An E-Portfolio

          It was my second time traveling overseas. I was alone for the plane ride, but once I got to London, I met up with my best friend, Courtney, who was studying abroad there. She was in Spain the previous semester and had begged me to visit, but my finances did not permit that to happen. Luckily, by the time summer rolled around, I had saved enough to pay for nearly all of the expenses except for the plane ticket, which my mom agreed to lend me the money for. After a month or two of planning, I set off for London, landing at Gatwick Airport and taking the train into downtown London. I was in awe at the beauty of the city; it much reminded me of New York City between the high-rise buildings and the bustle of the people. Although everything looked a little skewed from the other side of the road, the taxi ride was short and the cabby helped get me acquainted with the city pretty quickly, giving me brief histories of the monuments we passed.  As we pulled up to my hotel, I walked up to the quaint front entrance seeing that it was locked. After unloading my suitcases, I saw a hotel employee stride toward us through the frosted glass and unlock the door. He soon informed me that all guests will have a key to not only enter the building itself but also their room. The security of this made me quite relieved and I thanked the cabdriver, tipping him probably much more than average seeing as how I wasn’t familiar with euros yet. It was official: I had made it to London, so far it had gone really smoothly and I headed up to my room to unpack.

 

            A little while later, I got in touch with Courtney and we made plans to meet up and check out a local grocery store so I can see the different type of food they offered. I was actually really quite surprised at the differences between English and American food; the bread, cheese, chocolate, and even butter had unique tastes to them, and it was interesting to see the packaging of everything, also. After making our purchases, we walked the short distance back to her loft and decided to have a night in because my stomach was feeling a little queasy from all of the traveling. Courtney is a pretty magnificent cook, so she prepared a meal for us and we chilled with her loft-mates. The next day, we wanted to visit all of the main sites, so we made an itinerary and called it a night. I awoke the following morning thinking I would be jetlagged, but that thankfully wasn’t the case. The brisk London weather in summer is a huge change from the misery of Floridian heat, so it was nice to pack on the layers and whip out the boots. Meeting with Courtney, we headed towards the metro and I purchased my first oyster card, a card that gets you through the gates of the Tube. We pushed through the masses of people and made our way to the color-coded line leading to St. Paul’s Cathedral. Reaching our destination, Courtney and I walked through the crowds and onto the infamous and historic streets of the City of London. I remember the majesty of the Cathedral, emanating pure beauty and royalty. As I walked through, the mixture of the silence and sun shining through the stained glass created such enigma that was indescribable. I exited the church onto the cobblestone road and hastened to our next stop. At this point, the weather had turned a little gloomier; gray clouds covered most of the sky and the chill of the air got even nippier. This made the day ironically better because not only did the walking become less exerting, but it made me feel as though I was experiencing the real London, with overcast being the most common climate over there. My umbrella came in handy as I waited in line for the Eye, which I got to ride for free because of Courtney’s student discount. Climbing aboard was like getting into a glass bubble, and we rose slowly to the top. Inching higher and higher increased visibility to an incredible level, allowing me to see for miles in every direction. The beautiful city looked so peaceful from high above; experiences like this really put life in perspective. Our last stop of the day was Buckingham Palace, the place I was most excited to see. It was really everything plus more than I had hoped for. Lush gardens surround the grounds with blossoming flowers and swans swimming in ponds, large trees make shady tunnels lined with benches, which is the perfect place to sit and relax, and people sat peacefully in the grass having picnics and playing catch. It was always one of my bucket-list things to try and make a guard at Buckingham Palace laugh, but unfortunately none were there. I guess even the queen needed some higher-tech security. After a long and exhausting day of sight-seeing, Courtney and I rode the Tube back to the Tottenham Court Road stop and returned to our respectful temporary residences for a good night’s rest.

 

            On my last day in London, I decided to go to Stonehenge on a guided tour. On this particular day, Courtney had a school function, so I went alone. I arrived to the location of the bus stop and after picking up the rest of the passengers, we were on our way. The bus made its way steadily from the hustle and bustle of London towards the vast countryside on the outskirts. The narrowness of the road still haunts me to this day, as I was convinced our bus driver thought she was in the Daytona 500. I stuffed the headphones into my ears and turned up the volume, causing the up-tempo beats to blast loudly while I curled up against the window and prepared myself for the longish drive to Wiltshire. The windows disclosed the gorgeous grassy hills and grazing sheep as we sped along by. I fell asleep but was shortly awoken by the halt of the bus in a dirt parking lot. Incredibly grateful I wore my rain boots and brought an extra coat, I bundled up in hopes of comfortably braving the nippy wind. As us tourists filed off into the muddy wet, our guide stepped forward and introduced us formally to our destination: Stonehenge.

           The ticket taker handed us a device to give information of the site; it had corresponding numbers to points at Stonehenge where you listen to myths or stories of the history. I walked around the large gray stones, half listening to the device, half lost in my own thoughts regarding the wonder of this colossal monument. Soon the electronic voice seemed like gibberish as my mind raced about the mysteries of such a beautiful place. Looking at pictures is one thing, but being in the presence of Stonehenge is a totally different experience. The large vastness of the surrounding countryside, the roaming animals that reside in the grassy meadows, the grandeur of the stones all create such enigmatic vibes that evoke many emotions and feelings. What a different lifestyle this must be, I thought, and through all these years and climate changes, through everything that’s ever happened, here these rocks stand, as unwaveringly as ever before. How they got there, how long they’ve been there, what their purpose is, nobody knows. To me, it is a place of strength and transcendency. The memories it holds are forever secrets, but through them all, the rocks never falter, they hold their ground and emanate splendor in their own aesthetic way, which is an inspiration in many aspects. Stonehenge was without a doubt my favorite part of my whole trip, and if you ever get the chance, you need to see this magnificent relic for yourself. When I returned back to downtown London, Courtney and I headed out for a night-out-on-the-town to celebrate the last night of my vacation. Walking around, we stopped in Top Shop, a popular London clothing store, M&M World, and Icebar, a bar completely made out of ice. Upon entering the bar, you are given a large parka to wear and gloves to hold the glass, which is also made out of ice. You can also only stay in the bar for about twenty minutes before it becomes uncomfortably cold. After Icebar, we went to a club called The Piccadilly Institute, which resembled an insane asylum. The club was complete with about eight rooms, all with different themes and music. The best room had a light-up dance floor and huge screen that played the music video of whatever song was blasting at that moment. All in all, the perfect end to a perfect week.

 

            This trip served as more of a vacation to me, as it was really eye-opening and frankly pretty life-changing. Going to other parts of the world and experiencing different cultures makes me appreciate the diversity of humanity, and although London is pretty similar to America compared to other countries, it was still very opposite and showed me that there are many different lifestyles out there. I was very inspired by everything London had to offer and also its people, I can’t wait to go back. 

 

 

 

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