Today was probably one of the longest days of my life, but also one of the most exciting because I traveled out of the country for the first time! When I got to the airport I realized that my suitcase was over-weight, and my carry-on bag was not a very good one. I had to act fast and I put some of my stuff in my roommate Emma’s suitcase. Packing was never my strong suit, so I was in no way surprised. I was only one pound away for the over-weight luggage limit when the time came, so I went into this flight with high hopes. We left Pittsburgh at 10 p.m. (Pittsburgh time) and arrived here at 10 a.m. in London time (5 a.m. Pittsburgh time), which would mean an 8-hour flight overnight. It was a cool flight though because I had never flown on a plane that big before. It was so new to me to get food served on a plane and I got my own personal TV (watched A Star is Born and Drag Race). The flight was so hard to get comfortable on though so, I slept close to none, but it was totally worth it for the day I had.
As soon as we got off the plane, we started our day. We had met up with our tour director for the whole trip, David and our Academic Coordinator for the trip, Jan Getz! We got on a coach bus where we met up with a local tour guide, whose name was also Jan, and she came on our bus to show us around the city. She introduced us to all the famous landmarks like, Buckingham Palace (which we got to stop and walk around; I loved seeing the army guards out front standing so still), Kensington Palace, Hyde Park, Big Ben Clock Tower, Westminster Abbey, where all the houses of the government resided, and so much more. After that we broke up for lunch, and I just walked around and explored for a minute because I knew we were going to dinner in just a few hours and wasn’t super hungry in the moment. Then, we met up at Tower Hill, where we took a Beefeater’s Tour of the Tower of London. We got to see inside Edward I’s tower, where prisoners were kept, the Crown Jewels, the Royal Armories, the animals they had, the amazing view of the Tower Bridge, and the city view all together was exquisite.
We then shuttled back to finally check into our hotel! We only had a half an hour to freshen up before dinner, so I split it with finally laying down and putting myself together, so maybe I would have some more energy, which I did! We had a little meeting about how the subway/tube system worked, and then we were off to dinner. We walked from our gorgeous hotel (St. Giles Hotel) to a fish and chips pub, but I had some good chicken and chips because fish just really isn’t a food for me. Then, we headed home to get some rest for the next day. I had also taken time to reorganize my stuff, and just as I had suspected I had packed probably too much.
A few fun things I noticed throughout my day in London was the architecture was amazing. Some building here, were from around before even the 1500’s, and are still so detailed, while some were also very modernized and mesmerizing. It was so cool to see these two types of structures create a space for such a beautiful historic city. It is simply incredible! I also noticed a lot of siblings wore matching clothes exactly even when they are two different ages, or it could have just been the day, but it was funny to me. I also really want to see the view from the London Eye (the big ferris wheel) because the view would be out of this world, and I think that is the type of content we need. This place is also very similar to a less crowded, much cleaner New York.
I called to check in on Alaska (my cat) because I am a nervous Nelly without her lol. Now I can’t wait to fall asleep and see what is in store tomorrow, and finally explore the city on a good night’s sleep!