All Good Things Must Come To An End

I am now writing to you not from my London flat, but from my kitchen in Miami; I’m back in the States! And I’m definitely feeling the jetlag L Though my body is telling me its midnight (the current time in London), its only seven here in Florida.

I can’t help but feel the end to this journey is slightly bittersweet. Sure, I missed my family, my friends, my bed, and my shower, but on the other hand London was absolutely amazing, even the second time around; I almost felt like I was visiting an old friend.

The backyard at Buckingham Palace. Its a lot nicer than
 my backyard, that's for sure!

My last day in London our group visited the one iconic place left unchecked on our list: Buckingham Palace. I didn’t have a chance to tour the palace the first time I came to London, so this was definitely a new experience for me. We all set out at our own pace, with our own audio guides in hand. I’m sure some would see an audio guide as the poor man’s alternative to an actual real-life tour guide, but I would have to disagree. Sometimes using an audio guide is a more leisurely option, and the ones at Buckingham Palace certainly don’t lack in quality. I learned all about Queen Victoria (the first British monarch to live in the Palace), and Kate Middleton’s wedding dress (hand-stitched by the Royal Embroidery School located at Hampton Court Palace), and Will & Kate’s wedding cake (their entire cake is on display, looking as if it has never been touched). As you can see, there was a bit of Royal Wedding mania at Buckingham, but I’m certainly not complaining!

Never thought I'd be so happy to eat American food 

Afterwards, we had a farewell lunch at Hard Rock Café, where I was finally able to eat a hamburger with unlimited soda refills! And Dr. Everhart did me the honor of awarding the best superlative ever: Most Likely to Marry Prince Harry. If I’m going to fulfill this superlative, I will definitely need to go back to London sometime soon.

It seems absolutely unreal to me that my journey is over, that three weeks have already passed, that summer is over and I start the new school year in less than a week. But this was certainly one of the best experiences of my life. I will never forget the wonderful people in my group, all of the projects I worked so hard on, and all of the amazing places we visited. And hell, if I ever do forget, at least I’ll have this blog to remind me ;)