A Few of My Favorite Things

As my time in London is winding down, I have been reflecting fondly on some of my favorite things and places.

• Food

London is notoriously known for its lack of good food, but who ever started this stigma was definitely eating in the wrong places. I am usually not an adventurous eater, but I’ve been branching out while I’ve been here. I’ve had Pad Thai, Indian, Italian, American food, and of course the classic fish and chips. Because of the diversity in London, you can find amazing food from pretty much any ethnicity. Some of my favorites have been stalls in the Camden Market and Borough Market, The Churchill Arms for Pad Thai, and Dishoom for Indian.

• Travelling

England’s proximity to Ireland and Wales made it very easy to travel on the weekends. An early Friday morning flight to Dublin gave us the entire day to explore one of Ireland’s best cities. On Saturday I went to the Cliffs of Moher, which was a breathtaking view. They filmed part of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince there. 48 hours in Ireland was definitely not enough, so I know that I will be back in the future! My other trip was a 5 hour train ride to Wales. My weekend in Wales was one of my favorite parts of my study abroad experience. We went coasteering, which is basically climbing around the cliffs of the Pembrokeshire Coast and jumping off of them into the water. We also (accidentally) went for a 10 mile hike instead of a 4 mile hike, but the coast of Wales is so beautiful that I didn’t mind too much. The last morning in Wales we went kayaking along the coast which was so much fun and again had the gorgeous views. The crystal blue of the water is something that I will always remember.

• The Tube

Unpopular opinion: I love the tube. Despite the sometimes unbearable heat, skin-to-skin contact with strangers, and frustrating delays, I love the tube. Its so convenient to walk outside your door, into the station, and get to your destination with ease. I’ve found that you can easily get to most places in London in 30 minutes on the tube. My commute to work is about 45 minutes every day and I find it really relaxing to take the tube alone and just sit and read my book. I generally would rather be with friends than be by myself, but you aren’t supposed to talk on the tube anyways, so its refreshing to have some alone time.

 

I am really sad that I will only be in London for one more week. I know I will be back in the future so that I can continue to enjoy my favorite things!