Wimbledon

Today I woke up at 3:00 am to go to Wimbledon! I actually sent Kelly a text as soon as I woke up because she was still awake at home considering it was only 10:00 pm… Around 4:30 our bus left for Wimbledon so we could go stand in line to get cheaper tickets. We stood in line for FIVE HOURS. Now, mind you, this wouldn't have been so bad if we weren't in England. And by this I mean the weather here is absolutely horrible! People warn you about English weather and you sort of wave it off thinking 'oh I'll be fine! I'll bring a sweater.' NO. It is cold and miserable. Especially when you have to sit in it for five hours in the wee hours of the morning and the only coffee available tastes like dirty water. Not that i'm complaining or anything. 

You can just see the happiness radiating off of me here

When we got inside it was actually really cool. It was fun to be inside the stadium and to have been able to say I've been to Wimbledon! I got a few little souvenirs, ate some food, and was feeling pretty good until the games were delayed due to the fact that it wouldn't stop raining. By this time I was sleepy, cold, and wanted to just give up and go home. Thankfully though, I stuck it out and the games ended up starting about 1:00 pm. I didn't have tickets to any big courts, so I walked around the General Admission courts and enjoyed watching some of the couples matches. I didn't know who any of these people were but it was still fun.

people watching live TV broadcast of games

In the end I'm glad I went to Wimbledon. Was I happy the entirety of the time? No, but I would have been if the weather were nice and I know I'm really lucky to have been able to go at all. I am now resting up a little and packing my bag to go to Stonehenge, Salisbury, & Bath for the weekend.

 Busy, busy, busy.

xoxo

Parliament & Greenwich

On Saturday our group was given the opportunity to tour through the Parliament buildings in London and it was cool to learn about their government systems and the quirky traditions they still have from hundreds of years ago. The parliament building is actually an old palace so the inside is intricately decorated with portraits, red carpets, and gold detailing on every surface. We weren't allowed to take pictures of the inside which really was a shame because it was so cool. After the tour I headed off to Waterstone's bookstore. This is the chain bookstore in London and I wanted to check out their big store in Piccadilly Circus that is currently the largest bookstore in Europe! I picked up a few books and had a great time just relaxing for the rest of the day and reading!

This morning, Sunday, my group and I all woke up early to get on a ferry to go to Greenwich. Unfortunately, the weather as of late in London has been so horrible. It has been windy, cloudy, rainy, and under 60 degrees for the majority of the past week. So when we arrived at Greenwich everyone was just cold and tired from the past few weeks and wished we could go curl up and watch movies. Despite this, we had a good time in Greenwich. It is a beautiful area of London located on the river with cute stores and restaurants, a park, an observatory, and one of the Queen's homes. 

when I found out it was raining :( 

View from the top of the hill in Greenwich! 

After eating, my friends and I hiked up a hill in Greenwich and decided to take a nap. Yep, that is how tired we were today. After getting back to the residence hall later on I finally did some laundry (I had no clothes left) and spent the remainder of my evening just hanging out. I think I have learned from this that although I am in London and have this amazing opportunity, I do not need to be doing something every single minute of every day because it is all catching up to me.

So that's it for now! I'm going to sleep now. I'm hoping to have a more relaxed week because this coming weekend is going to be super busy! 

xxxxooo

Day 11: Oxford University

Today has definitely been exciting because some friends and I decided to take the trip to Oxford University! Unfortunately today started out a little rough because while I was on the tube on the way to the bus station, my water bottle spilled inside of my purse. My brand new camera and iPad were the victims of this little accident. They are both dead. Gone. R.I.P. my little friends. Now I would like to be able to tell you that I handled this like a mature adult but this is not the case. 

Soon afterwards I got on to the bus towards Oxford and it was a really nice 1.5 hour ride outside of London. Looking out the window there were fields and lots of green trees and it reminded me of home. I found myself noticeably letting go of some of the stress that I hadn't realized I was holding from being in such a large and busy city like London. Now that I think about it, the fact that I'm in a different country doesn't make me as anxious as the fact that I'm in a large metropolitan city very different from Fort Wayne.

Oxford is absolutely amazing. I love, love, love it there. The buildings are beautiful, there are amazing stores everywhere, and it just felt good to be back on a college campus again! We ate at a Pub soon after arriving and I had a cheeseburger. I guess you could say I was missing some good ol' American food. Afterwards we just wandered around, listened to a band play in the center of the campus, and then toured the Christ Church in Oxford. This is where the inspiration for the Harry Potter great hall is located and also where they filmed some scenes from the movies!

