The "Essence" of Europe is Chocolate

Day 5
May 16, 2011


7:10am

Wake up call.

Shower and clean room for check out.

Quick breakfast of cereal and a waffle/crepe thing with jelly.

Before loading the bus I went with a few girls to take pictures in front of the Preston Temple (in the rain, of course). Preston seems a lot like Washington or Oregon. Rainy and cold. I guess their summer only lasts a couple weeks and we missed it by a few days. Oh well. 

After taking some pictures we boarded the bus and drove to Birmingham where we went to Cadbury World for one of our “business visits.” Not really a business visit, but a public tour of the factory. Worst part? Nasty tomato soup for lunch in the Cadbury Cafe. It is not really tomato soup. Instead I think they just put watered down Ragu sauce in a pot and called it lunch. Ick! Best part? Free chocolate samples all along the way. 

 

Bonus: Cadbury World ride (similar to Small World/Disney-type rides). 

We were probably twice the average height and age of the usual ride participants. We also watched a little “Essence” show which was a presentation of the history and making of Cadbury Chocolate. It was pretty good. You can tell the marketing was trying really hard to gear towards kids and make Cadbury a fun and memorable experience so people would associate positive feelings towards their product and brand. I think they did a pretty good job. (The free chocolate didn’t hurt my opinion either!) I bought a few small bars of chocolate in the gift shop at the end and then we rode the bus another few hours to London. I sat up front this time with Heather. We talked a little bit and then tried to sleep (very uncomfortably). I was pretty bored––the bus rides are not my favorite, I can get a little stir-crazy. 

However, the ride wasn’t terribly long, and we arrived in London around 5:30pm. We were assigned rooms and then unloaded. 

Side note: I didn’t have a roommate the first nights in Edinburgh so I was saying to Heather and Michael, ‘I really hope I have a roommate this time, I don’t want to be stuck alone again!’ when Professor Kimball calls out my name first, “Brittney! You’re alone...”  'Oh! Great...' Luckily April was sitting nearby and heard my rant and she offered to take the room and I got her roommate assignment with Michelle (who, ironically, was the other girl who was without a roommate in Edinburgh). So that was wicked nice of April, because I really didn’t want to be segregated from the group again. I like to be in the loop. 

Anyways, the sun stays up later here so we had plenty of daylight to go walk around the city a bit. I went around the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, and the London Eye with Suzy, Hannah, Janelle and Michael. That was fun. 

I really like Michael, she’s nice and we are similar in a lot of ways. This was the first night that I really hung out with these girls, minus mealtimes in Preston, so it was good to go out with them. We grabbed a bite to eat at a Pizza Express that’s a little bit behind the main boardwalk along the Thames. We got a 20% discount from a hotel coupon, plus a student discount I think, so it was the cheapest option for us (especially in pricey London). The pizza was good, but we split it, and they were pretty small so I was still a little hungry afterwards, but it was fine. Dinner with the girls was good, but for me I thought it was a little awkward still since we didn’t all know each other that well. There were several lulls and silences in the conversation that made me wish we had a bigger group. But other than that it was fun. 

  

{Street Performer by the Thames}

 

{Seeing Through the Eye of London}

 

{Hannah, Suzanne, Janelle and I taking the Tube} 
 

After dinner we headed back to the hotel on the tube, where the British announcer lady instructed us constantly to “Mind the GAP” between the train and the platform (she was very concerned for our safety apparently). Unfortunately, the Premier Inn hotel does not provide free wifi (jerks...but typical in Europe) so I went with the girls to the McDonald’s down by the station and used their free wifi. Ahh, sweet relief to be connected to the world again! That was my first night of internet since my initial landing announcement the afternoon I arrived in Edinburgh. Weird. We stayed on too long though, and one of the workers told us to leave so that paying customers could use the seats (the McDonald’s was surprisingly busy at 11pm). Oops. 

Everything is better with an accent

Sleep. 

It’s a beautiful thing. 

That is why Sunday morning was so grand. I slept in until 9:45am. I could have slept all day, but even those extra two hours did wonders. I got up, got ready for church and then we all walked to the church building across the street. 

Church was fun, listening to the talks and lessons in a British accent. Sunday School was especially entertaining because our teacher had a great sense of humor and got really into his lesson. This helped me to stay awake (even with the extra sleep I was ready for a nap again). 

Funny moment: 

Our teacher asked us what came to mind when he said certain names (e.g. Moses, Jonah, Abraham etc.) Then he asked us “What about pizza?” and Ben shouted out, “Pepperoni!” and I said, “Yummmm...” No one heard me, but everyone definitely heard Ben. 

