Travel

This weekend, I’ve made two more trips out of London – a Saturday trip to Bath and a Sunday trip to Stonehenge. On Saturday morning, after less than two hours of sleep (not much time in bed), two friends and I caught a pre-dawn train to Bath from Paddington Station. These early trains are significantly […]

Yesterday was the Lord Mayor’s Show, which, as you might expect, is an annual celebration of the inauguration of the Lord Mayor. The Lord Mayor governs The City of London, which isn’t the same thing as London. Time for a short digression. “London” generally refers to Greater London, which is all the areas in tan […]

This post is long, long overdue. I was in Oxford on Wednesday of last week (October 29). I left my flat in London just before 5am to get breakfast and catch my 6:20 train to Oxford. I quickly learned that I didn’t need to take a train anywhere near that early. I was in Oxford […]

I’ve been extremely delinquent in posting my adventures here, so these events actually happened nearly two weeks ago. But since a few people might find them interesting, I’ll share them here. I got the chance to visit the Museum of London. They have exhibitions tracing London’s history from prehistory to the present, in addition to […]

This weekend, my study abroad program arranged a trip to the Lake District, in the north-west part of England. This is the area Wordsworth loved to call home because of its dramatic glacier-cut valleys and numerous murmuring streams. It’s truly one of the most beautiful places in England. Though the rest of the London students […]

I’ve now made two trips to the British Museum since my arrival here, and I think I’m about halfway through the exhibits. It’s a truly spectacular place. I always chuckle to myself when the card describing the object uses the phrase “came to the British Museum.” Such language seems to indicate that these statues from […]

Over the past few days, I’ve been doing plenty of running through the streets of London. Here’s a summary, with a few photos. September 17 & 18 I ran through Kensington Gardens on both these days, with a trip past the Albert Monument and the Royal Albert Hall, both dedicated to Albert, Prince Consort, who […]

As soon as I saw a Mexican restaurant near my flat, I HAD to try it. It piqued my curiosity. What passes for Mexican food in Britain? Turns out, it’s something reasonably close to the original. It was a tasty and fairly authentic burrito. And of course the Mandarin Jarritos is delicious. A couple things […]

Since orientation has been going on, it’s been hard to find time to write, even in the evenings. But now it’s time to catch on the stories of my adventures, beginning with where I left off. Monday afternoon, I landed at Heathrow and made the long trek to Immigration. After waiting in line for an […]

I arrived in San Diego two days ago for a week with family before I depart for London. My passport was waiting for me, with my UK visa enclosed. Now I just have to gather the rest of the documentation that will let me clear immigration on Monday afternoon.