Two Years Too Long: My Return to London

Hey everyone!

I'm back, and I'm so excited to share the next chapters in my life (which include lots of traveling, I might add). My semester abroad nearly three years ago made me catch the travel bug, and also the blogging bug. One of my absolute favorite things of the semester was sharing my experiences online so that hopefully, people can learn my from my hits and misses of traveling. There's just something about writing about your experiences online that helps put things in perspective. I learn so much about myself when I'm writing and reflecting through this blog.

As I fall back into the groove of things on here, I can't wait to take you guys on very exciting journeys with me. 2017 will be the year of discovering new places, and...graduating college. A scary thought, but I'm confident that I'm ready to enter the real world (errr...maybe).

A month ago, I got home from my second study abroad adventure of university.  This one wasn't quite as long, a mere two weeks that left me wanting more, but it was still fun!

On this trip, I returned to London for the fifth...no wait sixth time. I'm not sure, but all I know is that it's definitely not enough times to visit my favorite city in the world. The second week was spent in Dublin, which if you'll remember wasn't the best experience the first time around. Find out if Dublin redeemed itself next week!

My return to London for the first time in two years was actually long overdue. I fell back into the London stride easily. I felt at home as soon as I landed at Heathrow (too cheesy? sorry).

But seriously, it was crazy easy to fall back into the swing of things. Even though I hadn't been there in two years, I navigated the tube with ease, and the map of London came back to the forefront of my mind. It was all so familiar, but I feel like it's something I'll never forget. Kind of like riding a bike.

The week started the day after Christmas. One thing I don't miss about going to London is the flying. I'm anxious at first, but then I try and just survive the overnight flight to London. I got two hours of sleep on the plane, which I believe is more than last time, but still not enough. The plane over this time didn't have the greatest amount of leg room, and I was in the aisle (boo!), but it didn't matter as soon as I landed in London again.

After waiting in the UK Border line at The Queen's Terminal forever, we were greeted by a native Londoner to be our tour guide for London.  We boarded the coach to head to our hotel. I was overwhelmed driving through London again. I just couldn't believe that I was back in my favorite city. It was truly one of those "pinch me" moments.

So, the class that I was in to get to go to London and Dublin over winter break dealt with the difference in healthcare systems. I'm a nursing major, and so that topic interests me quite a bit. Healthcare is also a hot topic in politics right now, and I feel that it's important that nurses know what healthcare systems would work best for their patients. I won't bore you with political things and healthcare talk, but it might help you understand why I went to some of the places I did whilst in the two cities.

Before actually settling into the hotel, I took some of my classmates to Nando's. You know I can't go to England and not have a Nando's.

So, the first afternoon in London, after getting settled in to our hotel room at the Courthouse Hotel in Soho (more details on that soon), I met up with the rest of my class in the lobby to travel over to Chelsea to visit the Royal Hospital Chelsea. It turned out to be a sort of retirement home for veterans, and much to mine and the rest of the class's surprise, it is the site of Margaret Thatcher's grave.

After a short visit here, we headed back to the hotel and had our class meeting to get to know one another and the expectations of class. If you want to know more about focusing on class and assignments while abroad (it's not easy), feel free to ask me any questions.

I decided to take some of my classmates to the Westminster area. The stairs out of the tube station that run right into the Elizabeth II tower (Big Ben) is my favorite place to take people who have never been to London before. Nothing says "I'm actually in London" more than walking out of an underground station into this...

I love seeing first time London goer's faces. After walking across the bridge for photo-ops with Parliament, we headed back to our hotel, and I ran into a Boots close to the hotel to get some things for the week.

The hotel I stayed in this time around was The Courthouse Hotel in Soho. Our hotel was literally right across the street from Carnaby Street and right around the corner from Oxford Street and Regent Street. The location was incredible and the history of the hotel was fascinating. It used to be an actual courthouse and jail. It was crazy to know that the likes of John Lennon and Mick Jagger were tried here. The bar of the hotel was actually the old jail cells, which was super interesting.

