So now that I’m home, all I want is to go back to London! Don’t get me wrong, seeing family and friends and sleeping in my own bed is absolutely wonderful, but the pace of life seems so slow here in the suburbs compared to the bustling atmosphere of London. I suppose that’s a symptom of culture shock that I’ll get over soon enough, but I can’t help but miss city life.

Not only do I miss having some amazing places being a walk or Tube ride away, but I really miss the people I met in London. The staff at Faraday House and my professors made the experience so meaningful and valuable. I also met so many new friends, some SU students and some from other colleges, that made this semester truly unforgettable.

London helped to broaden my global perspective as a student, and after living there, I am aware of the issues that Europe faces, as well as the developments that are underway to advance Great Britain and Europe as a whole. My COM class focused on comparisons between British and American media, and as I’ve consumed news at home, I now ask myself “How would The Guardian or The Telegraph cover this story?”

I also consider myself (surprisingly) lucky to have studied in London during the eurozone crisis, as I witnessed how the media, both in and outside of the UK, handled the potential collapse of the euro. Thanks to my European Union class, I was able to better understand the issue and the implications it has not only on Europe, but on the U.S. as well.

I packed a lot into this semester and traveled to places that I never thought I would get to see (i.e. Istanbul–thanks again, Charine!). My advice to other students who want to study abroad: travel as much as you can, even if it’s just around the UK, and plan ahead! At the start of the semester, plan out which school-sponsored trips you’d like to participate in, note which of your weekends are free for travel, and start booking! It’s ridiculous how quickly airfare, hotel room rates, etc. skyrocket, so book early to get the best deal.

For those students who are on the fence about whether or not they want to study abroad, trust me when I say that it really is the opportunity of a lifetime. This semester has been the best time of my life and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Thanks to everyone who read my blog and followed me on this adventure!

Cheerio!

It truly feels like I boarded the plane from JFK to LHR yesterday. I remember being completely overwhelmed by London on August 30, and now, on December 14, I feel like I belong here. I guess that’s the hallmark of a successful abroad experience.

It still hasn’t hit me that I’m heading back to America tomorrow. While I’m excited to see my family and friends and enjoy some distinctly American things (like Wegmans! No, that obsession hasn’t subsided during my time abroad), I’m going to miss the places, daily routine and most of all, the people I’ve spent time with in London.

I’m off to enjoy my last night in the city!

My first view of London on August 30.

As I enjoy my last few days in London, I can’t help but reflect on all of the other amazing places in Europe I had the opportunity to visit.

After fall break in Italy, I participated in SU London-organized trip to Paris. As you’ll see from the photos, I visited every tourist attraction (Eiffel Tower, Louvre, etc.) and because the trip was architecture-focused, I learned a bit about the history of some of the city’s most famous structures.

The following weekend, my European Union class went to Brussels. This trip was undoubtedly one of my favorites.  We heard from some amazing speakers at the European Parliament and NATO, visited the scenic city of Bruges and learned a plethora of information about Belgium from our professor (Dr. Wolfgang Deckers…one of my favorite professors of all time!). We also enjoyed traditional Belgian cuisine: mussels and frites (french fries) with mayonnaise and of course, waffles and chocolate.

My final trip of the semester was to Germany. My roommate Faith and I traveled to Munich (where we ate schnitzel!) and visited the Christmas markets in Nuremberg. It was the perfect way to kick off the Christmas season (Germans seriously love Christmas!) and made for a great final trip. Part of the reason I chose to study in London was the ease of travel around Europe, and with the help of the SU London trips and my independent trips, I feel that I was able to visit nearly all of the countries I hoped to.

While much of this weekend will be devoted to studying for finals and the unfortunate task of packing up my London life, I’ll be spending plenty of time with friends enjoying our last few days in the city.

Cheerio for now!

It was truly strange to be celebrating such an American holiday across the pond, but we made the best of it. My roommate and I made chicken (turkey was super expensive and WAY too big for three people), stuffing, green beans, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes (though we couldn’t find marshmallows–bummer!) and apple tart for dessert.

