Week 12: The end of an amazing summer abroad.

This entire week was a blur, so I decided that instead of writing by the day, I just would write about everything we did during the week. I don't know the exact order of occurences, but deal.

We went out to lunch as a flat to this Japanese resturaunt near the West End. Their specialty was these pancake like things. I still don't know how to describe them other than delicious! They were so good, so different, and very filling. Walking back to the bus stop, we got gellato and walked through Trafalgar Square to a bus stop we knew would get us home.

My last day as an intern. I was really sad, but I got up early to make cookies for everyone. They were still warm when I got them to the office. The champagne I was worried about, mainly because I'm not an alcohol connoisseur. I think that they enjoyed the cookies, and hopefully were laughing about the champagne. When it was time for me to leave, we toasted and they gave me a book of London's history (which is amazing) and a London sweatshirt. I was touched, because I wasn't sure if they would get me anything. I didn't need it, because my memories were so awesome, but I'm glad they appreciated me. I was definitely sad to leave.

Meara, Meg, Becky and I went on a ghost bus tour around the city on one of our last nights here. There were actors and everything, and we were told all of the haunting secrets about the city. VERY scary... sort of. It was good for a laugh though. Definitely had the cheesy factor that's always appreciated. I'd suggest it to someone who will be in London for at least a few months.

The very last night, Meg, Becky and I went on a boat tour of the Thames. Obviously we'd seen the sites along it before, but it was a great end to our time in London. The city was beautifully lit up, and when we got off, we went to Gordon's Wine Bar for the last time. We got our final looks of Big Ben. I shed a tear, and we then headed to Platform 9 3/4. After we had our photo shoot, we headed back to our incredibly disasterous flat to pack everything we could locate. We also started to clean, so it wouldn't be as much of a hassle in the morning.

The morning was incredibly hectic. We were tired, crying, freaking out about the plane ride ahead. Eventually, we made it to our flight, and I cried to the Last Song (yes, Miley Cyrus is in that) before falling asleep only to wake up in Chicago and head to St. Louis where my mom picked me up and drove me to Columbia.

Cheers London.

Week 11: 26/07/10 - 01/08/10

Wow, I can't believe it's the 11th week I've been in London. It's been such a whirlwind summer. This is the account of my last full week in London, England.

26/07/10 - Well, we had to wake up early this morning to get the Metro and get to the airports to fly back to London in time for class. It's baffling to think that I can fly to Barcelona in a few hours and be back to my home. I want to go home, I've missed London so much. I'm not sure I'll be able to handle it when I get back to the US.

We got to say good-bye to our favorite hostel-desk person. He actually road with us on the Metro for a bit on our way to the airport. It was a little stressful because we were tired from the weekend, but we made it to our plane and got back to London just in time for class. Well, some of us made it to class... a few of my commrades weren't feeling well, so they didn't make it, but Meg and I walked into class with our bags and sunburns and acted like nothing was wrong. Oh, no big deal, we just got back from Barcelona where went on a weekend holiday. What we talked about, I have no idea, I was tired, coughing (I had a wierd cough... it was pretty painful), and crusty from a recovering sunburn, but living the high-life. After class, Meg and I headed back to our flat and got ready for the Harry Potter tour later that night. I was looking forward to it, because... it's Harry Potter for crying-out-loud! It's kind of a big deal, at least it was for me and a few others in the group. It was basically my childhood and is probably my favorite books. I don't know what that says about my reading repitoure, but oh well. I love Harry Potter.

So, we headed to the tube and got off in the financial district. I had been there once before because of an event I was covering. There was the Bank of England and huge infrastructure surrounding us. There was the largest skyscrapper (I don't think in the world, but definitely in the area) being worked on, and then just down the road, a building that would be taller than that one was being built. We saw The Gerkin, or the Giant Innuendo, look it up and you'll see why. We saw a bunch of the buildings that made their mark in the Harry Potter movies, especially the recent one with the opening scene in London and the Wobbly Bridge (it's actually the Millenium Bridge, but the aptly named it the Wobbly Bridge because it did just that, wobbled.) We found out that the Bank of England's front doors were the inspiration for Gringotts. We didn't go in to see if there were goblins guarding it, but I wouldn't be surprised if there was. We eventually found ourselves by Borough Market and saw Diagon Alley. We saw the original Leaky Cauldron, which was an eye-glass store. I think that after this tour, my Harry Potter experience is almost complete. Now I just want to meet JK Rowling.

27-28/07/10 - Some of my last full days as an intern at AP. I was really sad thinking about it, and also trying to figure out how to celebrate my last day... I'm thinking cookies...

29/07/10 - When I left one of my final days of work, I had to book it to the outskirts of London, to where the Olympic park is being built. I couldn't get there by tube, I had to use an over-ground train. Almost an hour later, I made it just in time for the tour. It was cool to see all of the complexes being built and we learned about the controversy surrounding them. Our guide was a local to the area, so that was a great perspective. I can't wait to come back and see it all finished, because I am coming back for the Olympics. Even though I switched majors, I'm coming back.

30-31/07/10 - Our last full weekend. We celebrated Michelle's birthday and had lots of fun. Unfortunately, I didn't get to go to all of the musuems I wanted to, but that just means I have to come back! We also worked on our projects for class.

01/08/10 - We went to the Ritz! Talk about luxurious. I felt like a million bucks, and I think that we all did. The food was delicious, but we were all distracted by the decorations, the amount of scones at our fingertips, the fact we all looked fab, but most importantly because it was our last Sunday in London. Meg literally started crying at the table. I felt like I wanted to cry. The tea I had was amazing though. It was fruity deliciousness that I knew I'd never find again in the United States.