All the World's a stage...

Within the first month and a half or so I have gotten to travel and get a taste of a variety of different cultures. But I haven’t really taken in London or England in general. Someone told me that by the time I leave I should be able to tell anyone travelling to London, where to go, what to do, and really give them an idea of what England is really like. So that being said this weekend I got to explore the city I have been living in.


I spent most of my day walking around London. I took the tube from Gloucester Rd to Green Park, to go witness the Changing of the Guard for the first time. I know what you’re thinking, that I’ve been in London this long and this was my first time. I figured out a couple things when I go there, one arriving about 40 minutes early was still not early enough. Two, I figured out where I need to be in order to see something other than staring at someone’s backpack. And three, to expect a big crowd, people shoving you in every direction, and that maybe there is no such thing as getting there too early.

After seeing what I could of the Changing of the Guard, I decided to explore the South Bank, in other words the Millennium Mile. I started at Parliament and crossed the Thames River. Thanks to my History of London professor, I can confidently tell you that without the Thames River, there would be in London. Way back when it provided another form of transportation, improved trading, and helped in the development of military strategy.

FUN FACT OF THE DAY: The Thames is the major water source for London, that being said according to my history professor, anyone who stays in London for at least three months would technically be a walking “Thames Aquarium,” because by that point at least 60 % of you would be the Thames. (Weird I know)

Anyway, I spent the day walking along the South Bank. This later became known as the Queen’s Walk, and today is recognized as the Millennium Mile. I walked past the massive line for the London Eye, and passed a number of people posing as statues and bands.

I made my way to Shakespeare’s Globe Theater, which was really interesting. It was rebuilt and in 1996, and took four years to complete, because Sam Wanamaker wanted to build using only the technology they had hundreds of years ago when it was first built. I got a brief history of Shakespeare, and I can’t wait to come back in April when I will get to see Macbeth with my class.
After I left the South Bank, I came back to campus and met up with a couple of my friends for dinner. After dinner I worked on one of my papers, and later went out with a group of students who also stayed in London for the weekend.

Pictures: South Bank