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After our day-trip to Cambridge, my friends, Kaylee, Adriana, Ashley, and I conducted a Hawaii Food Night! We were all feeling a little homesick and definitely missed local, Hawaii food. We each made a local dish and ate it together in Adriana's flat.
Hawaii Food Night Menu:
Today, we had the opportunity to participate in afternoon high tea as a part of Roehampton University's social programme for UH students. Me and 6 other UH students headed to Granary Square Brasserie in Central London for a fun high tea experience. There, we had scones with jam and fruit and a tea or coffee of our choice. I ordered an Earl Gray tea to eat with my pastries. High tea wasn't exactly what I anticipated. I knew that high tea took place around noon and involved eating finger foods and drinking tea, but our experience was a little different. When I found out that this event was part of our social programme, I thought that high tea would take place at a restaurant or cafe made specifically for afternoon tea. Instead, we went to a restaurant that happened to have a high tea option on their menu. I guess I was also a little thrown off because we did high tea at 5pm. But, it was fun and delicious nonetheless! What a trip! From Thursday, October 20 to Thursday, October 27, 2022, Ashley and I travelled across different parts of Italy during Roehampton's "Reading Week." Our Italy Trip timeline is as follows:
Thursday, October 20, 2022: Ashley and I left campus at 1am to head to Gatwick Airport. We arrived in Venice at Marco Polo Airport around 9am and made our way to the town that our AirBnb was located. We came across a restaurant called Da Pino and decided to have lunch there. I ordered an Amatriciana pasta and pear juice. Both were beyond delicious. This pasta was the best pasta I had ever eaten and unlike anything I had tried before. Amatriciana consists of cured pork-infused red sauce with bits of crispy and soft pork and tomatoes. Something I really like about the juice in Italy is that it isn't artificial; their juice is fresh and usually comes in a glass bottle. After lunch, we checked into our AirBnb, dropped off our belongings, and took the train to Venezia. From Venezia, we took the water taxi to an island nearby called Murano. The boat ride took about 20 minutes and cost around $19 USD for a round-trip ticket. NOTE: When traveling by boat to other islands, make sure you're aware of when the last boat departs so that you don't get stuck on the island! Murano is highly known for its glass blowing, so once we arrived, we walked along the Venetian Lagoon and visited a number of glass art studios/stores. I couldn't leave Murano without purchasing something, so I ended up buying myself a pair of beautiful black, red, and gold glass ball earrings. After some shopping, Ashley and I got coffee from a small cafe called Bar Fornace and treated ourselves to gelato at a local restaurant. It took Ashley and I a total of 2-3 hours to walk from one side of the island to the other. So, if one day, you decide to visit this gorgeous island, you could definitely do it in less than half a day. After a few hours in Murano, we headed back to Venezia for a light dinner where we tried Cicchetti and had an Aperol Spritz! Today, Adriana, Ryan, Ashley, and I did some exploring in Shoreditch. It took several bus and tube transfers, so we got there in a little under an hour and a half. We started our morning scouting out a few shops in the area. Since Halloween is right around the corner, I wanted to look for a few outfit pieces for my costume at the thrift and vintage shops. We stumbled upon this chocolate store called Dark Sugars Chocolate. I remembered seeing this shop on one of my friend's Instagram stories when he was studying abroad in London, so I decided to check it out! Of course I couldn't leave without some chocolate. My friends got their famous hot chocolate!
We were a bit hungry after shopping, so we checked out Eataly which housed several Italian restaurants and eateries. I ended up getting a burrata, ham and roasted tomato pizza. It was delicious. Today was an exciting day! My friend Ashley had 3 extra tickets to see West Ham and Fulham go head to head in a football (soccer) game at West Ham United. She thoughtfully invited me and my friends, Adriana and Ryan. I played soccer for several years, so I understood the what was going on and was beyond excited to watch my first live soccer game!
When we arrived, we grabbed some hot dogs and joined the other West Ham fans near the food stations. Music was playing, fans were chanting, and everyone was dressed in maroon and yellow in support of their favorite team. The game was intense, but our team (West Ham) won 3 to 1! Attending this football match was by far, one of the coolest experiences ever. Thank you so much Ash! Yesterday was the second event of Roehampton University's social programme: a day trip to Dover, Kent. I was particularly excited for this trip because I knew that we were going to have the opportunity to see the White Cliffs of Dover.
