Day twelve marks the last day of our trip in the United Kingdom, which is a very bittersweet feeling. However, I had the absolute best last day and I can’t wait to tell you all about it! To begin, we were able to sleep in a little bit before heading to the lobby to meet with our group. Ella and I made sure that our hair, makeup, and outfits looked absolutely amazing so that we could take a million and one pictures for the day! Once we were all together in the lobby, we headed to Paddington Station to make our way to the first stop of the day: the Florence Nightingale Museum.
The Florence Nightingale Museum was so cute and I truly enjoyed walking through it. To begin we saw a hunger strike medal, which is one of less than one hundred medals ever awarded. They would be awarded to those who engaged in hunger strikes during imprisonment, and they were all suffragettes. We then watched a video of Nursing in the Air by Squadron Leader Peter Quick. I thought that this was so cool, because I had no idea that there were opportunities to provide care to patients in a moving helicopter. I also realized just how much work nursing in the air would be, when he said that one hour of working in the air is the equivalent to working three hours on the ground.
The last thing that I found very interesting about the museum was the Nightingale sisters. Florence Nightingale and Parthenope Nightingale had very different personalities with Florence being quiet, neat, observant, and organized. On the other hand, Parthenope was lively and artistic. This reminded me of my own relationship with my sister which was very special, because she and I also have very different personalities but get along so well. The only difference is that Florence and Parthenope were suffocatingly close and clung to each other a large amount!
Once we finished with the museum, it was time to explore London on our own!! To start the day, Ella and I went to a restaurant called “giraffe” which had amazing breakfast food. I was able to get strawberry and cream pancakes and they were absolutely delicious. We also walked over to “Pret a Manger” in order to get coffee before walking around. Ella and I had a ferry ride at 11:30 and it was only 9:30 so we had plenty of time for exploration. We walked across a bridge overlooking the water that was actually made from spare parts of the London Eye. We were able to walk into some tourism shops for London and also walked through a gorgeous garden.
Once we explored for a bit, it was time for the ferry ride which I am so glad we did. It was forty minutes on the water with the sun shining on our faces and we were able to see many famous parts of London. We saw Big Ben, the Tower of London, Shakespeare’s (remade) Globe Theatre, and so much more. It was a great opportunity to see a lot in a little amount of time because we did not have that long to see everything we wanted to see.
After the ferry ride, we figured out how to use the tube ourselves, and went to Camden Market. Camden Market was so fun and there were so many shops it was almost overwhelming! Ella and I were able to get matching sun rings, and I also got a beautiful sunflower ring which is my favorite flower. We took a million pictures and even stopped in a photo booth for more! We made sure to eat lunch halfway through our time at the markets, and we got Italian food at a cute restaurant nearby.
Once we explored the markets, it was time to meet with the rest of the group for Moulin Rouge the Musical! We were in a gorgeous theatre and also had really great seats on the main level to watch the show. The show was so fun with songs that we knew, but also very sad at the end with the main character dying. Many of us were crying by the end of it, but that’s how you know that the show is great and so are the actors. I had the best time and I am so glad that we got the opportunity to see a musical that I haven’t seen before.
Once that was over, it was time to head back to the hotel. That was our last event as a group together, and after that, we were all going our separate ways. I have had the best time on this trip and I will truly miss everyone from the group so much. I was able to meet so many different and unique individuals and this has made me want to study abroad again next year!!