Our first full day in London was an interesting one for sure. It began with a full English breakfast at our hotel and prepping ourselves for our first media visit with Jason MacKenzie at Regent’s University.
After breakfast, Kayla, Angela and I walked down the street from our hotel to a UK-based sandwich/coffee shop. We all decided that we were going to need something a little stronger than hotel coffee to power through our jetlag. After ordering my macchiato, I realized that there was a major size difference when ordering coffee here in the United Kingdom. Turns out, my macchiato was the size of a shot of espresso.
After our coffee excursion, we took the Tube with the rest of our class to Regent’s University, where we met with Jason MacKenzie. Jason discussed the landscape of media in the United Kingdom. We had an interesting discussion focused on opposing opinions and limited viewpoints of a reader and writer, as well as what to look out for in the future of media. Jason said augmented reality, VR/AR, and faster data/more screens will be in the near future in media. Jason also pointed out to our group the significance of the companies that make up FAANG: Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Google, and how they all can affect the media landscape.
After our lovely media visit with Jason, Kayla, Angela and I used our free time wisely. We explored China Town, Leicester Square, Covent Garden, and other neighborhoods in London. We wanted to see all that London has to offer, more so the understated parts of London, not so much all of the stereotypical tourist locations.
While on our journey through London’s various neighborhoods, Leicester Square to be specific, there were many people busking on the streets. One man, in particular, decided to make some music in his own creative way by singing into a traffic cone. It was quite a sight to see. Needless to say, that was a highlight of our night.
For dinner, we stopped in a pub close to our hotel for some authentic pub food. I had fish n’ chips once again. They even had a little piece of Pittsburgh at the pub, Heinz ketchup! Although I am not a fan of mayonnaise, Angela and Kayla both love mayo as a dipping sauce for their fries (chips), so I also tried mayo with my fries and surprisingly didn’t hate it.
Our first full day in London was nothing short of a busy, fun-filled day! I am looking forward to more media visits tomorrow!