The study abroad program that I was with this time around set up a coach tour around London the nest day, which definitely reminded me of my Harlaxton days. The lady that greeted us at the airport was our tour guide. I got to see things and parts of London that I hadn't seen before, and that is what I love about London. Every time I go, I discover new parts of the city that I fall in love with just like the rest of it. Speaking of places I had never been before, this tour provided me with my first time in St. James's Park. I know, crazy! I think it may be my favorite green space in London that I've been to so far. I think this picture does a pretty good job at explaining why.

My classmates and I decided to go find some lunch after the tour. I suggested one of my favorite places for fish and chips (and anything on their menu, really). The Spaniards Inn in Hampstead is one of my favorite spots in the city. Hampstead in general is my favorite, and if you've read my blog posts from a couple years ago, you know how much I love it. We sat outside in the garden under the warmers. I ate my first fish and chips of the trip and washed it down with mulled wine, which I missed too much. After lunch, we walked down the high street in Hampstead, and then headed back to the hotel because some of the other girls wanted to take a nap.

My second full day in London was focused around my class. We visited Royal Hospital London in East London. As a future registered nurse, it was so interesting to go into a British hospital and see the differences and similarities.

I sort of became the tour guide during this trip, but I didn't mind. I love showing people London. I consider England my second home. It has been since August 2014, and it will be forever and ever. So, I took everyone to another London landmark, Tower Bridge. I love it at dusk when the lights start to come up on it. I love the views of the other iconic buildings in the city behind you when you're looking at the bridge like the Gherkin and cheese grater, and the view of the Shard directly in front of you.

That night, I went with my class to see In the Heights at the King's Cross Theatre.  You know the Broadway show Hamilton? Who I am kidding?! Everyone knows Hamilton! Lin-Manuel Miranda, the mastermind behind Hamilton, was also the mastermind behind this show. It was so good, and it's always a good idea to get to a show while you're in London.

Unfortunately, I woke up the next morning feeling sick, so I sadly missed out on the day-trip to Canterbury and Dover, but it's all the more reason to go back to England! It was nice, however to hang out in the hotel, watching a day-long marathon of the Great British Bake-Off and catch up on assignments for the class.

By the next day, New Year's Eve, I was well rested and feeling a lot better. We got up early to go to the Foundling museum with class. We had to get to the Russell Square station to get to the museum, which was so nice because that was my home station the first time I was London. After the museum, we had the rest of the day to ourselves. We decided to check out Covent Garden. Right across from the tube station is the cutest pub. The dining is upstairs, like in most pubs, and the food was delicious. The decorating was quirky, with different wallpapers on every wall and a variety of light fixtures hanging from the ceiling.

After lunch, we did some shopping in the Covent Garden area. It was busy, chilly, and had various street performers providing entertainment for all the shoppers.

That night, I decided to go up to the rooftop bar at our hotel with some friends to eat appetizers and have a Pimm's before heading to see the fireworks. We decided to head over to Buckingham Palace to see the fireworks. When the clock struck midnight, the firework display off of the London Eye started, but sadly the trees covered most of it. So, we grabbed our things and practically ran over to St. James's Park to get a good view. 2017 was probably the best New Year's I've had. I mean, what's better than ringing in the New Year in the most beautiful park in front of Buckingham Palace watching the glorious display of fireworks off the London Eye. I had another "pinch me" moment, but honestly, who wouldn't?

The next morning, myself, and from what I could tell, everyone else, slept in after New Year's Eve. Once I was up and ready for the day, I decided to venture out on my own for a little while. I feel comfortable enough with London to do so. I headed over to Abbey Road to take some vintage looking polaroid pictures and get away from the hustle and bustle of the area around the hotel to a quieter area of London that I loved a lot from a previous visit. I then headed over to Kensington and checked out that area over there. Newsflash! I loved it, just like every other part of London I've been too, haha!

