Swimming the Channel: A Week in the UK

And just a day later, I’m back with another post! This time, we’re heading out of Paris, crossing the English Channel, and making our way to the United Kingdom, home of the Queen King, something called bangers and mash, and Taylor Swift’s boyfriend Joe Alwyn. And, as I’ve recently discovered, plenty of other things! Read along to find out more…

When choosing where to go for my fall break, I stuck to my tried-and-true travel mantra: the best hotel in the world can’t beat staying at someone’s house for free.

Okay, maybe that’s not entirely accurate, but it is true that crashing on a friend’s couch for a couple of nights is almost always more enticing than spending it alone at a bare-bones, super-cheap hotel you scrounge up from the depths of Booking.com. This was definitely a factor for me when I decided to spend my vacation in the United Kingdom, as my friend Anna Kate (you may remember her from my and Andrew’s week in Valencia!) is studying abroad in London this semester and graciously offered to put me up for a weekend. And, of course, I wanted to see my friend. That was obviously the main benefit but the free bed didn’t hurt.

So, at the crack of dawn one late October morning, I left my cozy Parisian apartment and made my way to the Gare du Nord to catch the Eurostar. This train runs between France and England through a tunnel under the English Channel (a Chunnel, if you will), but rather disappointingly does not give you ocean views. It actually travels through rock about 250 feet below sea level, which, I guess, makes scientific sense, but is way less cool than an aquarium-style glass tunnel would be.

Don’t get me wrong, I love train travel and I find it so much easier than flying (not to mention better for the environment!), but the only indicator you get that you’re traveling under an entire body of water is that everything goes pitch black for about forty minutes (maybe? I actually slept through a lot of it) and then you re-emerge. It would’ve been way more fun if they started playing “Under the Sea” from The Little Mermaid, or maybe “Octopus Garden” by the Beatles. The most entertaining part about it was that when we entered the tunnel on the French side, the skies were clear and blue, and when we came out on the other side in England, it was grey and rainy. I think this was the most stereotypical English welcome I could get! (Luckily it was not indicative of the rest of the week’s weather.)

After arriving in London and dropping my bags off at Anna Kate’s flat (see, I speak fluent British already!), she and I grabbed coffee (I was exhausted) and wandered around her neighborhood. She also took me to see where she’s interning this semester. No biggie, it was just the Palace of Westminster! I felt like an honored dignitary on my private tour of Parliament.

Then it was time for the main event: Hannah and Louise! I met these two wonderful girls when I was a first-year at UNC and they were students at the University of Bristol spending their third year studying abroad in Chapel Hill. We met through Blank Canvas, an all-levels dance company I participated in (emphasis on the all-levels part), and became fast friends. We even had summer plans to take a road trip through the American Southeast, but our year together was cut short by COVID hitting partway through our spring semester. (Don’t worry, if we do make that trip happen, I’ll be sure to write about it for the blog.) Thus, before a couple of weeks ago, I hadn’t seen either of them since March 2020 and missed them dearly.

While neither of them lives in London, they’re both in the UK and they were able to come down for the weekend; I’m so thankful they did. It was surreal to be in a situation where I was the visiting foreigner, not them, but they loved playing tour guide and I had a blast during my crash course in British culture.

We only had two days together, but Han and Lou made sure that we packed in everything London had to offer. We saw all the big landmarks, rode the Tube (aka metro), went to a pub, and ate fish and chips. If you find yourself in London, I highly recommend grabbing lunch at Borough Market. It’s an outdoor food hall with stalls from all over the world, and while I can’t vouch for the other vendors, my tacos were delicious.

While England is certainly different than the US in many ways, the biggest culture shock for me was actually all the English. I caught myself mentally preparing to go into a grocery store or restaurant, the way I do in Paris when I know the interaction is going to be in French, and had to keep reminding myself that I was in an anglophone country again. It was a bit bizarre, and I found myself missing the French more than I thought I would (though I won’t lie, it was also a bit of a relief).

