Fall Break

This past week, I began my fall break to London, Paris and Amsterdam. After sitting in Florence for four hours, catching a 3:30 a.m. bus to Pisa airport, having a 6 hour flight delay due to weather, and catching a bus to the center of London, we finally made it to our first stop!

London was everything I’ve ever imagined and more. Due to the flight delay, we only had one full day to explore, so my friends and I went on a city tour in the morning, and spent the rest of the day taking the tube (subway) to our main destinations and Instagram worthy posts: Abbey Road, 221B Baker Street and the Sherlock Holmes Café, Platform 9 ¾ to bring out my inner Harry Potter nerd, Big Ben, a telephone booth, Buckingham Palace and, of course, a worthy five euro caramel macchiato from Starbucks.

I instantly fell in love with London because of the city with its Boston-like vibe and, of course, the food. It was so refreshing to be able to talk to people and read in English when ordering bar food. The first night, my group splurged on fish and chips, burgers, nachos and anything barbeque. You would think we haven’t eaten this food in months with our bill…it’s because we haven’t!

My favorite memory was definitely running off of adrenaline and seeing all of the places I have dreamt of experiencing. Trying to imitate the Beatles’ Abbey Road picture through running traffic, asking everyone where 221B Baker Street is with those slight smiles of amusement on their faces, as they lead me the way, the 9 ¾ staff quoting Harry Potter lines and making us jump in the air with our

Hogwarts scarves and wands are just some of the memories I made that I’ll never forget. I wish I had more time in London to indulge myself into the culture, but that 24 hours is something I’ll never forget.

It’s 4 a.m. as I write this post and I’m just getting back to Prato. I’ll fill you in on the rest of my adventure next week! Cheers!

London Observations:
1. Exit signs are written: “way out”
2. People drive on the opposite side of the road and the steering wheel is on the opposite side of the car.
3. The traffic light’s yellow light is held longer than in America. I asked a local why this was and she told me it’s because most people in London drive standard and need more time to get themselves ready for the green light.
4. The subway is called “the tube.”
5. The more chimneys you see on houses, the richer the family is.