Elizabeth Bennet by Day, George Washington by Night

February 20- 26

London, England 

“At a pub with good friends, good music, and English with an accent. What can be better?” Who am I to disagree with the wise words of George Gamez? At the time, there really was nothing better. I went with two A&M girls and then two other Americans. One is from California and the other is from Ohio. While all the exchange students talk and work together in class, people stick to their home area group for weekend trips. We got in on Thursday evening and went straight to the hostel. Everyone slept in, while I hit the ground running. By the time the others left, I had walked to Big Ben, strolled around St. James Park, saw the changing of the guards, ate lunch, and was at the British Museum. Gamez vacation

England and Its Traditions 🙄 

 style wins again. When I went to Buckingham Palace, there was a crowd that seemed to be waiting for something. I looked up the changing of the guards and saw that it was at 11 that day, but it was only 9:50. I overheard people talking about the route and gesturing and my mind went to ‘a royal’s about to stroll through’. I started searching for any royal events happening, but nothing was coming up. I then decided to ask a security person and he told me the crowd was for the changing of the guards. I decided to stay, despite being a little crushed over the no royal sighting. I waited for about 35 minutes before I heard the band. I was off to the side, so I only got to see the soldiers march in and out. At about 11:30 I called it quits because it wasn't that entertaining and I had been there forever. I made my way to the British Museum, eating a BLT on the way. Thank goodness the museum was free because it was mid. I spent about an hour and a half there, spending almost all my time in the Greek and Roman section. 

The Pub was Pubing
                                                 

After that, I passed the National Portrait Gallery, so I decided to go in. This one was definitely worth my free admission ticket. It housed a lot of royal paintings and the plaques told you a little bit about the person. My favorite room housed a collection of paintings of random people. At the time these were painted, portraits had become no longer a thing for the elite. I loved the royal portraits with all their glamor, but it was giving too much history textbook vibes. I walked around some more and eventually met up with the lazy bums to go see Big Ben. We took pictures and window-shopped before we split. They went to the British Museum, while I went to the National Gallery. I loved the National Gallery. I got to see Van Gough’s famous sunflower painting, some Monet’s, and tons of Renaissance. I was there for about two and a half hours. We met up there before dinner. We ate pies at an old pub and I’ve never loved the British more. It was a vibe.

My Favorite Room in the Portrait Gallery

The two non-Aggies rented a car to go see Stonehenge and a park that was featured in the Pride & Prejudice film. Assuming this could be my one chance to do it, I joined them. To get to the car spot, I hopped on a double-decker bus and got to see the city. The drive to Stonehenge was about an hour and a half. For most of it, we were driving through the English countryside and I saw sheep! The Ohio girl was confused as to why I was so excited to see sheep in a field. Parking for Stonehenge was far out, so

Just Your Average English Park 

Me and Some Rocks
                                                   

we walked 30 minutes through some fields to see it. I was having my Jane Austen character moment. We spent about 10 minutes looking at it because there's not much else you can do, then walked back. We drove 30 minutes to the park. All I knew was that The Temple of Apollo was there, which is where the iconic rain scene in Pride and Prejudice takes place. Turns out, everything there should have been in the movie. We were there till closing, walking around. We got back to London that evening and hit up a bar. I hadn’t eaten all day because there weren't any options where we were.  After having some leftover pizza from the Aggies, I got a sudden surge of energy I'd been lacking. I was doing a Michael Jackson impersonation, had no filter, and wore my sunglasses most of the night. I took on England like I was George Washington. At the bar, we got a cider and it was delicious. We were there till they closed at midnight. After some more shenanigans, including trying to fit six people in a telephone booth, we called it a night. We left the next morning.

 

Britain Once Again Unable to Handle America 

I didn’t see many of the big London sights, but I’m holding out for when Mary Katherine and my friend Avery visit in April. Originally, I wasn’t going to go to London for that reason, but it turned out the trip was much needed. We’ve been doing smaller cities/towns and there’s only so much wandering around and admiring the architecture I can do. Plus, I needed to feel proud of myself for knowing the language of the country I was visiting. I’ve never been so happy to order my food and read the navigation correctly.

Class update: In French culture, I learned that the French are required to have 25 days off a year and if they work longer hours they are considered inefficient. Getting the student visa was the bane of my existence, but for 25 days off, I’d do it all again for a work visa. We also learned about their strikes. The French transportation system has filed for strike for the whole 2024 years, which means that they can go on strike anytime that year without going through the process (bc apparently there is one). They’re seeing the Paris Olympics as an opportunity to make a statement and the French government knows this so they’re being extra nice to them. Good thing I’m far from Paris and leaving in May. I’m getting used to being over here so my normal week doesn’t seem interesting enough to write about, but it’s still great. I have three more class days till Spring Break. I get done Thursday at noon and still don’t have a destination. I don’t feel like I deserve a Spring Break because as my mom says, ‘You're on vacation,’ but I won’t complain about a vacation during my vacation.

Shoutout to my 10 readers. Comment and use code: BringMeGift, to win a chance to get a gift from my travels. 

Merci et au revoir!

If Darcy Ever Told Me He Liked Me Against
His Better Judgement