As of today, I have exactly one week left in London. Our program officially ends this Saturday. Things are getting frantic as everyone finishes up final papers, bucket lists, and food. Me, I’m ignoring the fact that I have a final three days, spending as much time as I can in the city, and hoping I can survive the rest of the week on cereal, grapes, and eggs.

This past week has been strange. With everything that was going on with Boston, it was difficult to concentrate on anything else. But I knew I had to take advantage of my last few days. The weather is finally, finally getting better (what a tease) and I was able to spend a lovely day with two of my good friends Abby and Pete just walking around. We met up in Covent Garden, grabbed some lunch to-go from the greatest little sandwich place called Fernando’s, and ate in Trafalgar Square under the sun. It was so nice to not have to worry about work or class or any sort of schedule and just sit outside with good food and good company. We walked around some more and made our way to South Bank and the Tate Museum. I must say, I was pretty disappointed with the Tate. I had really wanted to check out the Lichtenstein exhibition but it was 13 pounds which was just excessive in all our opinions. Regardless, it was one of the nicest days I’ve had in London. If only for the weather and the freedom.

This past weekend was without a doubt the best weekend of the entire semester. One of my oldest and closest friends, Mayela, came to visit. She’s studying in Milan and I can’t wait to go visit her there in a few weeks (more on summer plans in a bit!) On Friday, we met up with Abby and Pete and her two friends who were travelling with her, Victor and Roberto, and went on the London Eye. Finally. It was a semi-cloudy day but the view was still great. Overlooking the skyline and watching the sun peek out behind Big Ben made me realize just how much I was going to miss London. I’m definitely not ready to leave yet.

After that, Mayela, Victor, and Roberto went to go check out the Tower of London and Pete, Abby, and I went to this great Mexican restaurant in South Bank called Wahaca. We met up again later that night in our building to go out to this karaoke bar in Shoreditch. It was so much fun. We got there too late for any of us to sign up because for some reason the karaoke closed at 1am. But either way, they played awesome music the rest of the night and we had a big enough group to just enjoy being in each other’s company and have a few drinks. Definitely a great night.

Saturday though was even better. The day was the most gorgeous I have seen in London. I actually wore a dress! Not a single cloud in the sky, bright and sunny and warm. We all went out to Brixton Market and had brunch at a Colombian cafe. So I was in heaven, eating my arepas and drinking a mango smoothie. We then went out to Abbey Road where we tried and failed to take a Beatles picture. Then we took the Tube out to Westminster, walked from Big Ben to Trafalgar where the Feast of Saint George was going on. It was absolutely packed but we managed to find a spot on the stairs of the National Portrait Gallery and the weather was just so perfect, we didn’t leave for the rest of the afternoon.

We all met up again at night in our building. After one of the most legendary pre-games of all time, we finally managed to get out to Camden. Skipping over all the details of that night cause it’s just too much to write about. After some drama with a bouncer, stopping Ryan from getting in a fight, sneaking into a pub to use a bathroom, and meeting two random people at a pub that was closing, we finally ended up at this place called the Purple Turtle and didn’t leave until 4 in the morning. Ended up going to bed past 5 completely satisfied at one of the best weekends we’ve had in London yet.

Yesterday, everyone was much too tired to do anything. We went out to a pub in Little Venice for Sunday Roast since it was our last Sunday in London. So delicious. Walking along the canals was gorgeous too. On the way back, we stopped at Ben’s Cookies because why not. Man I’m really gonna miss those cookies. It was evening but still light out so Ryan and I took our cookies and walked around Hyde Park to Kensington Palace and around the pond. That’s the picture above. It was the perfect lazy Sunday to end a great weekend.

Today my friend Aly and I took a day trip to Oxford for lunch. It was nice to get out of the city for a while. We walked around and took pictures and got back in the early afternoon. This week will be more touristing around as I try and finish up what’s left of my own bucket list. I still haven’t been to Harrod’s and there’s a few more museums I’d like to check out. I love having the freedom to enjoy this city. Even if that freedom comes at the cost of procrastinating on my final paper due on Friday… But I’m not gonna think about that.

Anyway, there’s a ton of stuff going on this week. Any other time, it might make me really stressed. I’m definitely more than a little intimidated to start packing. But I’m also looking forward to what’s next.

I’m here until Monday but have to move out by Saturday. Hopefully this weekend, I’ll be able to help out with Sundance London, and I’ll be staying at Sofiya’s house for those two nights. Monday morning I’m off to Naples with my friend Julia. We’ll be spending a few days along the Amalfi Coast and then on the 2nd, I’m meeting up with my friend Jeena in Malta. Can’t even put into words how excited I am to just lay on a beach for five days and do absolutely nothing. From there, Jeena and I are flying to Rome for two days, then taking a train to Venice for the weekend. From Venice, I’m taking a train into Milan and spending a few days with Mayela before heading back to London on the 15th. After crashing one more night at Sofiya’s place, I will be finally heading back to the States on May 16th.

But only to leave again on May 27th to spend the summer in Sydney with Sofiya! This is the big news I’ve been sitting on for a while but now that the semester is coming to a close, I’m realizing summer isn’t so far off and it’s crazy to think that in a month and a half I will be living in Australia! I will basically be studying abroad again through BU’s Sydney Internship Program. I cannot wait. And the best part is I will be back in Miami on July 24th so I have a good six weeks or so at home before heading back to Boston.

So in conclusion I’ve caught the travel bug and I hope I never get cured.

Next week will be my final London post. I will write again probably when I return from travelling cause chances are I won’t be able to have wifi long enough to blog continuously. And I will start writing weekly posts again about my Aussie Adventures starting in June!

Now I am off to bed to wake up early and see if I can score lottery tickets to Matilda tomorrow night. Cheers loves xx

(Am I officially British now?)