Special Visitors!

Sorry that it's been so long since my last post, but I have a good excuse! Mom and Nunner came to visit me in London! We had a bunch of fun and some great adventures, so get ready!

Mom and Nunner flew in on Thursday and immediately took the train up to Edinburgh, Scotland. I had class that afternoon so as soon as I was done, I hopped on the train and headed to meet them! After being delayed an hour due to power failures and passenger problem that required us to be met by the police at one of the stations, I finally arrived at 9pm.

 The view from the train on the way to Edinburgh

Friday morning, we went strolling. Here's some history about Edinburgh:

It is pronounced "Edinburrah"

Edinburgh is split into two halves, Old Town and New Town

Old Town is where the historical part of the city is. When it got overcrowded, the rich moved to the other side and formed New Town, which is now where all the shopping is located

The beautiful views of Edinburgh and the Sir Walter Scott memorial

We spent most of the day in Old Town visiting some historic sights. We went to a tartan and kilt factory and found out that my mom's maiden name is Scottish, so we found our tartan! Mom and Nunner also finally purchased Barbour coats which came in handy with all the rain (I almost always have mine in hand)!

IT'S BEAKER!!!

Afterwards, we headed towards Holyrood Palace, the Queen's royal residence in Edinburgh. Before touring the castle, we were able to see an exhibit of Leonardo Da Vinci's anatomical sketches. While touring the castle, we learned all about Mary Queen of Scots and James VI/I. 

The Abbey at Holyrood

Saturday, we took a bus tour around the city. The tour had only us, plus one or two others, so we had a private bus tour where the guide was able to answer all of our questions. That afternoon, we had a lovely afternoon tea at the Balmoral Hotel before heading back to pack up before leaving for London Sunday morning

Sunday, we took the train back down to London and were able to see the seaside and some cute little sheep (probably the highlight of my train ride)! 

Pre-train ride selfies

The sheep by the sea

Once we arrived in London, we dropped off our luggage and headed toward the National Portrait Gallery. Their hotel was located right next to Trafalgar Square, which is a perfect location! 

I snuck a photo of Jane Austen's sketch!

Monday, we went to Bath for the day. Once we pulled into the station, it started raining. But we didn't let that dampen our day! We headed straight for the Jane Austen Centre and spent the morning wandering around and looking at the beautiful costumes and props. Jane Austen lived in Bath for several years and both Persuasion and Northanger Abbey (my favorite!) partially take place there.

"Please take care of this bear. Thank you."

The Jane Austen Centre

After Jane Austen, we went to the Fashion Museum and Assembly Rooms. The Assembly Rooms are where the dances and other events of the season would take place during the height of Bath being the fashionable place to holiday. The Fashion Museum has clothes spanning from the 1600's to 2011, so Nunner really enjoyed it. We then headed to lunch at Wagamama's and decided where we were going to go next.

After lunch, we headed over to the Holbourne museum which was where the portrait of Kate Middleton was on loan from the National Portrait Gallery. After walking around the museum, we headed to Sally Lunn Bun Shoppe, home of the Sally Lunn bun (AKA the Colonial Williamsburg bread). 

Delicious!

Doctor Who approved!

Tuesday, I was in class all day, but Mom walked Nunner all over London, taking her to all the important sites of London. Wednesday, I had class in the morning, but met Mom and Nunner for a trip to Harrods and stroll around Covent Gardens. That evening, we had dinner at the Sherlock Holmes pub and headed to a West End production of The Ladykillers. I had never seen the movie, but it was HILARIOUS!!!! I would recommend it to anyone visiting London who isn't afraid of wetting their pants from laughing too much :)! 

Thursday morning, was the Museum of London and then I headed to class. Mom took Nunner to see the Tower of London and then they came to visit me on campus! I gave them the full campus tour, great practice for when I get back to Meredith and start doing White Iris tours. We headed back to the hotel to pack and eat burritos from a delicious take-away restaurant called Tortilla (which I promptly went back to the next day for another). 

Friday morning, Mom and Nunner said farewell at 6am and went off to the airport. I moved back to campus and met up with some of my friends to catch up on what I'd missed. None of us had class, so we went to Trafalger so they could try the yummy burritos. As a spur of the moment decision, Maddy, Becca and I got last minute tickets to see Once which is AMAZING!

They serve refreshments on stage and the cast comes out and jams before the show!

This past week, I've been catching up on reading and submitting assignments in preparation for Reading Week, a week of no classes, which starts today. This week will be full of more adventures, so keep an eye out for some more posts (and I promise, no more long breaks)!

Found the home of Harry Potter!

