By The Beautiful Sea

This morning I woke up at 6:30 am to get ready and grab some breakfast before my trip to Brighton. We all boarded the coach at 8:00 and headed an hour and a half outside of London to reach the southern coast. The drive was beautiful – everything you would expect from an English countryside: rolling neon green hills, sheep, horses and little cottages.

Brighton is one of the main places that the English take their holiday. It consists of a huge pier stretching into the ocean with carnival type booths and rollercoasters. Cristobal and I headed directly towards a ride called “The Ranger” a ride that swings back and fourth like a giant swing until you are completely upsidedown hanging looking at the ocean in the far distance below you – it was a blast and a great way to start out the day. I spent most of the day with Cristobal, Fernanda, Pedros and Lidia – Lidia and Cristobal are from Spain, Pedros from Cypres, and Fernanda from Portugal. The opportunity to spend an entire day without any other American students was a great experience.

We walked into town and sat down at a café that had all you can eat gourmet buffet for really cheap. We all ate delicious Pizza, vegetables and couscous alongside the street as people walked by. We then walked around and looked at some shops, but quickly headed back to the beach. The beach was made up of small rocks and seashells and it was littered with English people and their children riding the mary-go-rounds and playing in the sand. Cristobal was quite tired and he took a quick “siesta” as he called it and we all decided to bury him with sand to get the full beach experience.

The bus took us back at about 4pm where we gathered at Ted Lewis then got ready to go out again. About 10 of us walked to the bus stop and caught it to Oakwood station then road the Picadelly Line all the way to Waterloo station where we came above ground to the sound of drums and celebration. We were here to watch the Thames River Festival. After a huge parade of Londoners in elaborate costumes passed, the most impressive fireworks display I’ve ever seen began over the river with a backdrop of St. Paul’s Cathedral and the shipping boats. It only lasted a mere 5 minutes but had about as many fireworks in it as a usual 1 hour show – you can just imagine the intensity. We walked across the Waterloo Bridge and looked a Big Ben and the London Eye Lit up while eating some Indian spring rolls we found at a booth. We all then walked past the Lyceum Theatre and up to Covent Gardens to catch the tube and the Night Bus back to Enfield campus. It has been a long day and tomorrow begins campus induction. I apologize for the tardy upkeep of the Blog as my internet has not been working in my dormitory for the weekend