Saturday was a very early start for us. We had an all day tour with a meeting time at 8am and a 30 minute tube ride. Our tour took us on a coach bus to three locations: Windsor Castle, Bath, and Stonehenge. It took us about an hour to get to Windsor Castle and we were given a few hours to explore the grounds. The castle was absolutely beautiful. It has 700 rooms and 500 staff members. We were able to tour a few of the rooms, but we could not take pictures. We spent most of our time wandering the grounds and watching the changing of the guards. There was an ice cream stand on the grounds, which of course we had to get. As we were eating our ice cream, a few of the guards came marching by us, so we followed them. We realized they were changing guards and had a little ceremony. It was so cool to experience this. We then toured the chapel on the grounds where Meghan and Prince Harry got married. It was so pretty, but seemed smaller in person than on TV. We got back on the coach and headed to our next stop.

After a two hour ride with lunch, we made it to Bath. It was a cute town, but we didn’t have much time to explore it because we wanted to see the Roman Baths. The Baths were once believed to be healing and looked over by the gods, so when people were sick they came to bathe here. Unfortunately this was during the time of the Bubonic Plague, so everyone who used the bath ended up getting sick, and 80% of the town died. For this reason, we did not touch or drink the water, but we did try the water from the hot springs (very gross). The Baths were so cool and much bigger than I thought they would be. There were many different baths and springs. It was so cool to see this part of history. We then boarded the coach and headed to the last stop of the day.

A quick coach ride later, we arrived at Stonehenge. We did not have much time here, so we kind of just ran around the stones while stopping to take pictures quickly. Even though we were a little rushed, it was such an amazing experience, and one of the coolest things we’ve seen. It’s crazy to think about how and why the stones are there (personally, I think it was aliens). We got back on the coach and discussed how we had such a great day, but how we were all so exhausted.

We decided to sleep in on Sunday and then head to Camden Market for the afternoon. When we first around in Camden we went through a tiny but packed market selling Prada and Gucci handbags for 10 Pounds, which I am sure were 100% authentic (LOL). We we were all a little overwhelmed at this little side market so I wasn’t really sure if I would enjoy the day at Camden Market. However, Camden Market was so cool. There were so many cool vendors selling original paintings, jewelry, and other pieces of art. BUT most importantly, there were a ton of food vendors. We had the most amazing mac n’ cheese ever for lunch. After shopping around for a few hours and buying some souvenirs, we decided it was time for dessert. We got something called a bubble waffle. It was a waffle filled with vanilla ice cream, strawberries, bananas, and Nutella. It was fantastic!! I am a big fan of Amy Winehouse, who happened to live in Camden. They had a statue of her in the market and I had to get a picture with it. We ate some great food, saw some cute shops, took a few pictures and then headed home. After we went home I played Amy Winehouse’s album Back to Black and that was a perfect way to close out the very fun and busy weekend. -SYD & SAM

Thursday we were able to have a lazy morning because we did not have class. Our only plans were to explore a Hindu Temple, and go to a pub with our flatmates and friends.

We visited the Shri Swaminarayan Mandir Temple, which is the largest Hindu Temple outside of India. Unfortunately, we were not able to take pictures inside of the temple, so you will just have to take our word for how stunning it was. It only took 3 years to build, and everything was carved and etched by hand into the marble. All of the constructing and designing was done by volunteers. Everything was prepared in India and shipped to London to be constructed. Nothing was broken on the journey over and the Temple was built very efficiently. The inside was just at beautiful as the outside and the details were incredible. We had to take our shoes off before entering the temple which was a unique experience. We got to learn a little bit about the religion while exploring the temple. One room we were not allowed to talk because it was a room of worship and quiet reflection. The tour of the temple was amazing and we loved learning about the Hindu religion.

After the tour, we went to a pub called, The Fight Club. The inside looked like an old fashioned carnival, it was so cool. They have dart boards you can rent. The vibe of the place was really cool, and the drinks were yummy. It was a fun night out with our friends, and we will hopefully be going back to play darts.

