Today I saw her....and all I did was stare.

Today I saw Reese Witherspoon at the Houses of Parliament.  She walked right past me in the only room you can take pictures, yet I was so starstruck all I did was stare!  She was wearing houdstooth heels, a black knee-length coat and her hair was down.  She is so petite!  With heels on she was my height - which is only 5'4".  I wish I would have acted quickly and taken a picture, but no sense in regretting it now.  Only in London do I get the chance to take pictures with Ang Lee, see Imelda Staunton, watch a play starring Kevin Spacey and encounter Reese Witherspoon.  I am debating about a play with Kiera Knightly in it called the Misanthrope.  I am not really interested in the play but I think it would be great to see her.  What do you think?

Next on my agenda here in London:
2 papers
1 presentation
1 photo essay
British Library
Ice skating at the Natural History Museum
Dinner @ Bodean's
Jersey Boys?
5 finals
Switzerland: Zurich and Geneva

Wish me luck!

Berlin: The city with so much history.

Jake asked me at the end of this trip where it ranked compared to the other places I have been this semester.  Initially, I was exhausted and ranked it quite low on the list - but not the lowest.  Now, after I have thought about it for a few days, I like it more and more.  As usual, the first day was packed with as many things as possible.  We saw the TV tower, popped in and out of random churches, went up the dome of the Berlin Cathedral, visited the Pergamon Museum, wandered through multiple Christmas markets, listened to a children's accordian band, drank hot chocolate, visited Humboldt University, saw the square where the books were burned, stopped at the  Brandenburg Gate, and visited the Reichstag glass dome.  After all that we had traditional Thanksgiving dinner at 8pm at the Hard Rock Cafe.  This was the first time I have not been with my parents for Thanksgiving and both Jake and I really missed everyone.  Yet it was a good experience and one I will never forget.  We went back to our hostel in East Berlin, talked to the fam, watched a little football, and crashed.

On top of the Berliner Dom.

 

At one of the many Christmas Markets.  It was a fun environment and I hope to visit more in Switzerland.

 Where my favorite man, Ronald Reagan, delivered his speech.

The glass dome of the Reichstag.  It was designed by the same guy who did the pyramid at the Louvre.

Thanksgiving dinner at the Hard Rock, complete with apple spritzer, cranberry sauce, stuffing, mashed potatoes, turkey, gravy, steamed broccoli, and pie.  Well, actually, Jake and I didn't eat the stuffing or the cranberry sauce and they ran out of pie after we ordered so we got brownie sundaes instead.  Not a bad trade if you ask me!

Day two was not near as busy as day one.  We took our time popping in and out of stores and getting to know the city in the process.  We went to the Jewish Memorial near the US Embassy and took an audio tour, visited a Jewish synagog, got hot chocolate at Dunkin Doughnuts, took a tube ride down an artificial snow hill at a Christmas Market, saw the new city construction at Potsdamer Platz, saw a portion of the iron curtain, went to the Checkpoint Charlie Museum and Reagan exhibition, ate dinner at Subway, took the metro to the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, walked to KaDeWe (2nd largest department store in Europe, trumped only by Harrods) and looked around, and finally made our way back to our hostel where we drank bottled diet coke and watched football.  Now that I have listed everything out, it doesn't seem like the day was more relaxing than the first day but trust me, it was.

After our tube ride in Potsdamer Platz.

Jake next to a portion of the remaining wall.

 

In front of the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church.  If you look closely, you will notice the tower is bombed out.  They have only repaired the church enough so that it is not a danger.  They have left the rose window bombed out and various other things damaged as a memorial.  However, inside, they refer to the Cold War as a "political disagreement".  The Germans are pretty good about ignoring their past.  This is in West Berlin where the city is alive and thriving.  In East Berlin, where most of the government buildings are located, it is still dead as if the wall was still up.  It is amazing that after TWENTY years, there is still a huge chasm.

