The End...

Well, I can’t believe this is it…my last blog. Maybe not forever, I actually kind of like this blogging thing so I think I might just have to keep it up. Let me start over. Well, I can’t believe this is it…my last London blog. And oddly enough I am writing it at home, in the good ol US of A. Weird.

So Tuesday was a really fun day. We got up, ate breakfast, and decided to head to Oxford Street for one last time. We spent the morning/afternoon shopping, playing in the raddest toy store ever, eating in a pub, and just walking around talking. We also went to Portobello Market one last time, and Tesco Metro one last time to buy treats to take home. For dinner we decided to go to Hard Rock Café. The Café in London is the original Hard Rock so that’s pretty cool. I ordered a hamburger, and it was the best hamburger I’d had all trip; probably because it tasted American ha ha. When we finished dinner we booked it over to Westminster where the whole group was meeting to do the London Eye. The Eye was so cool! The second day I was in London we went to St. Paul’s Cathedral. We got to climb to the very top and see all of London—it was beautiful. But I like the London eye more. Seeing London from above after spending six weeks there was so much more meaningful. Sometimes I would get frustrated on this trip because I never knew where I was in relation to anything else. I would go underground, hop on the tube, and when I came back up I would be somewhere new. I loved standing on the London eye piecing together every site that I’d been, every building I’d visited, and every street I’d been on, like a puzzle. It was also fun to be with the whole group one more time. It’s strange that coming in to this trip I did not know anyone, and 6 weeks later they are all some of my best friends. When we got off the London eye the sun had set, but I wanted to see Big Ben one more time so I went and sat for a few minutes and just looked at how massive and beautiful that structure really is. It is incredible.

After we got back to the center it was pretty late…but not a single person was in bed. Nobody wanted to go to sleep and miss a minute of our last night there. I also still had some packing to do and some last minute pictures to take. It was such a surreal night. One minute we were laughing, the next we were crying as someone headed out the door to catch their plane. My plane left at 9:00 so I left for the airport at 5 in the am. I thought by the time this trip ended I would be ready to come home, but if I am being honest, I did not want to leave. I realized though as I was sitting in the London Center, with several people gone already and several people asleep, that I did not want to stay at the center unless I was surrounded by the people who had made this trip so meaningful to me. When 5 am rolled around I was pretty sad to leave…I really can’t believe how fast 6 weeks went by—how much I was able to do, how much I learned, and how much fun I had. It was a perfect trip. After a taxi and a train we finally made it to the airport. My bag was too heavy so I ended up wearing like 3 jackets, oh and my pants ripped right when we got there so that was fun. Ha ha. You think after being up for 48 straight hours that I would be able to sleep a little. Think again. I didn’t get an ounce! Note to self: take an ambien next time. A 9 hour flight and then a 4 hour flight is miserable when you don’t sleep! But eventually I made it home to SLC, thank goodness. It was so fun to come down the escalator and see my family waiting there for me. When I gave them all a hug, it felt like I never left.

So I guess that’s all. To conclude this blog I just want to say thanks to everyone who helped me get to London; and thanks to all of you who read about my adventures! It was nice to know that even though I was across the world there were a whole bunch of people at home who loved and missed me! So thank you everyone, and most of all thank you London. It was a life changing experience that I will never forget. Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Top 10 things I learned in London:

1. Look up

2. Do not cut in the Queue

3. Socialized medicine stinks.

4. Always bring an umbrella

5. 40 strangers can become your friends, and 7 of those friends can become your best friends.

6. Smile no matter what the day might bring

7. Eat at least one piece of chocolate every day

8. Americans are clamorous…embarrassing as it may be, sometimes you just have to embrace it

9. Work hard. Play hard. Sleep hard.

10. When in doubt, just hop on the tube.