A WEEK UP NORTH

So yes, I realize it has been over two weeks since I last posted. Man, life has just been crazy I've hardly had a moment to sit still!

So this past week all of us headed up north to the cities of Liverpool, Preston, Ambleside, Edinburgh,  and York! It was such an amazing week filled with some of the most beautiful places I've ever visited in my life. A week to remember to be sure.

So first off we stopped in Liverpool just for a couple hours and went to a museum there. We were really not there for very long and didn't see much, but what I saw seemed lovely! Next we headed to Preston, England to visit the temple and see some of the LDS church sites there, which was really fun! Those first couple pictures are on the grounds of the Preston temple, it was such a beautiful place!

After that we went to Ambleside in the Lake District. And lemme tell you, that place is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. It is straight out of a fairytale. And to make things even better, our hotel was right on the water; the view out my window was unreal. I just stood there in the early morning staring, not even believing that places like that even exist. It was breathtaking.

Much to our dismay, we couldn't stay in Ambleside forever… But up next we headed to Edinburgh, Scotland which wasn't really anything to complain about. That city is one of the most charming cities I've ever been to! I loved it so much. The medieval castle at the top of the hill was amazing and I just love all of the history of the city. We also made a stop at The Elephant House, the cafe where J.K. Rowling wrote Harry Potter! It was so amazing! In the bathroom, everyone who's visited has signed their name, joining Dumbledore's Army. So of course I signed my name too. It was so cool to sit where all that inspiration came. We also went to Tom Riddle's grave, where J.K. Rowling got more of her inspiration for the novels. It was definitely spooky fun! Oh, and I can't forget our awesome Halloween tour that we went to through all of the most haunted places in the city. I'm not even ashamed of my Halloween costume. At all. Like, I think I look pretty dang hot in that alligator suit.

The final stop on our journey was in York. We were only there for an evening, but I have to say this was probably the highlight of my trip. One of my best best friends is serving his mission in the Leeds, England mission and is currently in York. When we discovered that we would be in the same place at the same time, we couldn't resist planning a meet up! So, I was supposed to be at York Minster for Evensong with my group until around 6pm but wasn't sure exactly when I'd be done. He said he would try to get there around 6 if he didn't have any meetings, but couldn't make any promises. We hoped for the best and said we would try to see each other! So Friday night, when the service was done, I checked my clock and it said 6:30… later than I'd thought. My friends and I headed outside to see if he was there and, sadly, he was nowhere to be seen. We walked around for a bit and decided that either I'd missed him or he had a busy evening and wasn't able to make it. We gave up and headed down the street to look for dinner. All of sudden, my friend Kenzi yells, "Oh my goodness look! It's the missionaries! Kate is that him?" I look across the street, and sure enough, there he is walking down the street with his companion! I ran across the street and almost attacked him I was so excited! Don't worry, we only shook hands, we were good kids haha. It was so lovely to see him and talk to him. He didn't have any appointments for the evening so we ended up talking for about an hour and it was so great to catch up on life and what's been going on the past year and a half since I saw him last. He has a little accent too, which is hilarious. It was such a miracle that we saw each other, we were both so ecstatic that it all worked out. I can't wait till he gets home in 6 months so we can hang out all the time! (Disclaimer: we are not dating, just super good friends).

The next morning we headed back to London, with a stop at Fountains Abbey along the way. It's mostly just ruins, but is beautiful none the less. I still can't get over how green this country is. I love it so much. It's going to be depressing when I have to go back to brown ol' Utah. But, I shall soak in all this loveliness while I can!