Hello Collegiettes!
The cold is finally beginning to thaw here in London after we have been experiencing one of the coldest winters in years! It has snowed three times in the last two weeks, and like I had mentioned in last week’s post, it is completely baffling to the British natives. For me, it has been slightly annoying and destroyed some of my not-snow-prepared footwear, but it has been nothing I am not use to during my winters in Massachusetts and NYC.
With the frigid temperatures came the typical winter cold as I was telling all of you about in a previous post; I have basically been sick since three days after arriving in London, so after 3 weeks of nagging from my mother and finally getting sick of being sick I saw a doctor earlier today, and as mother always knows best I have a sinus/ear/ some sort of throat infection. Joy of joys. BUT now I am on medication and will hopefully be back to feeling better ASAP!
This weekend I did embark on some fun adventures! Friday night I did my first ever pub crawl with some of my floormates in Camden—incredibly fun night. If you don’t know what a pub crawl is, you pay a small cover price and you get free entry to 5 pubs for free as well as free drinks and discounts at the pubs you visit. It was a lot of fun and a great way to explore Camden!
Sunday I also took a daytrip to Dover and Canterbury. I was really excited to see the famous white cliffs of Dover, but unfortunately the white cliffs were somewhat indistinguishable from the whiteness of everything else: the snow, the fog, the overall thick coldness in the air… It was all white. As you can see from my pictures the cliffs were somewhat anti-climactic the day we went because they just weren’t very visible. However, we also visited Dover Castle where we not only toured the historic medieval castle we were also taken through some of the 3 miles of underground tunnels that exist under the castle. In World War II these tunnels were used as a medical hospital. We also made an sadly brief stop in the town of Canterbury. It was what I had always pictured as a characteristic British town. We are able to see the breathtaking cathedral, as well as have a delicious lunch at a restaurant in town.
Besides feeling sick and miserable all week, I also had my first abroad paper due. Now this paper was a short 5 pages, but for some reason, over a 3-day period, the idea of writing a 5 page paper became one of the largest struggles I have had since arriving, and now this week I have a 12 page one to write, so I am sure that will be a fun treat. Besides the copious amounts of work I have to do between now and Tuesday (when finals end), my brother comes Friday! So there is a slight light at the end of the tunnel which is Spring break in Edinburgh with him, and then my parents coming to visit London the end of next week!
My brother and I with my exploring more of London this weekend in between me studying for finals and writing papers, and next week I will be updating you from on the road to Scotland!
Until Next Time,
Emily
Read all my previous posts from arrival to now:
Hopping Across the Pond!
Being a Tourist
A Food Affair in Brussels
Adjusting from American Super-Size to London Minimize