Day Twenty-Six:: Hampton Court and RIP to my Wallet and it's Contents

Today I went to Hampton Court.  Unfortunately I left my tiara at home, so I had to make due with a braid crown.  There were lots of great ceilings, which made me quite happy.

But here's the part that everyone is dying to hear about.  Pick Pocketing.  It's real, I can prove it via the wallet that I no longer own.  Yep people KELSIE MARIE BOWLER IS A VICTIM OF PICK POCKETING. And of all people to have their wallet taken in such a way, of course it would be the girl who was once described as the "most lucky girl I have ever met" by her high school swim coach (that's me if you didn't catch on).

The train was crowded and honestly I should have caught on to what was happening, but I am a foolish American that thought that my bag was pick-pocket proof.  Jokes on me, because it isn't. But also the jokes on the tall guy that stole my wallet because there were maybe two pounds in it.  My beautiful J. Crew wallet is probably in a dingy rubbish bin in London by now.

This event gave me the opportunity to file my very first police report.  Oh what an experience!!!! I got to go where many pick-pocketing victims go: the control booth thing at the tube station and there I was able to call the police (I think I talked to the police, I am not completely sure as I wasn't the one that dialed the number).  I need to give a shout out to the guy that I talked to on the phone.  First of all he was really nice and a bit concerned I think, as he would ask me if he needed to send someone to me because I seemed really upset.  I continuously declined.

Secondly, I think that he was flirting with me.  My first piece of evidence for this theory is that he asked me if I was on a date. This was not a question that needed to be included in the report.  But apparently the report did require a description of what I look like.  So there I was, describing what I look like and what I am wearing to a stranger over the phone.  Does that not seem totally inappropriate?? It does.  And as I described myself he was really enjoying it.  Honestly I felt really powerful in that moment and I unfortunately really enjoyed it.  The flirting was also evident as he attempted samll talk and asked me how long I had been in London.  I responded saying that I arrived on the seventh of this month.  HE then for some reason decided that this was the best way to respond: "Oh and you've even got a bit of the accent down."  I don't at all.  Maybe the phone line sucked, or he was just being a major suck-up.  But no I actually sounded entirely like a terrified American.

Third, there were some awkward parts.  I was required to answer if I was religious.  Given that I am here through BYU I most definitely said yes.  Then I was asked to what denomination I was affiliated.  I proudly declared "I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints."  That confused the flirtatious man, so I tried again, "Mormon."  That made no difference so I tried one more time "LDS".  He was still confused, but took it as an answer and moved on.  Also I had to describe how I felt at the moment.  Like dude are you supposed to be a therapist now? So I was like well I feel upset and angry and sad.  He then decided to ask me if I feel vulnerable.  Well I thought that he was joking and that he said wonderful, so I went with it.  It was awkward, but I soon figured out what he meant to say and then responded saying that yes I do feel vulnerable.  But it gets weirder.  He continued to ask me if I feel vulnerable just at this moment, or if I just generally feel vulnerable in my life in general.  WHAT THE CRAP WAS I SUPPOSED TO SAY TO THAT?? WHAT IN THE CRAP DID I SAY TO THAT I DON'T EVEN REMEMBER TO BE HONEST.

The call ended, he will probably be emailing me love letters soon as I did not even have a phone number for them to have on file.  I am now grateful that I don't have a number that he could have gotten his hands on.

But I need to thank some amazing girls who waited patiently as I filed the report and who rubbed by back as I was attempting to hold the phone to my face with my super shaky hand.  These wonderful girls who invited me to join them in the first place and then ended up helping me pay to get back home and then bought me dinner from McDonald's.  So Abbie, Jillian, Halie, and Kristen THANK YOU SO MUCH YOU GIRLS ARE SO AMAZING I AM TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO THANK YOU FOR BEING SO GREAT.  I never would have thought that in only three-ish weeks that I would have been able to find such amazing and beautiful girls that would be so helpful and kind and I am so glad that I did.

