Also, we are going to a play here with Keira Knightley in it.
So on Wednesday the 2nd our group set out on a country excursion. I was a little worried about leaving since I was still recovering from whatever it was that I had. However, I'm so glad that I decided to go.
A few weeks ago we had 2 old men from the stakes here in London come and talk to us about living in London and the church here. One of the men told us that he leads us BYU students on a 9 mile hike through the English countryside where we would see lots of rolling fields, sheep, horses and castle ruins. Needless to say, I was so excited for this adventure! I'm glad I decided to seize this opportunity, otherwise I would have missed out on the beauty and solace we can only find in nature.
We drove just outside of London to Kent, where we met up with the old man, George, and his 2 brothers. George is pretty awesome. He lived in London during the Blitz and will be talking to us later on what it was like when we get to WWII history. Anyway, so he knows a lot about England and London and so do his brothers. This walk/hike wasn't really bad at all. It was relatively flat, except for one extremely steep hill and I got to see so much. We walked through the middle of fields, through forests and undergrowth, on old gravel roads, in mud. You name it, I probably trudged through it. The rolling green hills were probably my favorite part, it really just reminded me of the new version of Pride and Prejudice when Elizabeth is walking through the dark and cloudy countryside to get to Netherfield Park.
I saw a brand new baby pony. It was so cute and shaggy. When I went up to the fence enclosure it galloped right over. I'm sure it loved the attention of 10 girls.
I stayed near the front most of the way and talked to George's brother, John. I think he was really surprised at how much I knew when he would ask me questions. I talked to him quite a bit just about living in England and his family. We also talked about religion. He told me about the church of england and his duties within the church. He is able to pass the wine around and he goes to church every Sunday. I really enjoyed getting to learn more about him and his experiences.
One of the castles we saw was in a small town called Eynsford. It was just ruins now, but it was neat to just walk around and explore the rocky labyrinth. Eynsford was a cute little town, very small and very quiet. I enjoyed walking through it.
Along the walk we stopped at a old Hobbs farm. This farm (I think it was called Castle farms) is also extremely famous for their lavender. In the spring the fields are blooming in that beautiful purple color and that great smell. They were selling homemade lavender ice cream. I wish I would have bought some just to say I've tried lavender ice cream. But I didn't. Instead I bought fresh pressed apple juice. Probably the best apple juice I've had.
I'm so glad I went on the walk and got to experience a little bit more of England. 9 miles definitely did not seem that long at all. In fact, I wouldn't mind living in the English country side one day and being greeted by those rolling green hills and wonderful fresh air.
After our walk we hit the town for some excellent food. We went to an Italian restaurant just down Queensway (really close to where we live). The pasta I got was pretty good. I loved the cheese on it. The gelato I got was even better! I just love gelato. I'm so excited to go to Italy in a month. Yay!
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