after that is "the cheese grater."
It's been so fun to watch movies and shows such as Sherlock since getting home because I recognize so much of the city!
At one point we went inside the Parrish Church of St. Stephen Walbrook, which is this stunning round cathedral.
Inside there were three men setting up and rehearsing for a performance later that afternoon.
It was Benjamin Williamson and James Akers, Counter Tenor and Guitar.
Their rehearsing was beautiful! I couldn't help but sit and just listen for about ten mintues.
I wanted so badly to go back that afternoon for the performance, but at that point we were on the other side of the city.
I really loved stumbling upon different performers of all types throughout the whole trip.
Once I found out I was going I wanted to find some sort of performance, whether it be classical, ballet, or opera to attend while I was in Europe, but unfortunately I just couldn't work it out.
Thankfully though, I had my fair share of musical encounters, whether like the one above, or a simple (but absolutely amazing) street performer.
Later that afternoon we headed over to BBC for a business visit and tour.
Now, I've never watched Doctor Who, but I took the below picture for the benefit of my cousins who are crazy about it :)
I almost met Ed Sheeran right outside of this building!
We were waiting for our group to go in for the tour, and we had some time, so myself and a couple of people set out to find some gelato... I'm telling you, that stuff is so delicious and addicting.
As we were walking away we heard about 20 girls screaming so we looked back but obviously couldn't see that the whole commotion was about Ed Sheeran because they had swarmed him by that point.
I'd like to think if I'd have known it was him I would have quickly ran over and told him I'm quite possibly one of his biggest fans, but... I think gelato still may have won my attention :)
The unfortunate part is that we never did end up finding gelato.
Such is the life!
After BBC we had some time to do some shopping and grab dinner before heading off to see Wicked!
Lindsay, Madi, and I all spent way more than we should have shopping, and then we had a delicious dinner at an Italian restaurant near BBC.
For dessert I ordered this delicious creation...
It was a pastry filled with mascarpone and raspberry filling, with a white chocolate and raspberry sauce on top.
Oh my it was so good, and was just a little taste of what I'd experience in France!
Finally we went to see Wicked!
I saw this on Broadway in New York in high school, so I was definitely excited to see it again.
Little did I know that it would be about a million times better than when I saw it in New York!
The woman who played Alfaba that night was the understudy, whose name is Emma Hatton.
At the risk of sounding like a crazy lady, by the end of Defying Gravity before intermission I was in tears because of her incredibly powerful and pitch perfect voice!
Afterwards we went out to the side of the theatre to see if we could meet Emma and Savannah Stevenson who played Glinda.
Savannah is a member of the church and in one of the single's wards, so we had a little connection there.
When I met Emma (above), I told her she had me in tears with her performance of Defying Gravity, and she said, "Oh, well I didn't mean to make you cry!"
She was so sweet and I'm quite glad that she was the one playing Alfaba that night!
Overall, it was an insanely long and busy day, but it was so much fun.
From walking the business district, to touring BBC and seeing Wicked, it was a great first day spent in London :)
She was so sweet and I'm quite glad that she was the one playing Alfaba that night!
Overall, it was an insanely long and busy day, but it was so much fun.
From walking the business district, to touring BBC and seeing Wicked, it was a great first day spent in London :)
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