Risking My Life for London

April 18-21, April 30- May 2
London, England

The overall theme of the semester abroad has been rest when you get back to the US. I came back from Nice

Park Coming in Clutch

 Sunday night, had my last final Tuesday morning, spent Wednesday in Frankfurt, and flew out Thursday morning. Flights to and from Strasbourg and London are only from Thursday to Sunday, so to meet MK and Avery on Saturday I had to leave on Thursday. When I arrived I made the hour+ commute to the hostel only to find it couldn’t store my bags and I would have to come back in three hours for check-in. I walked to a nearby park and finished reading my very academic book (Percy Jackson). I then came back to check in and got fish and chips for dinner. I walked around some more and called it quits for the night… or so I tried. I think I could be a millionaire and still act like I’m on my last $20. I booked one of the cheapest hostels I could find, naturally. I come back and am told that they are doing work in the room and to come back in 15 minutes. I give it 45 minutes before I come back, and they’re still not done. It was already dark, so I retreated to the hostel kitchen and found the rest of my roommates. The work that they’re doing involves spraying chemicals, made evident by the worker

My Kind, One Toothed Roommate
Offered me a Mask

wearing a mask and the hallway reeking of fumes anytime the door opened. Eventually, the worker leaves, gas mask and all, and tells us when can go into the room now. One of the American girls asks if I want to grab a drink while the room airs out (we bonded earlier after both wanting to sue and ask for a refund). We go to the closet bar and the night gets more interesting. I’m greeted by a lady kissing my hand and asking us if we knew any music producers before bursting out in song. Then two 12-year-olds came in. I guess it was allowed because the bar is also a clothing and music shop (with a DJ). Weird vibe. I return to my illegal, toxic-infused room for the night.

 

HUGE for the Program
(Tap on the Picture to See Up Close)

I managed to make it through the night without dying! I walked across Tower Bridge (which is what most people assume London Bridge is) and explored that part of London. I then went on a music tour through the Soho area. I saw lots of old recording studios, and backdrops of album covers and was the youngest on the tour by about 20 years. That evening I met up with Shadi. She is living in London and did an exchange semester at my friend Eva’s university, a few years prior. I’ve only ever met her once when she came to our house with Eva for Christmas Eve 2021. Shadi and I went on a boat ride, checked out the Lego store, ate in Chinatown, and walked around.

Shadi I know We've Only Met Twice,
But I Would Die for You

The next day I said goodbye to my hostel and walked around with my giant duffle bag for three hours. I got breakfast at the Borough Market then walked to St. James station near Big Ben. Avery and I have

Dynamic Duo: Sleep Deprived MK  
Without Coffee and Hyper Me

been planning an England trip since middle school, so seeing her in London was HUGE! MK wasn’t included in our middle school plan, but middle school me hadn’t planned for Avery to become besties with her. I showed them no sympathy and immediately took them on a walking tour of the Westminster area (Buckingham Palace, Big Ben area). After, we went to the National Portrait Gallery and ate dinner in Chinatown. We might have done other stuff but I didn’t take pictures and can’t remember.

The next day we went to Noting Hill and tried our best to show restraint. We only managed to buy scones, a ring (me) and matching jackets. The jackets ended up being the purchase of the century (I’ve worn mine every time there is a slight breeze). We walked around the nearby area through Kensington Gardens. I’ll have to consult MK and Avery because I don’t know what else we did before heading to Bath.

 

My Mom Told Me She Preferred Avery's
(Avery's will not be Featured for Reference)

We returned to London at the end of our trip on April 30th. We spent about two weeks going through England and Scotland in between. We flew in from Scotland that morning and hit the ground running. We toured Westminster Abbey which did not win Avery over (she’s got a thing for Spanish churches). I got to experience London school kids singing “Kings & Queens” to an abbey worker. I'm so glad I got to experience the most historical event to ever happen in that abbey.

Sporting the Jacket Again

MK and Avery went back to the National Portrait Gallery while I wandered. We then got soft serve and revisited the London sights now that they weren’t sleep-deprived. The next morning I was super excited about our activities. Up until now, I had done most of the London sites I did in my February visit. Today was going to be new stuff for me. We went to the Tower of London and got a tour from a beefeater. Right after I

exited the crown jewels, only seeing about half of the Tower, I got a call from the Airbnb person. Turns out I only got the room for one night instead of two and we needed to be out of there two hours ago. Whoops. Mary Katherine thankfully came with me and we rode the hour to get there, frantically packed our stuff, and tried to find another place all while I held back my stress/tears/anger. We found a hostel, moved our stuff, and met Avery at Tower Bridge three hours later. To boost my spirits and feed my stomach, we went to Borough Market. If there’s one thing I can rely on it's food. We got mushroom risotto,  doughnuts, and the famous chocolate-covered strawberries. The evening ended at Shakespeare’s Globe for a performance of “Much Ado About Nothing.” I have beef with Harry Potter now because what was my man doing with only two lines? He was AMAZING (as was everyone else). The acting from the actors had everyone dying. Honestly, the best Shakespeare performance I’ve seen. I said goodbye to Avery the next morning. It was a very sincere, “See ya later, have a good flight.” Mary Katherine and I then made our way to the airport and headed back to show her Strassy!