The next morning we got up early and flew back to London via EasyJet.  I really like traveling with Jake.  I hope he knows how much I love and appreciate his friendship.  Also, with out Mom and Dad, none of this would happen.  In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I want all my family to know that I am thankful for them.  I am a fortunate girl to have such wonderful older brothers, sister-in-law, and parents.  The longer I am away from home the more I realize how unique our close family relationships are.  I hope we are able to maintain these throughout the years to come.  I have enjoyed my time in London and I am very thankful for the opportunity to grow, learn, and have fun.  Only 12 days, 10 hours, 4 minutes, and 10 seconds!

J'adore Paris

For some reason, I love Paris.  When I was there with my family two and a half years ago, I loved it then just as much as I do now.  I cannot put my finger on the exact reason why I love Paris, I just do.  I did not really do anything new on this trip to Paris.  I still went to the Louvre, Musee D'Orsay, Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame  and the Sacre Coeur.  For the first time though, I went up the Arc de Triomphe, visited St. Chapelle which is famous for it's stained glass, and took a boat tour at night to get to know the city.  While there I felt comfortable riding the metro and navigating the city.  My favorite treats were the macaroons that McDonald's sold.  Not only are the much cheaper but they tasted the same at the Patisseries.  My favorite flavor was chocolate, although the vanilla, pistachio, and strawberry round out the top four.

We took the Chunnel to Paris!  I slept the whole ways so I didn't notice when we were underground.  On the way back I stayed up so I could see.  We were only underground for a few minutes of the trip - not too exciting.  But I am still glad I get to say I have taken the Chunnel fom London to Paris.

In front of the Arc de Triomphe with Abby.  Bad, bad, bad, hair day.

Photo of the Eiffel Tower taken from across the River Seine before we boarded our river tour boat.  I love the contrast of the purple sky with the gold tower.  I owe all the credit to my camera - it was definitely worth the money.

On the boat in next to the Notre Dame.

Outside of the Palace of Versailles.

The Palace of Versailles.

Next to the Louvre and the Seine river.

Mona Lisa.  I really don't see what all the fuss is about.

On top of the Arc de Triomphe with Caitlin.  Self timer worked perfectly and we even managed to sneek the Eiffel Tower in the background.  I would love to come back next summer and see Lance Armstrong ride down the Champs Elysees wearing yellow.

The Musee D'Orsay is my favorite museum.  Unfortunately the rooms with most of the Degas and Seurat paintings were closed for the season.

My mom told me to find a store called Merci while in Paris.  I found it and this cute car was parked in the courtyard with fresh evergreen trees.  This made me so excited for Christmas.  

København, Denmark

Jake and I decided to travel to a Scandinavian country to have a different European experience.  We searched all the flights on RyanAir and Easy Jet and found the cheapest one to Denmark.  We left early on a Friday morning and came back Saturday evening (the night before Jake's Birthday).  We loved Demark.  It is the land of tall, thin, beautiful people!  We felt a special connection to the land and people because the Torgersen side is from a few Scandinavian countries.  Also, little did we know when we went, that on our paternal side, our great, great grandfather Christian Frederick Bernard Lybbert was born in Copenhagen.

We arrived in the morning and walked from the train station to our hostel.  When we checked in, the woman read my credit card and pronounced my name like "Christine".  In this country, Kristin spelled with an I is most common and is the equivalent of Christine in the United States.

The city itself is quite small and easily walked.  It has been a while since I was there so I am just going to post a few pictures with captions to show you what we saw.

This is Jake with Thorvaldsen's Christus in the Church of Our Lady.  This church is a Protestant church which is evident by the white walls, ceiling and floor.  On either side of the pews were sculptures of the Twelve Apostles also done by Thorvaldsen.  We had the opportunity to also visit the Thorvaldsen Museum to see the molds of his works that are throughout the world.  His most famous piece is the Christus and I now understand why.  I have see the replica in the LDS visitors center in Salt Lake but it does not compare to this.  The detail make it life like and Jake and I stood in front of it for several minutes just pondering.

