The past three weeks were by far the most fulfilling school weeks I’ve had in London. I officially started my Internship at Circe, a startup focusing on women’s intimate healthcare. I am working on their marketing campaigns by writing blogs and automated email series. I absolutely love it. I feel like I have already learned and accomplished so much in only three weeks of interning there.
The week before Max arrived was super chill. I spent most of my time working on schoolwork, my internship, and in class. We cooked a lot during the week again, which was important for me because I knew I would be travelling to Paris and eating out more in London when I had a visitor. I still had time for some fun, though; Sydney and I went to the Photographer’s Gallery for our Photography in London course, and I went on a solo thrifting mission in a neighbourhood I had not explored yet. I got an epic hat that I’ve barely taken off since I bought it.
I’ve become frustrated with the “thrifting” in London. A lot of it is technically vintage, which is hugely marked up by vendors. All the lively and interesting markets are full of vintage instead of true thrifting and are ridiculously expensive. I had almost given up until I started exploring the charity shops. Cancer Research UK is where I got my funny, fuzzy hat and met this teeny tiny dog.
On Friday when Max got here, my friends and I took him to Picadilly Circus, and we went out to a few different bars in Soho. Seeing his reaction as we exited the tube station was really funny. We jokingly refer to Piccadilly Circus as Times Square since it’s always packed with pedestrians, buskers and general tomfoolery. It is super overwhelming, especially on weekends. Once we got through the crowds and deeper into Soho, we had a great time bopping around different places.
We didn’t stay out that late because we had big plans for Saturday. I took Max to the London Eye and Big Ben, two tourist destinations I hadn’t been to yet either. We spent the day at the Tattershall Castle, a boat on the Thames that has been converted into a pub and is directly across from the London Eye. After we walked around and saw the sights, we went to a less expensive pub to get some gross-looking fried English food.
I’ve found that in London, locals aren’t easily approachable. Interactions with strangers are usually unenthusiastic and short. Unless they are super drunk. The group of guys next to us at this pub must have been drinking all day because by 3:00 in the afternoon, they were hammered. When Max went to the bathroom, one of them jokingly asked if Max would care if he took one of his chips. I offered him one of mine, and he suddenly got super shy and declined it. They got increasingly drunk and kept eyeing our food throughout our time there. Once Max and I were full and ready to go, I offered one of them my leftovers. He immediately scarfed them down. Max was embarrassed of me, but I felt like I had done a really good deed.
Saturday night, we went out closer to Camden Town. It was my first time taking the bus — I am usually very pro-tube over bussing, but it was convenient and fun with a big group. We sat on the upper section since it was on Max’s bucket list to pretend to drive from the top deck, and so we wouldn’t bother other bus riders by being obnoxious. Once we got there, Max met up with a friend from high school, and we stayed at the same bar the whole night since we enjoyed it so much.
The following morning (afternoon), Max and I got ready to go to the Chicago Bears game at Tottenham Stadium. I really don’t care about sports at all, but I absolutely love watching sports live. On the tube ride there, we met two guys who were also attempting to find their way to the stadium. We figured out directions together and then went our separate ways. These two super British blokes were wearing Dolphins and Packers gear to a Bears vs Panthers game. I found that super odd, so I asked them on the escalator of the tube station, “Do you guys just wear any NFL gear to an American football game?” They responded, “Yeah, we just love the game.” I found that very respectable and immediately understood where they were coming from. Max did too, but as a Chicago native, he couldn’t quite get behind wearing a Green Bay windbreaker to a Bears game. After our very English Saturday, Max and I completed our very American Sunday at Chipotle.
When my Monday class was over, I took Max to Brick Lane. We got yummy food at the Brick Lane Food Hall and then headed to the underground vintage market. Max was in a shopping mood and found a couple of epic jackets, like this vintage ESPN bomber jacket from Canada. We also checked out a record store and other shops near Brick Lane. After that, Max was still in the mood for more shopping, so we bopped around the Soho shopping area before ending the day.
One thing about London is that everyone is petrified of fires. In my dorm, we have fire alarm tests every Tuesday promptly at 8:44 a.m. I warned Max about this and was happy he could finally understand what I had been complaining about. But this particular Tuesday, it was not just an alarm test but a full-on drill. We had to exit the building in our pyjamas while feeling all crusty from just waking up. We met up with my friends on the sidewalk and decided it wasn’t worth it to loiter on the sidewalk waiting to come back in. Instead, we went to Boxcar, one of my favourite nearby coffee spots, still in our PJs. It was awesome.
I had to go into the office for my internship on Wednesday, so Max had a fabulous day exploring London by himself (he was still asleep when I got back from work). But once I finished work and class for the day, Max and I went with a couple of friends to the 411. It’s a restaurant/bar that does Wall Street Wednesdays, meaning the prices of their food and drinks change depending on supply and demand. It’s a great way to get cheap drinks, and the crowd is typically our age and friendly.
Thursday was the full day of my internship, so I dragged Max with me to a cafe called the Marylebone Corner, only about a 10-minute walk from my dorm. I loved it here and have been back since for my remote working days. They have inexpensive, good food and delicious coffee.
