After my weekend study tour in Cardiff, I returned to London for my fourth week abroad. Throughout the week, I visited South Bank and experienced the Super Bowl from the perspective of a country that follows a different type of football. Before I go into either of those, though, I’m going to rewind quickly to the third week and talk about my visit to The British Library and meeting up with my uncle and cousins who live in the U.K.

Wednesday, January 25, 2017

On Wednesday, my British Women’s Literature class visited The British Library at 9:30 a.m. The library is a short walk from my accommodation and is on my way to the Global Institute, so it was not out of the way at all — except for the fact that I don’t have that particular class on Wednesdays. When we got there, we were able to see original copies of written works, such as Beowulf, and manuscripts that belonged to William Shakespeare and Jane Austen. The library itself was incredibly rich with history and it was incredible to see how many artifacts they have not only of British literature, but music and other art forms, as well.

Thursday, January 26, 2017

On Thursday night after class, Erin and I met up with my two cousins, Seb and Ben and my Uncle Chuck to go out to dinner. It was slightly bizarre being on their turf since I'm so used to them visiting my family in the U.S. over the summer, but it was great to catch up with them, as well as meet Ben's girlfriend, Gabriella.

Monday, January 30, 2017

The following week, my Politics of Religion class visited the London Central Mosque. I had never visited or attended a mosque prior to our visit, so it was an eye-opening experience. The mosque was incredibly beautiful and as we listened to our guide talk about Islam and what the religion means to those who practice it, we got to admire the minimalistic aura of the place of worship. We also got to witness everyone praying at one point, and the one aspect that I liked the most was how everyone goes as close as they can to the front and they all stand directly next to each other — both for religious reasons. It was much different than how, for instance, in churches people tend to sit more to the back of the pews and spread out from each other.

On Wednesday, Erin and I went on the South Bank walking tour with CIEE and we saw a lot of the area. To start the day, we went to the underground to find that the gate was still down and no one could get into it. When we asked someone, they thought that they heard someone was hit and we were about to take the bus to South Bank when it finally opened, and since certain lines were down, we ended up taking the Northern Line. When we got there, we walked to the meeting place, which was Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, and found out that we were the only ones willing to brave the rainy weather, so it was the two of us and then two of the adults who run the London Open Campus Program. That ended up being a blessing because we were able to walk at a more gradual space and learn more about the places that we visited without having to constantly collect people who wander. After we visited The Globe — and learned that it was not rebuilt in its original location after it burned down — we visited Southwark Cathedral. It was beautiful inside and easily the most interesting part was how the stained glass windows were black from the outside.

After we left the cathedral, our next stop was Borough Market, where there was an array of food options, from seafood to candies to mac and cheese (but more on the last one later). There were also plenty of samples to try, so Erin and I enjoyed the different dips and oils with a cup of tea. We were there for quite some time before we left and went on our way to Trafalgar Square. I first heard of Trafalgar Square when the cast of Harry Potter held the final London premiere there, and the previous weekend the woman’s march gathered there as well. Although we were only there for a short period of time, it was really fascinating admiring the architecture that went into each of the pillars surrounding the square. Finally, as we began to walk back, our final sights were of the Millennium Bridge, Big Ben and the London Eye, which could all be seen from a distance. It was incredible to see the spots that are such well-known landmarks for people around the world and we would eventually return to see more of them later in the week.

Friday, February 3, 2017

Friday was largely uneventful, but when we left class to get dinner, I was approached by a stranger on the street and asked if I liked Donald Trump and whom I voted for. After I told him that I didn’t like Trump and voted for Hillary Clinton, I got a fist bump and realized that I got some insight into what the next four years will probably be like when someone who isn’t American realizes that I am.

Saturday, February 4, 2017

On Saturday, we got up early and knowing that we wanted to go back to St. Paul’s and see the London Aquarium, we left to go get breakfast nearby the former. After having a full English breakfast, we trekked out in the rain to return to St. Paul’s since we hadn’t seen the crypts on our last visit. When we arrived, we then got the audio tour and went beneath the main area of the cathedral to admire the monuments for the various British men and women. Afterwards, we decided that we also wanted to return to Borough Market, which admittedly, for me, was solely for the mac and cheese that I mentioned before. It was absolutely delicious and we then walked around because at that point, the sun was finally out and it was warmer than it was all week. We found ourselves sitting on a wall between Millennium Bridge and London Bridge with just the right amount of sunlight to keep us warm and make me not want to do anything other than sit there.

Eventually, we got up and went to the London Aquarium — incidentally, where one of the scenes in the first episode of the latest season of Sherlock was filmed — and waited online for an hour before we finally were able to get inside and look around. It was well worth the wait, though, as we got to see turtles, penguins, fishes and sharks, alike. Finally, we left after it was dark and then walked across Westminster Bridge, where we got a closer look at Big Ben and saw how incredible it looks after dark when it is lit up.

Sunday, February 5, 2017

Sunday was a much more relaxed day. After going to Mass, we took a double-decker bus for the first time to Regent’s Park, where we got a late breakfast in a café by tennis courts and then some hot chocolate to go as we walked around, admiring the serenity of the park. Nonetheless, we eventually had to return to The Chapter to do work before the Super Bowl, which was screened by The Chapter in the main lobby. Sufficed to say, I was mildly relieved when New England pulled it off because I wasn’t looking forward to an entire semester of Erin sulking.

As usual, we had another great week abroad! Stay tuned to hear about my visit to Platform 9 3/4 and Piccadilly Circus during my fifth week abroad!