Day 3: last day in London!

 We started our morning with breakfast at the Pullman hotel where we stayed at. They had a buffet of pastries and other typical breakfast things you’d find. Our first activity of the day was a walking tour at 10 am around Westminster. We walked by Buckingham Palace, St James Palace, and saw the changing of the guard in between the two palaces. 

We continued our tour past all the gentlemen’s clubs (not the strip clubs) and found ourselves in front of the historic Republic of Texas Embassy plaque - where meetings were held above the wine store. 

After our walking tour completed around lunch we found ourselves looking at Big Ben and the parliament building. After many pictures we had lunch at a nearby pub called Westminster Arms. The burgers were pretty good and Ben reported the beer to being tasty. 

After lunch we walked over to Westminster Abby and toured it. We were able to see the tombs of many knights, popes, lords, and kings and queens. That including King Henry the V, Queen Elizabeth I, and Queen Mary I.  

Some of our group had split up at this time and a few went to a show in the afternoon and the other group went to Harrods.  

Borough Market was our next stop in the day - picking up some fresh strawberries covered in warm melted chocolate. 

We finished the afternoon and evening at Harrods. A 6 story tall high end department store.

- Hayley and Mackenzie 

Day 2 - London!

July 30, 2024

Howdy, 

Today was our first day in London, and we are all excited to be here! Yesterday was a rough travel day, seeing as how our connecting flight from Houston to Charlotte to Houston got delayed, and then our flight to London was delayed as well. We were all fighting the jet lag today as we explored London.

As soon as we landed, we went to the hotel to offload our bags. However, because our rooms weren't ready for check-in, we all had to freshen up and change in the lobby bathroom. Soon after, we headed to Tower Bridge to do a tour and then got to explore the engine room, which was a really neat experience. It was built in 1894, and it's crazy to think they could build something like that so long ago and still have it standing today.

After the Tower Bridge tour, half of our group went to the Tower of London to see the crown jewels and half of the group headed back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. The crown jewels have been displayed here since 1661. The collection also includes 23,578 gemstones, which are still used in ceremonies today. We also saw some guards outside as well.

For dinner, we went to a Jamie Oliver restaurant in Covenant Garden, and all had a fantastic meal before heading to West End and seeing the show Operation Mincemeat. It was a hilarious comedy, a WW11 British deception operation to disguise the Allied invasion of Sicily during the Second World War. While the show was a hilarious retelling of the story, half of us could not stay awake due to the jet lag we were fighting.

 

Day 1- Landing in London!

July 29, 2024

Some of us took a shuttle to IAH from College Station with an amazing driver to start our trip! We all reunited in Houston around 10 AM and checked in. We luckily had a gate agent who was very friendly come and take us to the front desk quickly. After security, we were hungry so some of us had Chick-fil-A or Panda Express. Madelyn and Ben then had their city presentation about London and told us some fun things to do in the city, the weather, and cool facts.

Our flight to Charlotte was delayed, so we were running through the airport to make our connecting flight to Heathrow… but then it ALSO got delayed. It worked in our favor as we were able to make our plane on time and able to stop for food and snacks. We departed around 8:30 only an hour or so later and we then enjoyed dinner, movies, and (some) sleeping. We then landed in London safely! Excited for more fun adventures this trip! 

- Lexi & Ally

Day 0- Getting Ready to head to the UK!

 

We are a week away from departure and getting a wee bit excited for our upcoming study abroad trip! Ten Hospitality, Hotel Management and Tourism (HMGT) students at Texas A&M University who are enrolled in an International Event Management class (part of the Professional Event Management Certificate or PEMC) have been spending the last few weeks learning more about festivals, especially those that find their home in Scotland. We are all so excited to cross the pond next Monday and find ourselves in London for a couple of days before making our home base in Edinburgh. We are so grateful to the faculty and students at Edinburgh Napier University (ENU) International Festival & Event Management department who came to visit Texas A&M in April and are widely opening their arms to welcome us when we visit them in a few weeks time. 

Pictured below are some ENU students in the Press Box at their first ever American football game for the Maroon & White scrimmage.

                                                                   

The ENU faculty and students joined in the festivities with our HMGT faculty at the department awards banquet in April of 2024.

Follow along to hear from students each day of the trip! I'm looking forward to getting to know them all better on our journey!

Dr. Donna Lee Sullins

Instructional Assistant Professor