I love London

Yes, I know it's touristy.
Yes, I know it's cliché.
I don't care, cause that's pretty much how my view of London is going to be.

I &hearts
London

It's been so much fun, and I've barely been here a day and a half. I'm doing laundry right now, so that gives me time to blog :)
I'm staying in a hostel less than 100m from the St. Paul's Cathedral in London. Every hour, I hear centuries-old bells tone the time.

I &hearts London.

Saturday, we bought food for Sunday (no fridge in the hostel, so it's all dry stuff) and then hopped on a tube. That's right, we got on a tube, and THEN decided where we wanted to go. We're crazy tourists like that. So we walked around Westminster Abbey and Big Ben (both HUGE) and then came back to the hostel to change. We wanted to be dressed a bit nicer to see WICKED.

I &hearts London.

I'm sorry about that, but that's really just how I feel, and it sums up the experience thus far :) Wicked was awesome. On so many levels. I'd bought my tickets like 2 days before. For 20£. They were "obstructed" but only if you were less than about 5'8", so I was fine :) The show blew my mind. I don't know why, but it never occurred to me that in London, the actors and actresses would all have British accents. Best were Boq- Scottish and Fiyero-Like Ringo Starr. The show was phenomenal, and that's makes 5 Wicked-viewings for me. Next stop: Osaka? Sydney? Mmmmm...
So, I'm getting ready for bed Saturday night, and I ask Noah "Do I need to grab my alarm clock out from the suitcase and set it for tomorrow?" To which he replies "No, I've got my phone set".
Fast forward to Sunday morning.
I awake to a poke from Noah. "Matt. My alarm didn't go off, and it's 8:20". The Hyde Park ward (which we wanted to attend) starts at 9. We threw on our Church clothes and tore out the door. It was like 35 minutes later as we were climbing out of the Tube to walk to the church. I noticed one of the subways was closed and the sign said it opens for walking through on Sundays at 8:30.

I stopped.

I looked at my watch.

7:58

"Noah, what time do you have right now?"

He hadn't set his cell phone back an hour (Paris to London is -1), so we'd gotten up an hour earlier than we'd though. Or, you could say at exactly what time we'd originally planned. So we were standing there, 30 feet from the church, and an hour early. I threw my head back and laughed harder than I have in a long time. That was absolutely hilarious to me.
Luckily Hyde Park was only down the street, so we walked around the park until it was time for church. It was so nice to be able to find a solid Mormon congregation to attend. I mentioned to Noah, it just feels like home, no matter what language the service is in, no matter where on earth you are, it feels like home.
We came home to shower, and then had some lunch. We went to the top of Primrose Hill and got a great panoramic view of the city of London. From there, we came back to St. Paul's to hear an amazing Organ recital. There was Fugue and meditation and all sorts of fancy playing in between. I absolutely loved it! I didn't actually get to see the organist playing (the console is hidden back by the altar I think) but it would have been quite a site to see.
I'd been recommended this bus tour of the city, so Noah and I decided to do that for the evening. It was incredible. The guy was funny (if a bit overly-punny) and we got to see pretty much everything around the center of London. We finished with just enough time to go hop over to Speaker's corner of Hyde Park and listen to a couple of people vehemently defending their positions and beliefs. It was a bit later in the evening, so it wasn't as busy as I'd imagined it, but it was still really cool.
The weather's been nothing but perfectly cooperative. We had a down-pour as we stepped out of the tube connecting on our way to Wicked, but that passed within 15 minutes, and it's been great since.
Did I mention?

..... I &hearts London