Buckingham Palace

J's view


C's view


D's view





Okay, c is finally here to tell you waiting fans about the "changing of the guard" :)

anyway so we all get up at about 10am to go to the "changing of the guard" we get to buckingham palace about half an hour before it started and we had no idea where to stand because we had no idea where the procession was going to come from, so we finally decided to go somewhere in the middle, so we parked right by the middle, huge, gates and waited and waited and WAITED. FINALLY!!! we heard the band coming up with the guard right behind, it would have been really cool, but we didn't actually get to see them because they went through the gates on our right hand side, not even close to us :(

we tried to get pictures in between the gate and through the people standing in front of us but we had NO luck, we were in the wrong place...then--in the distance we heard the faint sound of another parade. could it be??? was there more to the "changing of the guard"??? why yes there was!!! we waited for them to approach, sure that they were going to enter right in front of us, and we watched as they marched...right by us into the gates on our left...well...we got a good picture of their behinds :O

we could see this part through the gates and got a few, barely visible, pictures of the guard...our dreams were crushed, we could not see the guard, we could not hear anything in the din around us and we were thinking it was a complete waste of our last morning in London :*(

HOWEVER, as we waited for everyone to disappear into the street we heard a noise, a very familiar music, it was the STAR WARS THEME SONG!!! yes yes it was...the queen's own guard band was playing the star wars theme!!! it was unbelievable we sat there humming along, the smiles beaming on our faces, it was BEAUTIFUL!!!

then...to our pleasant suprise...they played on and we listened to the INDIANA JONES THEME SONG!!! WE HAD OUR OWN POPS CONCERT, PUT ON BY THE COOLEST DRESSED BAND IN THE WORLD!!! it was amazing and one of the top experiences of this trip, i went to buckingham palace to listen to a band concert, i will never be the same :)

things we saw today

D-- oban backpackers hostel

it is after midnight and i am so tired. grandma said that she checks our blog like 5 times a day, and i would hate to disappoint. especially since the staff has gone to bed and we are using the internet for free. it seems a shame to go to bed when such an opportunity presents itself. casey is yawning over my shoulder, and the camera is upstairs, yet my fingers itch to tell you about our day.

we left skye today. rather than sightsee in the rain for our last couple hours, we browbeat will (the hostel guy) into letting us clean for a couple hours in order to get two of our beds for free tonight. the couple hours of cleaning saved us about $50, and we get a free breakfast. pretty much, i think i have to come back next summer and live in scotland. for 4hrs/day 6days/week you can get free accommadation, breakfast, internet and laundry -- plus £35/week food allowance. as long as the two words SCHOOL GRANTS enter my vocabulary next year, i may just live here.

ewan kenneth mccloud is our tour guide. crazy amounts of energy and he never stops talking... well, he took us to eileen donan castle. they call it the most romantic castle in scotland. it is beautiful and sits where three lochs meet. they do 80 weddings a year and 10 of them are scottish couples. last week was the marriage of a russian woman and an american guy. we toured the castle and learned the history of it. the family still visits the castle once a year.

there was a lot of driving today on a very full bus. unfortunately, we didn't stop as much as usual, but the stops we did make were AWESOME!!! we stopped briefly at ft. william (the locals call it the garrison) had a glass of water and a pee (not in that order TMI??) pretty near ft. w is glencoe. those of you from hillsboro, i need to point out that it was not the high school. well, ewan told us the terrible tragedy that took place at glencoe. i will write it in another blog when i am not so tired. it is a valley at the bottom of a HUGE mountain range. it was absolutley stunning. so sad to think of the massacre happening in such an idyllic place.

we stopped for the night in oban, a port town of 6,000 in the winter and 25,000 in the summer. we wish we could stay here longer, it is beautiful, and so close to more little islands. well, c and i made the most amazing dinner. maybe the food wasn't amazing, but then again maybe it was. we hadn't eaten since the dry frosted flakes in skye (the milk delivery came really late and there was no milk for our cereal. yes mom, we actually ate frosted flakes) c and i went for a walk along the coast and rested in the grass until the midges drove us away.

it was a good day, overall and i am looking forward to sleeping very soon. this hostel is amazing. a huge common area, gas stoves and roomy rooms. tonight i am homer, c is marge, and j would rather i didn't tell you the name of her bed. i think the best bit today was finding out where to get battered mars bars. TOMORROW!!!

LOVE Y'ALL

grandma:

we need your address...

HARRY POTTER!!!!!

midnight! 8 hrs earlier than home


D -- isle of skye

so, we made a list of blog topics that we would like to cover. i have a bit of time and would like to share about harry potter, a running theme on our trip. we've mentioned it all before, but i just wanna bring it all together, for the record, ya know? i am only sorry that we can't add pictures yet. maybe at the next hostel...

CAUTION:::: MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS:::::::::
so, we were IN LONDON on the opening night of harry potter: order of the phoenix. too bad we were so tired... well, we did see the movie about a week later and gave it 6 thumbs up. although, it was very strange seeing our brother on the big screen. the very first scene, we turned to each other FREAKING OUT at how much he looked like anthony. seriously spooky. well, the casting was perfect. PROFESSOR UMBRIDGE... did you LOVE HER??????? hem, hem... with her wardrobe colors and kitten plates, she was stepford wives scary. "evil, like the fru-its of the de-vil, eee-vil." the actress played her perfectly. and we LOVED how the headquarters appeared, differently than we imagined, but great. one of the things that bugged me about reading book 5 was the fact that harry was a whiney diaper baby. wah wah this and that. thankfully, he wasn't annoying in the movie. moving on...

