During this past spring break, I spent ten days in Europe as part of a study abroad trip with fellow STAC students. The first stop was London, where we made sure to visit all of the famous sites, like Big Ben, the London Eye, and Wembley Stadium, gaining a great deal of educational insight along the way. London is a city that is very different from any I have ever been to, with it's images an atmosphere creating a truly unique adventure.
To get a big overview of London, I had to take a ride on the London Eye, a giant Ferris wheel that looks down onto the city and is one of the most popular tourist destinations in England. Passengers sit in uniquely designed capsules, and the view you get when your capsule reaches the top is extraordinary. From there, you are able to see many of London's most recognizable images, none standing out more than the famous clock tower that contains Big Ben.
Another highlight of London was touring the famous Wembley Stadium. Of all the tours we took during this trip, Wembley is near the top of my list. Not only did I get to learn about the history and importance of the stadium, but I also got to walk through the players' tunnel onto the field. It was pretty awesome to be allowed into places in the stadium where most fans wouldn't be during a game.
Considering that the main educational purpose of this trip was European politics and government, we also got a chance to visit a couple of buildings of great importance, the House of Parliament and Buckingham Palace. Unlike the United States, the United Kingdom has both a Head of Government and a Head of State. The Head of Government is the Prime Minister, similar to our President, and the person who is actually in charge of the government. The House of Parliament has a beautiful interior and I'm still in awe at the fact that I was inside of it. Buckingham Palace, on the other hand, is used as the headquarters for the monarch, currently Queen Elizabeth II. The monarch's function is very different from the Prime Minister, as she serves mostly as a figure head. While England has a long history of monarch's ruling the country, today's monarchy has little power related to actual government affairs. One must-see spectacle in London is the Changing of the Guards ceremony outside Buckingham Palace. You may know of it or have seen video of it, but nothing compares to seeing it in person.
Something that I think was a highlight for everyone involved on this trip was our tour of the Tower of London. Originally built way back in 1078, it was quite the experience to walk through this ancient castle and think about all of the famous people who had stepped foot there. It would have been cool enough just to walk through the castle, but it also featured displays of royal jewelry and medieval devices. Plus, some of the views from the outside were simply breathtaking, resulting in the kind of images that you just can't find anywhere else.
Whenever I go to a different place, especially somewhere as far away as London, I'm always interested in trying the food that's local to the area. Of course, one of England's signature dishes is fish and chips. London also has a Chinatown, where we all ate at an authentic Chinese restaurant, which happened to be my favorite meal of the entire ten-day trip.
Among the things that made the experience so surreal was being able to see and do things I've seen or heard about in fiction, but never in reality. Since I had never been out of North America before this trip, it was certainly something very new to me. Going through the tube (subway) every day and seeing red telephone booths on every street brought to life some of the images that London is known for. One of our stops was at King's Cross Station, site of Platform 9 3/4, which you might know as Harry Potter's portal to the Hogwarts Express. And on Abbey Road, we were able to recreate the Beatles' famous album cover. Among the best historical sites on our trip was the British Library, not because of the building itself but for what is inside of it. The British Library's collection includes copies of the Magna Carta, original Beatles lyrics drafts, and the only surviving manuscript of Beowulf.
As much as I love traveling in the U.S., London may very well be my favorite city I've visited so far. There's no one way to describe it other than that it's vastly different from anyplace else in the world. As with most trips like these, I would guess that none of us really wanted to leave so soon, but there was much more to experience in the coming days. Halfway through the trip, we found ourselves aboard an overnight ferry to the Netherlands for the next chapter of this great adventure.
