Author: Ulises E. Hernandez
Location London, United Kingdom

One of the classes that you are required to take as part of the Study Abroad Program when you come to the United Kingdom is British Life and Culture. In this course, you get to learn many types of literature and social aspects in the English way of life not only through assignments and readings but also through field trips. One of the very first field trips that we experienced as a class was visiting the great city of London. From Cambridge to London we took the train and we got to see the great grassy planes and traditional small English towns during our 50-minute ride. Once we arrived at the iconic King’s Cross Station in London, we had the chance to walk through the streets of London and really get experience not only the tourist-oriented destinations of the city but also many of the areas where the locals reside. London in many aspects is not only a very welcoming city but also very unique due to its breathtaking history and its very diverse population. While in London, we visited the British Museum, The Churchill War Rooms Museum, The Tate Modern Museum, The Shakespeare Globe, and St. Paul’s Cathedral which were all located in the heart of London. In every single one of those destinations, priceless artifacts are carefully preserved, stored, and put on display for millions of people to see. My personal favorite Museum was the British Museum because it not only included art from the United Kingdom, but also a large variety of historical items from around the world.

The United Kingdom is very famous around the world for their Royal public figures. As a group, we got the chance to visit many of the Royal Palace’s which included the Buckingham Palace and the Kensington Palace which are both surrounded by beautiful parks. One of my favorite parks is Palace green, which as mentioned earlier, is located beside Kensington Palace. This park not only attracts a lot of tourists, but also many of the locals go there in the evening to feed the birds, play volleyball, run, play cricket, or just to walk through the beautiful and colorful gardens. As we made our way back to our hostel, we also passed the Palace of Westminster which is the house of parliament and also home to the very famous Big Bens clock tower. Unfortunately, large parts of the palace including Big Ben is going through a major repairment project and we did not get to experience the true magnificence of this iconic building.

The trip wouldn’t be successful without talking about food. As previously mentioned, London is very diverse and everywhere you turn, you are given the chance to experience food from all over the world. A great place to truly experience this opportunity would be the street markets. In the markets, hundreds of vendors sell their fresh homemade products and most of them offer free samples of different types of jams, cheese, meats, fish, fruits, drinks, dairy products, and a wide variety of other cooked dishes. Overall, I had a wonderful experience in the great city of London and I would highly encourage more students to join the study abroad program.