 

Jake in one of the many squares.  The buildings were all very brightly colored and they were already starting to put up Christmas decorations!

At night in another random square.  Jake and I run ourselves into the ground trying to see as much as we can.  No one sees as much as we do in so little time.

 Along the river at night.  The National Library is on the right and I believe a university is behind Jake on the left.  

Day one is usually full of running around trying to see all the major sites.  On the second day, we usually try to take it easy by wandering down random streets, stopping in stores or pausing in squares to take in the culture and feel the city.  This is on the second day when we had more time to watch the tour boats maneuver in the canal. 

We stopped for hot chocolate on Nyhavn Street to warm up.  It is the best we have had in Europe.  

LATELY

Sorry for my absence.  School has started to get really busy and I am running out of time go get everything done so I have put this to the side.  However, since this blog is a requirement for my humanities class, I have decided update and finish this assignement for the semester.  After this post, I should only have two more to do.

Caitlin and I had been dying to get dressed up to go see Mamma Mia.  So we did.  Little did we know the schools were all on holiday for the week so the show was sold out!  Instead, we ate Häagan Dazs (Macadamia Nut Brittle is my new favorite!) and then wandered through Leicester Square towards the tube station.  As we passed the Odeon theatre, we saw men laying out some red carpet.  It was the final week of the London Film Festival so we lined up against the railing, waited about an hour until some of the cast of Taking Woodstock showed up.  Imelda Staunton (Dolores Umbridge for all the HP fans) waved at us and we got a picture of the director Ang Lee.  We were glad Mamma Mia was sold out that night because we wouldn't have experienced anything like this otherwise.

A few weeks ago we took an overnight trip to Cardiff, Wales and Herefordshire, England for more church history.  We climbed a hill called the Herefordshire Beacon to see the view.  On this hill is where Brigham Young received revelation to publish the Hymns and The Book of Mormon in the UK.  It was cold but very beautiful.

Halloween is pretty much the same here in the UK as it is in the United States.  I don't really care for this holiday but my Aunt DeAnn sent me a Halloween package so it was hard not to care.  She sent me a few goodies and costume items.  I shared the gourmet candy corn and spider rings with my friends.  I wore the tattoo sleeves to the party and everyone got a kick out of them.  We had candy, carmel apples, and carved pumpkins.  It was nice to have a party together rather than always working on schoolwork as a group.  I hope we get something fun planned for Christmas before we all head home.

 

On Halloween, Jake and I went to Cambridge for an intelligence seminar.  We met with Dr. Martland first to discuss Jake's phD and then we headed over to one of the buildings in Corpus Christi College for the discussion on Ireland and terrorism.  Most of it was all over my head but it was still fun to see how the academic people interact.  Jake and I were served orange juice while everyone else had the college wine.  It was unique because we sat around a huge oval table with the college president, notable professors and distinguished students.  After the presentation of the papers, everyone was allowed to ask questions.  Following the seminar, dinner was served in the main dining hall.  All the professors put on their nice dress robes for dinner.  Jake and I were distinguished guests so we got to sit at the "High Table".  All the students stood as we entered and took our seats.  A gong was hit, a prayer read and then dinner was served.  We had some pasta dish, lamb (which I hate), rolls, and banana crepes.  The whole time I felt like I was in a scene from Harry Potter.  I sat dead center looking over the students just like Dumbledore.  At the end, a Latin prayer was read, the students stood as we left, and we were ushered into a back room where everyone continued their dinner conversations over tea, wine, and coffee.  This was a once in a lifetime opportunity and I loved it!