Friday was our Harry Potter Tour. We all bought shirts specifically for the tour. Yes, we are those people. We definitely got some looks but we were having fun! The tour took us to different filming locations as well as locations that inspired the author. We walked through the narrowest street in London which was a little stressful. We realized as we were on the tour that we had already been to many of the locations, we just didn’t realize it. We ended the tour on a boat across the Thames River.

Us and one of our friends decided to explore Camden Market after the tour. We found a Harry Potter shop and we walked in still in our Harry Potter shirts, so we felt a little weird! They had wand and broom replicas and other signed items. We randomly found ourselves back at the Thames River at a park called Victoria Embankment Gardens where we got ice cream and just walked around. It was a great end to a fun day! -SYD & SAM

Monday was another double class day. We started our day off at Westminster Abbey. We were given a great tour and learned a lot about the history. There are a lot of Royal weddings, Royal funerals, and the coronation takes place there. There are also a lot of Royalty buried there and many different memorials. One memorial worth noting is Paul Dirac. He was a British physicist who conducted research at Florida State University. He is considered by many in the UK as the most important scientist next to Sir Issac Newton. FSU named our science library after him. It was really cool to have that connection there. Unfortunately we are not allowed to take pictures inside the church, but we did get some great photos outside and in some side rooms. The church was absolutely beautiful! It is in the shape of a cross which we think is so cool. It is really hard to describe how incredible all of the stained glass windows, the intricate ceiling, the small details, and grandness of the place is. It was absolutely stunning. They have four services everyday and a prayer every hour. It was a very great experience and I definitely wish I could have taken a few photos. After the tour we had a very short amount of time to walk back, make lunch, and run to class. We ended up packing sandwiches and eating in class. The class was long and hot because there is no AC. We had to take a lot of breaks. Fortunately it was our last lecture of this month. So far we have really enjoyed this class. After class we were all so tired we just went to the flat and hung out and went to bed.

Today we had an excursion to the Tate Modern. We had to specifically look at a few paintings for our assignment, but after that we had the rest of the day to explore the rest of the art. It was cool to see a different style of art than we have been looking at for our other assignments. After looking at a few of the exhibits there, we decided to explore the area a bit more before heading back to the flat. We walked to Borough Market nearby. The market had a ton of different food, drinks, and desserts. It was so cool to walk around and see the various foods. We got one fresh squeezed lemonade and orange mango juice which were delicious. Once home, we did some homework before heading to the basement for pizza night. Us and our flatmates decided to go for a walk to the park nearby. We just wandered around the city, enjoying the cool air because our rooms don’t have AC. It was a good day and a fun evening. Tomorrow we are leaving bright and early to head to Brighton, a little seaside town 2 hours south of London. We are super excited! -SYD & SAM

Thursday Morning we went to breakfast like usual, then met up with our class to head over to the British Museum to explore the Edvard Munch Exhibit. The purpose of going to the exhibit was to examine art and how it relates to emotion. We are by no means art critics or art enthusiast but we found his art very cool. He has a very dark style and his art was filled with emotion. After the exhibit we went out front to take some pictures. This turned out to be a horrible idea because Sydney got hit in the face by a bird. The bird flew from behind and hit her right in the cheek and the wing went in her eye. We have some pretty funny pictures of her with a squinty eye. Other than the bird catastrophe our day trip to the museum was so fun. After chilling at the flat for the afternoon we went to a place called Maxwell’s for shakes. We ordered what they call “freakshakes” and they were massive (pictures below to prove it)!

