Churches and Castles

First of all, it is bloody cold here! I still look totally posh though with my pink coat and scarfed tied delicately around my neck. everyone wears scarves here by the way. well i've done a lot in the couple of days so i thought I'd let you all know what I've been doing. Friday night, a bunch of us headed over to westminister abbey to their evensong service. oh my gosh, it was beautiful!! The all male choir just rang throughout the church. I wanted to just close my eyes and listen to the sounds, but there was also so much to look at in the church itself. it definitely put my dear old heartland to shame structure wise, but I'd take a Brad Mann sermon over theirs anyday! Yesterday we finally headed out of London at least a little bit. We first stopped at Hampton court palace which reminded me a lot of Versailles, especially the gardens. It was a huge palace with very elegant rooms although I wouldn't call them homey. I'd gladly live in the Pea Pod over it. :) After looking around there for a couple of hours, we headed over to windsor castle. Windsor the town itself looked absolutely cute and had great shops, but we didn't have time to look around. well, i stopped in one shop--a kid store to look for something for darci and Alyssa and I found these adorable matching dresses, but they were out of my budget. Well, they wouldn't have been too expensive in regular pounds, but in American dollars, it would have killed me. oh well, I'll just find something much better for the two of them. The castle, was just amazing you guys. It kinda had it's own wall with a church and other places stuck in it. They really wouldn't need to even leave the castle. The royal family still goes there frequently. I was hoping William would be there for the weekend, but no such luck. We got to tour probably 1/16th of the palace because this crib is GINORMOUS!! However, the rooms we saw were just breathtaking. we also got to look at some of the toys the queen played with when she was a kid and she had the biggest dollhouse I had ever seen. for those of you that know the size of my room at the haven, it wouldn't have even fit in that room. the kids probably had to have ladders to play in it. it was crazy. I don't imagine fischer price made it. :) I loved walking around and looking at the great view of the country side from the castle. it was just refreshing to be out of the city. last night, it was rainy so we just stayed in and watched a movie.
Today, I did homework, but I did do some of it somewhere interesting. I ventured off in an area I haven't been before and found this charming cemetery that was tucked away. I walked around and then settled on a bench to read for about an hour or so. It got pretty cold so I came home for tea and a scone before heading off to church at 5. I went to this really cool--very collegy--church about 20 minutes from my flat. I met a lot of really nice brits there. I might be going to a dance/dinner with them on a boat on the river Thames next Friday night. It's a bit pricey, but it'd be the same for a theatre ticket, so I may splurge. I think it'd be a great chance to get to really know people my age that go to that church.
anyhoo.....this week i've got class as always, an excursion to cantebury, and then a literary walking tour on thursday. I'll get to see where famous authors live and yes, I will try to find J.K. Rowling and stalk her...:) just kidding...sorta.....
well, cheerio....