 

After Halloween, the Christmas festivities officially begin in London.  The shop windows are decorated, Christmas music is playing in the stores, and the lights on Oxford and Regent Streets are lit.  This year, to coincide with the world premier of Disney's A Christmas Carol there was a large simultaneous lighting ceremony with Jim Carrey and Colin Firth.  Caitlin and I went to Oxford Circus for the lighting.  The production was a little anticlimatic, we didn't see Colin Firth, and we got tired of hearing Mariah Carey's All I want for Christmas is You song during every commercial break.  But it was still fun to get in the Christmas spirit.  Afterwards we walked down the street through all the shops that were open later than 6pm!  Banana Republic was the best.  They served bottled beer, mojitos, and pear/ginger spritzer (which is what we had) and hors d'eoeuvres.

Also that week we finally made it to a Mamma Mia performance.  We met Jake and Morgan at Bodean's for dinner and then Jake joined us for the show.  The best part was the sing along portion at the end of the show.  I am not sure Jake enjoyed it but I was glad he came!

The next week was also a busy week.  I went to Hampton Court, Greenwhich to see the Prime Meridian, Lion King with Abby, St. Paul's for the Lord Mayors procession, and Handel's Messiah with Jake.  Lion King was better than I expected.  The costumes were so awesome, I was in awe the entire time.  St. Paul's was also very cool.  I was able to get in for free because of the parade so I made sure I made it up into the dome.  It is unlike most cathedrals.  The interior is much more light and warm than I expected which contrasts greatly with its huge stone exterior.

 

The best activity of the week however, was the Sunday evening performance of Handel's Messiah at the Royal Albert Hall.  You can see from the pictures that the venue was a very cool place for a choral production.  This event has been going on for over 30 years and this year there were over 3000 singers and 1000 guests.  Each time the choirs joined in with the orchestra, the sound was overwhelming.  It brought tears to my eyes when they sang the chorus:

For unto us a Child is born,

unto us a Son is given,

and the government shall be upon His shoulder;

and His name shall be called Wonderful,

Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father,

The Prince of Peace.

And of course, the actual Hallelujah Chorus brought tears to my eyes.  This was the perfect way to remind me of what Christmas is all about.  It isn't the gifts, decorations, or good food.  Christmas is a time to celebrate Christ.

This was part of Jake's birthday present.  He mentioned to me he always wanted to go to a performance like this.  I was able to pick up standing room tickets for pretty cheap.  During the intermission, they held an auction to direct the Hallelujah Chorus and the proceeds went to a heart association.  This made it even more appropriate that it should be Jake's birthday present.  I couldn't have planned that if I tried! 

ESPANA Part Two

Barcelona was a whirlwind.  We arrived at the train station at 8am, took a taxi to our hostel where we showered and then left because our room wasn't ready.  We had breakfast at McDonalds where they serve caramel or chocolate on top of their pancakes.  The caramel was delicious and I used the extra to put on sliced apples.  We then met Laura at our hostel.  Her sister is in Jake's YSA ward and when she heard we were going to Barcelona, she put us in touch with Laura to take us on a tour.  We bean our tour at La Sagrada Familia - Gaudi's masterpiece.  This massive Catholic cathedral which is privately owned has been under construction since 1882 and isn't scheduled to be finished until 2026.  However, Laura told us that in the past 10 years of living in Barcelona, the date has been moved back significantly each year as they get more funding and ideas for ornamentation.  This cathedral was very ornate and to be honest I didn't think it was very attractive.  This structure is more about the artistic elements and skill of the craftsmen rather than place where people will be able to worship.  After the cathedral we took the metro to Parque Guell; also a work done by Gaudi.  The various structures here were quite gaudy (haha, Gaudi is gaudy) but teh view from teh top was spectacular.  This park is located at a top of a hill which overlooks the city and coast.  There were a lot of musicians in various areas of the park entertaining hundreds of tourists.  It was a nice break from the grime of the city and the sunshine felt so great on my face.  We really did luck out with weather on this trip.  In only rained once in Madrid and in Barcelona there were clear blue skies.  Apparently the days leading up to the day we arrived had been pouring down rain.