So remember to keep your personal belongings on your person at all times,
Kelsie

Day Twenty-Five:: Go Do Things, Seriously It's Great

I came to London with some goals and with some expectations.  My main hope was to kickstart my life.  I am 19 years old and I finally needed my coming of age story. I wanted to have experiences, to have stories that I can cherish.  I also wanted friends.  Most people who know me have a hard time believing that I struggle making friends, as once I warm up to someone and feel that they like me I will be 100% me.  It takes a bit, but then I am full force, sharing stories that might be a bit too personal and contain too much information in a funny way that doesn't make it feel like I have shared something way too intimate.

When I thought of the other things that I wanted to gain from this, I did not think of the main lesson that I have learned to this point.  I have learned that there is always something to do.  That you need to go out and do things.  Yes they may be there for the rest of your time in that location, but you run out of time.  I am only here for 80 more days and I spent way too much money to get to the end and regret that I didn't do something (ironically I am writing this on a day in which I only did homework).

Now this is something that I am excited to apply to my life when I am back in Utah.  I have never been to Moab.  That's changing this summer.  Speaking of Summer bucket lists, I made a really cute one and hung it in my room last summer.  I might of completed half of them.  That is not happening again.  I am going out to Moab. I am going to the Leonardo in Salt Lake. I am going to start eating in local restaurants. No more complaining about Salt Lake County being boring.

This is a big deal for a girl who loves just sitting on the couch with her best friend and counts that as a fabulous Saturday night.  Now I still love a day in.  But days in will be so much better and cooler when they aren't everyday.

So I am only on day twenty-five and I am already excited to go home, not just to see my family and friends, but so I can go explore Salt Lake (and Utah County when I am back in Provo I guess.  I am in a bit of denial about loving in Utah County).  The problem is that now I have to remember myself that yes it is exciting, but I need to be in London right now.

So if anyone wants to go out and do things this summer, hit me up please.
Kelsie

Day Twenty-Four:: Stonehenge and Bath

I love a good tragic love story.  In my twisted mind, the love story is a million times better if at least one of the lovers does not make it to the end of the story.  This personality characteristic has two importances in today's recap.  First (well chronologically this came up second today, but that can be overlooked) the trailer for The Fault in our Stars was released today.  Yep, a tragic love story that involved the death of one of the lovers.  I have read the book seven times and I still cry, no sob, through half of it.  Read if now if you haven't already.  Seriously will change your life.

The second mention of the tragic love story comes with Tess of the d'Ubervilles.  Yep, one of the lovers dies.  But this is a classic, I read in in AP Lit in high school and I love it (woah, what a surprise.)  Now there is a BBC mini series adaptation of the classic novel (which has an amazing cast) and the scene in which the lovers Angel and Tess share their last moment together before one of them dies (you're welcome for not completely ruining the plot for you) takes place at Stonehenge.  It's a breathtaking scene, so you should totally watch it:

So when I went to Stonehenge today I was mentally watching this scene, while pretending that I had a love like Angel and Tess's (well the love they have at this moment, let's just say they had a rough start, read the novel please it will do good things for you) and while also realizing that as an aspiring art historian I can now add Stonehenge to my collection of art historical artifacts that I have seen with my naked eye (minus the contacts, which I need to see, so without them I wouldn't be able to see the artifacts, so I need my contacts basically).

With those above facts in mind, I present to you the gallery of tourist photos I took at Stonehenge today:

Now to Bath, a site where no tragic love stories took place, just social time at a bath and a place that Jane Austen didn't like all that much.

Speaking of Jane Austen, we stopped at some Jane Austen visitors center that wasn't even located in the exact spot where she lived while Bath was her home, very disappointing if you ask me. It was small inside and I was too uncomfortably clustered with too many people to take any pictures inside, and I felt a bit weird as I have never read one of her novels.  But here's the only picture from that site:

Then we went to see the Roman Baths, in which I would never want to bathe, as the water is green and you can't see the bottom of the "pool", the latter of which is my number one rule as a former high school swim champion (sorta).  But decide for yourself if you would we tempted to cannonball into that body of water:

And in the spaces between the two adventures we got to check out Bath.  Here it is as shows through the perspective of my SD card:

And that is all,

Kelsie

Day Twenty-Three:: London is actually kinda different from Draper

London is similar to Draper, but it has a few differences and it's weird because I think that it's just an extension of America, but then I go to the grocery store and can't find Brummel and Brown.  Here's a lost of the differences that are easily overlooked and thereby not frequently mentioned:

