Our Final Days in London...

Thursday, July 17th

This morning we were able to take a walk with Mary Taylor, a former nurse, who is now leading tours in London on health related topics. Mary was able to take us to St. Bartholomew’s Hospital where we were able to tour their museum and learn about the history of the oldest hospital in London. St. Barts has been treating patients for NINE centuries! We also had the opportunity to visit the St. John’s Ambulance and the site where John Snow discovered the water pump that was linked to the great cholera epidemic that ravaged London. During the walk Mary also provided us with some interesting health facts and illnesses that former Kings and Queens of England may have suffered from and how it was treated. Excellent information!

The rest of the day set up as free for the group. Small groups of students gathered together and visited some of the other famous landmarks such Abbey Road, Notting Hill, Trafalagar Square, Hyde Park, Wimbledon and the National Gallery. Others went to take a spin on the London Eye, shop at Harrods or simply explore the wonders of London. Many of the students also were able to experience a theatre production at the West End of London. Monty Python’s Spamalot and Chicago were the shows of choice. What an incredible experience …

Friday, July 18th

Today was our final full day in London. The group had the morning to choose what each of them would like to see. Many enjoyed the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace and then a tour inside Temple Church (from the DaVinci Code fame). In the afternoon the group met to take a guided tour of the Florence Nightingale Museum. Our guide was a lovely, retired healthcare professional who was able to tell us whatever we needed to know about the mother of nursing! For the many of our nursing students this was their chance to understand how nursing has progressed in the last 150 years and pay homage to the matriarch of the profession.

It has been an incredible week here in London and here are a few of the highlights directly from our students:

London has been very memorable; it took so long to actually comprehend that we were actually here. One of the best things for me, which probably was really minor to a lot of people, was learning the tube system, being able to switch from line to line without getting lost and being able to read the maps and find where I was and where I needed to go. The second best part of London was our groups amazing adventure. It was a great time to see all the known attractions, but with the great race I felt like I got to see a lot of things that I didn’t know where here such as Sweeny Todd’s place, Gringotts bank, and the Templers church. These are things I could connect to and knew about just didn’t know that they were in London necessarily. So those are two of my highlights. -Carol

London has been great. The most memorable thing I did in London was when some of the group took a walk at night. We walked past the London Eye, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, and Wellington Arch. It was awesome to see, especially all lite up at night. Another memorable thing was when we saw Tower Bridge. We even walked across it which made it more impressive; the towers are quite tall. Everything in London was memorable, but those are a few of my most memorable moments. - Shelby

My experience in London has been unforgettable. There are so many sites to see and things to do. My favorite thing we’ve done here has to be the amazing race and being off on our own following clues to different places and learning about some of England’s history in the process. Also, riding the tube and learning how to get on and off and change lanes, it was quite a process of push and shove in some cases but also very liberating knowing you can get yourself to one place to the next without having to depend on anyone but yourself to make sure you get where you need to be when you need to be there. Finally, I just enjoyed walking around the city without a real plan getting pictures of statues and buildings that hold so much history. I find it incredibly amazing at how old this country truly is and how much there is to see and learn. I have thoroughly enjoyed my stay in London and would love to return with my family and show them some of the things I’ve done here as well as seeing things I didn’t have time to.
-Linda

My experience in London has been amazing. This is my first time out of the country so this whole trip has been awesome. We have seen so much in this week it has been tiring but very interesting. Seeing Big Ben up close was breathtaking and unreal. The underground system here has been very easy to use. Though sometimes it was hard to find a standing spot on the trains, we always found our way to our destination. Also, being the only guy on this trip, besides Brian, that has also been good. Not too awkward to be around 24 other girls for such a long amount of time. So far, this experience has been amazing and definitely a trip to remember!
-Jeffrey

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