Wow - where to begin?! London was simply amazing. It was incredibly fun yet so tiring. I could ramble a thousand adjectives to describe my week abroad in the UK, but i'll just stick with 'it was perfect'.
Already the sights and places are becoming hazy in my memory - there was just so much to see and do! But I will do my best to relay the fantastic trip without missing any important notes.
On Sunday night we arrived at our lovely little Westland Hotel - and by lovely I mean deceptive… The foyer was beautifully furnished; the hotel was clearly very old but in a good and cosy sort of way. We MANUALLY dragged our heavy suitcases up the stairs to our room where we quickly changed to head out for our first night in London! It was not very eventful as we knew very little of the streets or pubs so we were quite at a loss as to where to go! After walking aimlessly around town for an hour, we ended up getting a bottle of wine and having hugelig back at the hotel.
(the hotel)
On Tuesday our class went to Shakespeare's Globe Theatre which was really fantastic to see. We learnt about the ins and outs of 18th century theatre and the huge difference between a play performed today and then. It was incredibly interesting.
(inside the Globe Theatre)
Tuesday night we took the famous Jack the Riper Walk. It was, again, fantastic. History being not only told; but seen or felt! We stood on the ground of murder victims, we walked down small side streets and felt the chill in the air - the same as Annie Chapman or Catherine Eddowes would have on the night of their deaths. We learnt the gory details of throats slit and bodies disembowelled. However awful it was very interesting!
After returning home (while checking my shoulder every five minutes!) our class headed to a bar/club close to the hotel. Coincidentally, two other classes from further south in Denmark were also staying at the Westland. We somehow managed to turn an English club into our own little Danish one. With about fifty Danish students and twenty seedy old men, the night proved to be a fantastic start to the week! Although half the fun was laughing while literally escaping the sly winks of our forty year old friends.
After awaking from not much sleep on Tuesday - we all dragged our feet to the Danish embassy where we endured an hour long presentation on something about Denmark and Britain. I wish I could give you more detail, however it was all in Danish and to be perfectly honest (from what I have been told), a very boring seminar. Once being free from this compulsory school exercise, most of us headed for Oxford Street - our favourite place for the week. I unfortunately only had time for a few glances in a couple stores as I was to meet Justin (a friend from Australia now living in England for those who don't know) at about 2 in the afternoon.
Seeing Justin was, to say the least, absolutely wonderful (which really does not describe how truly great it was). It was however extremely difficult to say goodbye - far, far worse than I anticipated. Admittedly, I had a teary moment. There are people that truly deserve good fortune in their lives, and Justin is most certainly one of those people. Our afternoon together reminded me of how lucky I am to have so many great people in my life. And although I know what beautiful friends and family I have, when put in perspective - I am far more rich than I realise. So many people from both Australia and Denmark (and England!) that I just could not imagine being happy without.
(Justin and I - sushi restaurant)
Tuesday night (once I had regained myself), our class went to the Fortune Theatre to see the spine chilling performance of The Woman in Black. I dare not to relay the story - but I encourage you to read reviews. Admittedly, I feel I did not fully enjoy the play to it's fullest potential as my fear kept me withdrawn from the story somewhat. I do wish I was joking - but I have never been one for thrillers. After about two hours and numerous amounts of shrieks from the audience - we were left to explore the night life of London once again. What to do once being scared half to death in the theatre? Have a beer - a big one at that. We found a very cosy little pub to sit and just relax while deciding the plan for the rest of the night. The grouped ended going in many different directions - myself with four other girls found a sweet club where we made best friends with a Danish bartender, a British bartender whom, at my request, pretended to be an Australian bartender and also a gay bartender. Well I think he was gay, but that is only because I didn't get any free drinks (kidding!). This night was truly the ONLY time all week that I got to speak with some true Brits. Australians and Danish people are, to say the least, very popular with our 'strange' accents! I intend to keep playing the "Australian Card" during my stay abroad!
Our late night made it very difficult to awake in the morning where I spent a most busy day abusing my feet with walking ridiculously long distances! Wednesday was all about seeing the main tourist attractions of the city - Piccadilly Circus, St James' Park, Westminster Abbey, Whitehall and Trafalgar Square. It was all so lovely to see, yet my hunger and fatigue did ruin my enthusiasm. We ended the day with some more shopping in Oxford Street. On this particular afternoon we went to the much acclaimed Oxford Street Top Shop. I hated it! To say so is like blasphemy I know - but really it was just too large yet with too much of the same stuff! I was very disappointed with the London shopping that I was so looking forward to. Don't mistake me - of course I loved shopping! However I set the standards far higher than what was met. This was a most exhausting day. After a long night and an even longer day - dressing for the night was an effort faced with all my strength. A large group of us went to a restaurant which was absolutely dismal. The food was rubbish and the service was worse. Yet the company was of course great so my spirits were not diminished. The girls and I headed back to the apartment to regain some energy for one more outing in town. Julie, Jannika and I then went to the Mexican restaurant nearby to have some margaritas! It was very hugelig, but we kept the night short as we were so tired!
(the awful restaurant with good company)
Thursday was D-Day where we all had to pack our bags and enjoy our last moments taking in the beautiful city. Our school commitment for the day was having a member from the Conservative Party come and speak with us. I believe I was the only one who enjoyed this, let alone more than tolerated it. Admittedly, our speaker had less of a way with words than most people I know - so many students in the class who cannot speak very good english found it very difficult to understand. What I enjoyed most however, was the tisks of judgement coming from some students of the class about the system of government in England compared to that of Denmark. There were many comments of raising the taxes in England and other such ideas to "try and make England as good as Denmark". I do not disagree that Denmark has a system that is working absolutely fantastically for the Danes, although I do also feel that it's simply not that easy to "just raise the taxes" to take the homeless off the street.
The afternoon was spent in the company of some of my favourites again, and of course shopping in Oxford Street. The journey from the centre of London to the airport was a long one as there was just too much traffic! We arrived back in Aalborg at about 23.30 to a colder chill than what we had been enjoying all week. However the clean shower was extremely welcoming and the sleep in the next day was even better
One of the things I found most fascinating about London was the huge number of different nationalities. Like I said earlier, I spoke to a British person once in the entire week. All through the underground subway and shopping stores were languages from all over the world. Little did I hear any english! Here I thought Australia was multi-cultural, but we have nothing on London! Also the construction sites all over the city were incredible - almost around every corner there was work being done on a building or side walk. But I guess that is expected in a city so very old! I don't think the construction will ever end.
As some of you may have guessed, I was extremely excited to go to London merely to buy Harry Potter related items. I regret to tell you all however, there was nothing of the sort! The closest I got to such a Potterhead related thing was seeing the Millennium Bridge (at which i shrieked with excitement of course!). The only other HP moment of excitement was during our bus ride home to the airport where we lived through most prefect Dementor breeding weather. No need to worry, we had chocolate (thank Rowling!).
(Millennium Bridge aka Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince Bridge)
Another thing that I found truly fascinating about London was the INCREDIBLE amount of Starbucks. There are more than 200….. TWO HUNDRED in London city alone! I kid you not, I googled it. Needless to say we were always keen to have a frappuccino or latte resting in our hands.
(Ginne + Starbucks)
