The last day...

** This post was started in London, but finished at home in Indiana... I had a busy night before we left so I wasn't able to crank it out like I normally do. My apologies!

Busy Trafalgar Square

"The last day..." these three little words made me feel so sad on Thursday. For our final hurrah, the class headed to Texas Embassy for lunch to ease back into the American groove. The main attractions: mountains of ice in our cups and free refills!

Our lunch spot, the Texas Embassy

Angie, Muriel, and Nicki at lunch

The restaurant was very festive and quite a different environment than the pub scene. We filled up on chips and salsa as we looked over a variety of delicious Tex-Mex dishes.

It was great to have the group all together. It is funny to think of the first days when we were still a little shy and nervous about meeting everyone. Now, we tease and joke around with each other like old pals! Nothing like traveling across an ocean and exploring a foreign country to bring people together :)

Decisions, decisions...

The (accidentally) self proclaimed Spice Girls

After lunch, we were off on our Beatles Magical Mystery Tour. I am familiar with their music, but not a hardcore fan so a lot of the information given was new to me. We stopped at the record studio where "Hey Jude" was recorded, and the Apple office where their last performance (rooftop!) was held.

The hippest of the hip street in the 1960s

We walked through the "Swinging London" hotspot, Carnaby Street. Carnaby Street was the fashion and cool center in the 1960s, and although the culture and allure has faded, it is still a major shopping area.

The group on our way to Abbey Road

We hopped on the Tube and headed to the St. John's Wood stop to visit the famous Abbey Road crossing. We ended the tour here, and desperately tried to recreate our own Abbey Road picture. The traffic didn't quite agree with our plans, but we did the best we could!

We couldn't manage a perfectly staged Beatles walk across the road, but I still caught a stroll (notice Christina cheesing for the camera!)

Prof Williams, walking the walk


Emma, Charlotte, and Mal... the first attempt at the walk

After Beatles mania, Muriel, Nicki, and I headed to Kings Cross to check out some Harry Potter mania. We followed other fans to find the famous Platform 9 3/4. It was a perfect photo opportunity for visiting Muggles!

On my way to Hogwarts!

For my final evening, I went to the Apollo Victoria Theatre to see my sixth show, "Wicked". It was fabulous! I know I have said that about every show, but I honestly believe that every show has been great and it would be impossible for me to pick a favorite. On my to-do list for home: search for the soundtracks for the shows I have seen and replay them over and over.

Wicked, my final show of the trip

With the last day comes my last post as well. It has truly been a pleasure keeping the folks at home up-to-date with our London outings. I hope everyone enjoyed my stories and accounts!

I also wanted to thank Stephanie Judge and Kate King, the marketing mavens at Butler, for setting this blog up and giving me the chance to share experiences. More thanks goes to Prof Williams and Butler for giving me the experiences to share!! It was an unforgettable trip with a million amazing memories. I have definitely been bit by the travel bug and definitely plan on studying abroad for a semester... I just need to figure out where!

Final thoughts: thank you to the people at Butler, the readers, and my fellow classmates for putting up with my constant photography! :)