What a Wild Whirlwind Week!

This week has been jam-packed and crazy, but I'm starting to get the feeling that's just the way things are around here. It started off with a bang with my birthday, and just kept going from there. On Wednesday, we went to see the Tower of London, which is not really just one tower like I always thought it was. It is filled with the crown jewels(which include a very large punch bowl), various torture implements (not so pretty) and a lot of towers where people were imprisoned. Oddly enough, it also used to hold a zoo. We also went for a very enoyable walk of the south bank of the Thames. On Friday, we went to Kew Gardens, which is the Royal Botanic Garden. I thought it would be boring, but it is completely beautiful and has plants from around the world. It also had a bunch of glass work by Chihuly, who was obviously inspired by his hair, so there were this huge masses of glass curls. Very neat.

I have also met a new obsession: playing Jack the Ripper. It's a lot like Fugitive, but in London with tricky clues. You have five groups, trying to find things and take pictures of them, and one group trying to kidnap group members on the way. We were the kidnappers (Rippers) and it was a blast. The clues were tricky (Tyburn Street Gallows, Burghers of Calais, Cleopatra's Needle, and Baker Street Station), and I actually met a Lord! From the House of the Lords! He gave us directions and talked to us! It was super-super-super-cool! I felt like I was on the Amazing Race, which is always a plus in my book.

Yesterday, I went to a stake YSA activity, which was an international dinner, which was even cooler because everyone there was actually international. There was also dancing and karaoke, which is always fun to watch. That group was so great and so fun, which is more than I could say for my summer ward.

I leave for France in about 24 hours, so I won't be posting for a while. Until then, have a great week!