Friday- May 19th

 London- Day 4

We consolidated lots of sightseeing and activities into our busy day today! We began our day by walking around the London Eye area and crossing a bridge to see Big Ben and Parliament. We also saw Westminster Abbey and went into the little shop near there where a few of us purchased postcards. From Westminster Abbey, we walked through a park to reach Buckingham Palace. On the way, we saw many birds and even little ducklings! The changing of the guards took place at the palace. The guards or “Beefeaters” wore tall black fur hats and walked within the same rhythm as one another. It took us a long time as we were trying to leave Buckingham Palace. Most areas were closed off by gates and the policemen were strict about what times people could cross the street. At one point, once the policeman turned his back, both sides of the street made a mad dash to get to the other side. From there, we took the tube to Borough Market. 

We were able to spend some time walking around and getting lunch at Borough Market. There was a variety of cuisines and new types of foods to try ranging from seafood, to persian food, to different kinds of deli meats. Everyone was very excited to try the pulled pork truffle sandwich and chocolate covered strawberries that a few people in the group had seen from viral TikToks. The food was delicious but super filling which was needed to give us energy for our next excursion- a tour of Wembley Stadium.

We took the tube to Wembley Stadium which has hosted numerous events including the 1948 Olympics, the Live Aid concert, and home to England football games. While it has many claims to fame it was noted that there are over 2,000 toilets in the stadium. First, we walked through a museum section that explained the important history of Wembley Stadium. We were then able to walk into the stadium section. The seats were bright red in honor of England’s World Cup win at Wembley. After touring the stadium seats we went down into the press room and locker rooms. There were various signed jerseys and cleats, or “boots” as they say. Following our locker room tour, we were able to run onto the side of the field in representation of team USA. The tour guide engaged in our banter and we were able to test out our best British accents. Our last stop at the Wembley tour was the royals box. This is only for the royals or guests who they invite. The rules are very specific for this box, for example, they cannot embrace in cheer they must simply clap for both teams when a goal is scored. Also, they cannot wear any football jersey, guests of the box such as Borris Johnson have been kicked out due to this. Overall, this day was super informative and enabled us to engage further in London culture.

Thursday, May 18

In the morning, we had lectures from Professor Ryan about the ancient Olympics. We learned about the importance the ancient Olympics had on Ancient Greek society. The fact that they listed the names of their years based on the winner of the previous Olympic Games shows how much the Greeks valued sport. The ancient Olympics started in 776 BCE and ran until 393 CE after the Roman emperor Theodosius banned it because of its religious context. The Olympics are rooted in the Greek gods, and since the Roman Empire was Roman Catholic, they wanted to enforce their monotheistic religion on them. During this span of over 1,100 years, there was only one pause. Compared to the modern Olympics, which Professor Kim gave a lecture on in the afternoon, which started in 1896 and has already had 2 cancellations and 1 postponement. I found this fascinating that the Greeks found a way to hold the Olympics every 4 years for over a millennium with such great success. What was also impressive was the different games that were played compared to the sports today. Seeing that sometimes sports could get so brutal to the point where people died is crazy. 

In between the two lectures, we went to the British Museum. I was taken aback when we walked in; there was security, but only to check bags. There were no metal detectors to walk through. At the museum, one of my favorite artifacts to see was the Rosetta Stone which is responsible for learning Egyptian hieroglyphics. We also went to see all the Ancient Greek rooms which was also extremely fascinating. To get to see all the history behind the place where the Olympics was founded was amazing. What was quite surprising was the fact that some of the most impressive pieces of history are so small. Also interesting was the fact that many of these ancient artifacts are still being dug up to this day. My biggest takeaway, however, was the fact that the British stole everything. All of these artifacts were excavated in other locations, yet the British got their hands on them and put them on display. For example, the sign of a Moai from Rapa Nui literally said that Chile and the Polynesian Island has asked for the Moai back, but the British have not given them back. 

After the British Museum we had Professor Kim’s lecture on the modern Olympics. We learned about the different eras of the modern Olympics and how that impacted the Games in the future. One of the most important games were the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin which were surrounded by controversy but is also responsible for the spectacle that we know the Olympics to be today. Opening ceremonies and the lighting of the torch were introduced during these games, likely to focus attention on the “greatness” of Germany in 1936 rather than all of the anti-Semitism and other atrocities the country was committing at the time. 

In addition to all the learning throughout the day, all of us went to grab lunch together to get sandwiches. We then split up for dinner in the Piccadilly Circus area, where a few of us went to The White Horse which had traditional English cuisine. We ordered a bunch of pub-styled snacks to share, which was exciting. Then, all of us met back up again and spent the night watching soccer (Newcastle vs. Brighton and Sevilla vs. Juventus) as well as just hung out together and got to know each other even better. This was the most valuable part of the day in my opinion, because they better we as a group get to know each other, the more fun it will be to spend the rest of the trip with them.