London
2006-11-28
London
London was a mix of home and a good Jane Austen book. I went to London with my dad and little sister the summer of my junior year of high school. Then we had toured and seen the Phantom of the Opera on my birthday. I loved it so much then that I had been anticipating this trip for a long time. It was a trip that Zena and I made on our own so that I could visit Alana at the London in Notre Dame program and Omar (Zena’s friend also studying abroad in London.)
We took our final Ryanair flights! I am going to miss flights that are so ghetto (aka cheap) that everyone claps for joy when we land safely. We stayed at a hostel called the Generator. It was wonderful to be surrounded by English, especially with beautiful accents. The first time we walked on the street to our hostel Zena gasped at the gorgous accent a random guy had as he passed us. Even though we were half asleep, we knew it was going to be an awesome trip.
We were half asleep because we had to catch the last train to Pisa at 12:30 and leave on a flight at 6:30. We attempted to sleep at the sketch train station and dozed a little on the plane and hour bus to London from the airport. We were exhausted our first day in London. Omar, Zena’s friend, met us at King’s Cross station near our hostel. It is where Harry Potter caught his platform.
Omar had not done a lot of the touristy things in London. He went along with us to see the Tower of London and London Bridge, Big Ben and the parliament buildings, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace , London Eye and more. Everything was just as I remembered and it was perfectly misty as it usually is in London.
That night we saw Omar’s apartment in the ritzy Chelsey and compared experiences.
Studying abroad in London is much like studying in New York or somewhere else in America. The culture reminds me of the South with their courteous culture. It only has, of course, more of a history and easier access to Europe. It is a complete 180 experience from Florence. Alana had visited me some weeks before during one of her week breaks and she said she was very happy to come home to London. She would like to study for another semester in London, but apparently Notre Dame does not allow this.
Zena and I went by ourselves to (shop) see the British Museum (that Zena loved) and stand in line for a long time in Picadilly Circuis to get half-price tickets for the theatre. I was dying to see Wicked (the original Elphaba was there) or Guys and Dolls (Patrick Swayze was in it,) but we ended up getting tickets for Avenue Q. Alana came with us as well. It is a play with puppets a lot like in Seasame Street, but it is very controversial and with due reasoning. The puppets joke about being gay, racism and the puppets have sex at one point. It was hilarious, but interesting is a better word for it.
Alana showed us her darling apartment the next morning and then went with us to the Tate Modern
museum. We barely caught the bus back to the airport and left London in a whirlwind. It went by much too fast and I cannot believe it was my last trip by air.
I am going to suffocate when I do not travel every weekend when I return. I already miss it. I will miss experiencing a new culture every weekend. Stifling.
This next weekend I will be going with Amber to Switzerland. We both have 2 days left on our Eurail Flexipasses. Hopefully we will be able to come back in time to see the Cinderella ballet here in Florence. All I have to dwell on now is savoring this last trip, Florence and somehow getting through my essays and finals while doing it.
London
London was a mix of home and a good Jane Austen book. I went to London with my dad and little sister the summer of my junior year of high school. Then we had toured and seen the Phantom of the Opera on my birthday. I loved it so much then that I had been anticipating this trip for a long time. It was a trip that Zena and I made on our own so that I could visit Alana at the London in Notre Dame program and Omar (Zena’s friend also studying abroad in London.)
We took our final Ryanair flights! I am going to miss flights that are so ghetto (aka cheap) that everyone claps for joy when we land safely. We stayed at a hostel called the Generator. It was wonderful to be surrounded by English, especially with beautiful accents. The first time we walked on the street to our hostel Zena gasped at the gorgous accent a random guy had as he passed us. Even though we were half asleep, we knew it was going to be an awesome trip.
We were half asleep because we had to catch the last train to Pisa at 12:30 and leave on a flight at 6:30. We attempted to sleep at the sketch train station and dozed a little on the plane and hour bus to London from the airport. We were exhausted our first day in London. Omar, Zena’s friend, met us at King’s Cross station near our hostel. It is where Harry Potter caught his platform.
Omar had not done a lot of the touristy things in London. He went along with us to see the Tower of London and London Bridge, Big Ben and the parliament buildings, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace , London Eye and more. Everything was just as I remembered and it was perfectly misty as it usually is in London.
That night we saw Omar’s apartment in the ritzy Chelsey and compared experiences.
Studying abroad in London is much like studying in New York or somewhere else in America. The culture reminds me of the South with their courteous culture. It only has, of course, more of a history and easier access to Europe. It is a complete 180 experience from Florence. Alana had visited me some weeks before during one of her week breaks and she said she was very happy to come home to London. She would like to study for another semester in London, but apparently Notre Dame does not allow this.
Zena and I went by ourselves to (shop) see the British Museum (that Zena loved) and stand in line for a long time in Picadilly Circuis to get half-price tickets for the theatre. I was dying to see Wicked (the original Elphaba was there) or Guys and Dolls (Patrick Swayze was in it,) but we ended up getting tickets for Avenue Q. Alana came with us as well. It is a play with puppets a lot like in Seasame Street, but it is very controversial and with due reasoning. The puppets joke about being gay, racism and the puppets have sex at one point. It was hilarious, but interesting is a better word for it.
Alana showed us her darling apartment the next morning and then went with us to the Tate Modern
museum. We barely caught the bus back to the airport and left London in a whirlwind. It went by much too fast and I cannot believe it was my last trip by air.
I am going to suffocate when I do not travel every weekend when I return. I already miss it. I will miss experiencing a new culture every weekend. Stifling.
This next weekend I will be going with Amber to Switzerland. We both have 2 days left on our Eurail Flexipasses. Hopefully we will be able to come back in time to see the Cinderella ballet here in Florence. All I have to dwell on now is savoring this last trip, Florence and somehow getting through my essays and finals while doing it.
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