We left campus by coach at 9:30am and drove 4 hours to get to Kent. Thankfully, the weather held up nicely which allowed for a beautiful, sunny day. Our first stop was the White Cliffs. It was spectacular. I remember reading poems about these cliffs in English class, learning about the historical evens that took place here, and studying the calcium that these cliffs were made up of. It was so surreal to see what I've only heard and read about in classes. After seeing the cliffs, we stopped for lunch in a small town. Kaylee and I walked over to a gorgeous beach near the wharf and took some pictures. Once everyone made it back onto the coach after lunch, we headed to Dover Castle to do some sightseeing. The castle was originally built in 1060 and was sieged in 1250! It reminded me a lot of Lord Farquad's castle from the movie Shrek. Once we finished walking the castle grounds, we headed back to campus, thus ending our day trip to Dover. What is a Social Programme? Roehampton University conducts a number of excursions throughout the term for its Study Abroad (SA) students to explore and experience all that England has to offer. The social programme is already included in UH Manoa students' SA tuition. The excursions set for the Fall 2022 term is as follows:
Yesterday, we had the opportunity to tour different parts of London as a part of RU's Social Programme. Almost 40 study abroad students and I headed to Blackfriars Station to meet our tour guide. The guide took us to several London landmarks such as the Millennium Bridge (same bridge that the Deatheaters in Harry Potter destroyed in the Half-Blood Prince movie), Monument to the Great Fire of London, St. Paul's Cathedral, Tower Bridge, William Shakespeare's bust, and Borough Market.
Unfortunately, Borough Market was closing when we got there, but thankfully, we got some cheeseburgers before they closed! This past Wednesday, September 21, my friends Kaylee, Dwayne, and Ashley headed to Scotland for a weekend trip! Day 1: We left campus around 7:15am, headed to King's Cross train station and departed for Edinburgh. As soon as we arrived, we went to Sainsbury's (grocery store) to get some food for us to eat for the next 2 days. TIP: If you plan on traveling and need to save your money, I highly recommending getting some food at a local grocery store so that you're less tempted to eat out. After we did some grocery shopping, we checked into our AirBnb, dropped off our belongings, and walked to Edinburgh Castle. On our way to the castle, we saw some men playing the bagpipes along the street. The castle was huge and beautiful and unlike anything I've ever seen before. In fact, the castle was so large that a town was built within the castle walls for those who lived in it. After and hour or two at the castle, we headed into Old Town to walk around and get dinner. Day 2: Our second day in Edinburgh was quite eventful. We started off the morning with a walk along Portobello Beach. Unfortunately, it was gloomy and a little rainy, but it was a beautiful beach nonetheless. Afterward, we hit the National Museum of Scotland. This museum was huge! I enjoyed reading about Scotland's history and particularly enjoyed seeing what their fashion was like from the 1700s - 1800s. After a couple hours at the museum, Kaylee, Ashley, and I went back into Old Town to do a self-Harry Potter location tour. We drank some Butterbeer and headed to Victoria Street which people say Diagon Alley was inspired by. We did some shopping along the street, then took a quick break to get some ice cream at local favorite, Mary's Milk Bar. Once we finished our ice cream, we walked over to Greyfriars Kirkyard which is where the Potters', Tom Riddel, Professor McGonagall, and Mad Eye Moody's character was inspired by. Day 3:
Our last day in Scotland was definitely my favorite. We booked a day tour with GetYourGuide to Loch Ness, Glencoe, and the Highlands. The tour began at 8am and went until 6pm. The first stop of the tour was the Highlands where we saw a number of gorgeous mountains, lakes (lochs), and grasslands. We then went to Loch Ness Fort Augustus; the same Loch Ness behind the mythical Loch Ness Monster. Of course, we took plenty of photos and ate our sandwiches with the ducks. After Loch Ness, we ended the tour in a town called Pitlochry where we had some of its famous Whisky ice cream! On September 8, 2022, Queen Elizabeth II passed away. Although I was not in London at the time of her passing, I knew that I would be there for her funeral.
Today, Queen Elizabeth II's procession took place. I intended on going into Central London to watch her hearse pass through Kensington on Cromwell Road. The funeral took place at Westminster Abbey. The late queen, the Queen's Company, and the Royal Family made their way from Westminster Abbey to Wellington Arch in Hyde Park, then to Windsor. Today was the first time I took the tube, so I was glad to have gone with my friend Makana. We left campus around 5am so that we could be in Kensington before the crowd arrived. Although we got there a little too early (3 hours too early), we ended up securing a great spot along the road and were able to clearly see the Queen drive by. This was truly a surreal and once-in-a-lifetime experience that I'll never forget. |
AuthorHi, I'm Kaycee Nakashima. Follow my blogs as I share my journeys across Europe! Archives
December 2022
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