Late nights that turn into early mornings.

...It has been our motto of the week. With only a few days left here in London, we have been making every moment count, taking in each second to its fullest. Earlier this week we were able to be apart of one of the most cultural experiences. After visiting the National Gallery which included the masterpieces of Leonardo da Vinci, Monet, Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, and Rembrandt. My favorite piece was a sketch of da Vinci...made of pure charcoal on just plain brown paper, honestly one of the most beautifully simple artwork I have seen.

Afterward we went and walked through Trafalgar Square only to find that there would be a live broadcast of the famous opera, Carmen, that evening in Trafalgar Square. We decided to go get something to eat and make our way back for the performance. Each week our meals consist of pasta, bread, pesto, pasta, bread, oil, bread, crepe, pasta, bread, ice cream, cadbury chocolate....so we were pumped when we saw a burrito place. We got some to-go burritos and headed back to Trafalgar. Even though they were not Chipotle, the tortilla, salsa, guacamole wrapped like a baby in good old tin foil tasted like pure love. We sat outside watching Carmen, trying to decipher what was happening. Although we could recognize the music, we had no idea how sexual the play was...Carmen was not a nice girl! We only stayed for half of it and decided to carry on, but it was an enriching site to see so many people celebrating such famous sounds.

And since we didn't want to vary too heavily from our eating routine, we made sure to get some Gelato on the way out. Cookies and Cream, mmmmm!

The next day we traveled to the famous Abbey Road! It was very exciting and even though looked like any regular street, there was something thrilling about taking that walk across the zebra stripes (yes, they call a street where pedestrians have the right of way zebra stripes...the best sign I ever saw said Zebra humps the next 5 miles....) Anyway, we saw the studio and house that the Beatles recorded in and I must say I am very happy that I had a mother who was obsessed with the Beatles because while we were there a girl asked me if the Beatles were dead, I just gasped and brushed her to the side as I pondered what to write on the walls outside the Abbey Road. I decided to keep it simple and just write the title of my favorite Beatles song...

Sadly we only had a few of us there, not enough for a classic Beatles shot, but still there is me...crossing the street! There were some freakin weird people there, these Brazilians demanded having no cars in their shot, which is seriously impossible due to the fact it is a working road, but the Brazilians would be standing at the street waiting for no cars, but then every car would stop and try to wait for them to cross, since it was a Zebra Stripe, the Brazilian would get so upset because of course every time a car stopped to politely cross, he would miss the chance for the two second window of no cars after...it was a hilarious process to watch. Oh and it wouldn't be a Beatles sight if there wasn't a weirdo dressed like one of them. This time we got the chubby version John Lennon and I'm pretty sure he crossed the street about 80 times trying to get the most Beatle-ish picture he could. Too bad he was wearing a brown jacket, if he were a real fan or had a mother like me, he would have know John was wearing all white...pshhh.

Emily and I were also very fortunate to go on a date this week. She took me to the play Wicked and I took her out to dinner. We got all dressed up and had some real good chemistry, SingleLondoners.com really works! Haha just kidding, but we really went on a date and Wicked was AH-MAY-ZING. It was so interesting to hear their accents in the songs and to see how they acted, we loved every second of it.

One of our really good friends Michelle with us at Wicked!!! Yea not really this girl just decided to jump in with us, at least she gave us a smile!

This is the official picture of the G-Squad. G standing for Gavin...we are his girls, if you would like to join you must see Gavin for auditions, just a piece of advice, they are pretty strenuous.

One of the most fun nights we had here was just staying in on Thursday night. We all bought some really cute England Booty shorts and decided to give each other facials again from the "posh" everyone uses that word here, store Lush. We had such a fun time dancing and jumping around in our English trousers, singing to Spice Girls (duh of course Spice Girls, we are in ENGLAND!) and having a photo shoot. It was so much fun!

Our faces looked so fresh after, so fresh and so clean clean.

On Friday night we went out like there was no tomorrow. We decided that Friday night would be when we dress up the most and check off something from our list. Even though we did it a couple different times, we watched the sun rise in London. We again went out to Piccadilly Circus and went to the most ODD club in like China Town or something...but still met some really cool people. We stayed out until 4:30 and went to bed with the sun out. You might think that not much of the sun was out, False. I am sure some science freak could tell you why, but the sun sets at like 10:30 and rises at four. Maybe it is the real city that never sleeps, I have never seen that many people out on one street at four in the morning, still partying.