We then wandered around, took silly pictures, and found a big park to just hang around in and relax. We all decided that we were moving to Oxford and never leaving again because it was so perfect. I was so relaxed when I was there in a way that I don't think I could ever be in London only because I felt safe and comfortable by my surroundings. As my friend Monica said, "I love it so much here I think I could cry." After doing a little bit of shopping (I needed an Oxford Sweatshirt!) We hopped back on the bus to London around 5 pm!

All in all, I'd say it was a pretty good day. Going to Oxford is probably my favorite thing I've done here so far! There are a lot of exciting things to come, too! Tomorrow I'm going on a Tour of the Parliament buildings and Sunday we're going on a boat ride down the Thames River to Greenwich!

xoxoxo

10 days in the UK

Day 10 has arrived! I can't believe I've been here for that long. This trip has already flown by! This past week I've been pretty busy. I've had class every day and still managed to fit in little excursions before and afterwards.

On Monday I went to visit the Museum of London and then went out with friends to a local pub. Tuesday after class I did some shopping on Oxford Street. I LOVE Primark! Slightly obsessed. Later that afternoon I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to attend an Evensong service at Westminster Abbey. To say it is beautifully decorated on the inside would be an understatement. It was cool to be in the same place where Royals weddings have taken place since the 1500s. Unfortunately nobody was allowed to take pictures of the inside. I tried to sneak a few but they were really bad quality.

Westminster Abbey

Today after class I met up with some friends and we stopped at a pub for lunch called 'Ye Olde Cock Tavern.' The Pub names are so funny… there is one really close to my residence hall called Dirty Dicks. Because I wasn't particularly hungry I split a desert of Chocolate fudge cake and clotted vanilla ice cream with my friend Jenny! It was so delicious I think it was gone in two minutes.

Afterwards we headed toward Hyde Park and explored while making our way to the Natural History Museum. The Museum was really interesting and we had a good time wandering around looking at all the exhibits.

Hyde Park!

Natural History Museum outside & inside


After the long tube ride home we're all taking a break before meeting up soon to discuss plans to visit Oxford University tomorrow! Can't wait!

xoxox 

Day 6 Eton & Windsor

Today I boarded yet another bus to Eton and Windsor which is about an hour away from the city center. Windsor is a really beautiful quaint town with the ENORMOUS Windsor Castle in the middle. Eton College is connected to Windsor and it is a cute little area where the famous boy's school is located that housed all the Prince's as well as most of the Prime Minister's from England and their government.

Building in Eton that was built during time of Henry VIII

Next we went to Windsor Castle which is impressively the largest and oldest castle still being lived in at about 1000 years old and having over 1,000 rooms (I had a great tour guide). The Queen was actually there when we arrived so most areas were blocked off from visitors but there was still plenty to see.

After the tour I decided that it was time I had some real English food and my group stopped in a really cool pub called The Duchess of Cambridge and I had my first Fish & Chips! I actually ate the fish which is a first and I was surprised to find that I actually enjoyed it :) 

At the end of the day we came back and did some quick grocery shopping before retiring for the day. They don't have preservatives in their food here so it goes bad SUPER quickly! Found that out the hard way. I was exhausted again and managed to fall asleep right when I got back. I think it's hilarious how these days are totally wearing me out I must be such a wimp.

I've got class for the next four days and am looking forward to just relaxing a little and exploring on my own time!

xxxooo

Day 5: Queen's Parade & Globe Theatre

View walking to the parade

I woke up early this morning to go to the Queen's Parade being held for her 87th birthday. Her actual birthday is sometime in April but it's too cold then so she prefers to celebrate in June. It was a really fun experience and I got to see and take pictures of Prince Harry, Princess Kate, and the Queen. Prince William was riding a horse and I couldn't tell which one was him! Unfortunately, the Queen was in a covered buggy because it was a little bit chilly this morning but I still got to see her wave.

Harry & Kate

The Queen

Afterwards we went to Shakespeare's Globe theatre to see A Midsummer Night's Dream. The theatre is located along the South bank and it is soooo beautiful with cobblestone streets and stone pubs everywhere. The play itself was amazing. I've never read or seen it before and I was surprised at how funny it was! Unfortunately it was pouring down rain and SO cold. Because it's the Globe, we were standing the whole time under an open sky and weren't allowed umbrellas. So I bought a lovely poncho for two pounds and stood there miserably the whole time.