Well, with an accent “Peter” sounds very much like “Pizza” in British. But they are definitely not the same. That got a good laugh. 

After Sunday School we went to Relief Society, where I could not keep my eyes open. I felt really bad. I’m sure the older ladies behind me could see my head as it would bob up and down every few minutes as I tried to keep myself from sleeping. I do know that we had a lesson on talents though, so points to me for at least getting the gist of the discussion (which was your basic RS message of ‘Everyone is special and everyone has important talents to share’ yaddy yaddy yaddah). I’m sure it was good...but I was half-asleep for most of it. Oops.

When church ended we hung around for a few minutes––hoping that an attractive Brit in the ward would talk to us (nope)––and then walked back in the cold Preston rain to our accommodations. We had a short break (about an hour) and then we met on the bus for a tour of church history sites in Preston. Clinton, Edwin and Phil (guys in the Preston singles ward) came along to give the tour. Clinton did most of the tour. It was funny because Phil sat in back with us (and Clinton reiterated this later) and said, “He’s making this whole tour up...he doesn’t really know what he’s talking about.” I thought that was pretty funny. Although he was winging it, I’m pretty sure most of it really was legit. We saw the square where the first missionaries preached on soap boxes to the angry crowds, we went to President Hinckley’s mission home, and to the River Ribble where thousands of people were baptized late into the night and then to a park along the river where there are two memorial plaques to the members and the missionaries. 

The park itself was really pretty too designed as a Japanese-style garden. We had a little testimony bearing “meeting” for a few minutes there, then walked back to the bus where we drove to a village (I forget the name) where Heber C. Kimball had preached and converted the whole town. Apparently when it was time for him to leave and he was walking through the street, people came out and swarmed him and he had to wash his face in the stream because he was weeping so much. Ironically, when we were leaving, the bus almost backed into that very stream as we tried to turn around. Luckily, we did not get our bus stuck in the creek. That would have put a damper on our day. Haha, get it? Damper. And it was already raining anyways...

Our tour lasted alllll day long. We left at three thirty and didn’t get back until eight thirty. It was a good Sunday activity though and it was cool to see some of the church sites in Preston. When we got back we had a nice baked potato dinner with the Brits. That was fun. I sat with Hannah, Suzy, and Heather with Phil. He was so funny. He talked a lot, but it was interesting because he 1) had an accent, which makes everything enjoyable to hear, and 2) because it was cool to get a British perspective on things. We compared American and British cultures and attitudes a lot. 

For example, one of the things I thought was humorous was that, according to Phil (and I’m not sure if this is reflective of all Brits), the British loved George W. Bush because he was so easy to make fun of, and that they don’t like Obama as much because he’s so serious and put together. Apparently it’s the same for British politicians. They like the comedians and idiots better than the actual qualified leaders because they are more fun in the news...not sure if this is an accurate illustration of British political attitudes, but I thought it was funny. 

Memorable British quotes of the night:

Phil was describing the time he had visited America for General Conference and gone through Utah and Idaho and he exclaims, “What’s with Idaho!? It’s flippin’ ridiculous!” He couldn’t believe how empty and vacant the state was. Then he told us how they accidentally killed a cow and the guy just said to move it to the side of the road like it was no big deal. Phil was completely flabbergasted by how nonchalant Idahoans are about stuff like that. 

But my very favorite line?

“Bon Jovi–– 

best thing to come out of America 

since the Restoration.”-Phil

After chatting with Phil for a while we moved to the common area and talked with a few other people in the group with two other Brits, Clinton and John. These two are characters. 

Let me paint you a picture:

Two Brits. 

Loud. 

Boisterous. 

Accents. 

                            Both wearing onesie sweatsuits. 

What are onesie sweatesuits? Picture a hoodie sweatshirt. And baggie sweatpants. Now put them together with a zipper up the whole suit and add pockets. That is a OnePiece. AND, Clinton has offered to give me one of his (he has four) because they’re really expensive (i.e. $200). How did they both come to have these articles of clothing? They are sponsored by OnePiece. Why? Clinton and John are auditioning for Britain’s X-Factor this season! Haha. Apparently they are doing a rap, but John was too embarrassed to perform for us. Instead, they did a duo rendition of the Fresh Prince theme. 

Classic. 

A bunch of us all hung out until midnight. But then the security guy was closing up and kicked out the Brits so we all went to bed. 

Fun night.