Hello everyone!! I have arrived in London and have been here for nearly a week. After landing early Wednesday morning, I made my way to my flat via the tube and walking (lugging around two suitcases and a backpack) and got settled in for the semester. Getting here was quite the adventure! It was a rude awakening to find out my building has no lifts (elevators) and I live on the top floor of the building, but I managed to recruit people to help me lug my suitcases up five flights of stairs. At this point, I was very exhausted due to barely sleeping on the plane so I decided to take a nap before continuing with orientation actives. I met my roommates and flatmates (other people in my apartment) and unpacked my room!

I am studying with FIE through UW-Madison for the UW in London program. All of my flatmates are from UW-Madison, and there are even more people in the program! It is very nice seeing familiar faces around, and some of them I knew before coming! We are staying in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London. I am about a 20 minute walk from the Kensington Palace, where William and Kate live with their three children, which is over by Hyde Park. There are many museums in this area I look forward to exploring, as well as a lot of shopping, restaurants and pubs! It is a very rich and desired area, with Mercedes, Range Rovers, and Porches everywhere. The houses are all have a Victorian style and it has been fun to walk around.

On Thursday we had some orientation presentations in the morning. However, later that evening we received tickets to see a comedy show called “The Comedy About a Bank Robbery”. I found it very entertaining and funny, and would recommend it! After the show, a group and I walked over to Chinatown in London and ended up finding a pub called O’Neils. Turns out, this pub is very popular for younger British people as well as other students who are studying abroad. It was fun to experience the nightlife in London and I look forward to seeing even more!

Friday consisted of even more orientation presentations throughout the day. That night, we had a dinner reception with everyone in the FIE program with appetizers and drinks. Later that night I went to a pub in my area with some friends called “Gloucester Arms” and tried my first cider!

Saturday was the fun touristy day! We got to do an audio tour of Parliament, which if you know me, I loved learning about the history and how their government works! We were unable to take pictures in the main part of the tour, but there were beautiful paintings if British history, as well as amazing detailing throughout the building. At the end of the tour, we were able to start taking pictures, but it was under construction!

After our tour of Parliament, my roommates and I decided to walk around and see the other touristy sites! We first stopped at Westminster Abbey, and I had to take a picture because we have the same name! Big Ben is also under construction until 2021, so not very much to see there. We made our way to Buckingham Palace and took some cute pictures there as well!

After this fun morning, we had afternoon tea with everyone in the UW-Madison program at the Royal Garden Hotel! I had the Peony Leaf tea (very good with sugar), and we were given little sandwiches and pastries! I had a lot of fun and would love to go to another place for tea!

Saturday night we went to dinner at Spaghetti House, an Italian restaurant in Kensington. I got the margherita pizza, which came like a normal cheese pizza and a piece of spinach on top (but still very good)! Something I am getting used to in Europe is not splitting checks. In America when you go out to eat with your friends, it is very easy to ask for you check to be just what you had at dinner. However, here, especially in bigger groups, they do not split the check (they call it bill) so that has been interesting figuring out who pays what. A bunch of people met up at a club in London later that night!

We got to go on a bus tour of London on Sunday morning! They drove us all around London and did some of the stops we did yesterday. We were able to see the changing of the guards this time at Buckingham palace! It was a very cool little ceremony, with a band playing through the streets. Definitely something to see once during your time in London. We also saw the Tower of London, London Bridge, and Tower Bridge!

Thank you so much for reading about my adventures these first few days!!