Being a Tourist

After being in London for almost a whole month, I'm finally beginning to settle into a schedule. My classes are AMAZING and I have met some great people! To keep myself from spending all my time in my room doing my readings for class (but don't worry, I still spend plenty of time on my studies!), I try and mix up my schedule with visits to museums and famous London sites.

One of the great things about studying in a city like London is getting to visit several of the places we study about in class. Tomorrow, I'm going to the National Gallery for my Early Modern Art class to look at some of the artwork we studied last week. In my Architecture of London class, we were learning about the historical significance of squares and gardens in London. So last Wednesday, we actually went and visited some of the most significant squares of London! 

The Lyndsey House located on Lincoln's Inn Fields, one of the oldest squares in London

 This past weekend was very busy! Some of my friends and I decided to be tourists and did some of the top things to do in London. On Friday, we visited the Science Museum, which was very interesting. Afterwards, we were starving, so we went to a nearby pub for dinner and I got fish and chips with mushy peas.

Delicious!

Saturday Becca, her friend from home, another flat mate Maddie, and I were going to go to Westminster, but found out that it closes at 12:30 on Saturdays instead of 3:30 like we thought. So instead, we went to a local restaurant right down the street from Queen Mary and had a full English breakfast and then went to Oxford Street.

Yummy!

After an afternoon strolling down Oxford street, we decided to go all out and have tea at the Orangery. The Orangery is located right next to Kensington Palace and is a very lovely place for a proper afternoon tea. Unfortunately, Will and Kate were unable to accept our invitation to join us because George had been especially fussy that morning.

Map of Kensington Gardens, Palace, and Orangery

The exterior of the Orangery

Afternoon tea at the Orangery

When we were finished with tea, we strolled around Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park. During our walk, we decided to visit Big Ben and the Eye at night since it was only a couple miles away and a very pleasant evening. 

The bus just happened to drive by, making this one of the most British photos I will take!

This past weekend was amazing and I can't wait to keep you all updated with the rest of my adventures! Be on the lookout for an upcoming post about the Globe Theater, the National Gallery, and some visitors from home!

P.S. I think this Mini Cooper beats mine in the coolness category! But mine's still cuter ;)

The First Three Weeks

Tomorrow marks three weeks since I left North Carolina for London. It seems like so much longer! I have done so much and met so many new people that I feel like I have been here for so much longer than I actually have. For the first week and a half, I tried to cram in as much as I could before classes started last Tuesday.

 A little bit of background about where I am and where I'm studying. Queen Mary is part of the University of London group and is located in the East End. It's about a five minute walk from the Mile End tube stop and thirty minutes by tube from South Kensington. It was ranked in the top 150 universities in the world and is a member of the Russell Group.

 Now let's see....where to begin? After getting off the plane at 7am last Wednesday, I thought it would be a great idea to visit the British Museum which was a hop, skip, and a jump away from our hotel! It was a nice, relaxing (yet energizing) way to begin my semester abroad. During orientation, we saw a West End production by the Thames and went on a walking tour of London to visit some places that would be useful to us as students in London.

Getting ready to go through security in Raleigh

The Eye and Big Ben

Two Mini Coopers on our walking tour

 After orientation with IFSA-Butler, we finally moved into our flat at QMUL. I was very lucky to have some great flat mates (5 British and 4 Americans)!

My room for the next three months!

 In our effort to cram in all that we could before classes, one of my flat mates, Becca, and I decided to do all the big things we wanted to do in and around London. Sunday started with a visit to the Victoria and Albert museum with several new friends for the last day of their Beatrix Potter exhibit with original sketches of her story The Tailor of Gloucester.

One of her original sketches

Tuesday night was the Queen Mary international students boat tour. We were able to see London by night from the Thames river.

 Becca and me on the QMUL international students boat tour

 A spur of the moment decision led Becca and me to book tickets at 1am for the Making of Harry Potter Studio Tour on Wednesday. After FIVE FIRE ALARMS that night, we were kind of tired when we started out for the tour. But boy was it worth it! We saw costumes and creatures and sets and props and.....the list goes on! 

 Getting ready to go in! 

The Knight Bus 

The scale module of Hogwarts used for many of the aerial scenes. It was pretty amazing!

 Friday, several of my flat mates and I were able to get last minute tickets to BUCKINGHAM PALACE!!! We saw the coronation robes and the Queen's dress, along with the robes that the Archbishop of Canterbury wore. That was so amazing and an experience I will never forget!!! 

Buckingham Palace

 To wind down my whirlwind week, some of us got tickets to London Fashion Weekend. It's the weekend after Fashion Week where the public can see the highlights from several of the designers and have a chance to purchase some amazing clothes and accessories. We saw a catwalk and sat on the SECOND ROW! It was a great way to finish up my first full week in London. 

 I can't wait to keep you all up to date about all of my adventures! Be on the lookout for more posts in weeks to come!