During the first weekend of November, many of my classmates at Notre Dame’s other study abroad sites throughout Europe came to visit London. Those of us at the London Program took this time to show both old and new friends around the city.
On Friday we walked to our favorite food market along Southbank and then continued on to Trafalgar Square. Collin, Xander, and I went with Ryan, Spencer, and Quinn who had come from Dublin. We were planning to go to a park but got rain for the first time in a while and so went into the National Gallery.
That night, most of the students in the city participated in a cruise on the Thames. We boarded next to Westminster Bridge right by Parliament and then spent four hours dancing, singing, and looking out on the city from the river.
In the afternoon on Saturday, our group made a trip to Saint Paul’s Cathedral, the Tower of London, and London Bridge. That night we watched the Notre Dame vs Navy game.
On Sunday, Ryan, Collin, and I to a ride on the London Eye, a modern Ferris wheel-type structure that sits along the Thames right by our residence building. From there we went to see Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park, and Harrod’s. In the late afternoon we attended Evensong at Westminster Abbey, which was unique because the Abbey is closed to tourists on Sundays. I appreciated the opportunity to take part in the service and see first-hand the similarities and differences (mostly the former) between Catholic and Anglican prayer.
(I live in the red-orange building on the left)
(our class building is right off of Trafalgar Square behind the hard-to-see Canadian flag to the left of Nelson’s Column. The Notre Dame flag is just hidden by a building)
(Shout out to Uganda being in the Commonwealth)
Weston Sees the World 
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