Mom Comes to England! Day 1

Saturday April 10th- Tuesday April 13th: These days all blend together somewhat. They were filled with studying for finals, writing papers, filling out a booklet for Greek and Roman mythology, last minute research at museums, the last class of the semester, and the dreaded packing. If this wasn't hectic enough, I was also on Kitchen Crew this week... Such a fun and exciting week, hardly leaving the Centre right when the weather is becoming beautiful. The last day at church was enjoyable, the kids said good bye and it was sad to leave them and a lady in the congregation gave each of us a present as a good bye gift, cheetah print sequenced make-up bags. I am sad to leave the ward, the members were so faithful and gave so much for the gospel, they were an amazing example.

Wednesday April 14th- Today was my first final, Political Science. I had studied so hard since this was my hardest class but I could not for the life of me concentrate on it because my mom was coming today!! Her plane landed in the middle of me taking the test and each minute after her plane landed was a minute that my caring about my grade in Poli-Sci dropped. After 4 months of not seeing my family I was nearly dying to see my Mommy! As soon as I finished my test (which I passed! woo-hoo!) I grabbed my packed suitcase and headed to her apartment which was only one tube stop away. The tube stop was congested with people so I decided to walk to her hotel. Sometimes being underground makes you think things are farther away than they really are, I think I walked to the hotel in less time than it would have taken to ride there.

When I walked into the hotel, the Columbia Hotel, I walked straight to her room (after asking which was her room) and even though she was jet lagged and wished she were asleep rather than answer a knock on her door, I had never been so happy to see my mommy! I left my suitcase in her room (I had packed my things before my roommates so they could have room to pack and because I was going to stay with my mom till I went home) and then we went out on the town! She was such a sport, I bet I was irritating. I kept walking her everywhere so she wouldn't fall asleep!

Our first stop was to a tube station to buy her an Oyster card, a tube pass. Then we went to one of my favorite places in London, Covent Gardens. I wanted to show her everything I loved about London so I figured this was a good place to start. We first went to a Cath Kidston store (if you took me and made me a store it would be this one) where we each bought a purse and a few other things. After that, I figured she should eat something (hadn't eaten since the airplane) so I took her to get a pastey. This is like a pie folded in half with savory filling inside, absolutely delicious. When I was trying to explain to her what it was I was at a loss for words and the best description I could give was "it's like a sandwich that you hold." Mom thought that was very funny and wont let me forget that description. Next we went to Ben's Cookies and Candy Cakes to enjoy some of London's best 'homemade' treats. After walking around Covent Gardens a bit longer, I took her to enjoy my very favorite bit of London: the Theatre! Here is a picture of me and my mommy right before the show started: Even though Les Miserables took the place of favorite musical, Phantom of the Opera will always have a special place in my heart and I took mom to see something I thought was too good to be true, the Phantom of the Opera Sequel!! That's right!! Mr. Andrew Lloyd Webber has been working on the sequel to his most beloved play for these past 22 years and I was in London when it made it's world premier! "Love Never Dies" is just that sequel! It was a huge deal in the theatre world not just because it was the world premier but because no musical has ever had a sequel before. This was a first, and I got to see it before the rest of the world!! :]

I was very wary of seeing the sequel because I love the Phantom so much and the reviews weren't great, but I am so glad I went! It was not the best musical I had ever seen but it was so far beyond my expectations that I can't wait to see it again!! The plot was strange, I won't tell you what it is but it works if you think about it. My favorite character was placed in a bad light but it's OK because that's how it should be. The music was beautiful with the best male solo I have heard in a long time in the song "Till I Hear You Sing." I melted in my seat and cried when the Phantom sang that song. The whole storyline was very intricate but makes perfect sense when thinking about it with the first one. The only thing i would have changed would be the ending. It had a sad ending that still brings me to tears thinking about it, but that made it all the more real, more able to relate to and more endearing. I loved it. My Mom hates sad endings but liked it as well.
After seeing the show, we went back to the hotel and slept, me dreaming of the Phantom and my mom dead asleep before her head even touched the pillow. :] I'm so glad she came and I got to share my city with her. :]