Buckingham Palace

Hi everyone! This is Caitlin and I am extremely excited to retell this weekend's London adventure to you all.

This weekend PKP students headed to the beautiful city of London. Before we stumbled, bleary-eyed, onto the coaches waiting to take us on the short two-and-a-half hour journey we were given the option to return to Cambridge that night or to stay in London for the weekend. Of course I had to stay! There is nothing worse than going to a city for a single day and feeling as though you did not fully experience it. I never want to regret missing anything after traveling, so this overnight option seemed too good to be true.

In order to get the most out of my weekend, I came up with a reasonable plan of attack with fellow Mountie and PKP student, Molly (look forward to a post from her soon!). We made a list of priorities and created a diverse list of "must-sees." Since this is my second time to London, I wanted to visit some favorite places from my last trip and some new places. We were dropped off at the London Eye at 10:30am on Friday, July 3rd. From there, Molly and I shlepped our backpacks across the Golden Jubilee Bridges to the National Gallery. After perusing the various rooms filled with world-class art (including one of the most outstanding Monet collections I have ever seen), Molly and I headed to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guards. Unfortunately, we were a little late to the party as people tend to gather a good amount of time in advance to uncomfortably press themselves, cameras in hand, against the walls of the palace in order to get the best pictures possible. Luck was on our side, though, and we were able to get an up-close view of the guards leaving on a side street as we made our way up the Mall (see video clip).

The oldest door in Britain Located at Westminster Abbey, the door dates back to the 1060s

Queen Elizabeth I surrounded by Tudor Roses

After taking our fair share of pictures when the crowds dispersed, we made our way to Westminster Abbey. Molly is a History and English major while I am a History and Music major so Westminster Abbey made the short list while we planned our excursion. Besides the fact that I got to see the graves of Elizabeth I (I'm writing my Honors Project about her!) and Mary, Queen of Scots (one of my favorite historical figures), experiencing the stunning gothic architecture and coming upon memorials or graves of various musical and literature elites made Westminster Abbey the highlight of the day.

Completely famished after fulfilling so many historical dreams, Molly and I made our way to Grafton Arms for a pie, a pint, and some Wimbledon. After walking about 8 miles at that point, we were more than ready to kick back with a hearty meal and rest our feet!

After breezing past Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, Molly and I walked to the Borough Market, a trendy outdoor market with almost any fresh food product you can imagine. I immediately fell in love with this area, as the Market is also surrounded by small pubs and eateries to which crowds of fashionable, young locals flocked after work. Navigating these crowds was certainly not easy, but we eventually found the Globe Theatre tucked away near the Thames. By this time, it was almost time to head back to the London Eye for our sunset ride (which PKP generously bought for us). Instead of retracing our steps, Molly and I completed a loop and decided to walk along the Thames to return to the London Eye. Again, there were multitudes of people along this walk that was complete with a welcome river breeze, outdoor pubs, eateries, and the famous food trucks. This vibrant walk along the Thames was a very close second to Westminster Abbey. After enjoying my second ride on the London Eye, Molly and I made our way to my aunt and uncle's house in Ealing to turn in for the night.

(Fun fact: according to Molly's FitBit, we walked a total of 15 miles that day)

After sleeping in until 10:30am or so and sharing a delicious breakfast with my aunt and uncle, Molly and I were ready to take on Day 2 of our London adventure. Taking the advice of our amazing hosts, we steered clear of joining the Wimbledon queue and headed straight to Notting Hill to see the

Notting Hill homes = life goals

infamous residences and the Portobello Road Market. Hundreds, if not thousands, of people were out and about enjoying the abundance of goods in the market stalls. Molly and I certainly underestimated the size of this market - it goes on for miles, or at least it seems like it does! We made a few purchases and eventually made our way to Kensington Palace Gardens, Royal Albert Hall, the Royal College of Music, and Hyde Park before we made our way back to our Ealing Broadway residence for a very lively dinner party in the garden.

At this point, you might wonder why I chose the title 'Family Matters' for this post. When I first received the news that I was selected for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to study in Cambridge, I knew that it also meant I would be able to visit my family living in the UK. I was over the moon to spend the past few days with my aunt and uncle in London. From late breakfasts, to old family stories, and a dinner party the lasted late into the night, my experience in London was not just a whirlwind of seeing as much as possible, it was something much more than that: it was spending time with people I would not have had the true pleasure to see if it was not for this trip; it was conversing and even debating with Londoners about current world issues; it was listening to Classic FM and Radio 3 while talking about our favorite musical pieces and composers; it was sharing a laugh at whatever BBC program was on television; it was realizing that family matters. I am so blessed to be able to study at Cambridge for these two summer months where I will hopefully meet up with a cousin of mine who lives in Cambridge and whose family performs Irish folk music around the UK. This first week has been one of the most memorable experiences of my life and I hope to share more memories with you soon!

Until next time,
Caitlin

The sunrise on my walk to 8am Latin Mass at St. Benedict's Abbey, Ealing