Tomorrow the unthinkable is actually happening. We are leaving London and our study abroad experience is over. You would not believe the amount of crying that has been occurring in this flat at the thought of leaving. London has become our home now and I never want to leave. It is absolutely my favorite city in the world. In my opinion London is the most global and culturally diverse city in the world. There is so much to do and the city always looks beautiful. I am in love with with London. My tear ducts don't work very often but they might as I pack up my stuff and board my plane back to America. I'm going to miss you Primark. I'm going to miss you Brick Lane and Spitalfield Market. I'm going miss you Tower Bridge. I'm going to miss walking along Waterloo Bridge every day and getting one of the best views of the city. I'm going to miss British accents and British politeness. I'm going to miss their obsession with tea. I'm going to miss getting lost then just finding the London Eye in the horizon and know that's home. I'm going to miss how easy it is to travel around Europe. I'm going to miss living in the most central location possible on the South Bank of the River Thames. Most of all I'm going to miss my crazy group of study abroad friends and the adventures we had. This semester I had the time of my life and I'm so happy that I did this program. I loved every single second of it. I know it sounds corny but studying abroad truly has changed me for the better. I have become a little less reserved and more open minded. I have grown to love people who I never would have been friends with before. It helped me discover who I want to be and got me out of my comfort zone. It has made me love life and live life more. I wish this experience could last forever but I guess goodbyes are inevitable. I'm not going to say bye to this city though because I will find myself back here someday, it is my home after all.
Rome was amazingly beautiful and I was having Lizzie McGuire Moments all weekend! I'm going to try to keep this post short because I think the pictures can speak for themselves. For anyone thinking of going to Rome, Tivoli is an absolute must. They are hands down probably the most beautiful gardens I have ever seen. The Colosseum was cool in a historical sense but it was pouring rain when we went so we were a little miserable. The Vatican was interesting and we got to see the ever so famous painting in the Sistine Chapel done by Michelangelo. My favorite part about Rome was probably getting gelato by the Trevi fountain. For anyone who knows me you probably know the love I have for gelato. Combined with my love of the Trevi Fountain it was an awesome time. I also loved all the food on food on food. It was all yummy in my tummy except when we had a $10 cup of hot chocolate that was straight up a melted chocolate bar. Pretty sure we weren't supposed to drink that but use to dip cannolis and stuff in. Oops. I'm going miss that city so much. It was a very bittersweet experience because it was our last trip of our study abroad experience so I felt extra sad to be leaving. Before any of you ask, no I did not find a less douchey version of Paolo although that would have been nice. We just walked around singing "This is What Dreams Are Made Of" without him lol. I could probably stay in Rome for at least a week and still be amazed by its timeless beauty. Rome really is the Eternal City, full of old time charm and forever beautiful.
For all you losers who haven't seen the Lizzie McGuire movie http://youtu.be/eIm8g4IA_1Y
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WB Harry Potter Studios
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Now because this is the internet I'm going to have to edit quite a bit of the details of what happened in Amsterdam but let's just say it was a very crazy and fun weekend. After hearing a lot about Amsterdam I was kind of nervous about our trip but for our group it actually went pretty well. The only real down point was when my friend broke her face but we'll get to that later. Starting from the beginning our bus was super late because the entire highway was shutdown so for some time we thought that our friends who were flying out the following night were actually going to beat us to Amsterdam. Finally when the bus did come we almost missed it because apparently in Europe you need to check in and get a boarding pass type thing to get on a MegaBus which we didn't know. Our bus stopped in Brussels so I got to see a brief glimpse of the city which was very beautiful. The weird part was that we never had to go through any type of border check in Belgium or the Netherlands so I guess they don't care that much about comes into their country haha. The first day in Amsterdam we went to a carnival and rode a super tall swing ride that had a gorgeous view of the city. It started to rain when I was up there so it felt like I was taking a shower which was no bueno. Things started to get interesting later that night when we went to a Red Light District pub crawl. The Red Light District was interesting because I did not expect to see those women so blatantly displayed in windows. Also some of those women were very old which was kinda disturbing. Anyway the pub crawl was going well till one of my friends almost got taken. She didn't come to the next pub so we had to sprint around the Red Light District looking for her. Then my other friend fell down the stairs face first and broke her nose, twisted her ankle, and got a concussion. Luckily the Business students who has just landed in the city managed to find us and help us get home. She was a trooper though and the next day we went to a walking tour of the city and a night canal cruise. Two fun facts I learned while on the tour was that contrary to popular belief, weed is actually not legal they just don't care to arrest people and that prostitution is legal so that the government can tax it. On Saturday we went on a tour of the Dutch countryside and saw a clog factory, cheese factory, and windmills. Later that night we went to the Anne Frank museum which was very sad but it was an amazing experience to see the place she hid and to see her dairy. Minus the almost getting taken and face-breaking incident the trip was great and I would definitely recommend going there, especially if you're in your a student or in your 20s. If I could describe the Netherlands in one word the word I would choose is adorable. The windmills, canals, the clogs - everything was just so picturesque and cute. As the Dutch would say dag dag! |
| dinner by the Seine |
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| Versailles |
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| Bus on the ferry |