The class activities for this day was to go to the Florence Nightingale museum. When I was at Harlaxton, I wrote my honors paper over her, and really, she's the reason that nursing is the career that I want to go into. She paved the way for nurses and nursing research and education. I'm a sucker for old things, and there was a recording of her voice circa 1890, recorded by Thomas Edison.

We went to an Old Operating Theatre after that, and that was really interesting to learn about as well. It was pouring down rain by then, but what's London without a little rain? It was fine though because we decided to have early night because we got up super early the next day to leave for London.

At Heathrow, I grabbed a full English fry-up for brekkie as I awaited my British Airways flight to give Dublin a well-deserved second chance. See you in 5 months, London. I won't stay away two years ever again.

So, my question for you this week is this: What's your favorite city in the world, and what's your favorite things to do there? What makes it your favorite? I would love to know, so make sure you leave it in the comments below.

I'll be back next week to let you know how I found Dublin the second time around!

All the love,
Alexandria
xx.

If you liked this post, check out my first time in London here.

One Year Later: A Study Abroad Reflection

Hi everyone!

So, today marks the one year anniversary of the day that I stepped off the plane at Heathrow Airport in London and made a dream that I had been dreaming since I was 15 come true! It really felt weird to start my semester at WKU a couple of days ago. I feel like I should be going back to England this fall. The whole fall semester last year was honestly so surreal. I would change some things, but overall I believe that everything that happened during and after the experience has made me grow as a person. That's one of the things that I wanted to be honest. I wanted to say a year later that I had become more grown up than I was before. I had never lived anywhere but home with parents for my first eighteen years of life. I had to be away for my birthday, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas (which was a little better because my parents and sister were there for that holiday), but I missed all of our normal family traditions. I definitely won't be taking any of those experiences for granted ever again. In fact, I've learned in the last few months that I really don't need to take anything for granted on a day by day basis. You really never know when it will be the last time you see someone, do something, or go somewhere.

I'm back to blog! I think this is super exciting because that was one of my favorite parts of studying abroad, which I will expand on later. I've been wanting to write this post for a few months now, but I figured that I needed to wait until the one year anniversary to see if I still felt the same way about the lists that I am about to share.

I make lists. It's what I do. I suppose it's part of my organizational psyche.  So, I have compiled a few lists with five things each. They include my top five places, five things I learned from studying abroad, and five new goals that I still have or have set for myself since being home.  Without further ado, here are my lists!

The Top 5 Places I Went

I have very meticulously narrowed down a list of the top five places that I visited while living at Harlaxton. It was extremely difficult, but I'm happy with my list! 

 

1.  London

 Here's the thing. I was most excited about going to London. I had dreamed about walking the streets of London for a long time. I did go to London on three separate different occasions during my four and half months in England, and I probably would've gone more, even just for a day, if I could do it over again. London is one of those places that I had a gut feeling about. I knew that I would love it. I knew that it would feel like home. It did, which didn't surprise me. I can't wait for the day that I get to set foot on London streets again.  

2. Cheshire

If I ever live in England, I will either live near London or most likely, in the beautiful county of Cheshire. Everything about it reminded me of home. The picture above looks like something I would take in my hometown except Cheshire is a smidge greener than home. Also, it's close to the next the place on my list.

3. Liverpool

Yes, we did all of the touristy Beatles things in the city, but this is actually the city that I am most excited about going back to. Liverpool, the city, was incredible. I would definitely live there. It was a big city, but felt quite small, like most places in England. It was a beautiful place to visit. I mainly just love England the most in general. It was autumn from the time I got there until December, which made me love the country even more.

4. Paris

I was actually very nervous about Paris. I wanted to like it, but I didn't know how it would compare to London. I was pleasantly surprised. Walking around Paris and admiring that beautiful architecture was one of my favorite things all semester.  Also, Parisian food was hard to beat. Yes, even escargot.  The Eiffel Tower wasn't too bad either. ;) By the way, I still don't know what my hair is doing in that extremely touristy picture.

