Oh yeah, I’m flying to Athens today for a 4 day excursion. More on that to come.
Last weekend, 2 girls from my sorority who are also studying abroad met up in London, and I saw that they were here for the weekend so we organized a little impromptu brunch. We went to a place called the Riding House Cafe and it was SO GOOD. We all got the same typical order, avocado toast with poached eggs, but it was worth it. I also added on a side of bacon (the bacon here is other-worldly!!) and some peony rose tea. It was really nice to catch up with them and hear how their semesters have been going, as well as to enjoy some good food!
At this point I had walked roughly 9 miles (in heeled booties – oops) and had worked up quite an appetite so we googled “cheap Italian food in London” and took the longest bus ride there to give our feet a break haha. The food was really good, and it didn’t hurt my wallet!!
On Monday, my neighbor Megan and I had made plans to do afternoon tea. Because that is one of the most quintessentially British things you can do and also right up my alley. We were trying to be budget friendly but also have it in a really nice atmosphere and settled on a place called the Number Sixteen Hotel where they served afternoon tea in their gardens for around 20 pounds. This included “bottomless” tea (With the water that they brought I had about 6 or 7 cups which was plenty) or coffee or hot chocolate, 4 finger sandwiches each (tomato paste with cucumber, curry, egg, and roasted red pepper), a macaron, small fudge brownie, chia pudding with passionfruit, lox on a lemon wafer, and 2 scones served with raspberry and strawberry jam and clotted cream. I was definitely full by the end!! Unfortunately it was kind of rainy that morning so they didn’t seat us in the garden, but they seated us in the sun room right next to it with the door open for fresh air which ended up being perfect. I seriously wish I could do afternoon tea every single day of my life, and I’m also tempted to buy my own tea set now.
We finished up around 1:30 and since the hotel was located in South Kensington, I used it as an excuse to explore Kensington. Our first stop was the Natural History Museum. We could not have had worse timing – the streets were covered with parents out with their children. We figured out that it was school break this week and that every single family was taking their kid to the Natural History Museum. We lasted about 20 minutes inside before deciding to come back some time when it was less crazy.
Next, I decided to go see Kensington Palace. I walked through the Gardens and just wandered around; every one was out with their dogs and their kids and it really made me want to have a picnic. Sadly, I didn’t tour Kensington Palace because that costs $$$ and even sadder was that I didn’t get to meet George and Charlotte. I’ll keep hoping
At this point I walked out of Hyde Park and just sort of wandered through all the neighborhoods. This is one of my favorite things to do; walking around London without a real destination really helps me get a feel for different parts of the city and allows me to take in and “be wowed” by as much as possible.
Hope you enjoyed my day in Kensington!!
Also just a Health and Society class update: this week they brought in 2 professional actors to role play consultations with us. Each student was assigned a consultation and we had to do it for the class and then get feedback. While each definitely had its own medical background, the workshop really was more about how to communicate effectively with patients, how to avoid common pitfalls, and how to show patients compassion. For example, my consultation was Type 2 Diabetes Management but my “patient” informed me that he just wasn’t willing to give up unhealthy eating habits or start exercising, so it turned into how to work towards compromise with a patient and deal with a situation in which they “don’t want” the treatment. Another girl had to break the bad news of cancer, another girl had to tell a patient she couldn’t in good faith prescribe medication because of contraindications (even though the patient was adamant about it) another patient was just throwing insults at the “doctor”…. you get the idea. It was really useful because you think you know how you would deal with a situation until there is a real patient in front of you and you can’t just think about it in your head. Really useful skills to have!!
Thanks for reading!
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Katie, a senior Biology major, is spending the Fall 2017 semester studying Health & Society at King's College in London through Arcadia University.Read more from Katie at https://katientheuk.wordpress.com/
Don't miss your opportunity to study or intern abroad! Start your search at http://studyabroad.uark.edu/search/
