about natia

Welcome to England! European Tour (1 mnth) & Study Exchange in Switzerland (3 mths) Upon returning from Japan for my first trip outside of North America and mid-way through my studies at university, I realized that I desperately wanted to go on a study exchange in Europe. Luckily, Ivey, my business school, offered such a program and ultimately allowed me to visit the school of my choice -- Sanct Gallen Universitat, in St. Gallen, Switzerland, which featured a program on European Business. I was ecstatic! Prior to beginning my course (European schools begin classes in October vs. September in North America) I decided to take a whirlwind tour of Europe for a month. It was fantastic. In one shot, I visited cities across Italy, Switzerland, Spain, France, England, Holland, and Germany. Later, during my studies at St. Gallen I also visited Luxembourg and Austria. CITY VISITED IN ENGLAND: London.

TOP THINGS TO DO/SEE IN ENGLAND

• Big Ben
• Tower Bridge
• The London Dungeon (cheesy but entertaining)
• Fleet Street (London's equivalent of Wall Street)
• Covent Gardens (not a garden, just an area near the water to gather -- often sprinkled with entertaining buskers)
• House / Museum of Sherlock Holmes (Can't go into the house itself - but the museum is neat)
• Buckingham Palace (good to see it, but no need to stay for more than 5 minutes as you can't get in anyway. You can always see the changing of the guards, which is like the changing of the guards in every other country. ;c)
• Buy a drink at a bar and drink it on the street... legally!!! (for North Americans, this is quite the treat -- of course the balance is that pubs are only open until 11pm, though clubs are open later).

BEST MEMORIES FROM ENGLAND

• I find the English names for the subway interesting -- the "Tube" or "Underground"
• Those red "superman" phone booths
• I find that though there are European (Rennaissance/Gothic) elements in the architecture, it interesting to note that the industrial revolution had an influence in this medium (noted via the multitude of cement based buildings - which is typically rare in mainland Europe).

FAVOURITE FOODS / DRINKS IN ENGLAND

• Yorkshire Pudding
• Ginger Chocolate Bar (from Cadbury) - strange, but very tasty!
• You will find a lot of great spicy and flavourful Indian and Indonesian restaurants in London. (This is to balance of the rather bland taste of British stews, etc.)

FAVOURITE SOUVENIRS

• A very touristy "Underground" T-Shirt
• Some great (but expensive) Acid Jazz CDs

PHOTO GALLERY

WHAT ELSE WOULD I DO IN ENGLAND?

• Spend more time travelling in the countryside and across the neighbouring countries (to see the castles, etc.)
• See the Tower of London and the Crown Jewels
• Spend more time in the city
• London is famed for great acid jazz (I want to see more of the London nightlife)
• Drop by to see my buddy Rich of course...!!