Friday was a beautiful day and we did not have class so we decided to head over to Hyde Park for a picnic lunch. We sat by a fountain and it was a really pretty view. After our lunch we ended up exploring the park for a few hours. It was absolutely massive. We ended up at a little lake that had paddle boats. We have never been in one before so we decided to give it a try. It was a lot of fun just playing music and paddling around the lake with our flatmates. We then walked back to the flat to do some homework, make dinner, and get ready to go out. We went to a pub called the Rising Sun and had a few drinks with our flatmates. We were all having a good time when some guy came up and gave the whole table (of 6 girls) his number. We thought this was very bold and used the napkin with his number on it to wipe up a spill. We then headed home with the intention of playing Uno but we were all so tired we just went to bed.

Saturday we had the plan of going to Piccadilly Circus. However, we made what we thought was going to be a small detour in China Town. However, that small detour ended up being four hours long. We stumbled upon a street performer and saw that there was a whole line of guys waiting to perform after. They all had very great music so we decided to stay. We stayed and watched 4 solo guys and a duo perform. I think all of us fell in love with them. We tipped them and some of us even bought their CDs. We stayed after their performance to get pictures with them. We made it on to one of their instagram stories (lol). Somewhere between all the music we got lunch at a cute little restaurant, and had amazing Chinese food. After the performers finished, we finally made it to Piccadilly Circus but were a little underwhelmed by it. We did take some cute pictures though! It turned out to be such a fun day filled with amazing music.

Sunday was another great day. We all slept in and had a chill morning getting ready for the day. We booked a tour to the Tate Britain where we explored the Vincent van Gogh exhibit. His work is so amazing, it was so cool to see some of his most famous works up close in person. Once back in the flat, we booked some tours with our flatmates for our long weekend next weekend. We then went to Franco Manca for some sourdough pizza. It was so yummy. This weekend was very busy but so much fun! -SYD & SAM

Monday morning we returned to our normal class days. We got breakfast in the basement then headed to lecture. Class got out at 1pm so we went back to the room to eat lunch and rest. This was much needed after our busy weekend in Liverpool.

Tuesday was a looooong day. We went to The National Gallery with our class from 9am to 12pm. We looked at many different paintings and found the connections to our personality. Our assignment was to find art we didn’t like and art that we did like. We were supposed to use our personality to explain why we liked or didn’t like the art. The gallery was very large. We saw many different styles of paintings by many different artists. It was very cool. After we were done exploring the gallery we explored the square. The gallery is located in Trafalgar Square. It was a beautiful place with a lot of street art (paintings, performers, and musicians), fountains, and a statue. We decided to climb on the statue of the lions. This turned out to be more difficult than we thought. It took two people to push one person up because it was so high and so slippery. I was scared to jump down, but it was totally worth it. After our morning session, we met up in our classroom for lecture from 2pm to 5:30pm. We were all very tired, but the class was interesting. The thing that got us through the long lecture was the fact that it was pizza night. The PAs (program assistants) served Papa John’s pizza and sodas. We ended up taking a whole pizza back to the flat. At the flat we had some friends over and we all watched the live action of Beauty and the Beast (and of course it was a sing-along). After the movie we all went to bed!

Today (Wednesday) was excursion day to St. Paul’s Cathedral. Before we left for the excursion the flatmates and I went out to breakfast at Pomme de Pain, right next door to our flat. We all had delicious crepes and fresh pressed apple juice. Then we all boarded the iconic double decker red buses and headed to the cathedral. We went on a tour of the church where we learned about the process of building it and the famous monuments inside. Before this church there was a smaller church, but the Great Fire of London burned it down. The cathedral there now was built by Christopher Wren. He decided to put a dome on the top of the church, the first Anglican church to have a dome. Good thing he did because the top of the dome provides a beautiful view of the city of London. Both the Cathedral and the view were incredible. The details inside the church were stunning along with the ceiling work and stained glass windows. We were there for a part of service and partook in a moment of silence which was really cool. After touring the beautiful inside, we were able to climb to the top of the dome where the view was just as beautiful. However, we had to climb up 528 steps to get there. From the top we could see the Tower Bridge, the London Eye, and the beautiful modern London skyline. It was such a fun day! We were all so tired when we got home we made lunch, worked on homework, ate dinner, and relaxed. Tomorrow will be another exciting day as we are going to the British Museum. -SYD & SAM

