The View From The Shard

Since moving to this country I often find myself literally looking down on London. I've been on the London Eye, up St. Paul's Cathedral, to the top of the Eiffel Tower (which, I know is in Paris), not to mention a few plane rides. I recently went to The View from the Shard. The Shard is a new building in the London Skyline and according to the it's website, the tallest building in Western Europe. It is a whopping 1.016 ft tall. The building itself has residential apartments, commercial offices, a hotel and a spa and at the very top is the viewing platforms.

 The Shard is the building in the lower right corner. Tallest one in the picture.

 It was named "The Shard" because it was built to look like a shard of glass.

 The top of the building.

 This is what the viewing platforms look like. They occupy levels 68-72. You take two high speed elevators after going through security.

 The first five pictures I got off the Internet. The rest, I took myself. Sorry for the blur, my camera doesn't take very good night shots.

 Standing at the bottom, looking up at The Shard.

 Twinkling lights of London.

 I watched the trains traveling, just on the left side there.

 Tower Bridge.

 London's blurry lights.

 That blue circle in the distance is the London Eye.

 I get a lot of compliments on my cupcake beanie. In fact, while I was looking around that night, a handsome fellow told me he liked my hat in passing.

Susan "This must be how Superman feels" B.

And The Oscar Goes To...

Speaking of the Academy Awards, I have a still motion that is sure to win an Oscar tomorrow night. Last weekend, Jimmy and I were eating dinner when I grabbed the banana that was between us and held him at banana point. We had a good laugh about it. Don't worry, no one was hurt. Two days later, Tammy became the victim of Jimmy's criminal ways. Luckily, I watch enough Criminal Minds and CSI to know how to handle these situations. That, and I invented the banana gun.

The best part about this still motion was that it actually happened. Before the camera started clicking, this was real life. Jimmy snapped at brunch and held Tammy at banana point. Fortunately, there was a second banana on the table and I was able to control the situation. After a long bout of laughter, Jimmy, brilliantly decided that we needed to capture it on camera. So we did. Here is our recreation:

Jimmy: "GET AWAY! I'LL DO IT! JUST BACK OFF!"

Tammy: "How will the world know of my awesomeness if I've got banana in my hair?"

 Susan: "FREEZE DIRT BAG!"

Jimmy: "GET AWAY! I'LL DO IT! JUST GET AWAY FROM ME"

 Tammy: "please, help me."

Susan: "No one needs to get hurt. Let's just work this out, okay? Look, I'm gonna put my banana down. This doesn't have to end badly."

Jimmy: "SSSHHH! Just let me think, alright!"

 Susan: It's okay, I'm just gonna set my banana down. We can work this out, no one has to get hurt."

Jimmy: NO! I'M NOT GOING BACK! YOU CAN'T MAKE ME! I WONT GO BACK!"

Susan: "Let's just talk. This isn't you, Jimmy. You're better than this. Why don't you just lower the banana and we'll work this out. Put the banana down."

Jimmy: "okay, I'm sorry. I'll put my banana down."

Tammy: "WHEW, you don't know how hard it is to get banana out of my hair, not to mention if it got stuck in my giant hoop earrings."

The End

Actors in order of appearance

Jimmy S.

Tammy T.

Susan B.

Banana 1 and 2

Needless to say, this was my favorite brunch of all time.

Susan "I'd like to thank the little people" B.

London, England LDS Temple

One of my New Years resolution is to go to the temple once a month. It's a little more difficult to do whilst living in London. The London Temple isn't technically in London. It's just outside. It's a forty-five minute train ride plus a short cab ride and it cost money. Saturday, my ward had a bus going for £10. Not a bad price so I took advantage. While I was there I had time to take pictures of the temple and the temple grounds.

 This is part of the living quarters for guests, maybe the temple president.

 Holiness to the Lord, the House of the Lord.

 I was experimenting with the different settings on my camera. This is called "Retro".

 Full view of the living quarters.

 This stream is on the temple grounds.

 It's just not England with out fowl around.

Susan "I'm taking back to the old school" B.

Blast From the Past

I just finished week four of my second to last semester. I gotta say, I have NOT been very motivated this time around. I don't know if it's the cold and snow or my Senior Essay or what, but I often find myself not wanting to do any school work, not wanting to leave my room. That IS because of the cold. It has been freezing here in London. If I have learned anything about myself while living abroad, it's that I'm a California girl. I only want to be where the sun is. 

 The other day I went jogging through Hyde Park and it was so clear and pretty, I stopped and snapped some photos.

 A few days ago, I got a message from my good friend Julie Dey. It's been years since we have seen each other and she messaged me to say she was coming to London and could we meet up for dinner! I was so excited! I've always loved Julie and enjoyed her company. One of my saving graces here in London, is getting to see friends from back home. It makes me feel whole. 

The two of us and our friend Lara met at an Arabian restaurant near Piccadilly Circus. It was so fun to see them both, I'm only sorry it was for such a short amount of time. Lara has been living in London for the past 12 years and her and Julie have kept in touch, so the three of us made a night of it!

Susan "California Dreamin'" B.