London has not surprised us this week. We’ve been used to sunny days and bright walks with the students. But the Social Programme at UIC kept going even though it was raining and we had an amazing week.

On Monday new and old students went for a walk and chatted about their learning experience at Strawberry Moons bar.

On Tuesday it was raining so instead of the South Bank walking tour, we decided to go to the National History Museum. It was a really interesting afternoon, but we felt that one day was not enough because the museum was huge and there was so much to explore. We really enjoyed the dinosaur skeletons and understood the myths about why they died.

We took the escalator up through the giant earth sculpture made from iron, zinc and copper. We also walked an avenue of sculptures and examined beautiful specimens including a piece of the moon. It was a great day!

On Thursday the weather was better so we went on our South Bank walking tour. Before setting off we had a really good pizza close to the school, and then took a bus to Trafalgar Square. There is always something going on in the square, live shows and street performers. After we crossed the Hungerford Bridge and the Golden Jubilee Bridge, where is possible to take good pictures of the Houses of Parliament, the Shard and St. Paul’s Cathedral.

We enjoyed a nice walk along the river with the London Eye on one side and the Royal Festival Hall on the other. The day was cloudy so we could take really good pictures, however it started to rain so we went to have a coffee in Las Iguanas at the Royal Festival Hall.

We spoke in English all the time and one of students was even writing down some new words she was learning in her notebook! I am always happy to help the students to improve and to speak with me about the English culture and the London experience.

Friday, as usual was a chance to put on party clothes as we were going to Zoo Bar in Leicester Square. UIC students love this bar!

Don’t miss the social programme activities at school this week!

See you soon
Stephanie

The week could not have started better. At the Welcome Meeting there was a new large group and everyone was excited to be in London and to start this new adventure at UIC. The students shared their fears and joys at the George pub with me. It’s always great to listen and advise them!

We started the social programme week by exploring the Museum of London on Tuesday. Inside the museum we learnt about the history of London and got a feel of how it was living in this amazing city in different times. We had the chance to take a trip in the time machine through Roman London, Victorian London and more until nowadays where we could have a look at some of the amazing costumes of the Olympics opening ceremony in 2012.

Thursday was an excellent day: we went to St James Park and Buckingham Palace with a large group. In the park we paused to take some pictures close to ducks and squirrels. After that, we decided to keep walking and see Big Ben, Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey, also because there was beautiful sun throughout London.

Thank God it’s Friday! And we are going for the first time to Zoo Bar & Club in Leicester Square to have some cocktails, pizzas and nachos. I am sure that we will spend a wonderful evening there!

The School will be closed on Monday for the Bank Holiday, but this should not discourage you because the newspapers are saying ‘May Bank Holiday to be the hottest of the year!’. So after you have done your homework head to the 2013 Canal Way Cavalcade London event for a unique and free festival celebrating the city’s waterways.

The London Canal way Cavalcade at Little Venice festival takes place from Friday 4th May – Sunday 6th May 2013. Opening times are 10am – 6pm Saturday, 10am – 6pm Sunday (followed by music at 8pm and the illuminated boats procession at 9pm), and 10am – 5pm Sunday.

Admission is free.

I hope you all have a great Bank Holiday Break!

Stephanie

A new week, new students, and the sun has been shining in an amazing London: we could not ask for more!

On Monday we had a new group of students and after the welcome meeting we went to the George pub. Luckily we had a reserved table and we enjoyed a lovely evening exchanging our stories having some English beers and some of the students ate fish and chips.

On Tuesday we wanted to go to discover Covent Garden but the weather was so lovely outside that we decided to have a walk along the river. We went to Trafalgar Square as it was St George’s Day (the national day of England). We took some pictures and some of the students also tried to jump onto the lions! That was really funny!

After that we went to have a walk near the southbank centre, by the river close to the London Eye where we could enjoy some of the street shows and we had some fresh fruit coolers in Las Iguanas terrace (a South American restaurant bar) at the Royal Festival Hall. Even though we walked a lot , we wanted to discover more and we walked through The Mall, by St James’ Park where there were plenty of people enjoying the sun in deck chairs.

Our journey finished at Buckingham Palace where we took some pictures and sadly we had to say goodbye!

On Thursday we decided to discover Canary Wharf.  It was another sunny day so we decided to have a walk through the canals of the new economic city and then we stopped at a relaxing Spanish terrace in Cabot Square. The atmosphere was like we were in Spain, with fountains and chilling Spanish music.

After a nice walk between new buildings and canals, we decided to go to Borough Market near London Bridge where we found food from all over the world and we did some English cheese tasting and had a really good coffee from San Salvador! What can I say?! Everyday London give us new surprises and experiences,  in fact as a cosmopolitan city it offers a wide range of multicultural experiences that the students and I are starting to experience all together and we enjoyed a lot!