#fscj

Thursday, June 13th: Walking Tour in London

We landed in London around 6:30am and made our way to the tube. Although the public transportation system is chaotic, it is extremely useful. The tube, the buses, and even Uber boats can get you anywhere in the city for a good price.

The day consisted of seeing our nearby neighborhoods. There is an incredible amount of culture and activities in every corner of the city. Throughout the day we saw Chinatown, Soho, Seven Dials, Leicester Square and multiple other neighborhoods. 

In each part of the city, there are different cultures to experience. The food specifically was much more diverse than I expected. In Chinatown, of course, there were Japanese, Chinese, Thai, and other southeast Asian restaurants. In Seven Dials, there was Greek, British, Italian, and Indian food. Every street seemed to have a restaurant that had vegan or vegetarian options. London is clearly the melting pot of England.

There is art with every square inch of the city. Whether it be street art, museums, or beautiful architecture, there is something very visually pleasing about the city. It is such a stark contrast from being in the US. Seeing a Five Guys in a chapel-like building feels so ironic yet fitting. With England being so historical, they have so many spots where it is perfect to have average businesses in the most beautiful building. 

So far this trip is eventful and educational. I’m very excited to see how the rest of the week goes and what else I can learn from this city!

@danielcronrath

♥ June 18- Lecture, Museum, and Meander!

We started today with breakfast and a longer lecture. This lecture was extremely interesting, covering deception in media and how we view information given by sources. This was a very interactive lecture, her purpose of it was almost experimental. She wanted to see how we reacted to the information and those with opposing opinions. It was really enjoyable.

After that we had some time to eat at the cafe in the arts centre. I had a Mediterranean pasta with some potatoes and hummus.

After lunch, we rode the bus to the Museum that was downtown. Aberystwyth is a quaint town, the beach and downtown both easily walkable from the University. The Museum was so interesting, it contained dioramas of different snippets of time, such as an old chemistry shelf or a milk wagon. There were 3 floors just packed with information. We had a lovely woman give us a bit of a rundown and teach us some words in welsch. Bore da!

After the museum, our N.A.D.G.P group from the free day, plus Jordan ate at a cute cafe and checked out some vintage shops nearby. We also checked out a tarot themed restaurant that was beautiful, and one of the staff was from Arizona! She was a sweetheart.

We spent the rest of our night at an arcade on the seashore, even venturing onto the dock where the cold wind from the sea kept whipping us around. We also played more pool, of course.

The night ended early for me, exhaustion catching up quick. Plus, we have the train in the morning. I don’t want to leave!!

Day 1 “2” London:

Today has was an absolute blast! Full of discovery, food and friends. It was a little rough staying up all day from one day to the next but with a little bit of coffee and a new city to explore I can say that it has been an absolute smashing day so far. I enjoyed some Italian food with some friends at lunch and then explored the River Thames at dinner time.

What can I say… today was a good (long) day!

June 16th

We started the day with quite an eventful morning! In the midst of the chaos, we were able to squeeze in a trip to the British Museum. I wish we could’ve been there longer. There was so much to see and I feel like I only scratched the surface. When we entered the museum, I immediately headed to the Egyptian funerary archeology. I was able to see the coffins of Hor and many other notorious items from the time.

I also enjoyed viewing the Asahi Shimbun Gallery of Amaravati Sculpture. The intricate detail on the stone slabs that had previously been used as railings many moons ago was absolutely breathtaking!

After finishing up at the museum, we hurried to catch the train to Wales. I enjoyed the downtime on the train. After arriving in wales we were treated to a traditional hot wealth dinner! It was quite interesting! Overall it was a great day and I am looking forward to our future endeavors in Aberystwyth!

@danielcronrath

@danielcronrath

Our last day in London is today and it honestly is surreal. We got back from wales at around two and we had a few hours to do what we wanted until our goodbye dinner. For the majority of that time I spent it with Andrew,mason, and Khalil. We walked around went to a couple stores and did some last minute site seeing. I had a lot of fun on this trip but what made it better were all my new friends. A little cliche but it’s true that it’s the people not the place. Hopefully I’ll get to do something like this again because I really had fun.