5. Venice

Venice was my favorite Italian city because....well, look at it. It's gorgeous, and the canals and the living arrangements there blow my mind. It's on the top of my 'take my family to' places. If you ever go, you must do a gondola ride. I feel like you don't get the touristy Venetian experience unless you do it. If you can find some more people, it's actually not that expensive. You're only Venice once, just ride on a gondola! It's a magical place.

5 Things I Learned From Study Abroad

This list is going to be a little bit deeper than the last one.  I learned a whole lot during my study abroad experience. I even continued to learn after I got home.

1. You Only Live Once

I've never been one to use YOLO, but I think that in this case, it's necessary. You really do only live once as far as we know. Make the best of it. Don't worry about what other people think. Honestly, if you're doing a life changing experience like studying abroad, it's about one person: yourself. Be selfish for once in your life. Do this for you and only you. Don't do something just because someone else does it. It has to be what you're passionate about, not what your neighbor or friend is passionate about. Work hard, and make your dreams come true. 

2. Don't Take Your Family for Granted

Family is one of the most important aspects in my life. Without their support and advice, I would've never been able to do this in the first place. I thought when I left that I would be very homesick, but the truth was, I was too busy to be homesick. This was true until things started to slow down after the Paris trip. Thanksgiving dinner made me extremely homesick. One of the biggest things that was reiterated during and after study abroad was that no matter what you go through, your family are always going to be there for you, they will always be your best friends, and you will never be alone when you have your family around you.

3. Don't Worry

Haha! I would like to see my face one year ago if future me had offered this piece of advice. I am a first class worrier. I get it honest from my Mamaw.   Sometimes, I worry so much that I get physically sick, which I learned in Europe. This is literally one of the only things I would change if I could do it over again.

4. Take Risks

Just say yes. Just do it. Pre-Study Abroad, Bowling Green Alexandria would've have never done some of the things that I did. I'm proud that I did things that I did. I'm still shocked about some of things that I did. They include sleeping at Paddy's Palace in Dublin, walking around the alleys of Edinburgh at night, walking around anywhere at night for that matter, and of course, getting on the (wrong) train in England.

5. Life Changes Like the Weather

Sorry to go all Taylor Swift on you, but it's true. You never know what's going to happen. I used to think that that was scary, but life is beautifully unpredictable. With that comes the hard topic that people change as well. The absolute biggest life lesson I learned from this experience is that people change and people grow apart. Friendly reminder that this is your life, and you can chose who want or don't want in life. It's not something to be bitter about, it happens. People wouldn't grow if this didn't happen. I know that I used to feel confused about friendship and growing apart, but now I know that friendship is a two way street and growing apart is a natural part of life.

5 Goals For the Future

Harlaxton was my goal since I was fifteen years old! That is three and half years of wishing for this experience to happen, and it didn't disappoint. However, I felt a little empty when I got back because my goal had been accomplished. Of course, I have LIFE goals like graduating college, going to graduate school, becoming a neonatal nurse practitioner, getting married, and becoming a mom. These goals on this list are more short-term goals though. I think that those are just as important as life goals.

1. Travel to Three New Places Within the Next Two Years

I definitely want to keep traveling because it's a part of who I am. I want to make sure that I see three new places in the next two years, which I think is a fair goal. Hopefully, one of  those places is New York City.

2. Travel Back To England By 2020

The year 2010 didn't affect me, but I think that 2020 will. I hope that I can say that I've been back to England, my second home, by that year.

3. Keep Blogging

I've been crap at this since I've been back, but it was one of my favorite parts of the semester. I've always found writing something, anything, to be a therapeutic task. It helps you regroup and reflect. It made me so happy to post blogs every week when I was in Europe. I know that I'll have this to look back on.

4. YouTube

Something that has always made me happy was being in front of some kind of audience. Being on camera is one of my favorite things. My family can tell you that from my camera hogging technique of childhood home movies. I loved vlogging in Europe, and I have been thinking of getting back in the YouTube swing of things. I hope to have 100 subscribers in the next year.

