It's safe to say I went out with a bang! Here is a recap of the final week.
Our trip to Cambridge Tuesday was wonderful. I hurried over to the open market and got Thai food again. While we were under the tarp it started pouring rain. We have lucked out with perfect weather almost the entire trip until it rained these last few days. We figure England was just crying because we were leaving. Then we had the privilege of meeting John Rutter, who talked to us for an hour about choral music and the dynamics of Cambridge choirs. He is a very funny man! We went to King's College rehearsal and Evensong, and then we dashed over to another evensong at another college.
Wednesday we had a special guest visit our class, Gabriel Crouch (who I keep accidentally wanting to call Barty Crouch). He is a former King's Singer and has a magnificent voice. At the end of class we all sang together, "There'll Always Be an England." That afternoon we went to the Natural History Museum, and I loved it. We saw dinosaurs,
A lifesize replica of a blue whale,
and tons of other animals.
The museum also had gems, astronomy, and fish. The best part of Wednesday is what we did that night:
We saw Swan Lake at the Royal Albert Hall (a three-minute walk from where we stayed).
It was a magnificent ballet. I miss the year or so I had of ballet training and wish that I had decided to be a girl much earlier in life so I could have developed grace. That night I got an early start on packing, which I was grateful for later.
Thursday = last day, and we had the whole day to ourselves. Christiana and I went to Borough market and had our favorite fish and chips. We walked through the market and got the cinnamon-dusted, chocolate-covered hazelnuts and almonds. Cebre joined us in the afternoon for central London. We did some last-minute shopping in Leicester Square and stopped at Haagen-Daas for Pomegranate, White Peach, and Orange Sorbet (best flavor ever!). Then we hopped back on the tube and went to the British Museum. It is massive! We saw Cleopatra, all mummified. I was excited to see the real Egyptian papyri. It made me really anxious to get back to my job (the research work). I don't have the pictures from this day yet.
From the British Museum we went to the Royal Festival Hall and heard the Philharmonia Orchestra play Brahms' Violin Concerto and Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique. The latter blew my mind. The story of the character and his mental and emotional progression is so evident in the 5 movements.You don't have to be a music geek to appreciate the music. The orchestra was very high class and advanced.
That night we all said our goodbyes, and I got about 3.5 hours of sleep. It was a rough journey to the airport but we finally made it with time to spare. Christiana and I both got window seats for the flight to Amsterdam. An older couple sat next to me. I began a new book, and before I knew it I was dozing off, but strangely every time I hit the apex of unconsciousness, I'd jerk awake for no reason. My body flat out refuses to sleep on a plane! About halfway through the 45-minute flight I heard rustling around me. "Would you like a sandwich?" The attendant asked me. Would I? "Uh....sure." The "sandwich" was similar to a roll with cheese. The roll was a dark brown, seedy, bitter bread. I couldn't decide which tasted worse, the bread or the mushy cheesy substance inside. I convinced myself that it was authentic Dutch food. When we landed, the woman next to me asked where I was headed. I told her and she replied, "All the way to Salt Lake City? And this is supposed to be a good way to get there?" I explained that it was cheaper. She asked me what I'm doing in Utah, and I told her I go to school at Brigham Young University and I was on a study abroad in London for music. "Oh, singing?" How did she know? Reading my thoughts, she said, "Do you know how I can tell? Your voice. Singers have such beautiful speaking voices because they are trained." I had never heard that before. She told me they had just come from visiting her mother in London, who was 101! A pause, and then, "So are you going to serve a mission?" I told her I would love to, but I still have to wait a year before I can go. She asked if I get to choose where I go, and I briefly explained how apostles call missionaries. I told her my sister served a mission in Madrid, Spain. She explained that they had some Mormon friends and went to a wedding once "Well, not a wedding obviously because it was in the temple but we went to the reception afterward." It was so fantastic to be able to talk about the Gospel with someone. That has been my favorite part of this trip. So many Europeans have not heard the ridiculous rumors about Mormons, so it's like a blank slate being able to tell them who we are without having to answer questions about having horns and worshipping the devil or whatnot. I have such enthusiasm and zeal; every time we encounter someone and even so much as mention the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, I get really excited and say, "We just planted a seed!!"
I enjoyed our layover in Amsterdam and did some touristy shopping. Boarding wasn't fun. We had to go through security again and this time we were patted down. Call it immature but I felt violated. I though only suspicious people have to get patted down anymore! However, I was extremely grateful for the caution they took and the scrutiny of our personal lives. It made me feel just a bit safer about America. The 9-hour flight from Amsterdam to Detroit was the most luxurious I've had. They fed us an amazing dinner and another snack later, pizza and ice cream! It was gourmet pizza too. We had unlimited access to movies, and I finished the book I started that morning. Even the complementary blankets were nicer than usual. Thanks, Delta!
At Detroit we had to go through customs AGAIN, recheck in our luggage, and go through security. I was getting really tired of being a foreigner. The four-hour flight to SLC was less comfy, but we arrived at 9:15pm, got our luggage, and mom picked me up. It was so nice to sleep in my own bed.
5 weeks in London was the perfect vacation and experience. I learned a lot and gained confidence in my independence. Who knows where my wings will take me next!