When Anna Kate got out of her internship for the day, we all met up and spent the evening together. Anna Kate and I even decided to get our ears pierced together—I’m now up to nine total ear piercings. More to come, probably.

Then, just two days later, it was—heartbreakingly—time for Hannah and Louise to head back home. I ended up having most of my last day in London to myself as Anna Kate was at work, and it turned into one of my favorite days this semester. I took the Tube out to the Notting Hill/Kensington neighborhood and spent all morning wandering the picturesque streets.

Once I’d walked nearly a half marathon through West and Central London, I decided to head inside. The weather was starting to turn, so I made my way to the Tate Modern museum. One of the best things about London? All the museums are free!

The Tate was exceptionally well curated and informative throughout, something I think that’s particularly important for a modern art museum where some of the works require a bit more context in order to be fully appreciated, but there was one exhibit in particular that took my breath away—literally—and left me weeping in the middle of the room. A YEAR IN ART: AUSTRALIA 1992 focuses on art made by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, specifically as it relates to land rights and colonialization. It’s on until May 2023 and if you’re in London before then, I cannot recommend it enough.

Then, just like that, my time in London came to an end. After my evening at the Tate, I hopped on a night bus and set off for Edinburgh! This was going to be my first ever truly solo trip, and I was so excited. It was only a few days, so I figured I’d use this as a test run to see how I might fare on longer voyages alone. Spoiler alert—it was such a success that I have a solo trip triple the length coming up in December.

One of my big goals for this trip was to push myself to be braver in social situations with strangers. I know that I have a tendency to retreat in on myself when faced with large groups of people I don’t know, but I was going to be spending two nights at a hostel and I wanted to take advantage of it.

Little did I know this personal challenge of mine would start on the bus. A couple of hours into our ten-hour journey, a girl tapped my leg (I was stretched out over my row trying to sleep) and asked if she could sit down. At first, I was tempted to just nod and roll over, but she seemed friendly and so, in the name of pushing myself to be courageous, I struck up a conversation. We ended up talking for over an hour. She even invited me to a salsa dance class later that week, which I went to and had an absolute blast at. Amy, if you’re reading this, it was lovely to meet you.

I actually ended up spending very little time alone in Edinburgh. For one thing, I met people at my hostel the first evening I was there. I spent part of my first day with them, first walking up Calton Hill (left and right below) to see these cool monuments (they’re not actually ruins), and then later hiking Arthur’s Seat (center below) for these stunning panoramic views.

I also met a girl named Sam at a walking tour on my second morning in town, and we ended up spending about 48 hours straight together. We got tacos, talked to perfume shop employees about boy bands, went to the National Museum of Scotland (with Amy, the girl from the bus!), and so much more. It was such a gift to have a companion like that for so much of my trip.

I even started a conversation with a barista at a coffee shop I visited on my first morning in Edinburgh and she was so sweet that I knew I had to go back. When I returned on my last day, we ended up talking for almost two hours! It was the best start to my morning. I actually ran into her on the street as I was leaving town that night, and her warmth and excitement made me feel like I was greeting an old friend—the interaction was truly the cherry on top of an amazingly social few days. And if you’re in Edinburgh, you must visit Bastard Barista and say hi to Danielle for me.

I felt like everywhere I went, the Universe was rewarding me for conquering my fear by introducing me to incredibly cool people. Or maybe, it was me that was making that magic happen. Hmm, is there a lesson to be learned here?

I, of course, made a point of sampling the local cuisine, as I’m wont to do. Scottish food is pretty much just comfort food, and I loved it.

I truly could have written an entire blog post just about my time in Edinburgh. It was short but so sweet, and I packed a tremendous amount of sightseeing into just three days. And there were still things I didn’t get to do! If I could’ve stayed a whole week, I absolutely would have. Beyond the chance to enjoy a beautiful city, my trip to Edinburgh was such an amazing example of what I can experience when I push myself beyond my comfort zone. Perhaps it’s cheesy but it’s true, and it’s a lesson I’ve been learning over and over again this semester.

And guess what? I’m keeping busy—my next adventure is this weekend! Come back soon for more on that.

In love and adventure,

E