Photo evidence that we actually DID make Thanksgiving dinner!

We were pretty proud of ourselves, but nothing beats Thanksgiving at home with family and friends.

Of course (sentimental moment), today also made me realize how thankful I am to have had this amazing experience of living, studying and traveling abroad. I still can’t fathom the fact that I’m going home in three weeks, and I know December 15 is going to be an emotional rollercoaster.

But until then, I’ll be living London life to the fullest and packing in as many museums, markets, shopping and other London-centric things as possible into the next few weeks. I’m also heading to Germany December 2-4 for a Christmas festival!

Stay tuned for posts on my trips to Paris, Brussels and Bath.

There’s far too much to write about eight days in Italy (two days in Rome, three days in Venice and three days in Florence), so here’s the extremely abridged version. I’ll let the photos speak for themselves. (I would post every single photo I took, but I suspect nobody really wants to see 17 photos of the Colosseum from different angles.) And for those who are wondering, yes, I did eat gelato at least once a day.

Our first stop was Rome. We hit all the major landmarks: the Colosseum, the Spanish Steps, the Trevi Fountains, the Pantheon, and–my favorite stop–the Vatican! On Saturday, we walked around St. Peter’s Square and took a few photos, but on Sunday, we decided to return for mass. We actually saw the Pope (!!!!) and witnessed a canonization. It was definitely a highlight of the trip/my life.

From Rome, we took an overnight (6 hours, yikes!) train to Venice. We arrived at 5:30 a.m. and took a water taxi to our hostel. We couldn’t actually check in yet, but we put our luggage in lockers, showered and ventured out to St. Mark’s Square. The first thing on our itinerary was a tour of the Cedenese glassblowing factory on the island of Murano. Jacob’s parents know the owner, so we got a private tour of the factory and the showroom. I couldn’t believe how many different glass designs there were. Everything was gorgeous and I definitely understood why Murano glass is so famous and well-loved.

Other highlights: the Gallerie dell’Accademia and the Palazzo Ducale (Doge Palace). Fun travel tip: We learned that Venice really doesn’t require three days of travel. The weather was less than desirable and we hit most most of the key landmarks in two days, plus had plenty of downtime. If you’re planning to visit (especially if you’re a student on a budget), set aside a day and a half to two days and you’ll be set.

We took a (much shorter) train ride to Florence and arrived at night, so we grabbed a quick dinner near our hotel and went to sleep shortly after. Over the next three days, we went to the Accademia Gallery to see Michaelangelo’s sculpture of David, visited Pitti Palace and Uffizi Gallery, climbed to the top of a tower in the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, shopped around the San Lorenzo markets and walked all the way up a hill to Piazzale Michelangelo, which provided a stunning view of the city.

All in all, the trip was a success, as I got to visit some amazing landmarks, while eating incredible Italian food. Enjoy the photos!

Right now, I’m in Venice and my friends and I will be heading to Florence tomorrow. We visited Rome from Friday to Sunday. Stay tuned for a lengthy post when we return!

Should I change the title of my blog to Ciao, Chelsea?

I could write a novel on all of the incredible things I saw and did but I’ll try to sum it up as best I can.

Thursday, 29 September

Faith and I woke up bright and early to take the tube to Heathrow. We hardly got any sleep the night before because we were too excited/saved our packing for the last minute.

Before we knew it, we landed in Istanbul Ataturk Airport. After getting through customs, the group took a bus to the Hotel Hali, which was located just off of the Divanyolu Caddesi, which is the main road leading through the city. The location was impeccable, because we were so close to so many of the main attractions.

After settling in to the hotel, Charine (our group leader/trip planner extraordinaire) led us on a brief walking tour of the area so we could get acquainted with the city before exploring Friday. After dinner (we had lamb and meatballs–surprisingly bland) we strolled around for a bit, then headed back to the hotel to rest up for a long day of exploring.