Thursday was Max’s last night in London and, by far, my favourite. A few friends were visiting from Florence, where they are studying abroad, and we met up with them at a pub in Soho that wasn’t too crowded for a Thursday, which is a rare sight. We spent time catching up there before it was time to head to Gaz’s Rockin’ Blues. It is a live music event at the St. Moritz exclusively on Thursdays. We had a big group that made it even more fun than it usually is.
The next day was a big one. It was time to take the train to Paris through the chunnel (channel + tunnel). We took the tube two stops to St. Pancras International, where we would board the Eurostar train to Paris. Our scheduled departure time was 12:30. We were pacing well and arrived at the international departure gate at 12:10. Or so we thought. It turns out that you need to check in 30 minutes before your scheduled departure time, so we missed our train by 10 minutes.
Max and I both were super confused and worried. I don’t fault us, though; neither of us had taken an international train in Europe yet, so we didn’t understand the rules and norms. We headed to wait in line for an agent to resolve our problem. A different Eurostar agent picked us from the end of the long line and asked how she could help us. We told her our situation, and she explained that there would be a fee for missing our train. At that point, we had no other option and decided that was the only way we would solve our problem.
She led us to a different computer and printed our new tickets for the 1:30 p.m. train. She handed over the tickets and said, “I’m not going to charge you since this computer doesn’t work, and I can’t be bothered to go to a different one.” Max and I were shocked. We thanked her profusely, but not for too long, in case she changed her mind. I could not believe we got away with messing up that bad. Our new seats even had extra legroom. We are so incredibly lucky.
Upon arriving in Paris, we dropped off our bags and made dinner reservations near the Eiffel Tower. One of the reviews said it was the BEST pasta they had ever had. Max and I were sceptical, but my pesto was pretty close to the best pasta I had ever had. After we ate, we walked around the Eiffel Tower and saw it sparkle. It was an experience I will never forget.
Max and I were excited to relax and sleep in after the school/work week. I had been getting up early every morning for work and class, so we decided not to set alarms. This was a huge mistake, as we woke up at 2:00 p.m. Our grand plans to see the Louvre and the Arc De Triomphe before meeting up with Darragh, who is studying in Paris, were ruined. I don’t regret it too much since my body was exhausted.
Once we fully woke from our coma-like slumber, we took the metro to a restaurant near Darragh’s apartment. They weren’t serving dinner yet at 4:00 p.m. … so we just shared a bottle of wine instead. We were starving and needed food after our wine, so we went to the supermarket and got a mish-mosh of food and snacks that completely hit the spot. Max and I met Darragh’s fun new friends and chilled with them before the Paris St. Germain game. More live sports!
After the game, we returned to Darragh’s apartment and got ready to go clubbing. I had no idea that people go out incredibly late in Paris. We arrived at the club at about 2:00 a.m. and left at 4:00 a.m. The French get a bad rep for being abrasive and rude to tourists. In my short time in Paris, I found that to be inaccurate, except for this club’s bouncer. He took one look at us and said there was no chance he was letting us in that night. We had to wait 30 more minutes while he let others in right in front of us. We had to be persistent about how much we wanted to come in before he finally allowed us to enter the club. But once we were inside, I had a great time.
Max and I spent the next morning (afternoon) at the Louvre. I’m not a massive fan of museums, but it was really cool to see the super famous pieces like the Mona Lisa and the Statue of Venus. Max was way more interested than I was in the artwork. He was stopping to read essentially every plaque. I would only stop to point something out when a painting had a little dog in it. After the museum closed, Max and I sat by a duck pond in the park and ate these crazy hot dogs. I think that was my favourite part of the weekend.
On our last day in Paris, we concluded our stay by watching NFL football at an American pub. We met up with a couple more of Darragh’s friends again and grabbed dinner outside at a Brasserie for our final French experience.
Monday morning, I left Paris, touched down in London, went to class, and then met up with Ben, Beckett, and Michelle for dinner. They had a week’s break from their classes, so they spent Monday through Wednesday in London. I only had about four hours to be sad about parting ways with Max before I was back in a whirlwind of fun again.
The rest of my week consisted of working, attending class and seeing my friends whenever I could. We accidentally stumbled upon a drag show on Wednesday at Soho Residence, one of our favourite bars. We were the first ones there, so we had front-row seats. I can’t remember the last time I laughed that hard; it was such a great time.
I’ve found it easy to balance my responsibilities with fun activities during my time abroad, up until now. With midterms approaching, I will have to spend more time on schoolwork than I have been. But I firmly believe that you need to work hard to play hard, so that’s what I’m going to do.
I am doing absolutely nothing this weekend. I am so drained from Max’s week in London, travelling to Paris, and more friends visiting me directly after. On Friday, I slept all day long. For the rest of the weekend, I am going to focus on self-care and getting ahead of my schoolwork to prepare for my upcoming trips. This week, I plan on returning to eating dinners at home to save as much as possible, considering my upcoming trips. November is going to be insane.
