As I Realize London is Full of Hidden Treasures

This week, I met up with about eight other other Duke kids and we went to Tower of London and Tower Bridge. I might have missed the London Bridge, because I got lost on the subway. Yes, I had google maps. Yes, I looked up directions beforehand. I got to see some pretty awesome areas of London as a result though... Apparently even in London, I'm still a space case. Winning.

Then we had dinner at this.. er.. unclear what nationality of the place haha but it was something exciting! Half of us then went to this bar called BrewDog Shoreditch. This pub was awesome, and also casually has a speakeasy in the basement, in that it's completely hidden and there's a door built into the false wall.

To clarify, it's not light outside, my camera just has killer flash. oops. 

On the wall of the speakeasy: "I have taken more good from alcohol than alcohol has take from me." - Winston Churchill

Pro life tip. 

In order to get the full experience, I sampled a variety of their offerings.

This week I've explored London more than I've ever explored Durham, or even my hometown.
Here are some of my favorite spots...


Neal's Yard:

Paddington:
Word on the Water: The London Barge - This was hands down my favorite experience of the week. I woke at at 7 am to go to the Joint Visa Application Centre (which was the ultimate struggle, because last night there was an international students party at the Opal club, so I went to bed at five). Anyway, after an intense ordeal that was about 3 hours trying to find the center, and meet with a representative to get my Schengen Visa, I was exhausted on the walk back to the tube stop.

Then, I passed this! It's a bookstore on a BOAT. You can go downstairs into the boat, and there are even more books than you can see from the outside. Beautiful. I also went inside and sang a bit of the Lonely Island song for a snapchat video.. Shameless. Sadly there are no lyrics about reading. Go figure? Those Lonely Island boys seem so literary...

I also got to explore UCL a bit and realized it's basically gorgeous. I particularly enjoyed the engineering building and the theatre, aka where my whole life will take place. (Photo credits to Ilene for following me around and taking pictures of me... lmao) 

I've already discovered some pretty awesome places and it's only been a week. Technically I've also had orientation this week, but that's been pretty chill. The things I attended that is... Also, life in London is still, well, life. There's been some things that haven't gone quite as planned (ex. going to the French embassy and realizing I'd left my passport on campus in a random photocopier) but even the sucky things have eventually turned out well. I've been operating under the concept that everything happens for a reason, and so far that's rung pretty true. Stay tuned for further experimentation on that the truth of that philosophy!