Friday, 30 September

After breakfast at the hotel (on a terrace that provided breathtaking views of the city), we headed to the Blue Mosque with our guide, Emel. All of the women had to cover their heads and legs before entering the mosque. The interior was gorgeous; I couldn’t believe how ornate the ceiling and light fixtures were!

Blue Mosque

The next stop was Topkapi Palace, former home of the Ottoman Sultans. The palace was expansive (about 7.5 million square feet) and we managed to see some key sections, including the Harem, a number of courtyards and the Imperial Gate, among other things. I was impressed by how colorful everything was, especially the painted tiles.

After grabbing a doner pitta (basically chicken on a pita for 3.50 lira) for lunch, we headed out to visit the Haghia Sophia. It’s in remarkably good shape for being over 1,400 years old! The main room was massive, and the mosaics on the walls were gorgeous. The photos really don’t do it justice.

Hagia Sophia

Hagia Sophia

The underground Basilica Cistern was a short walk from the Haghia Sophia. It was built in the sixth century by Emperor Justinian and it looked like it is straight out of a James Bond film…because it is. Charine told us that it was featured in From Russia with Love. The cistern serves as a water filtration system, and features two Medusa columns, pictured. I couldn’t believe how massive the cistern was, and how architecturally advanced it was for its time.

Medusa column at the Basilica Cistern

That night, my friends and I went to Taksim, which is a trendy, buzzing shopping area of the city. It reminded me of Times Square, and even had a few American shops, including Sephora and the Nike store. The craziest part was seeing the American stores right next to Turkish stores, and seeing Turkish signs everywhere.  It was just one of many moments that reminded me that I was in a truly foreign country. Sometimes London feels too much like New York City, so it was nice to feel so far removed from the U.S.

Taksim (with someone photobombing in the foreground!)

We cabbed it back home and grabbed some corn from a street vendor as a late-night snack. Spoiler alert: the corn tasted horrible and was undercooked. However, it couldn’t put a damper on our amazing day.

Saturday, 1 October

Saturday was a bizarre bazaar day. Charine took us on a preliminary walk through the Grand Bazaar and Spice Bazaar. My head was spinning after so many of the vendors approached us and tried to sell us everything from scarves to jewelry. I found it fascinating that they could tell that we were American, since they greeted us in English, not Turkish or any other language. However, later in the day, I found myself chatting with vendors in Spanish and German. Most of the vendors were conversational in multiple languages.

Entrance to the Grand Bazaar

Before we braved the bazaars on our own, the whole group had lunch at Hamdi Restaurant. Whoa. It was easily the best meal I’ve had since being abroad, and is definitely in the top ten meals I’ve ever had in my life. There were a number of vegetable dishes, as well as chicken and lamb dishes. We topped it off with some amazing baklava. I honestly can’t name every single food we had, but all of it was delicious.

Hamdi Restaurant (where we had the best lunch ever!)

After lunch, we headed back to the bazaars. (Charine said it’s smarter to shop on a full stomach because people tend to buy more when they’re hungry.) It was stressful but fun to bargain with the vendors. By the end of the day, my friends and I developed our own negotiating strategy and emerged with some pretty cool stuff to show for it. I even got to spend some of the U.S. dollars I forgot to exchange before I left home (oops) because the vendors accepted/often preferred foreign currency!

The highlight of the day (for me, at least) was our visit to Asia! We took the ferry to the Asian side of the city and had a delicious dinner and a lovely walk. This part of the city reminded me of Taksim (American brands scattered among Turkish shops) but every few minutes, it hit me that I was actually in Asia! It was a fairly surreal experience.

First view of Asia!

Asian side of Istanbul

With Perry and Sam plus our new Turkish friend! (In front of the ferry docks on the Asian side)

Sunday, 2 October

Our last day in Istanbul was bittersweet. After enjoying our last terrace breakfast, we headed to the Great Palace Mosaic Museum. The mosaics were extremely well-preserved and clearly depicted scenes of war and aspects of ancient Turkish culture.

At the Great Palace Mosaic Museum

After the museum, we did a bit of shopping and exploring before boarding the bus to head to the airport. With all that we saw and did, it felt like we spent at least a week in Istanbul. I’m so glad I went on the trip and experienced Turkish culture.

