I cannot believe our trip has come to an end. Today was definitely one of my favorite days, so I am glad to leave on such a positive note. This morning started off with a train ride to Westminster to visit the Florence Nightingale museum. In statistics and Intro to Professional nursing, we had learned about Florence, so it was interesting to hear more about her. Growing up, Florence often received criticism for her thin frame and pale skin. Sometimes, her hands were so weak that she found it difficult to write. Many theories about the nature of her sickness have circled, and one is that she could have been contaminated by the lead from nearby mines that her family owned. Other information I learned about her family is that she did not always have the most happy relationship with them. They did not fully understand or support her wishes to break away from the social convention and pursue a career. However, Florence did this anyway and ended up becoming one of the most remembered names in nursing.
As a career woman, Florence made a large and lasting impact. She was alive during the Victorian Era, while medical care was quickly improving and becoming more understood. Therefore, public health and sanitation were beginning to be taken into more account, which is why individuals, like Florence, were working to make improvements across all areas of healthcare. I find Florence an admirable woman in history because she followed a passion and a desire to accomplish more, because she knew she could, despite it not being the social norm at the time. Additionally, during the Crimean War, she helped the injured British soldiers. By many, she was seen as an angel on Earth. She even set up a training hospital for nurses right at the St. Thomas Hospital, which is very close to where we were today while at the museum. Finally, many people associate Florence with the genie-like lamp, but I found out today that this was inaccurately depicted in history. At the time, an illustrator for an English newspaper drew her with her lamp, but did not draw the right kind. Today, we got to see the actual lamp Florence would use!
Our day continued by walking around the Big Ben and Westminster Abbey area before heading to the Borough Market. Here, we tried the chocolate covered strawberries, The Black Pig, and Humble Crumble. It was all magnificent and I think they will be living in my head rent free, especially when I am hungry, until further notice.
After the market, we walked through the city until we had our booking for the Tower of London. We started off there with about a 45 minute tour. I learned a couple of interesting things from him, like that the tower was very good at keeping people out, but not at keeping people in. The retention rate for prisoners was not great, because people often found a way out. On the flip side, there were only a couple cases he listed where people broke in. One of these was when they were bombed during World War II. Our guide also showed us Traitor’s Gate, where a lot of prisoners were once brought into the grounds on ships.
When we went into the tower, we saw lots of royal artifacts. We saw a diamond worth 3106 carats that was gifted to the British from South Africa. There was also a collection of several maces. Maces started off as weapons. Today, they are still around and must be present for the UK Houses of Parliament to lawfully meet. The swords are also still implemented into practices. They are often carried in front of the king or queen during coronation processions.
Next up, we headed to our dinner at Brasserie Zédel. This was a French restaurant very close to Piccadilly Theatre, where we were going immediately after to see Moulin Rouge. For dinner, we tried escargot! I was very intrigued to see what they were like and ended up liking them. The sauce they were in was good and reminded me of pesto. For my main dish, I got an Indian lentil soup with a side of garlic naan, which was delicious.
To end our night, we saw Moulin Rouge. I was very impressed with the production, dancing, music, and costumes. It was such a fun environment and everyone was so talented. I would definitely want to see it again!
I am sad to be ending our trip and to say goodbye to everyone, but I am so thankful for everything it has brought me. I have gained so much experience and I feel like I have a bit of a head start on some of the hands-on nursing work. Our lectures were very applicable and resourceful, and I will carry that knowledge with me as I move forward in my nursing journey. The people on our trip were so much fun to be around and I had many good laughs. I am extremely glad to be walking away with new friendships. With that being said, there is only one correct way for me to end my blog series. As Taylor Swift said, “So long, London / Had a good run.”