February 17, 2023 | Hey everyone! My name is Ayawni, and I am studying abroad at Wroxton College during the second semester of my freshman year. Recently, my Wroxton peers and I took a short road trip to London for the weekend. While traveling through the city, we always took the bus because of how efficient, reliable, and inexpensive it was. After the drive, my friends and I were hungry, so our first stop in London was Pizza Union where we got delicious pizza. After the pizza, we went to see the London Bridge. To my surprise, we found out that the iconic bridge is actually called the Tower Bridge. Despite the shock, the bridge was beautiful, and we stopped to take plenty of pictures as we made our way across. We read about the history of the bridge on the signs below and when we were finished, we made our way back to our hotel.

The next day we got up bright and early for brunch, we decided on a place called the Breakfast Club, if you’re ever visiting London, I would highly recommend it; the food was very impressive. After brunch, we made our way to the City of London, but we stopped at Trafalgar Square where we saw Nelsons Column. The monument is dedicated to Admiral Horatio Nelson, who died in the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, and Nelson's Column was constructed in his honor. Once we finished up, we headed towards the London Eye which is a giant Ferris wheel that overlooks London, and you get 25 minutes in the attraction to take in scenic views of the city. Riding the London Eye was the highlight of my trip. You can even see Big Ben from all angles, plus we timed it perfectly with the sunset. After exploring the City of London, we got dinner in Soho at a restaurant called Happy London because I heard it was one of the best-rated restaurants in London and after eating there, I can see why. Happy London was a perfect place to conclude our day.

On our last day in the city, we started our morning packing to prepare to go back to Banbury. Our last sight in the city was to witness the changing of the guards' ceremony at Buckingham Palace. We left our bags and headed to the palace. Once we got there, we saw the king’s guards marching in front of Buckingham Palace while the royal band performed. The royal band performed several songs from the musical Annie. After the band's performance was over, we decided to go shopping. We spent a couple of hours picking out clothes, then we made our way back to the bus just in time to head back to Banbury.

Overall, this was a very rewarding trip, and it has taught me a lot, I learned more about the history of London and the culture that surrounds it. It is a beautiful city with plenty of incredible sights to see. I am honored to be able to share this wonderful experience, and I am looking forward to returning soon.

March 10, 2023 | Greetings everyone. Welcome to my second blog! Today I would like to tell you all about my exciting and jam-packed trip to Edinburgh, Scotland. This trip took place over four days; we crossed the border into Scotland in a comfy coach bus and were met with gorgeous sights of vibrant green mountains, white towering windmills, and plenty of sheep. It is a six-hour trip going and coming back but is totally worth the journey. After reaching Edinburgh and settling down in our accommodation, my friends and I went for a walk to see Portobello Beach along the coast of Edinburgh. Little did we know it would take us almost two hours to reach the calm dark blue waters of the beach from our hotel! Edinburgh is extremely walkable, but a very hilly city located within mountains, so on the way, we took in astonishing views of the city at night. The beach was captivating even in the overpowering darkness that we got caught in as evening faded into night. Even at eight o’clock at night there were plenty of people jogging, walking their dog, and having bon fires simply enjoying the evening.

We spent the next morning at Scott’s Kitchen for breakfast, where my friends and I had delicious egg sandwiches. From there, we started the day with sightseeing, we saw the Edinburgh Castle, St. Giles’ Cathedral, and Scott's Monument. The buildings' architecture was remarkable; each structure resembled a piece of history frozen in time. While we were walking throughout the city, we stumbled upon several street performers and the Edinburg School Of Law’s courtyard, where we ate lunch. After that, we went to a few regional museums to learn about Scotland’s very informative history. We spent the remainder of the afternoon shopping along Princess Street, which was Edinburg’s primary retail strip mall. After we finished shopping, we decided to climb to the top of King Authors Seat during sunset. The Author's Seat was at the highest point of an extinct volcano. It took us about 40 minutes to get to the top of the volcano, and it was worth it because we got to see the entire city from the top, along with a captivating sunset. Once it got dark, we descended the mountain and awarded ourselves with dinner on the way back to the hotel.

The next day, my friends and I got up early to have brunch at LAILA. The restaurant had an all-pink theme, which was very appealing. All of the drinks, waffles, and pancakes were pink, which was a first. Once we finished brunch, we decided to take a bus to the Edinburgh Zoo. The Edinburgh Zoo was one of the best zoos I’ve visited; they had penguins, tigers, lions, and even an exhibit that allowed you to go in with the kangaroos. After we finished at the zoo, we were tired and hungry, so we decided to order food and watch movies in the hotel. Going to the zoo was a perfect way to end our trip in Edinburgh. I will always treasure my time spent in Edinburgh, and though the days were full of eventful activities, there was still plenty to do. I learned an abundance about Scotland during my time in their museums. I hiked a volcano, saw Wallabies, and even got to see street bagpipe performers. Edinburg was a very beautiful city, and I enjoyed immersing myself in Scottish culture.

April 12, 2023 | Greetings everyone, welcome to my third blog. I’m a little over halfway done with my semester abroad. I recently came back from spring break in Barcelona, Spain, and I'm going to recap my favorite moments from my trip. Our flight was extremely early, so once we arrived in Barcelona, we grabbed a delicious breakfast at Zenith and headed to our hotel. Later that evening, we explored the city, visiting shops and trying various street foods. The next day we decided to start our day at Barceloneta Beach. It wasn’t warm enough for the water, but we relished our time out in the sun. After a few hours, we decided to grab lunch at a beachfront restaurant, where we enjoyed fish and chips.

Once we finished our meal, we decided to take a stroll around the harbor, and it was captivating. There were stands where you could buy all types of knick-knacks and food. After the harbor, the sun started to set, so we made our way to the magic fountain of Montjuïc. The magic fountain features water acrobatics, colorful lights, and music, and the show was astonishing. Once the show was over, we made our way back to the hotel.

The next day, we planned to knock out all of our tourist attractions. Our first stop was La Sagrada Familia, which was a Catholic church that they’ve been building since 1882. After visiting, I can understand why it took them so long because the detail throughout the building was breathtaking. We had prearranged tickets to go to the top of the sunset tower in the church, where we got gorgeous views of Barcelona's seaside. After many steps, we made back down to the ground floor, where we did an audio tour guide to learn more about the building's history.

Our next stop was Park Güell, which was a huge park with scattered architecture designed by Antoni Gaudí, The park overlooked the entire city of Barcelona, and I was able to get some nice photos at La Plaza del Teatro Griego. Once we finished walking the park, we grabbed a quick lunch and headed to our next activity. We took a tram to Montjuïc where we rode cable cars to the top of Montjuïc Castle. Once we arrived at the top, we sat in an area that overlooked the docks, where we chatted for a while and completed our day with a sunset.

On our last day in Barcelona, we started our day off late and got brunch at a café. Once we finished, we made our way to Ciutadella Park, where we used a rowboat in the park's center pond. After our boat ride, we made our way to Mercado de La Boqueria, where I had scrumptious chicken wings and nourishing fruit juice. We enjoyed our previous time spent at the beach, so we decided to take the bus back to Barceloneta, where we had some delicious Spanish tapas. After that, we made our way back to the hotel to prepare for our early flight the next day. Barcelona was a beautiful city and my favorite destination I've visited so far. I can’t wait to return.