First Week

My mom and I at the Tower of London!

My first week in London was a whirlwind of excitement, and I was blessed enough to not only share it with several of my friends (who are studying abroad with me), but also my amazing parents who have made my travels possible.

We arrived in London on a Friday, and proceeded to spend the next seven days exploring as much of London as possible including (but not limited to) the Tower of London, a river cruise on the Thames, Oxford street shopping, the Victoria and Albert history museum, and Winston Churchill's WWII bunker. Nevertheless, we made sure to take time for afternoon tea and naps, as any true British vacationers should.

Looking back on my first week here, I am so grateful to have had my parents with me. Not only am I in a new city, but I'm also in a new SCHOOL and COUNTRY, trying to assimilate to the culture and learn as much as I can as fast as possible. Though I'm confident that I would have surely survived on my own (being a strong Loretto and AXiD woman), my parents provided me cushion for the first week, helping me to figure things out and explore. THANK YOU MOM AND DAD!!

I can't quite say that I have a favorite memory from my first week here, but one night that certainly stood out was the night that my parents and I visited the Key Changing Ceremony at the Tower of London. Though I've been to the Tower of London during the day, it's quite a different scene at night. Without thousands of flocking tourists or an overload of noise, the Tower is actually quite peaceful, and even eerie, at night. A group of approximately 30 of us, my parents and I included, attended the nightly Key Changing Ceremony, which has taken place every day since the 1400s. Standing by Traitor's Gate at night and witnessing this multi-hundred year-old ceremony was enough to send chills down my spine. I could almost imagine Anne Bolyne walking up the stairs of Traitors Gate (right where I stood)  or the bombs going off around the Tower during WWII. I won't describe exactly what happened at this ceremony because I believe it's something you need to experience yourself, but I highly recommend it, and will most certainly remember it for the rest of my life.