Abroad: My first trip to London!

Last semester, I had the opportunity to study abroad in Manchester, England, at the University of Salford. This provided me with a multitude of opportunities to travel to other places within the United Kingdom as well as in Europe. My very first trip was the first week of February, in which six other girls in my study abroad program and I took the five hour bus to London. We stayed in a very small yet charming Airbnb on the west side of London. It was surrounded by tiny pubs and was just a short walk from Big Ben. I loved it! 

The first full day, we started off bright and early, or as early as seven twenty-something girls could, and set off for Big Ben. It was full of tourists, to nobody's surprise, so we made sure to keep our purses clutched to our sides to ward off any pickpockets. We then ventured around the rest of London, taking a quick photo at Westminster Abbey, stopping for coffee and croissants at Pret A Manger — the Starbucks coffee of the United Kingdom — and strolling through the markets in Notting Hill. Towards the end of the day, we attempted to take on the enormous British Museum. This was definitely a mistake. It was so large and so busy that we kept losing each other in the crowds and the 50-plus galleries within the museum. It ended with all of us finding the closest set of empty stairs and waiting until everyone found their way back to the group so we could leave. It was such a long and tiring day that when we got back to our Airbnb, everyone immediately went to their separate corners to decompress, with some even taking a quick nap.

After everyone had awoken from their decompressive state, we put a pizza in the oven for dinner to save money. Unfortunately, nobody was paying attention to the clock, so we had burnt pizza for dinner. While eating the burnt pizza, we decided it was fitting to turn on the iconic film "Notting Hill." If you are not familiar with this movie, it is a romantic comedy set in London, starring both Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts. It's one of my favorite movies of all time. 

The next day, we took the Tube, also known as the London Underground, to Buckingham Palace. It was packed, as the Changing of the Guard ceremony was about to happen. After getting a glimpse of this famous event, we ventured through St. James's Park on our way to Piccadilly Circus. This was our second mistake of the trip. It was so overcrowded and filled with tourist traps that, after fighting our way through loads of retail shops, we found ourselves in Chinatown. This is where I had the best Chinese cuisine of my life. 

Our last stop of the trip was the Tower Bridge. It was getting dark, so the lights on the bridge were turned on, making it look even more majestic than it already was. After many photo ops, we headed back to our Airbnb to pack our things for the train ride home. 

After heading to the train station, waiting for our train to arrive, and then sitting half-asleep on the train for the two-hour journey back to Manchester, we all parted ways around 1 in the morning to get some much-needed sleep. It was definitely one of my most memorable trips while I was studying abroad!