5. DeTox

This means that I need to continue to do some life spring cleaning if you will. Any relationship that is healthy, I will keep, even though I am extremely horrible at keeping in touch. Any relationship that I feel is unhealthy for me, I will distance myself from. I want to eat healthier as well, which is part of this. I need to drink as much water as I did at Harlaxton, and I'm slowly but surely working on that again. I just want to be happy and make sure that I am my first priority when it's my time. This is my life afterall.

Once again, I cannot believe that it's been year since I left for Harlaxton, but I am excited about what's to come in the future. As always, thank you for reading.

Tell me in the comments if there are any short-term goals that you have, or maybe you have learned something in the past year that you would like to share with me! 

Thanks again!

All the love, 

Alexandria :)

Family Vacation Part 2: France

Hey everyone!

Happy Thursday!  I'm back to recap the second half of our family vacation at the end of my semester.  The last five days of our trip were spent in France.  I loved Paris when I visited in November and was very excited to go back, but I was also excited to see more of France and also go to Disneyland Paris!

On Friday, the 26th of December, I sadly had to part ways with London early in the morning.  I rode in a black cab for the last time of the semester and made my way to St. Pancras International for our train to Paris.  We waited for our Eurostar to depart at eight in the morning, and soon, we were speeding through the English countryside, under the channel, and into the French countryside.  One of my favorite things about Europe that I will repeat over and over is the proximity to everything.  Within a few hours, you can be in a completely new country doing something so culturally different than what you were doing before.

Cheeky Eurostar selfie

Another selfie...

We were sad that our snack was all gone

When we arrived at Gare du Nord in Paris, we made our way to the RER A train to head to St. Lazare station to catch our train to Bayeux, France.  Dad wanted to see the Normandy things and take a D-Day tour of the American beaches and sites of the famous invasion in 1944 that eventually ended the Second World War.  I, myself, am also a history geek sometimes and was very excited to see these infamous sites and a new place.

We waited and caught our train to Bayeux. Along the way, we had a stressful eight minute train change in Caen, then we were on our way.  (P.S. it's not a good idea to "backpack" through Europe with four large suitcases, three carry-ons, and two backpacks).  The reason we had that much was due to my bags from the four months I was there.  I had told my parents to have extra room, so I could divvy up my things, so my suitcase was under the 50 lb limit.  Next time, we won't have or need to have that much stuff.

Another 20 minutes on a different train, and we were in Bayeux.  We learned the hard way in London that we do not want to walk 15 minutes to our hotel with all of those bags, so we caught a taxi from the train station.

Our hotel was Hotel le Bayeux, and it was a cute, family-owned bed and breakfast with two floors and no lift.  Of course, our room was up the winding staircase.  Our room, as well as the bed and breakfast, was so cute.  There was a queen sized bed for Mom and Dad and a bunk bed for me and Catherine.  We also had a tiny bathroom.  The room over looked the small street that the hotel was situated on, and I fell in love with France.  There is absolutely more to France than Paris, and I have yet to travel to the sunny South (which I plan to visit one day).  I snapped this picture out the window of our room. 

I LOVE FRENCH BUILDINGS

That night, we ventured out and explored the small town.  Really, we were in search of food.  The receptionist at the hotel told us that most places do not open until seven, but we were starving, and there was one place that was open 24/7.  I had the "best burger in the world", which was very good.

Saturday morning, with our stomachs full of the most delicious homemade croissants, we got into an eight passenger van for our tour of the D-Day sites.  The wind was INSANE that day, but the tour was still very good.  We went to a German bunker site called Point du Hoc first.  American soldiers climbed up the cliff to attack German soldiers.

I can't imagine having to climb this cliff

It was SO windy!

The landscape was made this way by bomb craters (Catherine's photo)

Inside a German bunker (Catherine's photo)

After being knocked around by the vicious wind there, we drove to Omaha Beach.  It was incredible to stand on that beach and realize how many brave men lost their lives for so many people.

We went to the American Cemetery after that, which has the beach as its background.   No words can describe the cemetery and so it justice. Catherine snapped some pictures with her fancy camera.