The next day was one of the best days here. The World Cup game...England V. America. Since going to sleep at 5, I was supposed to meet my teacher Rick at ten to get something from him. We tried to set a phone alarm but Emily's phone is stuck in New York time...and once again it was 5 in the morning so I have no idea what we set it to, but it made sense that night. We woke up the next morning in a frenzy thinking we had missed the alarm and therefor missed Rick. Emily checked her phone and it said it was 11:30. I guess I never questioned her and her odd phone setting, but my body felt like it was 12. So worried we had so much to do and get done before the game, I wrote Rick a quick email going onnnn and apologizing about missing him. I did not shower or really do anything with my hair, just left the house. We went all throughout the day thinking we left the house around 12, but to our amazement after hours of shopping..thinking it was 4 at this time, I asked this guy on the Tube what time it was and he said 1:30. I asked him to repeat what he said because A. English do NOT know how to tell the time, they say it in the most confusing way ever...like, "twenty three past a half of four, or a quarter after the hour of 17:00" were like uhhhhh...so once again he said 1:30. I looked at emily and all I could say was, "What happened this morning." A creepy man next to me then chimmed in, "those are the best kind of mornings." So I guess what happened was Emily's alarm went off at 8 but we read it wrong, so we were out of the house at 8:30 thinking it was 12:00....maybe that is why all the shops were just opening and or not all open yet ahah. I was so thrown off! After figuring out the time of the day, we went back home and decided to get ready for the big game. I have already watched all 3 of the World Cup games at this point at a Pub and they were insane. People were yelling, screaming, drinking WAY too much...I knew the England game was going to be crazy. We picked a pub just right out of Trafalgar square, however we had to sneak in. All the pubs were shutting their doors because too many people were coming in, like a thousand people per pub, and there are a lot of pubs here. However, I am too legit and I snuck in a secret door in the front, getting an amazing view. I tried not to say much, but eventually everyone found out I was American. Good thing I knew my fair share of football and could tell them I really was supporting England.

 YEA YEAH YEAH...Im not going to explain it to you guys but I was supporting England and they should have one if Capello wasnt a little girl and put in a brand new 12 year old goalie who cried anytime the ball came near him, Green must have gone home ready to die that night.If I were the guy responsible for dropping the ball in the net against my own team I would be too. ANYWAY dont get my started on soccer, I was waaay too pumped being there. I shouted, chanted, and cheered right along with random English people, well I guess not random, one of them proposed to me. He was a roofer and was way too drunk for his own good, but it was so funny he was like, "I finally find a girl who I would love to get to know and she has a boyfriend, has no phone, no facebook, and leaving on Tuesday, what am I supposed to do!" Even though his offer to come live with him while he goes and roofs on things, I decided to say no and keep Chris :) That night we went out to this bar to celebrate even though they tied, and met some more crazy people who talked to us about this weird drug everyone does in England called Meow Meow...it is like a plant food or something. Way weird but this guy was very eccentric, he demanded that the new phrase was going to be, "Pow Pow." Don't believe the hype. It is not true. However some phrases I would like to bring back are proper, chips for french fries, cheers, and if I could pull off giving kisses on the cheek I would SO bring it back to the States. It has been such an amazing week, I have only one more day here and I really want to just take it all in tomorrow. It is going to be a reflective day and one filled with last minute gorging in all of the best treats, I have to fit it all in one last time! Well maybe I will get one more blog in after I sit and think in Hyde Park for five hours, but this might be my last blog from London. I love you all and I guess will be seeing you soon!
Love Always, Kels.

P.S. This is us trying to say the most confusing phrase known to mankind. Chai Tea Tai Chi...try saying that three times fast! It is so hilarious you got to try it out.

"This is literally what I google imaged..."

Ireland, the sound of it alone rushes back a thousand of the most beautiful images I have ever seen. This blog will be hard to write and may appear short, not because I have nothing to say, but because words cannot describe what I have discovered. I have uncovered a hidden splendor, the Northern Coast of Ireland. I know I exaggerate a lot so it is hard to distinguish my, “literally,” and “seriously.” However both seriously and literally, I have never witnessed anything like this place. I have never thought about the top 3 most gorgeous places I have ever visited, but without doubt, the coast of Northern Ireland would find itself somewhere seated in that Top 3. It is everything I have ever Google-imaged and more. I can remember months before going on this trip just Googling Ireland, setting different pictures as my background and just staring out. It all became a reality, the once computer desktop background was now what I was now peering my eyes out to, gazing across the Atlantic Ocean on a sea cliff. There is not much I can say about Ireland, I will skim through the some minute details. And even though I am not sure the pictures will do it justice either, I want this post to be a majority of pictures. The picture above is one of my favorite of the whole trip, my interpretation of "Say you're a bird!" (from the movie the Notebook)

So, Ireland, ah there it is once again. As we flew into Ireland, we flew into Dublin. Getting off the airplane, our first statement was, “I LOVE SCOTLAND!” That might not seem as funny to other people, but me and Emily get a kick out of mixing up the Irish and Scottish. The whole time in Scotland we would say, “Man Irish food is great!” Sadly, no one seems to be that bothered by it…we still find it quite amusing. Well we get off the plane, yell, and notice a giant plane with a shamrock on it. I was so excited, a new place, an entire country with so many clichés to live up to, I could not contain myself! It was my all time goal to find an Irishmen to say the most Irish saying to me ever, “They’re trying to steal me lucky charms!” Yes, unlike the English, I grew up on sugar cereals, and this was my greatest Irish dream. And good thing my new favorite thing is going to be posting videos, because my goal was definitely achieved!

