This the first week out of quarantine, and we finally explore London and see what it has to offer. On the first day out of the flat, my flatmates and I did not have a set plan as to what we were going to do our first week!

We just set off walking in a direction and ended up walking a total of 13 miles!

The first destination that we wondered about was Spitalfields Market, filled with independent artists and restaurants. I was in awe because it was the first market I have been to in a really long time! Just the smell of the food from the canteens was enough to tempt us for a bite of food.

After leaving the market, we made our way to London Bridge, and the view was just amazing. Just over the other side of the river Thames was the famous Tower Bridge that often gets mistaken for the London Bridge.

I also came to London at the perfect time because the EURO 2021 was taking place, which warms my football heart. I went to the fan zone, which was a short trek from the London bridge, where they had live performances, giant television screens, and restaurants.

One of the most incredible things I did in the week was the walking tour of Jack The Ripper that CAPA set up for everyone. I was really interested in this because it marks the beginning of what Forensic Science would become in later years. The fact that the police officers took the time to photograph the victims and the crime scenes marks the first thing we learn as future forensic scientists is the preservation of the crime scene for evidence. Doctors during this time also became pathologists, and in present times pathologists are doctors.

Not only was its first week out of quarantine, but it was also the first time I had classes in person and no longer over zoom. We were the first students in the CAPA center in over a year, so that was really exciting.

In my second class internship class, we spoke about cultural intelligence and how it works in the workplace. Cultural intelligence is the ability to immerse yourself in another culture to learn and have the ability to work and respect that culture.

In my Analyzing and Exploring London, we learned about the history of the City of London and what is a Global City? We also took a field trip through Billionaire row and Hyde Park.

Billionaire row is quite interesting, it is primarily foreigners and ambassadors that live there, and it is gated from the public with armed guards. The public can walk through, but you cannot take any photos of the house or anyone that resides there.

We also took part in a walking tour of London via a guide to learn more about London’s famous sites, including the many guards of the Queen and their significance. We learned that the guards in the red uniform represent that the Queen is in residence at Buckingham Palace.

Sadly, she was not in residence because the guards from the navy were present, but we still got to see the changing of the guards.