My final week abroad: it was a time that I thought was far off in the future. However, now that I have said goodbye to London, it seems like it was only yesterday that I packed up my life and left the familiarity of the United States for four and a half months. Despite ending my abroad experience with a persistent fever that limited my activity, the end of the week was still something special as I said goodbye to CIEE and greeted my parents who flew out to spend some time with me in the city that I began to consider my temporary home.

Thursday, May 11, 2017

On Thursday, CIEE had a farewell gathering for us. At 7:30 p.m., we all walked to Holborn station and took the tube to Queensway station. There, we gathered at All Star Lanes, which serves as a pub and bowling alley. We all were given a chance to mill around the bar and were given different pick foods to eat, such as chicken fingers, mini burgers and fried Mac & Cheese, and then the lanes opened up for us. Bowling skills must skip a few generations because even though my father’s father was an excellent bowler, I did not quite inherit the gene, only bowling a 91 and effectively losing a slap bet to Erin who said that she would beat me and bowled a 93. You win some, you lose some.

Friday, May 12, 2017

The following day, I had my final 12:30 p.m. class and then after a two and a half hour delay, my parents’ plane finally arrived and I met up with them back in my apartment. From there, we went to K+K George Hotel in Kensington to settle in our luggage. Afterwards, since they were jetlagged, we simply went to an Italian restaurant in the area called Zizzi, and then called it a night so that we could get an early start the next day.

Saturday, May 13, 2017

Saturday was spent showing my parents around London, which they had not visited since my uncle’s wedding in 1990. Since they had not seen sites such as the Millennium Bridge, I decided that I would show them the Southbank area, as it was one of my favorite spots. We walked about 8 miles, starting at St. Paul’s and then making our way to the Millennium Bridge and Borough Market, before finally reaching Tower Bridge.

After we exhausted Southbank, we made our way to Leicester Square, where we saw the show, “Don Juan In Soho”, starring David Tennant. As a huge "Doctor Who" fan, when I saw that Tennant would be on West End, I immediately wanted to see him perform. The show was a great choice. Despite being raunchy in nature — which can be cringe-y when you are with your parents — everyone enjoyed the show, particularly the occasional jabs at our current U.S. president resembling an “orangutan” and Tennant’s character saying that he “is not that bad” since after all, he doesn’t “grab anyone by the p****.” After the show, although I was unable to get close enough to the front to get a photo with Tennant, I did manage to snap some photos of him signing merchandise and then thrust my own playbill forward so that he could sign mine. It was an overall incredible experience!

Sunday, May 14, 2017

On Sunday, we met up early with my Uncle Chuck (my mom’s older brother) and my cousin, Seb. The five of us made our way to visit the Westminster area, including parliament, Elizabeth Tower, Downing Street, the London Eye and Trafalgar Square. Downing Street was particularly interesting because my parents remembered a time when people could actually walk on the street by the prime minister’s home, whereas now it is entirely blocked by security. Later in the day, we visited Covent Garden, which I had not seen yet, and then made our way to Leicester Square so that we would be near Chinatown, where we would be going for dinner. Dinner was then the five of us, and then including my other cousin Ben and his girlfriend Gabby. Seeing all of them was a perfect way to round off my 18th and final full week in London.

Monday, May 15, 2017

My final full day in London began by us going to Camden Market, which my mother had an interest in seeing. After walking the expanse of the market for a while and looking at the different trinkets, we took the Underground to Green Park station, where we got off for Buckingham Palace. Similar to Downing Street, my father remarked that he remembered when cars would whip around the roundabout, making it difficult to cross.

Next, we got back on the Underground and made our way to dad’s desired spot for the day: the Sherlock Holmes Museum. Ever since I forced dad to sit down and watch the latest BBC adaptation of Sherlock Holmes with me, he has more of an interest in the series. I had told him that the museum was definitely worth checking out in London, so we did that and then from the museum, walked to Bubbledogs, which I am glad we got to have as our last dinner before leaving London. I am proud to say that they were jealous of my hot dog after they saw what it looked like and I know that Bubbledogs will be the first place that I return to eat at if I ever return to London.

Despite being ready to return home after being away from friends and family for so long, it was incredibly difficult to say goodbye to all that I had grown accustomed to in London. I can definitely see myself returning to the city in the future, and hope that I have a reason to do so. Despite my London experience coming to a close, there will be one more bonus installment of Ari’s Adventures Abroad, which will include my time spent in Berlin, Germany with my parents before returning stateside!