Week 17: Final-ly Bidding Farewell

Even though finals, for me, started last Friday, I still had to study for one final…well, final. I spent most of Sunday (5/6) and Monday (5/7) trying to feel better, and of course studying for my Organisational Behaviour final examination on Tuesday (5/8).

Shortly after 10:30 AM on Tuesday morning, I was officially done with the semester! To celebrate, Becca, Rasa, and I spent the day hopping from one Tube line to the other until we hit all TWELVE of them! Why? Just so we can say we did. Serving over 4 million passengers a day, this metro system has been serving the Greater London area since 1863, making it the oldest railway in the world. The lines that we more commonly hit include District, Circle, and Piccadilly; but with this mission, we successfully hit the other nine: Bakerloo, Central, Hammersmith & City, Jubilee, Metropolitan, Northern, Victoria, and Waterloo & City.

First, we made a stop off the Jubilee line at the St. John’s Wood station so I can walk them over to Abbey Road. Julie joined us soon after to jump on the Victoria line to take us to King’s Cross St. Pancreas, where the faux Platform 9 ¾ exists. Along the way, we also made our way to the Northern line’s Angel station, which contains the longest escalators in all of Europe, with a vertical rise of 90 feet and a length of 197 feet. On the other extreme, the shortest thing of the day was our Tube ride on the Waterloo & City line, which served more like a tram between Bank (Central line) and Waterloo station.

Notice also the peculiar things that make the Tube, the Tube. From the famous Underground red circle logos found everywhere to the painted on “Mind the Gaps” (and the extremely large gaps) cautions on the floor to the cheeky rubbish public notices to the colorful walls acting as billboards…there is no other metro system I have ever experienced as bizarre and wonderful as the London Underground. We managed to remain mostly in Zone 1, but hitting each of the Tube lines hit our wallets pretty hard too, with an estimated cost of £15. Worth every penny!!!

Later that evening, we (Rasa, Becca, Cloud, Julie, Jessie, Phizz, and I) spent a (nearly) all-girl’s night at the Zoo Bar in Leicester Square. As usual, the fun starts with getting ready and taking pictures *before* we get to the club, while our make-up is still fresh! There is, however, a cute picture of Rasa and me smiling in the club for a promoter floating around on the website.

Wednesday (5/9) was a much slower day for me. Rasa and Julie went to Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum with immortalized figures such as William Shakespeare, Justin Timberlake, Marilyn Monroe, Tiger Woods, Whoopi Goldberg, and even the Royal Family (plus many other Londoners, musicians, actors, athletes, comedians, and world leaders). While they were taking photos with life-size wax models of celebrities, I was…packing. (How exciting.) It does take skill, however, to fit my life into two suitcases weighing less than 25 kg each.

Saying good-bye is very hard for me. Rasa’s and my first good-bye dinner was with Tito Rich that evening. He took us to a very tasty Mexican restaurant, where we enjoyed appetizers, a pitcher of margarita, and our own entrees. Living in London was definitely easier because of family. Tito Rich took very good of me (and Rasa too!). Much love and gratitude!

We did not get to go on the Walking Tour on Thursday (5/10) morning, but that opened up the opportunity to speak with the Registrar Office to make sure everything was set with my records (and to hopefully keep a good rapport with the staff).

We (Rasa, Becca, Cloud, Julie, Phizz, and Chris A., and I) then went out that evening to Nando’s for a causal farewell dinner. After first stepping in, I wondered why on earth have we not been here before! Not only was the entire full of delicious-sounding chicken entrees, but there also were fountain sodas! I have not seen one my whole time abroad, and I was awed at the fact that ICE was available. Oh, and might I mention this place was walking distance from the dorms!

Later that evening, we spent the majority of our time in Cloud and Becca’s dorm, refusing for the sun to rise. However, Friday, May 11 still arrived. With all of our bags packed and rooms all clean, we bid farewell to the city we called home the past semester, the city that will never leave our hearts. Thank you London, we will see each other again soon!

Coming home,
Danielle