Living London Reflection
Studying abroad is a truly unique experience. Being able to live in another country within a different culture is so amazing and honestly makes you feel humbled. It makes you realize that the way you do things aren't the way everyone else does. That there are things in America that could be done differently, but also makes you appreciate what you love most about home. Going to Europe allowed me to visit many different countries so that was very special, I got to experience multiple different cultures along the time I spent abroad.
My base city and home abroad was London, England. I had visited England before when I was fresh out of high school on a chaperoned trip so its safe to say that this was a much better experience! Having been to the city before I had an idea of how things worked like the underground and some cultural aspects. Being able to live in the city gave me a chance to live like a local, spend afternoons in Hyde Park, stroll by the Thames, and get afternoon tea. I really tried to get into the cuisine as well! I love fish and chips, but also made a point to try a full English breakfast and Sunday Roast! I loved the pub culture and going and grabbing a pint with my friends after class. London is a truly amazing and eclectic city that has so much to offer I don't think I could ever spend enough time there.
Budapest, Hungary was our first trip and we kind of took it on a whim. We traveled with a company called Bus2Alps that takes study abroad students on different weekend trips and sets them up with lodging and tours. The trip was 50% off the normal price so we figured it would be a good deal! We had never thought of going to Budapest before and honestly the only reason I knew about it was from 1. the song Budapest by George Ezra and 2. The movie The Grand Budapest Hotel (which I had never seen before). But nonetheless, I was completely blown away!! I had no idea the history that Hungary had as a country and the struggles they had gone through post-WW2. The city's architecture was incredible and the whole feel of the city was unlike any I had ever been to. The only drawback was it was January so it was completely freezing, even the river was frozen. The cool thing about it being so cold were the thermal baths that felt amazing after a three hour walking tour!! We got to go to these incredible and unique cave bars where there were different rooms with music and movies and food. Truly amazing and I just felt like I only got to see half of it (because I really only saw half, Buda is one side of the river and Pest is the other! We never made it to the other side!).
Next we went to Paris, France. I was excited to see Paris just because of all the hype around it and the idea of it. However, I was really under the weather when we went and it was pretty rainy while we were there, total bummer. I did however get to see the sights we went to the Eiffel Tower, made our way through the Louvre (its a maze) and saw the Mona Lisa (smaller than anticipated, but just as chaotic). We saw the Arc de Triumph and even got to go to the top for the most amazing view of the city with the Eiffel Tower! I tried escargot while there and got some macaroons, felt extremely glamorous.
Our next trip was to Barcelona, Spain. Barcelona was very fun, it was vibrant and romantic. Going down back alleys to find a good place to get tappas, hauling up in a little restaurant for sangria, and the most colorful and decadent breakfast I have ever had. We went to Opium the huge and high-energy nightclub and stayed out until 5 AM, as the locals do. We took the public transport around and found La Sagrada Familia, that has been under construction since the 1800's!! After that we attempted to make our way to Parc Guell to see the famous mosaic bench and amazing view of the city, but almost missed our time slot because we didn't know when to get off the bus! This lead to running through the park trying to read signs in Catalan. Luckily we made it with 2 minutes to spare for an amazing view and amazing weekend.
In March we had had a week off for spring break which allowed us to take an extended trip of Italy. We did this through a student travel company to ensure we got the most bang for our buck and also knew what we were looking at. The trip had stops in Rome, Florence, Cinque Terre, Pisa, and Venice. Our tour guide Rhianne could not have been more amazing. She was passionate about Italian history and art and knew the best places to eat and drink like a local. She gave us an informal wine tasting class as we overlooked Florence at sunset and even took us to her personal favorite restaurant in Cinque Terre. In Rome we saw the Colosseum and I reenacted the scene from The Lizzie McGuire movie (to show that I am cultured). We got to see the Vatican and the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, we were even blessed by the pope!! One meal we had in Rome will forever stand out in my mind, we had the most fresh bruschetta I have ever had in my entire life, gnocchi, chicken parmesan, calamari, and unlimited wine. We threw coins into the Trevi Fountain (and again I reenacted Lizzie McGuire). Florence was my favorite city in Italy, it felt large and small all at once. The mix of the tuscan and urban views were incredible and I even got to see Mick & Mack's doubles! My favorite memory of Florence was the karaoke bar Rhianne took us to. All the locals were singing Italian songs and I clapped along until the DJ pointed me out and told me to come on stage. Explaining that I knew no Italian he types in Fergalicous by Fergie. Boy was I easy to persuade. Given that karaoke is one of my favorite hobbies I made a few trips back to the stage. Pisa was only a short pit stop, but we made sure to take as many tourist photos kicking and leaning on the famous tower. Cinque Terre was a beautiful trip, made up of five small towns that all had their own unique flair. We hiked between towns, had local beer on the beach, and the best cake I've ever eaten. Our final city was Venice where Rhianne showed us secrets and stories she had come to know when she studied there. We bought masquerade masks, rode in a gondola, and drank Aperol Sprits (the local drink of choice). The trip was packed of history, art, food, and adventure.
