Wonders of the World in a Wonderful World

***This post was written June 8th, 2012 and references Sat-Sun, 7th-8th!***

Rain rain, go away, come again another day...

or not!

It's a good thing Charles Dickens so adequately prepared me for a gray and rainy England, because that is exactly what this place is.

And I love it :)

Okay, I love it some of the time. It was positively picturesque to meander through Kensington Gardens today with my umbrella covering me from the misty rain that rolled off the leaves of the overhead trees and settled into the grass, filling the air with a fresh, fantastic smell.

It was not quite so picturesque yesterday, however, when I was literally using my umbrella as a shield against the harsh, cold rain blowing into my face and soaking my jeans and jacket as I tried to snap a few pictures of the underwhelming "wonder of the world," Stonehenge.

But yesterday was so much fun that I really can't complain!

When I woke up yesterday morning I leaped out of bed to throw my curtains open and let the bright, yellow sunshine burst through my window and fill my room with is warmth. I opened the window to let the cool, morning breeze in and breathed in a deep, happy breath. The sun was back and all was right with the world again.

I almost didn't bring a jacket when I left the room, only grabbed my umbrella at the last minute, and totally left my scarf behind.

Well, as luck would have it England's weather is even more bi-polar than Mississippi's, and I hadn't been standing in the courtyard for five minutes when the sky filled with gray clouds and it began to rain. It rained the whole way to Stonehenge, and the whole time we were AT Stonehenge, and we were literally all freezing and fighting off the rain with our umbrellas and basically ran around the pile of rocks and back onto the bus as quickly as possible! My umbrella was dubbed the unofficial "videographer protector"; the young man filming all of our experiences as part of an internship needed a fellow tall person to shield both him and his camera from the rain so I did the best I could!

So Stonehenge was a bust-- fortunately I wasn't really expecting much, but I know some other people were disappointed. Still, I can say I saw it and that England was kind enough to treat me to its finest, English weather! ;)

The drive from Stonehenge to Bath was so completely marvelous. I was literally sitting up and leaning forward in my seat the whole time with a big, stupid grin on my face as I watched the countryside I know Thomas Hardy was writing about zoom past the window. After all, his tragic novel Tess of the D'Urbervilles ends at Stonehenge, so I knew I was in the heart of Hardy's land. Grabbing my ipod from the depths of my purse I handed one earplug to Jamie and stuck the other in my ear, and we listened to songs from Lord of the Rings, songs by Enya, "A New Tomorrow", "Good Life", "One Day More" from Les Miserables, and any other wonderful song that suited the majesty and excitement of the trees, hills, and pastures stretching around us.

When we pulled into Bath, Jamie and I were all fired up from our mood music and ready for a perfect English experience in the historically fashionable town. Suffice it to say, I think we had the best experience a modern day tourist can have in Bath-- at least we did for those who adore literature as much as we do. The two of us together with our friends Lindsey, Savannah, and the videographer Aaron skipped up the streets in the rain with our umbrellas (okay to Aaron's credit he did not skip, I feel like I should throw that in there) and tracked down the Jane Austen Centre.

And to any Jane Austen fans out there who may be reading this right now: yes, it was every bit as fabulous as it sounds.

We took shelter from the cold rain in the small, homey museum, climbed up a narrow carpeted stairway to the tea room on the top floor and stepped directly into an Austen novel. The waitresses were dressed in Victorian period clothing and the room was designed to look like it could have been the Bennet's dining room. Jamie and I ordered "Mr. Darcy's Tea," which consisted of a kettle of tea of our choice, scones, finger sandwiches, breads and pastries, and jam, butter, and clotted cream to eat with it.

I'll never forget what it felt like to hold the warm cup of Redbush tea up to my face and feel the hot steam warm my cold, windblown cheeks, and I'll never forget what it felt like when I took the first sip and the warmth rolled off of my tongue, down my throat, trickled through my chest, wrapped its silky fingers around my heart and then settled happily in my belly. Meanwhile the cold rain still fell on the cobblestone street outside, but I was warm and dry and my scones and clotted cream were on the way, and it really was absolutely perfect.

