Normally Mondays are something that we dread in the US, however for our study abroad experience it is something to be rejoiced. As today is our final full day in London we have the day to explore. I decided to use my day to visit Platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross (if you can’t figure it out this is the platform from the Harry Potter series). I was surprised in learning that this is a physical place that exists, though as to be expected it was more of a tourist attraction over anything else. Following this I went with a few others to Treadwells Bookstore, a bookstore that is known for it’s rich literature on Wicca and other various religions. I was extremely interested in visiting this store as I continue to work on research for my upcoming senior studio. At the bookstore I purchased a London specific tarot deck, as well as a book on the Lore of London. I think that this book will be a valuable resource to have, as the puritans from GB who arrived in the US were the source of Wicca arriving to the states which lead to the infamous Salem witch trials. This book should give me an interesting back story to Wicca’s origins in the US and I can’t wait to get home and read it.
Following my trip to the bookstore it was time to get back to reality and start packing because tomorrow is the day that we all leave London. I myself will be off to Stockholm for a couple of days before I return to the US. In tribute to the last day of our trip we had a group dinner and were finally able to present Regina and Ingrid with gifts that we had been creatively hiding over the course of our trip. We all wanted to give them something special to show them we appreciate them as mentors who helped provide us with such an amazing experience. We gave both of them prints from places we visited over the course of our trip and we all signed the backs and left little notes. They were extremely surprised, their reactions were rewarding to see after all of our work to keep the gifts hidden.
To top off our last evening in London our group of students went off to explore one last time to commemorate our final evening. We finished off our night with some amazing memories.