Next we travelled to Dublin for St. Patrick's Day! My friend and I had booked an Air BnB with retired Irish empty nesters. They offered us tea as soon as we got there and wanted to talk about all the things we should see, what they knew about America, and their lives in Ireland. It was a neat experience to live with locals. St. Patrick's Day was crazy everything was packed and everyone was celebrating. We spent a good amount of time in a pub called O'Donoghue's where we danced and sang in the street. We ended our night at the famous Temple Bar with different music in each room and plenty of colorful characters.
Our group travelled to Prague with a group and a not so great tour guide. We got to see Prague Old Town and the John Lennon Wall. We had drinks at a rooftop bar and overlooked the square. And spent an afternoon sitting in the park outside of the castle. The most memorable moment of the trip was deciding to go on a genuine Prague pub crawl the night before we had a 6 am flight, all getting separated, having to find my way to the airport myself, and barely making the flight. While it was a chaotic evening/morning we only left one behind!! The train ride from the airport back into London was painful, but it's a story we still tell today.
Our final trip was to Lisbon, Portugal. We rented an Air BnB, but couldn't figure out how to get in so we wandered the city with our luggage and sat on the sidewalk in front of it. We rented a private boat for a few hours and I felt the most glamorous I had in my life. It was nice to reflect back on all the memories our little group made the past few months and how close we had all become. A few of us decided to take surfing lessons and wow was that more difficult than anticipated! I was able to stand up once for maybe half a second before crashing back into the water. The hardest part was paddling against the current to get out far enough to catch a wave and having the water just constantly knocking you around. After our lesson we found a restaurant on the water and rested our beat up bodies. That evening after dinner we played guitar hero that the Air BnB host had left for us to end a fun filled trip.
In-between all of the trips we spent time in the pubs and clubs of London especially the Slug, Roxy, and Gloucester Arms. My photography class allowed me to get out and explore the city in a different way and in different places than I would have thought. I think back to the casual afternoons getting tea at The Muffin Man or shopping on Oxford Street, taking the tube to Parliament Square to see Big Ben or the London Eye just for fun. Studying abroad was a unique and incredible experience that I could not be more thankful for. Having the opportunity to see such history and art and culture that I had only once read about was unimaginable. Studying abroad allowed me to be a citizen of the world and a confident traveler and I can't wait to get back out there.
My base city and home abroad was London, England. I had visited England before when I was fresh out of high school on a chaperoned trip so its safe to say that this was a much better experience! Having been to the city before I had an idea of how things worked like the underground and some cultural aspects. Being able to live in the city gave me a chance to live like a local, spend afternoons in Hyde Park, stroll by the Thames, and get afternoon tea. I really tried to get into the cuisine as well! I love fish and chips, but also made a point to try a full English breakfast and Sunday Roast! I loved the pub culture and going and grabbing a pint with my friends after class. London is a truly amazing and eclectic city that has so much to offer I don't think I could ever spend enough time there.
Budapest, Hungary was our first trip and we kind of took it on a whim. We traveled with a company called Bus2Alps that takes study abroad students on different weekend trips and sets them up with lodging and tours. The trip was 50% off the normal price so we figured it would be a good deal! We had never thought of going to Budapest before and honestly the only reason I knew about it was from 1. the song Budapest by George Ezra and 2. The movie The Grand Budapest Hotel (which I had never seen before). But nonetheless, I was completely blown away!! I had no idea the history that Hungary had as a country and the struggles they had gone through post-WW2. The city's architecture was incredible and the whole feel of the city was unlike any I had ever been to. The only drawback was it was January so it was completely freezing, even the river was frozen. The cool thing about it being so cold were the thermal baths that felt amazing after a three hour walking tour!! We got to go to these incredible and unique cave bars where there were different rooms with music and movies and food. Truly amazing and I just felt like I only got to see half of it (because I really only saw half, Buda is one side of the river and Pest is the other! We never made it to the other side!).
Next we went to Paris, France. I was excited to see Paris just because of all the hype around it and the idea of it. However, I was really under the weather when we went and it was pretty rainy while we were there, total bummer. I did however get to see the sights we went to the Eiffel Tower, made our way through the Louvre (its a maze) and saw the Mona Lisa (smaller than anticipated, but just as chaotic). We saw the Arc de Triumph and even got to go to the top for the most amazing view of the city with the Eiffel Tower! I tried escargot while there and got some macaroons, felt extremely glamorous.
