On Thursday my friend Tori and I went to the Tower of London. It was covered with red ceramic poppies in order to reflect the amount of lives lost in the First World War. The grand total will reach over 888,000 by the end of November. The flowers looked beautiful sprawled across the lawn, but were also rather ominous because of what they symbolized. Once inside we immediately got in line to see “Bloody Tower,” the section of the grounds that housed the torture chambers. We were disappointed by the display because the room just consisted of replicas of torture devices and cheesy sound effects. We were however, very impressed by the crown jewels. I could not believe how much gold is used for simple things like plates and silverware. One spoon used for the coronation process is completely encrusted with emeralds, sapphires, and diamonds. My favorite part was being able to see the crown of Elizabeth the I. It was delicately covered in pearls and diamonds with a sleek purple and white trim. The swords of various kings were also remarkable. Tori and I also went to the armory exhibit where we saw the metal suits of Henry VIII and William the Conqueror.
After the tower, we left to walk across Tower Bridge to meet our friend Lauren outside of Shakespeare’s globe. We underestimated the distance, and ended up walking a little bit under a mile around the city. Luckily we found her and decided to grab dinner at The Anchor Pub, one of the oldest dining establishments in London. From there we walked towards St. Paul’s to see it lit up at night. We decided to cross via the footbridge that was featured in a Harry Potter movie. The last part of our night was spent on a 45 minutes metro ride to the outskirts of the city. Our hotel was right next to the airport so we could hop on a flight to Ireland in the morning.
After almost missing our flight because of mixing our departure time with our arrival time, we finally made it to Dublin. We met up with our other friends flying in from London and boarded a train to Sligo. The trip took three hours but the ride was really peaceful. I managed to get a lot of work done while admiring the countryside. Once in Sligo, we found our hostel and started to explore the town. We went to its cathedral and then to a neighboring candy store. They only charged us 2.50 pounds for 200 grams worth! It was delicious, but made us even hungrier. We spent the evening at a pub recommended by our innkeeper. I had Irish coffee for the first time and loved it. We found out that a summer music festival was going on in the city and decided to check that out. We soon learned that Sister Sledge, the 1979 band that sings “We Are Family,” was performing that night! I guess you can say funk followed us from America to Ireland.
The next morning we woke up and headed out towards Parke Castle. The foundations date back to the 17th century. The view outside the castle was incredible! It is located right next to the lake with rolling hills and farmland in the distance. We spent most of our time wandering along the shore and taking photos in the bright green grass. Once we returned to our hostel after lunch, we went souvenir shopping and bought t-shirts from the music festival. For dinner, we headed out to Strandhill Beach and grabbed Italian food. The girls and I took group photos while watching the sunset and eating ice-cream. The entire beach was rock instead of sand, so I made sure to pick out a few to bring home. The colors in the sky were captivating and we all started to complain about our studying abroad coming to a close. We cheered up and took a taxi back to town to catch the last night of the music festival! I have so many new bands to follow when I get back stateside; the music was folky and something that I’m not really familiar with back home.
Sunday morning we headed back to the airport to make our flight to London. Luckily, we made it on time without having to sprint through terminals. When we got back to Oxford, the girls and I went out to dinner for our friend’s birthday. I then spent the night working on a Shakespeare paper.
Monday night was our last formal High Table dinner. Everyone got dressed up and took a massive group photo out in the gardens. Our program director gave a really heartfelt speech that ended up with all of us calling the Dawgs (singing a school cheer). Reality finally hit me that on Friday we would all be heading back to Atlanta.
The rest of this week has gone by so fast. I’ve been consumed with two different papers that I finally finished last night. I plan to spend the next few days taking last minute trips with friends and exploring all of Oxford. I want to make sure I don’t miss anything. Admittedly, I am homesick, but I wish this experience didn’t have to end. I’ve had the time of my life and have made so many new friends.
To stay positive I keep telling myself I’ll return one day. Plus, I’ll still see everyone at school. But I don’t think anything could ever compare to Oxford and this fantastic summer.
I’m excited to see everyone soon! I’ve missed you all. Expect to hear from me come Friday night!
A Broad Abroad 