Today was another class day, but instead of lecture we went to the Science Museum. Before heading to the Museum, we went to the basement for breakfast with the rest of our classmates. From there we all walked to the tube station. Once at the Science Museum we went to the exhibit called, “Who am I?” to complete an activity that will later tie into a paper we have to write. The exhibit addressed a lot of things relating to psychology, and specifically the class we are taking here. We looked at why people are afraid of certain things, individual genetic makeup, memory, hand prints, and personalities. It was a very neat exhibit. After we were dismissed, we decided to stay at the museum to explore the other 4 floors. It was a maze of a museum, but we saw some pretty cool exhibits. Some of our favorites being the space exhibit, the future exhibit, the flying exhibit, and the materials exhibit. After exploring the rest of the museum for a bit, we hopped back on the tube to head back to the flats.

Once home, we made lunch, worked on our paper, and relaxed for a while. At 5:30 we went back to the basement to attend a presentation on “Brexit” and were served cheese, other snack foods, and wine. The presentation explained the future of the UK since it is scheduled to leave the EU (they have been trying for some time to leave so who knows when it will actually happen). We then came home to pack for our trip to Liverpool this weekend. Overall, this was the most chill day we have had here, but it was still a lot of fun! -SYD & SAM

Today we had a lazy morning starting around 10am. We lounged around with our flatmates while making plans for the day. We took 3 different tube lines (and surprisingly we didn’t get lost even without a map) to visit the Natural History Museum to explore the Moon exhibit there. Little did we know the building was massive, consisting of dozens of exhibits and several floors. We ended up wandering around the museum for over 3 hours, and still didn’t look at every exhibit. We saw exhibits about dinosaur, amphibian, and marine animal fossils, planets, human evolution, stones, birds, bugs, jewels, and the moon. Every exhibit was super interesting and hands-on. The building itself was beautiful on the inside as well as the outside.

After the museum, we were all exhausted so we decided to come back to the flat and make chicken quesadillas for dinner. About an hour after dinner and resting our feet we headed out for a play at the Globe Theatre (not the true globe, but a replica). The play we saw was called The Merry Wives of Windsor. Unfortunately, we had standing tickets in the opening of the theatre. We were very close to the stage (so close that one of the actors spit his beer on us) but, it was pouring rain and about 55 degrees. On top of our feet being sore, our clothes and shoes were soaked. We appreciated the beauty of the theatre but, we were not able to follow the play very well. Shakespearian’s we are not. We are happy to have had the experience of going to the Globe Theatre, however.

Today was another busy and fun filled day. Tomorrow is our first day of class. We have class from 9:30am to 1:00pm. Thankfully, they give us breakfast! After class we plan to head to some shops to look for rain boots as it has rained here nearly everyday. Tomorrow will not be as exciting as our last few days but it will be a nice break from all the hustle and bustle of the city! -SYD & SAM

Today we set our alarms for 9:30am and had a relaxing morning. We headed out around 11am and had no place in mind to go. We just walked down a street that we had never been on before and we discovered a more “modern” side of London. It is really cool to see a 21st century building right next to 17th century buildings.

While wandering around, we stopped at a pub, called The Rising Sun, for lunch. Let me tell you, this was some of the best food we have ever had. We had mac n cheese and lasagna. Now before you make fun of us for not venturing out in the food department, it was way different than the pasta you can get in the States. The pub vibes, service, and food were so great that we want to go back.

After eating at the pub, I (being Sydney) had to stop at Superdrug, comparable to a CVS or Walgreens, for allergy medication. I was not expecting to have allergies here but they are pretty bad. I bought a familiar brand; however, they use different spelling and they have braille on the box (so cool!). We then stopped at Sainsbury’s to pick up more groceries for dinner and lunches. Update: we found deli meat! We also found bite-size brownies that are absolutely incredible. After these pit-stops we went to the room to meet up with some of our flatmates.

