Student Bloggers

Sorry for the late post dear readers, but I was rather busy last week! My best friend, Bethany, arrived in town last Tuesday so we were hanging out and she was assisting me in my London adventures, which I shall now share with you!

Nothing happened on Monday, so I’ll start this post by writing about Tuesday since it was my first day of class! This semester I am taking three business classes and one economics class. Each class is a two-hour lecture and my economics class includes an additional hour-long tutorial as well. I have each class once per week, which seems pretty doable. I also got lucky with my schedule since I don’t have class on Monday or Friday. However, schedules aren’t what I wanted to discuss about Tuesday. You see, City had put together an event for the international students that evening. And it wasn’t just the study abroad students either. We had the opportunity to talk to fulltime City students as well as some professors. And to help us become a little more social, they offered everyone free drinks and food. Waiters were constantly walking by to fill up glasses of wine or to offer you an hors d’oeuvre. The event was held at the Guildhall, which is a beautiful building that is over 800 years old. Overall, it was a great atmosphere to meet people in and I highly recommend going if you’re given the opportunity! Although I would eat dinner beforehand since the event doesn’t offer an actual meal and you’ll definitely be hungry after.

Wednesday, I hit up Oxford Street with Bethany. I needed to get some stuff for my dorm and I had been putting it off for forever, but now I had someone to help me carry stuff. We found that the best place to go for cheap items like bedding and hangers and other such necessities was Primark. I was able to get everything I needed there and we still had time to stop by the Disney store down the street and if you think that I didn’t make Bethany take a picture of me in Cinderella’s carriage, then you are very wrong. We also stopped in Selfridges, a high-end department store, because high fashion clothing amuses me and they also had their Christmas shop located on the top floor and I’m a sucker for those. Now if you do find yourself on Oxford Street one day, I highly recommend checking out Regent Street and New Bond Street. On those roads, you’ll find high end designer stores that I’m assuming you won’t be able to buy anything in, but it’s always fun to window shop in those kinds of places! It’s some of the most expensive shopping in the world after all!

Thursday, I completed a bucket list item! I went and saw one of Shakespeare’s plays at the Globe Theatre! I know, it’s a lame item, but I’m an English nerd with a love for Shakespeare, so fight me. Bethany and I went to see The Winter’s Tale and I was absolutely bouncing off the walls with excitement! If you would like to see one of Shakespeare’s plays at the Globe, be sure to book way in advance. Productions like Hamlet and Othello tend to sell out quickly and if you want to do it as cheaply as possible then be prepared to stand for about three hours in a crowd. The Globe has remained true to its roots in certain aspects and one of those aspects is that they’ve maintained the standing area that existed during the time the plays were first produced. If you are willing to join the crowd on their feet, then tickets are only £5. Otherwise, you can pay around £20-£50 depending on the show and where your seat is located. Also, if you go with someone like me who gets very excited over this sort of thing, do NOT leave them unsupervised in the gift shop as they will want to buy everything. In the end, I’m very glad I went and I encourage everyone to go at least once during their time in London!

Saturday was a pretty touristy day. Bethany and I went out to Kensington for tea. While I am a firm believer that everyone should go to tea at least once, it is also very important to do your research before settling on a place to go. Somewhere like the Ritz costs around £60 per person while most other places cost around £40-£50. The place we went to was the cheapest I found at £31 per person (£41 if you want a glass of champagne with your tea). It took place in the Royal Gardens Hotel and is actually right across from one of those "hop-on hop-off" tour buses, which we boarded once we were done with tea. You can learn a lot of interesting things on those tours, especially when the tour guide is a real person as opposed to a prerecorded voice. And always try to ride up top! It’s a lot more fun that way!

Sunday was another major check off of the to-do list. It began at Harrods, yet another high-end department store. Bethany was happy to go because there’s a famous French macaron place there. And yes, she did end up buying some. After that I dragged her to Hamleys, a giant toy store that I love. The employees there are always playing with the toys and interacting with the kids and seem to have so much fun! And best of all, pretty much the whole subfloor is dedicated to Harry Potter! They even have sorting ceremonies and quidditch practices down there! However, the magic we experienced that day didn’t end there! That evening we went to The Cauldron, this really cool wizarding pub that just recently reopened. Bethany and I first heard about the place over a year ago on Facebook and we had been talking ever since about going together and that evening it finally happened! It was so worth the wait! When you walk in, they give you a robe and a wand and lead you to your table. You then get to use the wand to mix your “potions”. The drinks you make will smoke, bubble, and even be set on fire! If you decide that this is something you really want to do, then go online and buy your tickets! They don’t really take walk-ins and your ticket will cover two drinks for you to mix and a glass of mead. And for those of you who might not want to drink, never fear for they have nonalcoholic versions of everything so you don’t have to miss out on an amazing experience! Oh, and there’s a closet in there that actually leads to a secret room where you can take some pictures. Plus, it makes you feel all adventurous when you go through the door!

Finally, a little preview of my next post! This weekend I will be traveling to Brussels, Belgium. I’ve never been to Belgium before and I’ve never traveled in Europe on my own. Fingers crossed it goes well! Until next time dear reader!