After the park, we walked back down the hill and took the bus back into the city center.  There we walked down La Rambla - the main road through the city which leads to the port.  Along this road there are street performers and tourist stands.  Along this road there is a great food market called La Boqueria where we bought pineapple and fresh juice.  At the end of this road is a statue of Christopher Columbus pointing to the Americas.  At this point we took another break and watched the birds and fish fight over food that other tourists were tossing in the blue Mediterranean.

At this point in the tour we wandered through the Gothic Quarter and saw a lot of great architecture and enjoyed the sunshine.

 

We had been walking through Barcelona from 10am to 3pm at which point we checked into our hostel and took a much needed two hour nap.  Then we got dinner and wandered the streets, shopped, enjoyed the nightlife, and hunted down a haagan Dazs.  Unfortunately, we did find anything to buy and we couldn't find a Haagan Dazs.  What city doesn't have a Haagan Dazs?  We saw them all over Madrid and we were disappointed we couldn't find genuine ice cream.  So, to cure ourselves, we found a grocery store, bought a pint and headed back to the hostel exhausted.  The next morning we got up, took an hour long bus ride to the airport and flew back to London where I arrived back at the centre at about 5pm.  That night, Jake, Morgan, Angus, Caitlin and I met for ice cream at the Haagan Dazs cafe to enjoy good company and even better ice cream in Piccadilly Circus.  We loved Spain but it felt so good to be back in London.

ESPANA

Following the midterms on Monday, we were given five days to travel wherever we wanted.  After my excursion to Ireland with two girls, I chose to forgo traveling with girls from the program and instead traveled with my older brother Jake.  Jake was the perfect traveling companion.  Not only does he speak Spanish, but he likes to stay busy and see all the sights possible.  After attending the American History class he teaches at Queen Mary on Tuesday, we set out for Gatwick airport to catch our flight to Madrid on Ryan Air.  Our flight was delayed so we didn't get into Madrid until about 1am.  We took a taxi straight to our hostel and crashed.  The next morning we got up and took a historical bus tour.  We saw a lot of great architecture and well manicured gardens.  We used the bus tour to get a sense of the city so we could better decide places we wanted to visit.  After the bus tour, we had to stop and get hot chocolate because it was so cold on the top of the open air double-decker bus.  We walked through the main plazas, went to the Royal Palace and the accompanying gardens and park.  After this we got dinner and went to the train station to buy our tickets for th following day.  Then we went to a great market before going to Museo Prado where we saw great works by Bosch, Velasquez, Goya, and many other prominent artists.  I had learned about many of the works of art on display in this museum and I was really shocked by how large they were.  I had always seen small copies in textbooks and blurred versions on powerpoints.  The messages of the paintings were much more obvious from the large scale.

After the museum, we got hot chocolate, cookies, and donuts, at Starbucks.  It was nice to sit down and relax after walking all over Madrid.  Following the hot chocolate, my mom and Jake arranged for us to go to a Flamenco performance at a club called Cardamomo.  We had great seats right in front of the stage.  I was so impressed by the strength and stamina of the dancers.  Now I really want to take a tap dance class at BYU next semester.  Of course the traditional Spanish music was great too.

The next day we took the modern Madrid bus tour and spent the day visiting various museums.  We went to the Reina Sofia to see Picasso's Guernica.  After visiting this museum, I can confidently say that I HATE modern art.  Picasso and Dali must have been crazy people.  We also visited three cathedrals, one of which apparently has a wider dome than the dome of St. Paul's in London.  We also visited the Museo Naval, the National Library and a few other exhibitions.  The highlight of this day was the churros con chocolate.  Spanish chocolate itself isn't that good, in fact it is kind of bitter but with churros it was delicious.

The little side ally where we ate the churros was so quaint and fun.  There were heaters to keep us warm and soft lights emphasized the calm mood.

That night we boarded a night train bound for Barcelona.  I am glad I took the opportunity to travel on a sleeper train but I will never do it again.  I was hot and cramped and one of the other people in our car was up all night making noise.  We started our tour of Barcelona running on empty.