• The McDonald's here is better than in America
• They love KFC more here than in Utah, the birthplace of KFC, ironically
• Pedestrians do not have the right of way
• Chocolate here is way better.  Sorry Hershey's but you aren't all that great.
• The toilets and plumbing is not nearly as great as it is in the states
• I do not have a disposal in my flat, and seriously disposals are so great
• The round-abouts are a disaster
• The cars in the part of town I live in are so beautiful.  Audis, Bentlys, and BMWs are the norm.  Hondas are rare.
• Starbucks is massive here
• Celsius is hard to get a hang of
• The outlets have such powerful wattage that they are nota allowed to have outlets in the bathrooms because it could kill you actually.
• Grocery shopping here is difficult and it you have a large family it has got to be near impossible to buy enough food to last more than a few days at a time.
• Grocery stores are cool here though.  Like I love grocery stores that are to levels and like all of them are two levels here and it makes me happy.
• Dogs are hardly on leashes here, it makes me miss my dog and I just want to hug all of the dogs when I am in the park.
• There are mountains here and I miss them, but I am somehow still really good at telling North and East and South and West

But the worst difference is that my family and best friend are not here, and I just wanna show all of it to them. Life goes on though.

Have a good Life,

Kelsie

Day Twenty-Two:: Every Big City Needs A Chinatown

So there I was, 5 pm and I still had yet to do something worthy of being on the blog, and had no plans to fix that.  But then like an angel sent from above, my dearest Madi Shupe knocked on my bedroom door and invited me on an adventure.

The original plan was to be among the fans at a movie premiere, however upon our arrival at the venue, we found no sight of a red carpet.  Instead of dwelling on this, we sought comfort in London's M&M's world. They didn't have any peanut butter M&M's and all the magic was crushed for me and I was no upset.  How can they not have peanut butter M&M's at M&M's world????

We ventured onward despite the lack of peanut butter M&M's and found Chinatown.  It was so cute, and to be honest it is probably one of the classiest Chinatowns on the planet.

 We even found a quality restaurant and had want we both agreed to be our best meal while here in London.

So I once at an earlier time discussed how being spontaneous led me to the National Gallery and in turn one of the best days I have had while here.  Well, if that wasn't lesson enough we have a second time where being spontaneous led to one of the best times I have had while here in London.  Don't let moments pass you by! Take every opportunity no matter where you are physically or emotionally or mentally or any other -ally. Go out.  Stop thinking about homework for a moment.  Classes can be retaken, life cannot! (but don't use that as an excuse to stop trying all together okay? Education is super important and I advocate it!)

Zie Gen (I think that is how you spell goodbye phonetically in Chinese),
Kelsie

Day Twenty-One:: AND I'M PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN

I miss a lot of things about America.  Here's a list of those things (in no specific order):

• Chick-Fil-A
• My family
• The ice maker and water dispenser in my fridge at home
• Addison
• Having a mirror above the sink in my bathroom
• In-N-Out with my best friend
• Having a car
• Jimmy Johns
• Having my own bedroom
• My parents
• Dishwasher
• Riley
• Ice Water
• My dog
• J. Crew
• Auston
• Sephora
• Addison
• Brummel and Brown
• Costco
• Ellie
• Inexpensive things
• My siblings
• My big(ger) shower
• TARGET TARGET TARGET for real it sucks I need Target
• My best friend
• Wide roads
• The rest of my wardrobe
• My family and friends

So basically, England is pretty similar, but it's similar enough to make it really hard when you can't go to the Harmon's at Bangerter Crossing (which feels a bit like home once you think about it) and grab something from the massive freezer section.

Happy Sunday,

Kelsie

Day Twenty:: Bodiam Castle and Canterbury

We left London today, and due to the three and a half hour commute back (when it should have only taken one and a half hours) I am exhausted and am experiencing a terrible headache, so today I will let the pictures do the talking.

First was Bodiam Castle.  It's the most complete surviving castle in the quadrangular style (that means square if you couldn't figure that out despite the evident use of the prefix quad-, which means four).  It was apparently a filming site for Monty Python.  But as I have never seen it, I am not a credited source on that.

Then it was off to Canterbury.  Of course there was a cathedral.  Of course we went inside.  Of course that was all we had planned so we had way to much free time.  Of course there was a massive downpour of a rain type substance.

