Day One

The class I’m in is called Magic, Murder, and Mystery in London Literature. We had an excursion (field trip), where we went on a Jack the Ripper walking tour. Only two of the original sites still exist, and the public can only access one of them.

Standing in the spot where Cathrine Eddowes was cruelly slain.

The whole experience was rather eerie because I guess I never really thought of the killings as just that…killings. I’ve always been fascinated by the legend and mystery and standing where those women died really made it real to me.

Even the street art honors the women who were killed by the White Castle Murderer. I wonder if we would even care if the mystery had been solved?

After the walking tour, we ended up in a market where I got vegan dumplings for lunch and made a few little purchases. Then a group of five of us went in search of a charity shop. We found one and I got a dress, a bathing suit (with the original tags still on!) and flamingo patterned shorts.

Honestly, these were some of the best things I’ve ever eaten.
The signs around here are amazingly funny.
Little stands like this are all over the place!

Day Two

There was a tour of Windsor, which is where the royal wedding was and where the Queen lives most of the time.

Here’s a quick look at the castle.

Honestly, I was not impressed. The castle was beautiful but the lines were long and what little we were able to see of the castle was so blatantly staged for tourists that it hurt. I almost wish it had been similar to a museum. We were not allowed to use our cameras/take photos while inside, otherwise, I would have included some photos for you all.

Check out this view!

I tried gelato for the first time and I’m not sure if I did or didn’t like it, honestly. A group of us went out on the town for the night.

Trying gelato for the first time! Chocolate fudge and oreo.

Day Three

The squad (Sydney, Jeff & Caleb) and I went into Hammersmith, which is about a ten-minute bus ride away. We originally went there to go grocery shopping, but that didn’t really happen.

We walked down King Street, which was home to approximately 8 different charity shops, I was able to get some cute dresses and shirts for a good price. Then I said, “I could get a tattoo today” and Jeff said he would get one with me, so we walked to Hammersmith Tattoo and asked if they could fit us in. They could. So I got a tattoo. By the time we were done getting tattoos, the grocery store had closed, so we did have to go to Asda (Walmart).

Before!
After! It means ‘God is greater than the ups and the downs.’

Day Four

We toured Oxford, it took two buses, one incredibly crowded train, and three hours to get there.

One of the first buildings designed by legendary architect Christopher Wren. This is where Oxford held graduations for years.

This tour was much better than the Windsor one. The university and the town are so intertwined with each other that you think you’re on college grounds and turn a corner onto a commercial street.

The buildings were so beautiful. It was crazy to realize that some of them are older than the USA.

I was able to see a few locations from the filming of the Harry Potter movies, specifically the staircase and the Great Hall from the first movie when they go to get sorted into their houses.

On the set of Harry Potter. (Not really, but that would be cool.)
The Great Hall! Students are actually required to eat here the first two years of their college career.

Day Five

It was a rather laid back day. Class resumed, and after class, I went to the gym. Then I watched Netflix and did homework.

Day Six

For class, we went on a Harry Potter Walking Tour. This involved walking around London and going to the few locations in the city where they filmed outside of the studio.

The bank that inspired Gringotts.

We saw the first location of the Leaky Cauldron, as well as another location of it and a flat that Harry stayed in.

The Leaky Cauldron, from the Philosopher’s Stone.
The Leaky Cauldron and Harry’s flat from the Order of the Pheniox.

After class, a group of us made our way to Platform 9 3/4 to get the famous picture. We waited in line for an hour 

Can you tell which house I’m in?
It’s Gryffindor.

Then we went to McDonald’s for lunch and dipped into the British Museum before coming back to campus. While at King’s Cross, I ran into my friend, Jenny, who I’ve seen more in London than I have since we graduated high school. What a small world.

The shelves were probably four stories high!

Day Seven

We all went out to the Toy Shop for a cocktail night and happy hour. It was fun hanging out with everyone. Otherwise, the day was rather relaxed and homework filled.

Did someone say ‘two for one’? More like two for fun!