Welcome to Kew - my future home.

This weekend was definitely a typical London weekend – meaning it was rainy, dreary, and gross Friday through Sunday. And a lot of my time was spent trying to catch up on homework, even though I’m not really sure what assignments I accomplished. :/

But I didn’t waste the entire weekend being boring and studious. On Saturday, Mel and I went to Kew Gardens, which are right outside London. We didn’t even have to worry about a train because we were able to ride the tube out there. We just had to “top up” before we left – meaning, we had to pay a little extra because they are located in a different zone than what our Oyster card is for. The trip on the tube was hilarious because we were talking the whole time, which according to our professor Lyndon, is how Brits know we’re American. They NEVER talk on the tube and we ALWAYS talk on it. But anyway, we were talking and this random, foreign guy kept looking at us. I don’t think people in other countries have that whole “this is my own personal bubble and you’re way too close to me” mentality, so they just openly stare and learn towards you. He must have been lost or something because after staring for about 12 good minutes he decided he needed to ask us how to find the Piccadilly line, when really he should’ve gotten off about four stops ago if he really needed it that badly. But whatever, we had some good laughs.

Once we reached Kew, I absolutely fell in love with the little town. It’s so cute, peaceful, and quaint. We even went on a cloudy, cold day, but it still looked beautiful. The Gardens were a short walk from the tube station and on the way, I saw my future house! Hahaha, I’m sure it’s extra expensive, but it was adorable. And not only was the house fabulous, there was a black Mini Cooper in the driveway. Absolutely perfect. :)

Once we reached Kew Gardens, we walked around for awhile just taking in the beauty of it all. I sort of expected to see gardens like the Sunken Gardens at Kensington Palace, bursting with colorful flowers, but it wasn’t like that at all. It was more like a giant park, with greenhouses. It was still incredible though. We went into a greenhouse, called the Temperate House, which had tons of plants from all of the British commonwealths. There were so many plants I had never even seen before, so that was actually pretty interesting. My momma would’ve loved it. Then we went on this crazy thing called the Treetop Walkway. Even though it was my idea to go on it, I did not really enjoy it. It’s just what it sounds like – a walkway above the treetops. And considering the wind was blowing like crazy that day, I did not enjoy being that high up. But the views were still pretty spectacular. Then we went in two other greenhouses, one with waterlilies and the other with different types of palms. There was also a huge, random Chinese pagoda just sitting there in the Gardens. We walked for a while to get to it and then once we did it was kind of like, “Ok… cool…. What now?” It was just really funny. But I definitely learned a lot there, so it was a fun little trip and I’m glad we went.

On the way home, we accidently got on the overground trains instead of the underground trains, so we were slightly nervous that we weren’t going to end up in the right place. We had to switch trains at a station we had never been to before to get on the Bakerloo line. While we were waiting for our tube, I turned to Mel and said, “I hope nothing goes wrong with the tube because I don’t know how to get home from here.” At that exact moment, someone makes an announcement regarding Bakerloo trains and we about freak out. But luckily it was a false alarm and didn’t apply to us. So a few minutes later, we got on the tube and were on our way home.

Both Friday and Saturday nights we explored the London nightlife and had a fabulous time both nights. On Friday, the boys wanted to go to Brick Lane, which Mel and I had been to before and thought was pretty sketchy, but when we told people about that no one believed us. Well, after Friday night, everyone agreed with our opinion, and we were like, “Yep, told you so!” And plus, places in that area love to play techno music. Apparently Brits are born with something that Americans weren’t that allows them to dance to that type of music, because they can and we can’t. Bottom line. Also, this is random, but McDonald’s here is about 1,783 times better than it is in the States. It’s actually seems more like a real restaurant here. It’s just not as trashy, and is one of the few places that has public toilets, so I’m a definitely a fan.

Yesterday was a pretty relaxed day, but I did make myself go on a little run through Regent’s Park. I went a little farther than I normally go and discovered some really pretty gardens there. So I’ll definitely have to go back and check it out more later. Even when you aren’t looking, it’s so easy to discover something new all the time in this city.

I’ve been here almost one month and I already feel like I’m not the same as I used to be. I don’t know what it’ll be like when I come back home to the States. I can feel this adventure making me more independent, but at the same time it really makes me appreciate everything I have back at home. It’s just been an incredible experience already and I am so happy I was able to have this opportunity!

Until next time,
Rachel