After checking into our hotel, we met our group at a straight up(I have never noticed how much I say straight up until every person in the group has now followed me and started saying straight up, because it is a lot) Anyway, straight up Irish Pub. We sat down and jammed with an authentic Irish band. There was a guy singing, a banjo player, and an electric violinist. It was everything you would ever imagine an Irish pub with Irish music would be. The whole pub was singing right along with their beers, even interjecting in some parts, with a banging beat going right along with it all. It was amazing hearing the culture and history of a city; it brought a room full of people together. We walked around the city of Dublin that night meeting the Irish and seeing the city. Just to let you guys know, out of Europe, the Irish were rated the number one nicest people…and who do you think got last place? Yes, Londoners. In fact I got yelled at tonight for being too loud in a residential area. If I were in Ireland, they would have sung right along!

The next morning we woke up and took a hop on hop off tour of Dublin, after so many churches and cathedrals, I am going to power through this list of what we saw, because they all mesh together by now. We saw Trinity College, Christ Church, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and the Millennial Spire. But literally all of this means nothing compared to the fact we left, we left for Belfast.

It is sad, but yes this is us modeling outside of Christ Church, we just have taken so many pictures we have to get fresh with it!

That night we took a two hour train ride, two hours of the most stunning scenery I have ever had the privelage to stare at. Passing miles of green acres, filled with sheep and pastures covered with a golden sunset, I cannot believe no one else on the train was freaking out.

After getting to Belfast our teacher who said knows Belfast like the back of his hand, well got us lost for 2 hours and then locked out our hostel for another 2 hours, we sure got a firsthand view of the nice Irishmen. I am serious, women, men, children all invited us to stay with them, chatting with us for hours, and hoping for our safety. Finally at about 4 we got into our room and good thing I was so tired because my bed was a rock, no joke, a R-O-CK, three syllables of it. Although I was so tired the next morning, I was a trooper and woke up at 8 to take a bus tour up the coast of Northern Ireland. I had no idea this was the bus to heaven.

Like all cool kids, we found our way to the back of the bus and got seated for the most glorious drive I have ever taken. Take the drive down to San Francisco, on the ocean highway, and then some crack, and you have this road. It was a 6 hour trip to every spot along the Ireland Ocean highway. We saw some Castle, but after taking one picture I turned and ran toward the boat dock. A boat dock, to the Atlantic Ocean, the cutest boat dock ever created.

The entire trip I skipped frantically headed for any view of the seaside. After this, we continued our drive through the forests and hills towards a place called Carrick-a-rede Rope Bridge, this is the only rope bridge I think only bridge that crosses the Atlantic Ocean. You had to hike about a mile to the Rope Bridge, then walk across it to another part of the island. Emily started crying on the rope bridge, literally tears were falling, I have a video of that one too… I don’t know if she wants me to put that one up though aha. So many times I questioned if the plane took me to Ireland or Fiji, because these beaches were gorgeous. Everyone keeps telling us that it is supposed to rain here, but I am pretty sure the sun follows us. It was perfect weather; the sun was shining down through every crack of sky. All I could say was, “I can’t breathe, I just can’t breathe.” I cannot even fathom to describe its beauty.

After this we drove onward to a place called the Giant’s Causeway, yes again I am in Ireland, not Hawaii.

It is this seaside phenomenon, like the craziest 7^th world wonder I have ever visited. I have read the information about a million times but still, I fail every science class ever created so I can’t really tell you how this happened. Beyond the fact it is natural, I am about to guess and make all this up. The giant’s causeway has something to do with lava, earth plates moving, crystallization, and a whole lot of stones that looked like carved rock seats. We sat looking out onto the ocean, on our lava crystal rock seats, knowing that God really does love us. He wanted us to be there, he wanted us to see all the wonders this world has to offer. I don’t know if I have ever felt so close to nature before in my life.

Driving home we saw a Castle upon a cliff called..ya I don’t really know but it was cool and is in the corner of the picture below. We also stopped at the GUINNESS factory, as you can tell we were not very enthused by this.

Now that finished it all! It was a day I will never forget, the smells and air of the Northern Ireland Ocean, I can close my eyes now and still feel it. Who would have known, out of all the places I have ever been in my life, Northern Ireland would be in my top three. I feel so lucky, lucky to experience this all, lucky for my friends and family, lucky for the people here, lucky for the connection I have had to myself, the time to breathe, center my thoughts, and adventure. I am so lucky for every pasture, each crepe, the daily Cadbury chocolate bars, all the crazy people we have met. I just cannot begin to explain how fortunate I truly am. I love you and miss you all. I have one week left here in London, here is to the best of it!

Love Always, Kels.

Here it is!! All my dreams come true!

Were probably going to try out for Britain's got talent, like we didnt skip seven verses of this song or anything...