Eric Gu

Howdy! Day 14 began with a nice breakfast in the Imperial College Dining Hall. As we get closer and closer to leaving the UK, many of us have begun to take advantage of the commodity that is “beans on toast” while we still have it. After breakfast, we met up with our tour guides, Gayle and Tom, and began our excursion for the day. The transportation to our destination was a nice change of scenery from the typical tube experience, as we took an “uber boat” on the River Thames to Greenwich, just outside of downtown London. 

After a scenic hike up to the Royal Observatory in Greenwich (which included a view of one of the fields used for the 2012 Olympic Games), we were treated to a closeup view of the Prime Meridian and officially became teleportation savants by jumping back and forth over the line, traveling across hemispheres in mere seconds.

After visiting the Prime Meridian, we were treated to the most culturally diverse area of town in the local farmers’ market, which housed many types of food, clothing, and small trinkets and souvenirs. Some highlights were the local fudge store, the handmade strawberry lemonade, and the thai pop-up stand (basically the food because we were HANGRY). After exploring the surrounding area, we departed from Greenwich and moved onto St. Paul’s Cathedral, using the tube to travel.

 

Saint Paul’s Cathedral, the largest church in all of Great Britain, was one of the most beautiful and awe-inspiring sights from the entire trip. There were many famous military commanders and artists buried in the crypt, along with Sir Christopher Wren, the architect who designed St. Paul’s Cathedral and other notable landmarks around London. A mathematician by trade, Sir Wren designed the cathedral to be perfectly symmetrical, with a slightly oval dome that results in great acoustics throughout the cathedral. 

We also climbed all the way to the top of the cathedral (528 steps!) to the Golden Gallery, and the view was incredible. We were thoroughly impressed with the art of the cathedral, and we even got to hear a bit of the church choir practice. Because the acoustics are virtually perfect, we were able to communicate across the oval balcony near the top of the cathedral — the “HOWDY!” heard around the world, if you will.

After we got back to the dorm and had dinner, we split off into three main groups. A group of us rented some public transportation bikes and rode around Hyde Park. We had a great time, and took some great pictures along the way.

Another group extended their theater streak to two days and attended a showing of Phantom of the Opera this evening, greatly enjoying it.

The final group attended a pub to hang out and watch the Olympic Games, bringing that USA spirit to the UK. Allegedly, the boys swimming in red, white, and blue induced tears of pride from our classmates’ eyes.

 

Around 10 pm, all three groups met back up at the park outside of the Imperial College dorms to practice our country dancing and debrief about our different evenings. Secretly, we all scheduled a surprise for three different birthdays: George Gulde, who celebrated his 18th birthday throughout the day, Derrick Seele, who is turning 18 years old on Wednesday, and Mary Faith Schnautz, who is turning 19 on Wednesday, as well. The birthday surprise included personalized food gifts for each of them and concluded with some line dancing to the Footloose soundtrack.

Anyways, that’s a wrap for Day 14 of our UK trip! 

Cheers lads and God Save the Bloody King,

 

-Tommy Avery, Nic Parra, and Iko Wibowo

 

Howdy! 

 

Today we traveled from York to London and went on a tour to get acquainted with the new city. Our day started bright and early, with a 7:15 departure from our dorms in York with all of our luggage. At 7:30, we ate breakfast at the York St. John’s dining hall. The food consisted of scrambled eggs, hash browns, sausage, and beans. After that filling meal, we took a bus to York train station to catch a train to London. 

However, upon arriving at the station, we learned that our train was unexpectedly canceled! Luckily, we were able to hitch a ride on a different train. The catch was that we didn’t have any seating, so we had to stand for the entire 2 hour ride.

While the train ride may not have been the most glamorous experience in the world, it got us from point A to point B. We were finally at King’s Cross Station in London! Everybody successfully got off the train with their luggage in tow. 

Our next stop was the dorms, where we would be staying for the next week. We boarded another bus and promptly arrived at the Imperial College dorms around 11:30. In the Student Social Space, we stored all our luggage while the staff readied our rooms. In the meantime, we broke into groups to get lunch before our walking tour at 2:00. Student leader Eric headed an expedition to a quaint Georgian restaurant, where we experienced several new dishes, among which were chicken livers and Georgian lemonade. 

After lunch the group reassembled at the Prince’s Gardens outside the dorm and split into three groups for a walking tour of the area around Imperial College. We walked past sights like the Natural History Museum, the Royal College of Music, and Royal Albert Hall, before finishing our tour at the Albert Memorial in Kensington Gardens for some group photos.

After a short break and dinner at the Imperial College, the group split up one last time to tour the area in our own time. A large group of us took advantage of the Friday night late closing at the Victoria and Albert Museum nearby, exploring its vast and dense halls.

The exhibits included huge Raphael paintings from the Sistine Chapel, beautifully ornate gold crucifixes and chalices, and an evolution of British fashion throughout the centuries. The most popular exhibit was a hall full of replicas of world famous artworks, like Michelangelo’s David and Trajan’s Column (which they had to chop in half to even fit in the building).

Despite rocky circumstances in the morning, we had a great travel day today and are looking forward to touring Westminster Abbey and the London Tower tomorrow!

 

Cheers,

John and Jonathan

Howdy y’all!

Our final full day in Scotland begin with several intrepid travelers braving the 3:45 AM chills to summit Arthur’s Seat once more and take in the glorious sunrise. Another visitor even brought a guitar and played “Here Comes the Sun.” For the rest who valued sleep, the day started with the now-familiar traditional English breakfast.

After our meal, we met our guides, Joe and Fergus, to drive up the coast to the town of St Andrews. Along the way, we paused at a viewpoint where we could see three different bridges over the River Forth, each created in a different century and in a different architectural style. As we crossed the Queensferry Bridge, we observed the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth undergoing repairs.

After a beautiful drive through lush farmland and quaint villages, we arrived just down the street from St Andrews Cathedral. We received a primer on the history of the church as a major pilgrimage site, the visible shift from Gothic to Romanesque architecture, and the fact that the monks in charge would sell badges of Saint Andrew on his cross to eager Christians. According to Fergus, some things never change.

We then walked to the old castle, long a battleground between Protestant and Catholic forces. In a few short months, Protestant masons stormed the fortress, murdered the cardinal living there, dug a tunnel to resist Catholic soldiers attempting to bring down the walls, and finally surrendered in the face of a French bombardment.

Before lunch, Fergus took us through the grounds of his alma mater, relating a tradition of the seemingly serious school—a fight with shaving foam taking place in the main quad.

 

“Tìoraidh an dràsta,” or, “bye for now,”
Carson and Christian.