After relaxing with our marvelous tea the five of us finally decided to brave the rain again, and we walked up to the Royal Crecent which is a fancy row of Victorian houses, then ventured down to the Bath Abbey Churchyard where the Roman Baths were. We didn't have enough time to tour the baths, but I wandered into the gorgeous Abbey before loading back up into the coaches for the loooooong, traffic riddled ride home. There is NOTHING as bad as downtown London traffic.

That night I camped out in Jamie's kitchen with Lindsey and two other girls from my class, Cecily and Ellie, and we drank warm tea and ate hot soup and watched The Devil Wears Prada and chatted the hours away :)

I know I might look happy, but see all that water on my jacket? My jeans were even worse. Woo hoo!

Oh, hey Jane Austen!

mmmmmm Tea..... :) :)

Tea with Mr. Darcy!

The view from the Royal Crescent

On the way out of Bath!

Aha, so THAT'S what Thomas Hardy was writing about ;)

This is why I love England :)

So English!

:)

:) :)

:) :) :)

This morning, we same five girls were meeting in the courtyard at 9:30 to beat everyone to the half-price ticket booths as Leicester Square! We all wanted to see The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe at Kensington Gardens, but when we got to the ticket booth found out the prices were steeper then we expected. Lindsey, Jamie and I still bought tickets but Ellie and Cecily opted out.

Of course it was still raining, but we made our way down to the covered market Covent Gardens not far away to poke around the shops and enjoy a warm, English lunch. Oh but on the way there, guess what I discovered?

THEY TOTALLY SELL LUCKY CHARMS AT THE CANDY STORES IN LONDON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Forget about the statement that makes on American society for the time being, and revel with me in how SPECTACULAR this discovery is!!!!!!!!! ;) ;) ;)

Anywho, for lunch I had my first English pie; it was chicken and mushroom and absolutely scrumptious! A band of live musicians were serenading us with cellos and violins not far from where we sat and it was lovely!

Around noon Jamie, Lindsey and I left the other girls to go the the Victoria and Albert Museum. This place is a dream come true for any girly-girl out there. First we looked at the fashion and saw dresses from the 1600s to the present day, then we found the jewelery display and oh. my. gosh. If you love shiny stuff half as much as I do you would die walking into this room. There were jewels EVERYWHERE; necklaces, rings, crowns, tiaras, swords, watches...it was, in a word, amazing. After dresses and jewels we moved onto stain glass windows and paintings which were just as fantastic! If I had time I would go back to the V&A in a heartbeat; we barely even saw 1/10th of it and it is full of treasures.

Since the play was in Kensington Gardens we meandered our way there through walking paths and the sun and the rain kept taking turns coming and going. The gardens are, of course, a glorious green oasis. If I lived in London I would probably retreat to them every single day.

The play itself left something to be desired. It was obvious as soon as it began that it was directed towards children, and I especially suffered for that by sitting in front of a row of kids that talked and kicked the back of my chair the whole time. There were cheesy effects, cheesy songs, and a cheesy script, but in its defense the costumes were pretty cool and Aslan's puppetry was incredible! Overall though, I wouldn't say it was worth the money I spent on it.

After the play the tree of us hunted down Peter Pan's Statue and Princess Diana's Memorial fountain, and on accident we managed to see a glorious rainbow span across the sky as the sun decided to butt in on the rain's turn and peek out from behind the clouds.

As the evening wore on I was getting hungry and still didn't feel 100% well, so Jamie and Lindsey went on to explored Harrod's Department Store and I headed back to the apartments on my own.

But I hate the subway, and being underground. If I'm going to be in London I want to see London by golly!

So I walked home. And it took me an hour.

But hey, I saw London ;)

And now, sleep is calling. And it will feel oh so wonderful!

OMGZ LUCKY CHARMS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lovely classical music in Covent Gardens!

Preview of the dresses at V&A ;)

Finishing our pies in front of the King Albert memorial!

A bit of Kensington Gardens, complete with pigeons of course

On the way to the Round Pond!

Kensington Palace, ooh la la

In the rain, in the gardens, off the beaten path :)

Shh, I found the Secret Garden ;)

:)