It’s hard to believe it, but this week marks halfway through my time in London! Since my last blog post focused on my class’s site visit to the Financial Reporting Council, in which I was one of the two site visit leads, I have a lot to discuss.

Every day I feel more and more lucky to be living in this beautiful city this summer. However, this summer is exceptionally special. How awesome is it that my peers and I are in London during the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee! This weekend was filled with so many remarkable moments and unforgettable memories. To kick off the bank holiday weekend, I visited the Victoria and Albert Museum and Her Majesty’s Theatre Wednesday evening to see my favorite show of all time: Phantom of the Opera. I attended with three friends and we had a great night! This may have been my favorite live performance of Phantom ever. 

The first day of the Jubilee celebrations was filled with lots of laughter and smiles with my roommate and dear friend, Taylor. We arrived at The Mall around 9 AM to watch the parade pass by. After some confusion about how to get to a certain spot, we ended up losing our spot inside The Mall and instead stopped on the street. We sat along a barrier believing we would see nothing, but were pleasantly surprised when Princess Kate and the kids passed by right in front of us! I will never forget the excitement I felt in that moment; as someone who has grown up watching the royal family on television and in the news, I was entirely speechless to see them in person. Following the parade, Taylor and I went closer to Buckingham Palace for some photos (see attached!) and then over to the Thames for dinner and some more photos. 

On Friday, my friends and I visited both the Tower of London and Churchill’s War Rooms. Both of these museums were fascinating. It felt surreal seeing the place where Churchill ran WWII. On Saturday, we visited the British Museum, then ventured over to Oxford Street to shop, where we found a fantastic restaurant named Circolo Popolare. We spent the night watching the Jubilee concert, which was so cool. On the last day of Jubilee weekend, two of my roommates and I went to The Mall to watch the end of the weekend’s events, the Jubilee Pageant. This parade was so fun to watch, despite the day’s cool weather.

While Jubilee weekend was filled with various activities, I have been trying to fill my time around my internship as well. Following a site visit to Transport for London, where we were able to meet the COO, Andy Lord, I attended the Vaudeville Theatre’s showing of SIX The Musical. This show was unlike the others I have seen so far, a nice change from the norm! I also visited the Museum of London after visiting the Financial Reporting Council. This museum was one of my favorites so far. Covering hundreds of years of history, this one was a favorite as I have learned it all before. I am a huge history fan, and my high school English teacher, Mr. Cavalier, made sure we learned British history alongside British literature. This museum was a culmination of all my lessons in high school and it felt like I came full circle actually living in this city and seeing the museum first hand. 

I completed the week with a weekend trip to Paris, but that will be a story for another blog post! Over the past two weeks, I have learned a lot about myself and the culture of London. I am beyond grateful for all of the opportunities I have had and excited to continue making memories in my last few weeks!