London Adventures – Vince Acri

Hello everyone! Greetings from across the pond! This week was filled with a lot of visits to new places and exploration, which was fantastic!

Last Friday, I was able to visit Brighton with classmates on a trip that I planned since I am on the leadership team for Elon University. We took a very early train into Brighton and had tickets for the Royal Pavilion made available to us through the school. For those unaware, the Royal Pavilion was used by King George IV as a royal retreat home right upon the beach. Now, it is used as a museum as a look back into that piece of time, and it is breathtakingly beautiful as a feat of design and interior decorating. We spent the day wondering around, eating fish and chips, shopping, and visiting the famous Brighton Pier.

Saturday I took a vineyard tour through the school to Chapel Hill Vineyards in Kent, England. The tour was fantastic, and the tasing was a wonderful introduction into English wine, I even ended up buying two bottles! We had a lunch there where I took the opportunity to try new foods I had never had the chance to experience before. One of which was Cod Cheeks, and another was Venison. Both were fantastic and delicious, I look forward to having both again soon.

This week in my food and culture class we traveled to Brick Lane, a prominent Indian neighborhood in the UK. We were taken through different shops, grocery stores, and food markets that exhibited Indian culture while also having the history of the culture explained to us from a tour guide. It seemed as if it was a whole different city, with a very deep and layered culture that was wonderful to experience. I tried many different foods, including Indian sweets and desserts that I wish I had bought more of! Moreover, I learned a lot about the prominence of religion and adherence of tradition that is followed, and what it means for the current generation growing up in Brick Lane.

I also attended WingJam in London, which is their annual wing festival! I love hot wings and this festival was right up my ally. Granted, I believe I should have left the really really hot wings alone, but I was able to manage! There was live music and wing eating contests the whole day, it was nice to participate in a festival that is a part of London’s identity such as this one.

My British culture class took a tour of Chelsea FC’s stadium, which gave me a first hand look at the way British sport is different from American sport. The tour guide was very descriptive of the way fans and sport culture are different from what we are used to in America, which gave a great insight to the difference between the two cultures.

I love being able to learn in this city, it opens up new doors to cultures I could not experience in America that I am always excited to see!