I'm currently sitting on the airplane back from London, looking back through pictures and thinking back on my incredible week. It's not that I didn't absolutely love the twelve hours we spent in the daylight each day, because I did, but my favorite memories in London came between sunset and curfew.
At around 5:00-6:00 each evening, we were free to do whatever we wanted as our group itinerary came to an end. Most nights we had between six and seven hours of time for us to do whatever we wanted with a curfew of either midnight or one in the morning. I spent 24/7 with Bianca and we filled our nights with nothing but pure fun.
We started most evenings with what's most important--food! Dinner always came first and after the first two days we had a whole list of places that we wanted to try out. The only issue was that most places closed around the time we were set free so we always had to decide and go fast! By the end of the week, we became professionals at figuring out where we wanted to go and navigating our way there. We were never disappointed by where we went or what we ate! After our meals, Bianca and I always planned something fun to do. Even if it wasn't anything super "eventful" just walking around the city was fun simply because we were in London.
One of my favorite nights was night number two. It was March 17th, Saint Patrick's Day, and we had spent all day walking around, exploring the city. Bianca and I had decided that we wanted to go to one of the many local bars that we had researched and get a drink to celebrate the holiday. We decided on this one called The Alchemist that was about .4 miles away from our hotel. It combined science and alcohol, which made for some cool-looking and tasting drinks. After blowing our money on one drink each, it was almost curfew (11:00PM) so we started heading back. My feet hurt but the air was crisp and refreshing so it was a nice walk back to our cozy hotel room. Once back, we checked in with our professor for curfew and laid on our beds talking about life and reminiscing about our day until it hit us--we were hungry!
It was midnight and we were starving but we didn't have any food in our room. We were in a pickle--it was past curfew! Luckily, our professor was still up and messaging in our group chat so we knew she was awake. We decided it would be best if we asked her permission and told her where we were going. She was very understanding as we explained our need for a trip to McDonald's in the middle of the night.
I have never been so present in my life. It was past midnight on a Sunday night in the city of London and the streets were absolutely empty. We were following Bianca's GPS, walking in the general direction toward what we thought was McDonald's. As we walked, we talked about everything and nothing, per usual, until we realized that we were much further from our destination than we thought we were. What should have been a 10-minute walk suddenly turned into 20 minutes and we still didn't know where we should have been going.
Simply turning a corner completely changed our environment. Suddenly we were surrounded by humanity and the peace, quiet and aloneness that we had become comfortable in was gone. The lights were brighter, voices were echoing and there was something new to look at everywhere we turned. I don't want to assume that I know how everyone would react in this situation but considering the circumstances, we were extremely calm. We were absolutely lost in a foreign country, I had 13% battery on my phone and Bianca's GPS was telling us that we were three streets over from where we were.
I have never been so comfortable with the unknown and with being so out of control. We just stopped, took a breath, looked at the image that Bianca's wonky GPS gave us and figured out where we thought we needed to go. It took some trial and error but we finally found that the McDonald's was hidden in a train station.
Let me tell you, I've never seen a more heavenly sight than when we turned the corner and saw those golden arches. Not only was the food delicious, the service was nicer and the restaurant itself was cleaner and more efficiently setup
What stuck out to me the most, however, was the walk back. Once we figured out our route to the hotel, Bianca and I fell silent. We walked through a dimly-lit alleyway, a small garden, and half a mile of beautiful London vibes. I felt safe--probably much safer than I should have, but I felt safer than I do on my college campus. There was no one around, it was quiet, and that's when it all hit me.
As Bianca and I just walked, taking in everything that we saw, heard and felt, an overwhelming feeling of peace came over me. I was hyperaware of the fact that I was exactly where I wanted to be and that I was extremely lucky to be there. I can't describe what that feeling was like, but I will never forget it.
