July 17/18
We left for an overnight flight out of Nashville to London! We had a pretty good flight, I got to watch Mamma Mia for the first time on the plane and got in a couple of hours of sleep. Once we landed, I talked with a flight attendant about our trip and they were both curious about Bowling Green and what it’s like.
The hotel is a great spot and we walked to a cute little pub for our night as a group. I’m beyond excited about this experience.
July 19
Ummm, today was the hottest day in London’s history and I was here to experience it. Jeez Louise it was a scorcher but it was a great experience. We saw the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace and then we went to Westminster Abbey. After that, we got our first fish and chips and they were pretty much just french fries and fish sticks but it was pretty good.
We ended the night by going to this really cool place called Ballie Ballerson, after eating dinner at Wasabi it was super cool. It’s a club with giant adult ball pits. I was skeptical at first but I really loved it. The drinks were Bogo so we all had a great night.
Got McDonald’s on the way back and gossiped with Madison all night.
I am loving London!!
July 20
It cooled off a bit today so that’s really nice
The group went to the British Museum and that was pretty cool I got to see a lot of really really neat stuff. I saw THE Rosetta Stone. I also saw a lot of beautiful art as well as Cleopatra’s mummy. Seeing her there made me a bit sad knowing that she was laid out on display like that…
We split in half as a group and we bust to lunch. We ate at Franco mock, a little pizza place that was directly in front of St. Paul’s Cathedral. It was incredibly beautiful.
Then we went to the museum of London. This museum is interactive and honestly a lot of fun. We have such a solid group that we are traveling with. This is amazing!
Afterward, we hit up Starbucks and I finally got to try to cool lime refresher. Pretty good. And then we went to see this bridge it was in the Harry Potter movie. I don’t really watch Harry Potter, but it was still pretty cool looking over the Thames River.
For dinner, we had Indian food. I finally found my first Dr. Pepper in London. I got the butter chicken and it was really good. But I honestly don’t think it has anything on Indian Oven in Bowling Green lol. We walked around all the pretty shops and then made our way home. Found a lot of pretty cool art and typography.
I’m having trouble sleeping at night from all the excitement I have. This is so fun!
July 21
Today was kind of crazy…
Our group has had trouble finding a consistent place to have our classes but we finally settled in at a Starbucks.
Feeling a little overwhelmed with classes and the museum site going but I know it’s all gonna work out. We tried to make it to the London Eye tonight but it was sold out. So we decided to do a boat tour instead. It was a really interesting history lesson on the Thames River. I loved it!
We got off the boat and walked over to an area that we saw had a really cute restaurant. It was a really neat amphitheater that was playing live music so we have burgers and watch the show.
July 22
We started our day at the National Gallery, this museum was really neat. I saw some of my favorite paintings from art history class with Guy Jordan. We had Pret a Manger for lunch and it was pretty yummy.
We had our class meetings and I got some work done.
Kara and Natalie surprise me for my birthday!!! It was really sweet! They got a cake with candles and told the class we were going on a walking architecture tour of pubs. When we walked into the first pub Kara was waiting with the cake and everyone sang happy birthday.
It was very kind and meant a lot I am so grateful to be traveling with the group that I am here with!❤️
July 23
Today a small group of us travel to Canterbury. On the train, we met a nice family from Belgium who gave us tips about what to do during our travels. When we told them that we were American they acted very shocked and said that they thought that we were local because of how kind and thoughtful we had been on the train. We talked the rest of the ride about traveling and the social norms of different countries they had been to.
Then we got lunch at an adorable brunch spot in the downtown area and walked over the water. We all walked to go find the Canterbury Castle. It was quite small but still an interesting sight. Then we walked back to the water and took a gondola ride through a small stream that ran through the city. The water was very clear and we saw so many baby ducks. After that, we went to the Canterbury Cathedral and walked around. The architecture and Stainglass windows inside were breathtaking. All of the history it was inside the building was crazy to see. I want to research the Church of England a bit more to try and figure out the reasoning for some of the rooms inside.
The train back was delayed because there were people on the tracks of the head. I took a nice nap before we ended up back in London again and then I went up to the room to work a little bit more on some homework. After that, all of the students went out to celebrate my birthday!
July 24
Today was my actual 21st birthday and I am so incredibly lucky to get to spend it here in London studying something I love so so much!
A few friends and I decided that we wanted to get brunch so we went to this place in Putney called Coppa Club. Outside it has little igloos that you could reserve on the water. We had a fabulous meal and talked to the waiter about where she’s from and had a grand time. After that, we hit up the Tk Maxx. Then we went to Peggy Porschen for lunch and got coffee and desserts. There I crossed Eton Mess of my scavenger hunt and it was delicious. This was such a sweet birthday. I’m feeling a little overwhelmed by all of the kindness and great things that are going on right now. I am so grateful to be able to study abroad.
Here’s to 21!!
Kommentare