My weekend in Paris was a blur of metro rides, sketchy hostels, and McDonalds. This was the most unplanned and crazy trip I had ever been on. We took a 9 hour overnight bus and once we landed in Paris we realized that no one looked up the directions to get to the hostel. Then we couldn't figure out how to buy a train ticket because none of us had euros and the machine wasn't accepting our cards. Also we couldn't understand French which was a little problematic. Then we finally got on the metro and realized that we had a million stops to get to our hostel and we were going to miss our check-in time so for a brief period we thought we were going to be hobos for the weekend. When we finally got to our hostel we realized it was in the sketchiest area possible. Also, pretty sure a few of us got but by fleas from sleeping in those hostel beds. Urgh. Then we spent 3 hours looking for the Tour de Eiffel which you would think isn't hard to find in Paris but apparently it is. On the way we stopped at Montmartre which was beautiful but the highlight of the day was finally seeing the Eiffel Tower. We spent the rest of the day relaxing and eating crème glacée in the lawn by the Eiffel Tower. Seeing it light up at night was truly a magical experience. We had dinner on the steps of the Seine with the Eiffel tower in the background which was amazing. The next day we went to Chateau de Versailles which was literally the most beautiful building I have ever seen and probably will ever see. I could kind of understand why the French wanted to cut off Marie Antoinette's head. Judging from the looks of that palace she was definitely living the life while her people were starving. Sunday we went on a tour and saw the famous lock bridge, the outside of the Louvre, Notre Dame, Champ Elysees, and the Arc De Triomphe. Sunday night we headed on the bus to go back home to London. Around 2 AM the bus got on a boat. We were on a bus...in a boat. It was literally the weirdest experience ever. Not sure why but the bus took a ferry instead of the chunnel and the whole thing felt like a hallucination because I was so tired. The boat reminded me of the library during finals week with people sleeping everywhere and walking around like zombies. I have also eaten at McDonald's more this past weekend than I have in the past few years. Also, water was more expensive than alcohol which was super weird. The trip to Paris was...interesting but there is no place like home and I am glad to be back in London.  |
| CCTV sign |
Lesson number 1: always carry an umbrella. Whether it looks sunny or cloudy it is most likely going to rain. We got lucky the first few days with beautiful sunshine but then London welcomed us with it's usual overcast, chilly, and rainy weather. (I may have used this as an excuse to buy a beautiful red trench coat) This past week we pretty much got a crash course on London and have walked around most of central London including the South Bank, Waterloo, Westminster, Trafalgar Square, Covent Garden, Picadilley Circus, the City of London, and Tower Bridge. The more I see of the city the more I love it. It's not really comparable to any city in America because the beauty of London doesn't lie with it's not so towering skyscrapers but with the Victorian era buildings at the street level. Generally you aren't allowed to change the outside of buildings here so you're surrounded by history wherever you go. I've seen powerplants that were converted into museums and hospitals converted into college dorms. Every street you walk on has a story whether its Gracechurch St from Pride and Prejudice or Fleet St from Sweeney Todd. Another thing that's different about London compared to American cities is that that there are camera's everywhere. It's seriously like Big Brother is watching except it's called CCTV. I guess I can't complain too much about CCTV because it does make me feel safer even though it's a little weird to know that you're being watched at all times. But other than walking around we spent the rest of the week booking trips for traveling around Europe. So far I'm definitely going to Paris, Amsterdam, and Rome which is so exciting! Au Revior, Vaarwel, Ciao!
I've been in London less than a week and I'm already in love with this city. It is just one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. I will probably ramble about how much I love Europe for the next three months so I thought that before I start doing that I should talk about a few issues with studying abroad in London so you know its not all unicorns and rainbows over here.
1) Spending all your money on travel/ going out means no money for food. I'm always, always hungry. I literally think the last time I felt not hungry was in America. My meals this past week have consisted of microwave noodles, microwave pasta, bananas, and bagels. Yum.
2) Having constant near death experiences every time I try to cross the road because I always forget which way to look since they drive on the opposite side.
2) Head injuries from getting hit by double decker buses while looking out in the road for cars is apparently very common. While that may sound laughable I actually think it might happen to me
3) Their use of military time. Why?!!
4) Everything is so expensive. When you come to Europe you want to do everything and see everything but you most likely don't have an unlimited budget. The more I look at maps of Europe the more countries I want to visit!
That being said London is amazing and I'm super excited for this semester and all of trips we have planned. I'm so thankful to have this opportunity and I promise I will try to post more often to keep you guys updated.
1) Spending all your money on travel/ going out means no money for food. I'm always, always hungry. I literally think the last time I felt not hungry was in America. My meals this past week have consisted of microwave noodles, microwave pasta, bananas, and bagels. Yum.
2) Having constant near death experiences every time I try to cross the road because I always forget which way to look since they drive on the opposite side.
2) Head injuries from getting hit by double decker buses while looking out in the road for cars is apparently very common. While that may sound laughable I actually think it might happen to me
3) Their use of military time. Why?!!
4) Everything is so expensive. When you come to Europe you want to do everything and see everything but you most likely don't have an unlimited budget. The more I look at maps of Europe the more countries I want to visit!
That being said London is amazing and I'm super excited for this semester and all of trips we have planned. I'm so thankful to have this opportunity and I promise I will try to post more often to keep you guys updated.
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| Photographic Evidence for all you non-believers |
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| Before I added all of my shoes, backpack and pjs |
♡Avani
For me wanderlust is like a thirst that cannot be quenched. I love traveling and I decided to create this blog to document my experiences. I will be studying abroad in London this fall semester and while I am there I plan on traveling around the UK and mainland Europe. I'm sure this semester will fly by as fast as the past ones have. I'm still in shock that I'm starting my senior year! I think it is so easy to forget but important to remember as you only get some experiences once in lifetime. I'm creating this blog so that I can remember what I did and how I felt during what is sure to be one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I'm looking forward to sharing my journey with everyone and I hope you all get a chance to have your own travel adventures!
♡Avani
