Last spring, I had the biggest adventure of my life, and even though it was cut short because of Coronavirus, I still had the best time. I spent three months in Lewes, England, a small town a half hour bus ride from Brighton and an hour train ride from London. Here’s what made the trip so special for me!
The History
The history of not just London, but smaller English towns was really distinct. The study lodge in Lewes that the UMass Abroad Program had me stay in was actually the White Hart Hotel, which has been around since the 1700’s and frequently hosted Thomas Paine. Lewes is a really small town with a lot of older people, but it’s home to the Lewes Castle, and the town even came up with it’s own bar game, Toad in the Hole; the local game is played in Lewes pubs and a few of the surrounding towns—there’s a league and tournament every year!
Exploring London
As someone who lives close to New York City, I thought I knew what city life was like, but London is a whole new ball game. There’s so much culture and so much to see, you could live in London for a year and never do it all. Some of my favorite things I did in London were going to Sky Garden, riding the London Eye, seeing Buckingham Palace and Tower Bridge, going to Camden Market, visiting Platform 9 ¾, seeing the play “Matilda” (totally different from the movie, definitely recommend), and going to Kew Gardens. Even just walking around the city and taking the “tube,” aka the subway, was an adventure. Every time I went into London it felt special. And not going to lie, I had the best croissant of my life at a hostel there!
The Day Trips
While we never made it to Stonehenge, the day trips I did take to Cambridge, Oxford, Seven Sisters Cliffs, and Warner Bros Making of Harry Potter Studio, were a lot of fun. The University of Cambridge is a must-see if you go to England – it was one of my favorite trips; it’s a beautiful campus with a stunning chapel filled with the coolest stained glass I’ve ever seen. We also got to go “punting,” taking a boat ride down the river. Seven Sisters Cliffs was really amazing too; I went with a lot of the girls who stayed at the study lodge and it was a week before I had to come home. Most people on the trip knew they would have to leave soon because of Coronavirus, and some already booked tickets, so it felt like one last big group trip together. Not only are the cliffs huge and really beautiful, we went to High Tea after and explored a local town which was great (I love the cobblestone and Victorian style look).
The Tea and Food
I’m a big tea drinker, and I was so excited to try as many flavors as possible that I ordered tea at almost every restaurant I went to (I was drinking three cups a day during my Scotland trip!). Some of my favorites were Vanilla Rooibos, African Nectar Rooibos, Peach, Raspberry Herbal, and Cloud Catcher (a fruity mix). And it’s safe to say I had my fair share of fish and chips and Sunday Roast dinners—I love roast beef so having some served with crispy potatoes, Yorkshire pudding (a first), and carrots was perfect. Not to mention, I tried Haggis and Black Pudding in Scotland which wasn’t as bad as I expected, but I’m okay leaving those in the U.K.!
I know that school didn’t quite make the list, but I did love “Uni” as they call college there. I took a really cool graphic design class at the University of Sussex which was a lot of fun, and the campus was small compared to UMass which made it easy to navigate. The best part of study abroad for me was adventuring with some cool people, which also included my sister and two friends from UMass!