Favorite parts of this trip.

1. Visiting/falling in love with Brighton.
2. New, wonderful friends.
3. The pub across from Ye Old Cheshire Cheese.
4. World's greatest dinner: Cheeseburger, chips and a brownie sundae with vanilla ice cream.
5. Using the Underground.
6. Seeing the video in that room in the Tate.
7. Walking thru St. James's Park on a chilly, gray day with a cup of Peppermint Tea.
8. Bill's of Brighton.
9. Leicester Square.
10. Topshop.
11. Walking along the Thames and seeing how big and beautiful London is.
12. The Indian food on Brick Lane.
13. Everyone was so friendly and welcoming, there was no language barrier.
14. Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Lattes.
15. Daunt Books.

Short Story.

She wanders the streets, desolate, still wet from the rain earlier in the day. There is the distant sounds of people laughing, spilling out of bars in a drunken stupor heading to spend the night in a dreamless sleep. There is the distant sound of people fighting, every frustration mounting and straining their vocal chords until they cry out in anguish. She walks on the brittle, cold sidewalk, littered with trash, with the remains of human life that happened during the daylight. Wrappers, cigarettes, newspapers. The light swings in the light wind, screeching and straining at its post, anxious to escape the night. She walks until she can no longer feel, until she can no longer think other than to put one foot in front of the other, and carry on into the foggy London night. How did she get here? How did she end up in a tattered trench coat, years old boots, hair done in a loose bun, slowly unraveling, slowly slipping away. Her life- coming to pieces, coming together in brief moments of sunlight, before shrinking back into the darkness.

London Underground Museum.

"Today, we went to the London Underground Museum. I loved learning about how the tube started and it's origins in London. It's interesting to think about how much London has progressed as a city since the first tube station. Especially after watching the video which kept replaying of the progression of the tube stops and seeing the random quality of the insertion of the stops. I love that the tube route makes no sense for the geography above ground." -journal entry from October 22nd.

Eat Well and Travel Often.

"Be in love with your life. Every detail of it."- Jack Kerouac

"The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page" - St. Augustine

Camden.

"Today, Skylar, Em, and I went to Camden to see what it was all about. We really enjoyed the experience and I'm glad we went. I bought some souvenirs for family members, and they had so many cheesy great stores selling all British apparel and shoes. It was nice to set a more relaxed pace today after many days of jam-packed, albeit great,  sight-seeing of all London has to offer."

-journal entry from October 21st

Oxford.

"I'm so glad we visited Oxford today, and I'm incredibly grateful I do not attend Oxford. The city felt hectic and touristy, and the school was enormous. However, the buildings were beautiful and so unique, and the library was like nothing I've ever seen. I think our travel group overall really enjoyed our day trip, we had a delicious -albeit long- lunch and got to see so many gorgeous buildings and different parts of the University. The most striking aspect for me was thinking about how recent in our history women are allowed to attend and get a degree from Oxford. Less than a century ago women were not allowed entry into Oxford (Oxford did not admit women until 1920) and yet today so many of our world's brightest leaders are women. As a gender we have made so many strides in the past 100 years, and I had never really thought in depth about what life would be like today without the right to vote or attend college before our visit." - from my journal, October 20th

Kensington.

From my journal, October 19th: Reflective piece on a sight of my choice:

"I am in Kensington Garden. The flowers bloom everywhere and the sun shines down brilliant on the luscious beds. The garden is quiet compared to the busy city streets I am used to. It's a study in contrasts, really, the concrete, sterile quality of the streets, the rush and panic of the people, and the colours and softness of this garden. People mill about everywhere, taking pictures, I can hear strands of different languages which float across the flower beds, little pieces of peoples stories hanging in the air... like all of the different minerals which make up the soil these flowers feed off of. That's something I love about London. So many people make up this great city, so many lives are intertwined by the same passion for this place. This city consumes me, it has a strength and draw to it that I rarely feel in other places. It's surreal to be standing here, looking at this gorgeous site, it's something out of a storybook. Similar to how I felt standing on top of the Duomo in Milan- it's humbling, being in a place most people will only ever dream of going to. Traveling is a happy exhaustion, the heady feeling of being somewhere for the first time, seeing something your eyes have never witnessed before. I'm a sponge, soaking it all in until I can no longer absorb anything more."