On Monday we had our last lecture in the morning. We also had to run a few errands to prepare for the week ahead before our afternoon excursion. For our excursion we went on a Jack the Ripper walking tour. We got to learn about and see where the killings took place and where the victims and the Ripper spent a lot of their time. It was a really interesting tour. On Monday night we had some friends over to the flat for a birthday party. One of our flatmates turned 20. We played some games and had a few drinks before we headed out to our favorite pub, Flight Club. We played darts and had a few more drinks there! It was a ton of fun. Syd ended up winning during a tie-breaker by hitting the bullseye! Sam absolutely killed it at darts because she won at least 3 games that night and ended the night with the most wins and points. It was a blast and we had an eventful night out with our friends.

On Tuesday we just hung out in the flat and had a chill day. We ended up hanging out with our flatmates until late into the night just having some great conversations. Over these past few months we have gotten very close with them and the reality was hitting that soon we would be leaving. We were all a bit sad so, we spent as much time as possible together.

On Wednesday we had our very last excursion. We got to tour Buckingham Palace. Each year the Palace is open for a few weeks at the end of July to the beginning of August because the queen is in Scotland. We were very lucky to have been in London when touring the Palace was possible. Unfortunately we were unable to take pictures inside. You will just have to take our word for it that it was beautiful. After the tour we all got some ice cream and walked the gardens. We took one last photograph outside of the Palace and then we all headed home. We had a huge project due in class on Thursday so we all spent the rest of the day preparing for that.

On Thursday we had our very last class. We had to give a a 5 minute presentation and submit our 2 page papers we had been working on. Our projects had to be about a moral dilemma in British history. Syd did her project on the way the paparazzi treated Princess Diana and how they played a role in her death. Sam did her project on Jack the Ripper and his murders of multiple women. The projects were a lot of work and we were nervous about presenting, but it went well and we both got As on our assignments. After we finished class, the PAs put together a trip to a place called Primrose hill. It is a huge hill that allows you to see the skyline of London. We took a picnic dinner up there (complete with our favorite ciders and beers) and enjoyed hanging out and watching the sunset. It was a bit cloudy but we were able to see the city in complete darkness and it was breathtaking. We had been out in the city at night but we had never had this viewpoint before and it was beautiful. We enjoyed relaxing and talking to all our friends while admiring the beautiful city we had called home for the last two months. I may or may not have cried a little up there because I knew we would be leaving soon and I was going to miss it (bet you can’t guess which sister cried LOL). It all just hit me in that moment. We have been blessed with this incredible opportunity to live in a beautiful city where we met some of the most amazing people and lifelong friends. Being up on that hill was probably one of my favorite moments of our whole time in London. -SYD & SAM