takin' it easy

So the last few days have been pretty relaxing. We've been in London for 2 days and haven't made it farther than Hyde Park and Buckingham palace. It's been nice to relax a bit though as we have found how tiring it can be to sight see 24/7.

The last full day we had a really fun time at the Prague zoo and walking around in our favorite park.

To be honest the parks in Prague were some of our favorite things. The zoo might seem silly to some people but Prague has the number 7 zoo in the world (we didn't know this before we went, but all the same we went) it was really cool and very well put together we were pretty bummed when we didn't even get to see half before it closed. On the way to the zoo we also came across a really sweet French built chateau where we did some Count of Monte Cristo impressions. Our last night in Prague we watched the sunset over the city from the top of Letna Park and then walked around Prague castle in the evening which was sweet! because it was just like in mission impossible!

The last day in Prague we had a lot of fun going up Petrin hill in a funicular (tram used for climbing steep grades) we ate hot dogs at the top and then walked down the hill enjoying some great views.

Everything went much better with the airport this time we arrived with plenty of time and we've figured out this budget airline deal so we were able to be the last people in line to board but the first to get on the plane (we always take a bus from the gate to the plane). It was the best flight we've had so far, meaning that no one clapped when we landed. The bus from the airport to our hostel in London was much more expensive than we had planned on and thus began a bit of financial worry for us in London however we have found ways to circumvent the pricyness of London.

Our hostel is a bit different this time around there are 300+ beds which is much bigger than we are used to and the room we are staying in has double beds which means that we get to share a bed for the first time in 10 days, Brittany was very happy about this. The bummer is that there isn't a kitchen so we aren't able to eat as we would have liked but there are other ways to eat cheaply.

Saturday we spent the day doing laundry and then getting our bearings around where

we live. We opted to not go downtown because it was a saturday and we figured it would be fairly crowded so we went to regent park which was crowded but it was really fun to watch everyone play football and cricket. We watched a couple cricket matches but couldn't figure it out so we moved on. In regent park there is a small lake that you can rent boats on and though we didn't rent one we watched about 7 teenage boys all crowd onto one paddle boat which almost sank

the weight. Then we watched the lake patrol guy come and kick them off and take there boat away. It was really funny. That night we went

out to eat at a really tastey indian restraunt. We had some good curry and lamb kebabs. After a short walk and a bit of shopping for food for Sunday we headed to bed.

We woke up early on sunday to get to church by nine. It was our first experience on the tube which is undergoing extensive renovations but it a very nice and large system. I really love subways, I think I could ride them all day. Church was interesting, I was disappointed with how many of the members were from the states. I also couldn't believe how many visitors there were. One of the members said that it was about 60/40 visitors to members. About 40 of them were BYU girls here for the London study abroad program. It was really good to go to church as the travel atmosphere isn't always the most conservative. After church we walked to hyde park and ate lunch after which we walked to the Baden Powell house (he is the founder of scouting) and then walked back to hyde park and took a nap.

we walked to Speaker's corner which is the only place in london where you can assemble without a permit. It was a massive congestion of people throwing out all sorts of political and religious ideas without a care for how anyone else felt. I don't know what I expected but it was a lot more abrasive than I pictured. We finished the afternoon off by seeing Buckingham palace

and cheering on some of the contestants in the London marathon. Overall it was a pretty good day, I have really come to appreciate church on this trip as well as the sabbath day as we haven't been able to observe it the way we would like the past two weeks.

The next two days we will be pushing hard to see everything that we can get in. After that we are off to florida to soak up the sun for a few days with Brittany's mom before we fly to St. Louis. Wish us luck!