We, along with the flatmates went on a panoramic bus tour of the city. I (Samantha) was so excited to find out the bus had a foot rest that pulled down from the seat so my feet could actually touch the floor! We got to see St. Paul’s Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, and drove across the London Bridge. The architecture was so beautiful and different from the States. The streets looked like they were out of a movie set.

In the evening we took the Tube for the first time. It was an easier process than we thought. Although, I (again, being Sydney) almost did not get on in time. There was a beeping noise we heard so we all rushed on and I was in the back and got stuck between the doors. Thankfully I made it on. The reason we took the tube was to go to the Sky Garden. When we got there they told us we needed tickets, so that plan flopped. However, it was not a waste because we got to explore a nearly empty part of London called the Financial district. The buildings there seemed like something from a futuristic or dystopian world.

The last stops of the night were to a pub called the Flying Horse and McDonald’s. The pub was very cute and had a basement we all sat in while drinking our London Pride beer. After, we stopped at the McDonald’s next door to see if it tasted similar. We can confirm that the fries are indeed just as good as they are in the States.

Today was a long day. Writing all of this seems like we had a week packed into one day. It was super fun exploring more of London, trying food and drinks, and traveling with our flatmates. -SYD & SAM

Travel and Arrival (06/06-06/07)

We watched a bunch of movies on the plane and they served some good food. Only downside was that our seats were close to the restrooms (or washrooms as the Brits call it). It was a long eight hours and a long three hour bus ride to our flat (AKA apartment). Once we checked in we had our first meal in London at Pret, a cute, little and delicious sandwich shop just a few blocks from our flat. After being awake for over 24 hours all we wanted to do was sleep, but we had to beat the jet-lag and attend the welcome reception. Then we got settled in our rooms, took a shower, and fell asleep the minute our heads hit our pillows.

First day- (06/08)

Much too early after a full day of travel (8:00), our alarm went off to head to orientation. There, we had breakfast of British pastries, fruit, and coffee. Our orientation lasted for 7 hours with an hour break for lunch. We used this hour to venture into Soho and try Nando’s, a restaurant we have been wanting to try for years. We had chicken pitas and chips (fries). After orientation, we went to Covent Garden to fix the UK SIM cards for our phones. We got a little bit lost in both Soho and Covent Garden because we are still working on learning our way around the city. Getting lost has its perks because we found cute little shops and restaurants we now want to try throughout our stay. On the way back to the flat, we stopped to pick up groceries for dinner at Tesco, a popular grocery store in the UK. This is something we will be doing frequently because most of the food is fresh and goes bad a lot quicker than in the States (good thing there are about 3 grocery stores within walking distance from the flat). Even after an international flight, going through customs, being in a new country, moving into our rooms, and meeting new people, we found that grocery shopping was the most stressful. Between the different brands, pricing, and tons of people, it was very overwhelming. We spent half the time converting the price to dollars to make sure we were getting a good deal and the other half of the time looking for simple things like sliced deli meat. We discovered deli meat is not as common as it is in the States, so we changed our plans from sandwiches to spaghetti. Once back in our flat, our next task was to figure out how to use the stove to cook said spaghetti. This proved to be another challenge because it kept turning off and lowering the temperature. However, once it was finally cooked it felt nice to just sit in our quiet living room and eat dinner. After eating dinner we soon realized that we didn’t have containers to store our food. We walked down the block to go to another grocery store called Sainsbury’s to pick up containers. Unfortunately, one container was 9 Pounds so we bought cling film instead. On our journey to the store we heard music and followed the sound. We found that the music was coming from some street performers called The Street Cats! We spent about 10 minutes listening to them play. They had a whole production with amps, audio systems, drums, bass, and a guitar. This is not something you would typically see in the states. We concluded the night with some wine and terrible reality TV with our flatmates. Our first day here taught us a great deal about the city and we are falling love with it. -SYD & SAM