View from the hotel terrace at night

Thanks to everyone who passed along travel tips; they came in handy on the trip!

On Thursday, my flatmates Faith, Jacob and I went to see Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Go see it if you like movies whose plots you can’t follow. (In all seriousness, it was pretty complex if you haven’t read the book, but I still had a lot of fun spending Thursday evening with my friends and Linda and Charine from the SU London Student Life office!)

On Friday, we visited the Science Museum. We saw some pretty cool exhibits and best of all, the museum was FREE! Most of the museums are, which is great for a student budget.

The Science Museum

Saturday, Faith, Jacob and I returned to Brick Lane (we went with SU a few weekends ago) to buy bagels beigels from Beigel Bake. We got enough for the week; they’re so good!

Later on, we went on a Winston Churchill-focused walking tour around London with Charine and some other SU students/staff.

Faith and I rounded out the weekend with dim sum on Sunday at New World. It was my first dim sum experience, and it was certainly an authentic one. The waitresses came around with carts and we selected which dishes we wanted. We got spring rolls, pork and prawn dumplings, another type of prawn roll and a crispy mushroom roll. It was surprisingly filling and cost us less than £15!

I’m not doing anything too special this week except, you know, GOING TO ISTANBUL. I can’t believe I leave Thursday. Be on the lookout for a lengthy post next weekend!

My classes are helping me to get further acclimated into the culture, as I’m learning about everything from British politics to media. My Race, Gender and the Media professor encourages us to read a British newspaper every day. Some of the most popular papers here are red tops (tabloids, like The Sun or The Mirror), and the absurdity of their headlines actually makes me laugh sometimes, as does the liberal use of the word “snogging.”

To truly get into the London spirit, my flatmates and I have even started watching British shows like Downton Abbey (so much drama!) and Sherlock. We also regularly watch the BBC and I’ve been listening to Radio 1.

So far, my time here has felt like a hybrid between an actual academic semester and a vacation. Yes, I’m taking a full course load and have classes Monday through Thursday, just like at Syracuse. But unlike at SU, I don’t casually jaunt off to Istanbul for the weekend, like I’ll be doing in a few days. After class, instead of running off to a meeting or practice, I might go to a museum or go grocery shopping. It’s a new kind of challenge in time management, because there’s so much to do here and so little time.

All in all, things are going well. I’m maintaining a relatively healthy diet (hi Mom!) and I’m learning new things every day, both in and outside of the classroom. I think that’s exactly what a study abroad experience should be!

(There are a LOT of photos in the slideshow above! I figured a slideshow was the best way to share them, rather than individual thumbnails scattered throughout the post.)

Last weekend was Love London Weekend, which consisted of a series of events organized by SU London to help us see some of the most exciting attractions the city has to offer.

The first Love London event I chose to attend was a performance of Billy Elliot at the Victoria Palace Theatre. I’ve always wanted to see the show, and seeing it in the West End, where it originally premiered, was very exciting. I highly recommend it!

On Friday, we toured Fuller’s Brewery in Chiswick. We even got to sample a variety of beers at the end of the tour.

From Fuller’s, we headed to Wimbledon Stadium to see greyhound races. While I didn’t have too much success betting, the races were still fun to watch.

We woke up bright and early on Saturday for a bike tour of London. Our three-hour tour took us to some new places (Buckingham Palace) and some that we’d already seen (Trafalgar Square), but trekking through the city by bike was an enjoyable experience, if not a bit nerve-wracking. Biking through traffic is tough!

That night, we took a cruise on the Thames, which allowed for some great photos of the Tower Bridge, London Eye, Big Ben and other London landmarks.

On Sunday, we toured Emirates Stadium, home of the Arsenal Football Club. This was my favorite event of the weekend. We got an in-depth behind-the-scenes look at the stadium (we went in the locker room!) and learned about the history of the team.

Sunday night, we headed to Up the Creek Greenwich for a comedy show. It was a great way to unwind after a very eventful weekend.