After our tour, we ate at the place that we had eaten at the night before.  It was still delicious.  We walked around more and went in the beautiful Bayeux Cathedral.  The village of Bayeux was so cute, and really was the perfect French village.

Main street in Bayeux

Bayeux Cathedral

We lit this candle for the Colovos family in the Cathedral

Little town, it's a quiet village

We had a great time in Bayeux, but it was time to travel back to Paris.  After our train ride back, the rest of the evening was a NIGHTMARE.  First, our taxi driver pretended like he had no idea what I was talking about while the meter was slowly topping up.  Second, we ended up waiting for our RER train in the sketchiest metro station in Paris, equipped with three French military personnel patrolling the station with huge machine guns.  And last but not least, the food we got at our hotel at 11:30 pm was a microwaved  Croque Monsieur (glorified ham and cheese sandwich) served by a rude bartender.

Needless to say, Sunday was not a day to be going back into Paris and exploring.  We all needed rest, so instead, we slept in and explored Disneyland Paris' Downtown Disney and hotels.  It was just a chill day that was slow-paced and much needed. AND packed full of good, old-fashioned family fun in Disney.

A family selfie a day keeps the doctor away (or something like that...)

I finally got some Minnie ears

You don't know how happy I was to see this sign

Chief Dad in Disney's Sequoia Lodge hotel (Catherine's photo also featuring her pink camera bag that she didn't want to carry)

Reunited with my childhood pal, Magic Mickey

The beautiful Disneyland Hotel

First glimpse of the castle

I think after Sunday, everyone was finally ready to see Paris.  I was ready to be the tour guide for the morning and show them around.  I started my tour off at Notre Dame. Then, it was off to Tuileries, which provides amazing views of landmarks and pretty pictures.  It's one of my favorite parts of Paris.

Notre Dame, this time with a Christmas tree!

The Arc de Triomphe through the Ferris Wheel at Tuileries (Catherine's photo)

We wanted to go into the Louvre museum, but the line looked like it was hours and hours long, and we only had one day in the city!

Why stand in line when you can take a selfie?

 I took them to one of my favorite cafes by the museum for lunch, and then we made our way to the Eiffel Tower.  To get to the Eiffel Tower, the best way is to get off of the metro at the Ecole Militaire station, and keep walking straight until you see the tower, and you will see it.  I loved seeing their reactions when the Eiffel Tower was right in front of them.

Sunny selfie after they got their first glimpse of the tower

This happens to be the cutest picture ever (Catherine's photo)

Me and my sister at the Eiffel Tower!

We had tickets to go to the top of the tower at 3:30, so to pass the time, we got drinks at a cafe by the Eiffel Tower.

I may not be in England, but that doesn't stop my tea drinking

Going to the top of the Eiffel Tower was scary for me because I do not like heights, but it was incredible for views!

Selfie at the top

Awesome picture from the top

The Seine at Sunset, part 1

The Seine at Sunset, part 2

And then, the most awesome part of the trip was when Dad surprised us with a dinner cruise on the Seine.  It was a great way to end a great day in Paris.

view from our table

delicious food added to the experience

Our last day in Europe, we did what the Colovos family does best: DISNEY OF COURSE!!!  Disneyland Paris was soooooo much fun! It was a great way to end the trip.  I have this life goal to visit all the Disneylands in the world.  I've got two down. Now, I just need to go to California, and then try to figure out how to make it to Hong Kong and Tokyo (those might be a little harder to get to).

We started our day at Walt Disney Studios!

Me and Catherine were excited!

Then, it was on to Disneyland Park

Disney Family selfie

Main Street

Selfie with the castle

Castle by day

Castle by night

Fireworks never disappoint

 My unforgettable semester ended with fireworks at Disneyland Paris, and I couldn't ask for anything more!

It was amazing, and I can't find the words to thank everyone and describe how important this semester was for me.

I do have many plans to continue my travels, and I will DEFINITELY go back to England - my home away from home.

See you soon!

Love always,

Alexandria