From AP Lit to Shakespeare's Garden

Good day mate!

Pain, Train, Automobiles (The Sequel)

April 12-14
Nice, France

All good things come to those who have a horrible commute to get there. When I committed to go to Nice I forgot how big France was. Three of my students are abroad in Milan this semester and I agreed to meet them in Nice for the weekend. Train tickets were extremely expensive, so I decided to do a 10-hour overnight FlixBus to Marseille and then take a two-hour train to Nice. As I was walking to the bus stop, I couldn’t remember if I grabbed my sunglasses or not. Thinking I had enough time (bc my apartment is 10 minutes away from the stop) I went back to grab them. I went back to the bus stop to wait. Shortly after the bus was supposed to arrive, I checked its location and it was on its way to the next stop without me. The bus had left 15 minutes before it was supposed to. I always arrive early in case that happens, but this time I used the extra time to go back to my apartment. To make matters worse, I had my sunglasses with me the whole time. I booked the next bus to Marseille which would leave in an hour. The downside was it had a connection in Leon at 3:30am. Thankfully the bus took longer to get there, so I arrived in Leon at 4:30 with my connecting at 5:15. The FlixBus area was under this bridge and to make it sketcher cops came because there was this big fight. All I want to do is get on this stupid bus. So I wait and wait, and wait. The bus NEVER SHOWS UP!!! I’m stranded in Leon. To end this horror story, I got an Uber to the train station and got a train to Nice. I will forever have beef with FlixBus (I’ll go on to ride with them four more times).



But as I mentioned earlier, all good things come to those who have a horrible commute to get there. Nice heard that I thought Bruges was the best and it decided to one-up it. I had an hour to kill before my students arrived, so I walked to the beach. On the way there I stopped at the market, got some pineapple, and ate it on the beach. I love my Strasbourg A&M group, but I didn’t know them before studying abroad and we don’t have many mutual friends at A&M. With my students, it felt like I was back at A&M. I also just love them and it's always good to surround yourself with people who are obsessed with you.

2nd Attempt bc We Took Our
First Pictures at the Wrong Turn

We checked into our hostel and then walked around before catching the train to Monaco. I was expecting a little more based on the hype. Other than the fancy cars that drove by, and all the yachts parked, it looked like most cities. We spent a few hours there just walking around. We went into the casino and I got my picture taken by the famous F1 turn. It’s the sharpest turn in the F1 circuit (I know that because of Andrew). My life is complete knowing I’ve been to the set of the Monte Carlo movie.

Academic Weapon
                                                   

The train we were supposed to catch back got canceled, so we had to board the next one. It wouldn’t have mattered except I had to be on a Zoom soon for business honors about my internship class. I ended up using one of my students' phones to zoom in (because mine was almost dead) on a very crowded train. I lost connection and gave up about 12 minutes into the 30-minute Zoom. Hopefully, it wasn’t important.

The next day we went to the market and then the beach. At the market, I got five prints. In my defense, they were all pretty and two were for my roommates. I also got a smoothie and pastry. We chilled at the beach and then I chilled in the freezing water. When I got out a Northern Irish guy was talking to my students. We talked for a little and as we went to get lunch he asked if he could come. He stuck around for lunch, and another market, and gelato, and a park. He was with us for the whole day. Normally I wouldn’t mind, but he was kinda annoying and we couldn't talk about anything A&M-related without having to explain it to him. On the bright side, the gelato was amazing and the park was my favorite part of Nice.

Typical Park Attire

Still Thinking About That
Sandwich

My students left around 11 the next day, while my flight wasn’t until 7. I got another salami sandwich (got one the first day) and ate it at the beach. I think my dad’s spirit possessed me as soon as I came to Europe because not only am I eating sandwiches all the time for lunch, I’m eating salami sandwiches. As I was chilling on the beach, a man came up to me and after a very awkward conversation with lots of pauses on my part (to hopefully get him to leave) he asked me if I wanted to work on his boat. Sir, call me when you find someone dumb enough to believe your story and fake boat picture. I went back to the park and walked around the rest of the day, before heading to the airport and flying back. Knowing I had a flight back was the only thing that got me through my horrible commute to Nice.

Wouldn't You Stay up All Night and do
a 12hr Commute for Them Too 😍

Seeing my students was amazing!! We swapped our traveling stories and we got to talk about mutual friends and what’s been going on at A&M. I didn’t know how much I needed to talk to people back home. I’ve been really bad about communicating with my A&M friends because of the time zone, and I also don’t want to come across as bragging when I tell them how I’ve been. So, I’ve kinda been out of the loop and missing my friends.


Nice became my top city after that weekend. Part of it was the company, part of it was finally seeing the sun, and part of it was having a chill beach weekend. It did make coming back and having to study for my last final horrible though. I think I studied maybe 3 hours.

View from our Hostel
(Got Bug Bites bc we Kept our Door Open Though)

PS: Sorry for the long wait. After Belgium, I stayed in Strasbourg because I had finals. Then after Nice, I had my last final, and immediately set off to London and have been traveling since. Ask MK, I’ve been stressing over not updating my fans.

Au revoir!