And my eyes are so tired that I can hardly see the computer screen so I will attempt to sign off now.

Bye,
Kelsue

Day Nineteen:: Camden Market

Today I went to Camden Market.  I will not be going back.  I mean I am glad I went, but once was enough.  It was filled with shops that literally spilled out onto the sidewalk, which would be really cool but basically all the shops were the same as they sold the same trendy souvenir t-shirts with the exception of the half dozen tattoo and piercing parlors. I entered with the intention to not spend money, and it was not hard to keep up on that deal.

I did find this cool All Saints and I really want one of their leather moto jackets, like so badly.  But the sewing machines in their display windows are so cool, and seeing this location made me think of their Las Vegas location, of which I always walk past with my family, and then I missed my family.  It was essentially a real-life version of If You Give A Mouse A Cookie.

So there will be no replacement to a Sweet Tooth Fairy cupshake and I have come to accept that.  But I found a pretty good temporary replacement.  The Hummingbird Cafe had the cutest packaging and cute decor, but did not beat Sweet Tooth Fairy's. Here's the raspberry cheesecake brownie I devoured quickly after taking this photo:

Happy Friday,
Kelsie

Day Eighteen:: London Chamber Orchestra

I have said it before and I'll say it again.  I live in an amazingly beautiful area of London.  Hyde Park is literally across the street from where I live.  If you look out the window in our living room you will be looking at the park.

I have failed to take advantage of this fact in the seventeen days I have been here.  But thanks to my friend Hali, I changed that a bit today as I invited myself of her walk around the park.  Not only was I reminded of how pretty the park is, but I had an amazing time getting to know the beautiful Hali.

My bishop somehow through his profession got us 40 free tickets to see the London Chamber Orchestra perform.  It was incredibly nice of him, help me remember to thank him on Sunday.  It was something that I would have not have done if I wasn't given this chance, and unfortunately that's a shame.  It was great.  The true test of if I am really truly actually enjoying something is that if I unconsciously smile my big childish smile.  That I did today.

Here's the totally adorable concert hall

This is an impressive selfie I took with my friend Brionna.

Basically I wish that I was musically talented after tonight, but instead I am just exhausted.

Cheers,

Kelsie

Day Seventeen:: St. Paul's Cathedral

Since arriving in London I have noticed a major motif: fire.  If you don't already know, there was this massive fire in London in 1666 (note the 666, something bad was destined to happen that year).  Because timber was the primary building material in the time, and because those timber buildings were closer together than would be found in the typical suburb, there was a domino effect.  One house caught fire, causing the next to go up in flames and so on, thus destroying much of the city.

London is now terrified of fire, yet they also love a good monument.  So we started our walk today at The Monument.  Designed by Sir Christopher Wren (that dude is everywhere, I seriously thing that you could teach an entire course on just him) to commemorate that above mentioned Great Fire, The Monument took 6 years to build, and it's pretty dang cool.

Walking around London is pretty cool and you see a ton of things, even if you don't know exactly what they are or what their purpose is, you still feel obligated to take a photo.  That happened a few times to me today.

bc I'm numba 1

Okay but we need to get down to business.  I went to St. Paul's today.  I can't even explain to you how amazing it was.  Unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictures inside, but pictures would not have been able to do it justice.  We were ablt to climb up 500 steps to the exterior of the dome and holy crap it was amazing.  Think Empire State Building view, but cooler because it was ST. FREAKING PAUL'S. Just look for yourself.

Fun Fact: This staircase was in Harry Potter.

ily St. Paul's

So I have earlier mentioned my love for Jackson Mallord William Turner.  If you forgot, he is my very favorite artist, for reasons that I would love to talk to you about, but will not currently as it would take another 3 blog posts to cover it.  But I STOOD ON THE GRAVE OF JMW TURNER TODAY. I still am in complete shock and I wish I had known beforehand so I could have brought flowers or something like that.

In other news I had a macaroon for the first time today.  I was ver skeptical at first, as I thought it would be one of those pretty things that actually tasted ehh. No I was wrong, it was from heaven and it was also very pretty.

May your day be as vibrant as my unedited macaroon,

Kelsie