i think we mentioned that we were in line at 11:15 pm (i will point out again that it is 8 hours ahead of home) we bought the first 2 copies from WH Smith at inverness. although j hadn't brought her cape, there was a wizard in line. and some people who told us about all sorts of websites relating to harry potter. j finished the book SO FAST. c and i spent DAYS reading. we enjoyed the highland games, but didn't do much else... WE HAD TO FINISH IT. finally at 2:30 am on monday, all 3 of us were done and could get on with our lives. unfortunately, time didn't stand still for us, but we have been much more active on skye.

lastly, we saw the hogwarts express. the steam train used in the movie, it is beautiful. originally, we wanted to take a trip on the train, but it didn't work out. it was ALMOST as good seeing the train and getting our pic taken in front of it.

well, i have just a minute until the computer boots me off and i want to post this. LOVE TO ALL, and HERE'S TO HARRY!!!!!

J: International Hostel, Isle of Skye

OH MY GOSH! IT IS SO BEAUTIFUL HERE! I wish I could post a picture, but the computer I am at right now won't hook up the camera. We went on a tour yesterday. It was all day around Skye. We saw so many wonderful sights. The mountains whose names I can't pronounce and the Lochs EVERYWHERE! We even got to go to a place called the Fairy Glen. There were fairy hills everywhere and even a castle. We made crowns for the fairies from reeds and flowers and left them on the hills and at the castle. We bathed our faces in the Fairy Lake so they would bless us. Cheesy, I know, but when you get there, it is so easy to take it all so seriously. The peace that surrounds this island is a palpable thing. It is like being on the edge of a cliff. So gorgeous and breathtaking. And so peaceful. I wish this was something that I could take home with me. Wrap up like the souveniers I have in my bag and unwrap back in Seaside. Something I can hold and keep forever. Maybe I'll come back here, maybe I won't, but I will certainly never forget this place.

We went today to see the Harry Potter train at the station in Mallaig. It was cool. The little fishing village is so cute, not nearly as small as Kyleakin, the one we are in now, but still very cute. More shops and such there than here. Here is mostly Hostels. Well, will write again soon (when it doesn't cost £.50 for every ten minutes. Later!
J

J: Student Hotel in Inverness

Hello Hello Hello
Here I am in Inverness! We are having a great time. We leave Inverness this morning for Skye. I am actually sad to leave. I could probably spend a week in each place that we go just to see as much as possible. I wish that I had unlimited funds as well, because I could probably buy something from each store in this city. There is so much to see and do. Ask the people that live here, though, and they'll tell you differently. I can't wait to get back to Edinburgh. It was so interesting there.
So, stories about Scotland. We went to the Highland games day before yesterday. It was kind of anticlimactic, but it was still good. We got to hear a lot of Scottish music. The Ceilidh (bands?) are amazing. It was great to hear.

Funny story, though. We went to a vendor who was selling sweaters. So cool. One souvenir that I wanted from this trip was a sweater from one of the countries we were going to. I found one here in my size, which was exciting. But it was expensive! We tried to tell the guy that we couldn't afford it, but he just kept lowering the price, until he got down to £20. We finally gave in and bought the sweater. It was neat, but I felt so guilty for spending that much money on a sweater. I pretty much spent all day feeling guilty. I was finally convinced to actually wear the sweater when it got cold. But when I went to zip it up, I realized the zipper was broken. I was really frustrated. I felt like I couldn't bring it back because I had gotten such a good deal on it, but it did me no good if I couldn't wear it. I finally went to take it back.
The vendor told me he didn't have another sweater, could I come back the next day? I told him that I wasn't going to the games the next day, but was finally convinced to just stop in and exchange the sweater. I went back just after church yesterday. Surprise Surprise, he still didn't have another sweater. He told me he had ordered one, though, and it would be here next week. I explained the obvious, I am just a tourist, I won't be here next week. Well, said he, I could have something else. I didn't want anything else, the only reason I bought this was because it was my size and it was exactly what I wanted. Could I just get my money back? No, he had already deposited all his money in the bank, and had none for an exchange. I left with the broken sweater. I was not very happy. As I headed for the gate, the kid that worked for him chased me down and handed me £20. I gave him the bag with the sweater in it and that was that. Grr... I really liked that sweater. I have been afraid to buy a souvenir ever since.

Other than that, though, it was a happy day. After church, a lady in the ward whose name I still don't know invited us over for dinner. We had yorkshire pudding... YUM! We sat around afterwards listening to stories from the missionaries. It was great! Well, it's about time to get going to Skye... C is going to write later about our last day in London.

PS I got Harry Potter at midnight here! about 8 hours before everyone I know. I finished it about 9 am the day it came out! YAY! I am still not allowed to talk about it, though. D is still reading.

in scotland

D -- inverness, scotland

i hardly know where to begin. scotland is enchanting! after a VERY uncomfortable all night bus ride, a mile walk in the rain to find that the hostel was on the OTHER side of the castle, and a broken flip-flop -- we took yesterday easy. thankfully, the hostel let us relax there and take showers. we only left to find yummy sandwiches and a bit of fresh air. we will be in edinburgh for a couple days next week, so it was so nice to relax. there is a HUGE-UNGOUS FANTABULOUS castle in the middle of town. our hostel last night was right there. gorgeous! we also got to call home for the first time in a while, it was good to talk to mom and dad. anyway, we are in inverness. WOW! to hear the history and see the beauty of the area. we are off to the highland games tomorrow!!!!! i am so stoked!!! well. jaeda needs some time online, so i will go. sorry, nothing too interesting. soon, we will add pics and tell you about harry potter! SWEET!