Arcadia England

In her fourth post, Emma manages, as usual, to pack a month's worth of activities in a single week, while still finding time to sample some of the local cuisine and celebrate the 4th of July.

Happy (belated) Fourth of July! Spending Independence Day in the land of our former oppressors was quite an experience, but before I get too ahead of myself, let’s get into the rest of this week!

Monday served as a reprieve from traipsing the city. I returned to the National Gallery briefly in between classes because I find art museums to be one of the most relaxing places to catch your breath. That night, my flatmates and I celebrated the long-awaited premiere of Love Island Season 7 — for anyone following along at home, P.E. teacher Hugo quickly became the flat favorite! Tuesday took my flatmates and I to the somewhat under-the-radar East End of London for our walking history course, where we learned about the city’s immigrant populations and storied labor movement past. We were also able to catch the last fifteen minutes of England’s thrilling victory over Germany!

On Wednesday, I used the afternoon to enjoy some rejuvenating “me time”, including an impromptu run around Regent’s Park. Thanks to a tip from one of our lovely Arcadia advisors, I was able to take a route that skirted the edges of the famous ZSL London Zoo, offering glimpses of the camels and the gibbons for free! I then bounced around Primrose Hill and the Bloomsbury district in what turned out to be a very fruitful tour of second-hand bookshops (shout-out to Primrose Hill Books, Judd Books, and Skoob Books). At night, my flatmate Lauren and I caught a production of Romeo and Juliet at the Globe Theatre—a must-do for theatre nerds like ourselves. The cherry on top was running into the cast at the Swan next door after the show and eavesdropping as they reviewed notes from the performance!

However, the highlight of my week was undoubtedly a weekend trip to Liverpool. As the rest of our flatmates were treated to an Arcadia-led tour of Stonehenge and Salisbury, my flatmate Sam and I (who had both seen Stonehenge on our previous trips to London) ventured further north. After a day spent exploring the thrift shops of Bold Street and traversing notable Fab Four sites such as Penny Lane, we rocked out at the Cavern Club, a truly iconic venue where the Beatles were discovered and many other influential artists have played. Given my love of 1960s rock n’ roll music, I felt right at home listening to the tribute acts who performed throughout the night.

This week in food brought about a trip to Rinkoffs Bakery in the East End, where I indulged in a delicious babka loaf. Additionally, I completed the quintessentially British rite of getting a lunchtime meal deal from the shop (a bargain priced sandwich, chips, and drink). Honestly, I think this is something we Americans need to steal; the food is not anything to write home about, but it’s a convenient and affordable option for when you’re on the go! Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about traditional meat pies. I pushed myself to try a chicken and wild mushroom pie at a historic pub, and I was not impressed. It seems that so much British cuisine consists of hearty meals that would be more fitting for a cold winter day than mild summer weather.

Lastly, my flatmates and I went out for dinner on Sunday night to acknowledge our home country’s day of egregiously patriotic celebration, which is obviously not a victory the Brits are inclined to highlight. Plenty of jokes were made about storming Buckingham Palace or dumping tea into the harbor...as to whether we actually followed through on that last idea, well, it’s my right as an American to plead the fifth!