P-Day!

Without trying, just about everything I did on Saturday started with P!

We started by going on a tour of Parliament.  We took the route that the Queen herself takes when she opens Parliament every year - that's the only day of the year when all three parts of Parliament meet together: the Queen, the House of Lords, and the House of Commons.  We were able to see where the House of Lords and the House of Commons meet as well.  It was so elaborate!  I almost didn't expect it from something used so much today.  We learned that you can go watch a session of Parliament, but you just have to get there when there are seats open.  Hopefully we can go sometime!

A window given to the Queen by Parliament for the Diamond Jubilee

After Parliament, we headed to Portobello Market!  (Yes, I definitely sang as we got to the road!)  Portobello Road already has shops lining the street, but on Saturdays the market is open and all kinds of vendors move in as well!  They have everything from crepes and cupcakes (my lunch) to dresses, vintage jewelry, and old maps!  Last semester I had to make a children's book and I set it on Portobello Road and illustrated it to match.  It was fun to see it in person!

When we got back to the centre, it was paper time.  For our history class we had to write about how an event is memorialized compared with what actually happened historically.  I wrote about the King James Bible and how we view it in the church today.  Did you know that King James was known for corruption and that the King James Bible was meant to keep the Puritans happy?

The last activity of the day was Primark!  It was our last day to go shopping before my birthday and I was able to get a new dress and skirt to choose from for next week.

Getting to church was another adventure this week.  We left earlier, but the tube didn't come for a while and then the train we wanted wasn't there!  We were late again, but only by five minutes so I was able to play my musical item (as they call it here).  An interesting thing about going to church here is that people usually just sing the melody.  I guess in Utah we just grow up learning to sing parts and we don't even realize it.  I keep realizing how much I take for granted back home and it helps me to realize how blessed I am to be here!