Afterwards I was cold, hungry, and tired so I went back to the residence Hall where I then proceeded to put on my pajamas and fall asleep for two hours.. it was only 7 pm. 

I'm craazzyyy let me tell you.

Tomorrow we're taking a bus out to Windsor Castle! Super Excited.

xoxoxo

The first few days..

I have been in London for 5 days now and I officially LOVE it! The city is so beautiful and diverse, the people are so stylish and friendly, and i've done a lot of really cool things.

On Monday (June 10th) I arrived at Heathrow around 10:40 am. Thankfully, I had met two girls that were in my program at the airport in Detroit and we got off the plane together and helped each other find the residence hall. Because of cost, we decided to take the tube to the dorms and it was definitely an adventure lugging our bags everywhere. The residence hall is new and really nice. It's called Nido Spitalfields and it is in the neighborhood called 'City of London.' The area is really nice with pubs, shops, and train stations really close by. My roommates name is Sarah and she goes to IUPUI and we get along really well. On the first day we went out a tour of the area and then I think I collapsed from exhaustion at 9pm.

On Tuesday we all took a double decker bus to the IES center where the classes are held. The building is an 18th Century georgian home that has fireplaces and chandeliers in every classroom. Only 2 blocks away from the center is the British Museum which is ENORMOUS and probably the coolest museum I have ever been to. It is home to the Rosetta stone, many old Roman and ancient Egyptian artifacts, and really cool mummies. I attended some seminars about safety, academics, and London in general and then ate my first bit of British food. I had a cold egg and mayonnaise sandwich which is actually better than it sounds.

That evening we went to a pub called the Square Pig where all of the students in the program (30 girls and 8 guys) got to know each other and have free food and drinks. All of the people here are super nice and i've gotten along really well with everyone. I already have a little group of friends that I do all the activities with! We went to a different pub later Tuesday night and I had my first Pint!

Wednesday was the first day of class. My Monday/Wednesday class is Architecture of London. The instructor is incredibly nice and we learned about the construction of London and the London fire. Our classes from now on are going to be taking place all over London learning about all of the architecture first hand by seeing it! As a class we walked to Covent Garden, an area of London filled with a lot of stores, markets, restaurants, and street performers. After the lesson some friends and I decided to stay in Covent Garden and explore the area. We ended up going to eat at an italian restaurant and walking around for hours and getting lost.

On Thursday I had a class called British Youth Culture. I think I am really going to enjoy this class. It is taught by a man who is an author, a commentator for BBC documentaries, and has his own radio show! We learned about the Beatles effect on youth culture, the differences between the US and UK, and listened to music. After the class I met up with two of my friends and we went to Harrods department store for High Tea! It was so fun and a really great experience. Harrods is enormous and absolutely beautiful. We all got to choose a tea, and were served scones, mini sandwiches, and an array of desserts.

Afterwards, we explored the neighborhood of Kensington which is really upscale and beautiful! We went to Kensington Gardens and walked around the park even though it was a little chilly outside.  I have been taking the underground Tube everywhere for transport and I am really impressed with it. The stations are clean and filled with food and shops. Unfortunately, you have to pay to use the bathrooms here. I found this out the hard way as I was sprinting to get to the restroom in the tube station and was stopped at a gate that made me pay 30 pence. I almost peed my pants as I struggled with my change purse to figure out which coins amounted to what.

Today, Friday, I woke up early and we went on a guided double decker bus tour around the popular tourist spots of London. The guide was a really funny and nice lady and we went to places like the Tower Bridge, St. Paul's Cathedral, Westminster, and watched the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace! We didn't have a lot of time to spend at each place, but it gave me a good idea of where things were so I could come back at a later time and explore some more. After the tour we went to Oxford Street which is extremely busy and reminds me of Michigan Avenue in Chicago. I did some shopping at Primark and walked around a few bookstores before making my way back to the residence hall with my friends where I am currently writing this!

I know this was a bit of a long post but because I have been slacking there was a lot to cover :) I will try to keep it updated more regularly from now on. 

Tomorrow I am waking up early and going to the Queen's birthday parade and then to the Globe Theatre to see Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream!

xoxoxo