London is an amazing city. There are so many things to do and places to see. Some people say that if you get bored in London, that means you’re bored with life, just because there’s so much to explore. I could never get tired of London. Even now, after living her for almost nine months, there is still a list of things that I haven’t seen yet that I want to see.

Greenwich, London

On a sunny Saturday, I attempted to cross some of these things off my list. Brendan and I headed to London for the afternoon. Our first stop was Greenwich to see the Queen’s Palace and the astronomy tower where the Prime Meridian is. It was a gorgeous day outside, so the walk up to the astronomy tower didn’t seem so bad. We sat up on top of the hill for awhile, talked, and looked out over London.

The Monument at Trafalgar Square

Our next stop was Trafalgar Square. I have been to London dozens of times, but believe it or not, I had never stopped and walked around Trafalgar Square before. We took some time and walked around the lion statues before stepping inside the National Gallery. Our art professor had recommended going into an art museum and staring at a piece of art for ten minutes, and then leave. The purpose is to try and find a piece of art that speaks to us, and see what we observe. We decided to try it, and only spent a few minutes in the National Gallery, looking for art that spoke to us. For me, any painting that has the ocean or water of some kind is something I gravitate to.

MI6

London from MI6

From Trafalgar Square, we walked down to Westminster Palace and Westminster Abbey. Then we walked along the river to see MI6. Brendan and I are both fans of James Bond, and seeing MI6 was pretty cool. Obviously, we couldn’t go in, because it’s so heavily guarded and has lots of barbed wire around it. We just enjoyed seeing the building.

Regent’s Park

We finished our day with a trip to see 221B Baker Street and a walk through Regent’s Park. 221B Baker street was just a door with a sign referencing Sherlock Holmes, but it was still cool to see where he was written to have lived. We walked through Regent’s Park near sunset, so it was glowing in the light, and it was so pretty.

There are still more things that I want to do in London, but this was a start at completing my list. I had a lot of fun walking around with Brendan, and I can’t wait to go back to London for one final time before I leave in May!

During the second part of second break, my mom flew overseas to stay with me for a week. I have currently been abroad for eight months, and have not seen any member of my family until she came, so it was nice to see someone after only using FaceTime for eight months. I got the chance to show her where I live and the things that I do for fun, which was really exciting.

St. Paul’s Cathedral over Millennium Bridge

On one day she was here, we travelled to London for the day. We lucked out and had absolutely beautiful weather when we were there. It was sunny, with just a few clouds in the sky, albeit a little windy. Our first stop of the day was to take the Tube to Black Friars, and walk over Millennium Bridge. The last time my mother was in London, Millennium Bridge didn’t even exist, so this was a first for her. I love it when you cross the bridge to the other side and see St. Paul’s Cathedral on the other side.

Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre

We called it our day of theatre, because everything we did related to theatre in some way or another. We went and visited Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. I have never been there, and, again, the last time my mother was in London, the reconstruction of the Globe did not exist either, so this was a first for both of us. It was a lot smaller on the inside than I had expected, but I really liked how it looked very much like it belonged during the Tudor period, and how exact they were with those details. If I had more time (and money), I would love to go see a play performed there.

Our other theatre-related event of the day was to see Wicked. I have already seen it once, but I loved it so much that I knew that I had to take my mom to see it. She had wanted to see it a long time ago, and never got the chance, so this was the perfect opportunity. We enjoyed an afternoon matinee of witches and munchkins and the Land of Oz, which was even better than the first time that I saw it.

Burghley House

On the last full day of my mother’s time in England, we travelled up to Stamford and visited Burghley House. It is one of the largest Elizabethan houses in England, and it was used as the setting for Rosings Park in the 2005 version of “Pride and Prejudice.” It was a two mile walk from the train station, which, after not being used to walking everywhere, made my mother very tired, but it was totally worth it. The outside of the house is beautiful, and the inside holds a lot of really interesting art, and a room dedicated to Queen Elizabeth I.

I had a good time with my mom, but her visiting me reminded me that I’m going to be going home soon, which I am not quite ready for. I’ve been here a long time, so long that it’s my home now, and so going back to the US is going to be very strange. But before then, I’m going to make the most of my days here!