Monday, June 2- Day 1 in London!

We started the day by finishing packing up our belongings. We had our last breakfast at Hotel Alhambra and then we were off to travel to London. It took a very long time to get through customs and the waiting lines were very long. A difference that seemed prominent was the security policies. Security policies seem to be more automated in Europe, while they tend to be more human interactive in the United States. We completed many security checks that were technological based tables, mainly requiring us to scan our passports and to scan our faces, multiple times. There seemed to be very little human interaction through this process, which was surprising to us.

After getting through customs and all of the long waiting lines, we waited for the rest of the group to meet us at our gate. Everyone seemed tired and we all were looking forward to getting on our train. 

Once we were on our way to London, many students took this opportunity to get more sleep. The train ride was around 2 hours. The ride to London was a bracing experience because part of the ride traveled underwater. The fastest that the train traveled was 334 km/hr, which translates to about 207 mph. 

Once we arrived in London, we had some free time to ourselves before our group dinner. We took this time to go explore our surroundings from our hotel, Royal National Hotel. There are many shops, markets, restaurants, parks, and public spaces near our hotel. It was interesting to see that there are not nearly as many sports bars in England, as compared to the United States.

Exploring London for the first time was an amazing experience. There were many beautiful buildings, as the architecture was breathtaking. After exploring more of the city, we met with our professors to discuss some of our class assignments and make sure we ares staying on track with our projects.

Then, we had our first group dinner in England, which was at Marquis Cornwallis. The menu was very broad, ranging from seafood, pastas, to barbecue related foods. We all had a great time at dinner and headed back to the hotel after to complete our day.

Luke Gilbert