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!