Our next trip was to Barcelona, Spain. Barcelona was very fun, it was vibrant and romantic. Going down back alleys to find a good place to get tappas, hauling up in a little restaurant for sangria, and the most colorful and decadent breakfast I have ever had. We went to Opium the huge and high-energy nightclub and stayed out until 5 AM, as the locals do. We took the public transport around and found La Sagrada Familia, that has been under construction since the 1800's!! After that we attempted to make our way to Parc Guell to see the famous mosaic bench and amazing view of the city, but almost missed our time slot because we didn't know when to get off the bus! This lead to running through the park trying to read signs in Catalan. Luckily we made it with 2 minutes to spare for an amazing view and amazing weekend.
In March we had had a week off for spring break which allowed us to take an extended trip of Italy. We did this through a student travel company to ensure we got the most bang for our buck and also knew what we were looking at. The trip had stops in Rome, Florence, Cinque Terre, Pisa, and Venice. Our tour guide Rhianne could not have been more amazing. She was passionate about Italian history and art and knew the best places to eat and drink like a local. She gave us an informal wine tasting class as we overlooked Florence at sunset and even took us to her personal favorite restaurant in Cinque Terre. In Rome we saw the Colosseum and I reenacted the scene from The Lizzie McGuire movie (to show that I am cultured). We got to see the Vatican and the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, we were even blessed by the pope!! One meal we had in Rome will forever stand out in my mind, we had the most fresh bruschetta I have ever had in my entire life, gnocchi, chicken parmesan, calamari, and unlimited wine. We threw coins into the Trevi Fountain (and again I reenacted Lizzie McGuire). Florence was my favorite city in Italy, it felt large and small all at once. The mix of the tuscan and urban views were incredible and I even got to see Mick & Mack's doubles! My favorite memory of Florence was the karaoke bar Rhianne took us to. All the locals were singing Italian songs and I clapped along until the DJ pointed me out and told me to come on stage. Explaining that I knew no Italian he types in Fergalicous by Fergie. Boy was I easy to persuade. Given that karaoke is one of my favorite hobbies I made a few trips back to the stage. Pisa was only a short pit stop, but we made sure to take as many tourist photos kicking and leaning on the famous tower. Cinque Terre was a beautiful trip, made up of five small towns that all had their own unique flair. We hiked between towns, had local beer on the beach, and the best cake I've ever eaten. Our final city was Venice where Rhianne showed us secrets and stories she had come to know when she studied there. We bought masquerade masks, rode in a gondola, and drank Aperol Sprits (the local drink of choice). The trip was packed of history, art, food, and adventure.
Next we travelled to Dublin for St. Patrick's Day! My friend and I had booked an Air BnB with retired Irish empty nesters. They offered us tea as soon as we got there and wanted to talk about all the things we should see, what they knew about America, and their lives in Ireland. It was a neat experience to live with locals. St. Patrick's Day was crazy everything was packed and everyone was celebrating. We spent a good amount of time in a pub called O'Donoghue's where we danced and sang in the street. We ended our night at the famous Temple Bar with different music in each room and plenty of colorful characters.
Our group travelled to Prague with a group and a not so great tour guide. We got to see Prague Old Town and the John Lennon Wall. We had drinks at a rooftop bar and overlooked the square. And spent an afternoon sitting in the park outside of the castle. The most memorable moment of the trip was deciding to go on a genuine Prague pub crawl the night before we had a 6 am flight, all getting separated, having to find my way to the airport myself, and barely making the flight. While it was a chaotic evening/morning we only left one behind!! The train ride from the airport back into London was painful, but it's a story we still tell today.
Our final trip was to Lisbon, Portugal. We rented an Air BnB, but couldn't figure out how to get in so we wandered the city with our luggage and sat on the sidewalk in front of it. We rented a private boat for a few hours and I felt the most glamorous I had in my life. It was nice to reflect back on all the memories our little group made the past few months and how close we had all become. A few of us decided to take surfing lessons and wow was that more difficult than anticipated! I was able to stand up once for maybe half a second before crashing back into the water. The hardest part was paddling against the current to get out far enough to catch a wave and having the water just constantly knocking you around. After our lesson we found a restaurant on the water and rested our beat up bodies. That evening after dinner we played guitar hero that the Air BnB host had left for us to end a fun filled trip.
In-between all of the trips we spent time in the pubs and clubs of London especially the Slug, Roxy, and Gloucester Arms. My photography class allowed me to get out and explore the city in a different way and in different places than I would have thought. I think back to the casual afternoons getting tea at The Muffin Man or shopping on Oxford Street, taking the tube to Parliament Square to see Big Ben or the London Eye just for fun. Studying abroad was a unique and incredible experience that I could not be more thankful for. Having the opportunity to see such history and art and culture that I had only once read about was unimaginable. Studying abroad allowed me to be a citizen of the world and a confident traveler and I can't wait to get back out there.