london, part 2

london has really amazing museums. later in the week, we went to the national gallery, tate britain, tate modern, apsley house, and courtauld gallery. they were all really great. i especially loved the national gallery, which didn't allow photography, but has works in their collection like the arnolfini marriage, the ambassadors, and lots of j.m.w. turner. this scene from skyfall was filmed there.

we also got to take a day trip to some sites outside of london. we went to stonehenge, stourhead gardens, and the salisbury cathedral. to be honest, we were a little underwhelmed by stonehenge, but i'm still glad we got to see it. stourhead gardens, however, was incredible. you probably recognize that bridge and that temple in the photos above from the new version of pride and prejudice with keira knightley. the best scene in that movie was filmed there, which made visiting all the more fun. we loved walking around and exploring the gardens, and we didn't want to leave.

back in london, there were lots of other fun things we did during our free time. one of the greatest things about study abroad was that our directors would just get us an unlimited metro pass in every city and in our free time we could get anywhere we wanted to go. i really loved riding the tube in london. we went to kings cross station to visit platform 9 and 3/4. we went to abbey road, which is hilariously funny because people are constantly running across trying to take pictures without getting run over. one of the coolest things i did was go see the tempest at shakespeare's globe theatre. i wanted to get the genuine experience, so i stood the entire time which was neat because you could get right up to the edge of the stage. the actors were phenomenal and i am so glad i went. i loved london so much! there were so many things to do all the time, it was easy and fun to get around, and it had the feel of a modern city while still having so much history. i really want to spend some more time there. anyway, i have one more post about study abroad, but i'm kind of sad to wrap it all up. i've really enjoyed going through all my photos and thinking back on all my experiences. europe, i love you. now please excuse me while i go watch pride and prejudice...