A weekend away in Devon

Two and a half hours from Southampton lies beautiful Exeter, which makes the perfect destination for a little weekend away.

I’ve previously written about day trips you can make on the south coast in places like Bournemouth, Winchester and Poole. Exeter, on the other hand, is a tad further away and requires more than one day, perhaps. It’s between two and a half to three hours on the train and about the same with the car, so staying overnight is definitely something I would recommend.

A big part of my boyfriend’s family comes from Exeter, so last weekend we went down there for a wedding. Apart from the wedding, which was held at the University, we spent the next day strolling through the streets of Exeter, visiting Topsham and Darts Farm.

Exeter is in Devon, and Devon is supposed to be one of the most beautiful counties of England, so if you want to see more of it, it’s better to go by car. There are loads of places to stop on the way there depending on which route you take; Salisbury and Dorchester are a few options. Topsham and Darts Farm, where we went in Exeter, are definitely easiest to reach by car.

Exeter itself is a beautiful little town, especially the area around the cathedral. It reminds me a bit of Winchester, so it goes without saying it’s lovely! Exeter also got quite a good variety of shops if you fancy doing some shopping, although most of the shops you will find here in Southampton too.

Exeter Cathedral 

The main reason we went to Exeter was for the family wedding. The wedding was held at the University of Exeter's halls, which was a beautiful venue. It definitely felt like I was in Harry Potter, but Mayflower Halls will always be the best halls in my opinion. Completely unbiased, of course!

My wedding date!

Reed Halls - the wedding venue

Topsham is only about a 10-minute drive from Exeter city centre and it’s your typical beautiful little English village with a lovely river running through it. We spent a little hour here going for a walk and dreaming through antique shops.  Topsham is also where Darts Farm is located.

Sunny Topsham

Darts Farm was awarded the best farm shop in 2016 and has been featured on the BBC for being one of the top ten destination farm shops. They sell all types of organic food and drinks, offer bike hires and even have a spa. We had a lovely time here walking around in the sunshine before we started our journey back home to Southampton again.

Walking around Darts Farm

The boyfriend and the lama

I hope you're enjoying the summer as much as I am!

Alexandra

My summer holiday so far

I’m not sure where the time goes, but after thinking I’ve been off university for one month, I just realised I’ve actually been off university for two months! So far it has been filled up with many new and fun memories that I thought I’d share.

For anyone who reads this blog regularly, you might remember that I started off by going home to Norway for a couple of days with the boyfriend.

However, with almost a month left of my tenancy I didn’t see the point in staying in Norway whilst still paying for my house in England.

So back to Southampton I went, where I got to experience the one and only Craig David at the Common People festival, which I’ve already written a post on.

I also went to Marwell Zoo for some exploring. Who said the zoo was only for children? It is most definitely not! If you fancy meeting some lions, cheetahs, zebras or monkeys this is where you should go. Marwell Zoo is not far from Southampton at all, and there are bus connections, but again it’s probably easiest to reach by car.

My boyfriend James and I decided to put our relationship to the real test and go bowling in Millbrook. I forget from time to time how fun bowling actually is and this is a great option instead of going out during the weekend. As far as I know you can go bowling in Millbrook and Eastleigh in Southampton. I lost, but I’ll be back to restore my honour!

We also went on two short day trips to Hythe and Muddiford – both very nice, although it’s a lot easier reaching Hythe with the ferry rather than driving. Unfortunately, I was sloppy and didn’t take any good pictures from either of the places. But I guess that just means I have to go back again soon, which I don’t mind at all!

After a great month of adventures it was time for me to go back home to Norway and although the places I’ve been to since then are a lot less reachable than the previously mentioned, I think they are worth mentioning.

I’ve recently been on a little road trip in Norway with my dad. If you’ve seen Norway on a map you’d know it’s quite a big country and there are still loads of places I haven’t seen. We drove the Atlantic Ocean Road and ticked off some small cities I haven’t seen before along with the beautiful fjords which I never get tired of seeing. If you’re interested, there are actually cruises going from Southampton to Norway. I haven’t been on them, but at least I know the destination is beautiful!

Right after I got back from the road trip I went to Romania where I’m currently blogging from. I can’t really say it has been proper summer weather in Norway or England, but at least here it is sunny and about 30 degrees every day. I’m not complaining about the heat just yet.

Happy summer!

Alexandra

Summer in Southampton: Tudor houses and zebras on the loose

Today was the first time I had ever stepped foot in Old Town, a part of Southampton City with a treasure trove of history. My family are visiting me for a few days for my graduation so I did some research on activities they could enjoy whilst at the same time allow me to learn more about the city itself.

Despite having lived here for three years, I was surprised at the new historical knowledge I learned about my new home! Who knew there was more to know!

Tudor House and Garden

First up was the Tudor House, one of Southampton’s most significant historic buildings. It alone encompasses over 800 years of history in one site.

The Tudor House in the sunniest city in the UK. I felt like I was holidaying in the south of France with that cerulean blue sky. 

Uneven floors, steep steps and low ceilings were kept in their original state to preserve authenticity.


Much history has been uncovered about the Tudor house over the years. It was built in 1492 and has been home to a prominent Tudor lawyer, an artist, and a Victorian bonnet-maker. Interestingly, the house has been deemed by many as haunted because of alleged eerie noises and shapes that can be felt during the night. It is worth noting that the house is built on the site of earlier medieval properties.

Ready for a night out in town… in a classic Tudor dress

A Tudor kitchen

Looks like a boring old wall with scratches right? These marks actually date back to about 1570 and 1620 and show caricatures of people, ships, animals and more. The house was owned by ship-owners at some point so these are likely etched in by sailors.

A real air-raid shelter in the cellars of the house where a family took refuge in during WWII. This was a wine cellar during the Tudor times.

King John’s Palace. Built as part of King Edward III’s efforts to strengthen the town’s defences against the French in the 1300s. Over time, it has been formed as part of the Tudor House structure.

Bugle Street: the view from the window in the 1800s

 

Bugle Street: the view from the window today

Zany Zebras

Next stop was the Zany Zebra trail. Brought to the city by local Marwell Zoo, this interactive and free art trail aims to raise the profile of Grevy’s zebras and the conservation that the zoo carries out. Marwell Zoo’s hope is to inspire the generations to come to take an active interest in wildlife conservation. Overall, there are 150 sculptures scattered throughout the city, some are big and some small. The University of Southampton even has a zebra in the city! Here are those that we came across on our day out…

A Zany Zebra outside the Tudor House

A little one inside the house called ‘Zippy’

Outside the Holyrood Church ruins. It was originally destroyed by the 1940s blitz which heavily damaged the city. Its shell was subsequently dedicated to the Merchant Navy sailors who sacrificed their lives during the war

Outside the O2 Guildhall where many bands such as the Foo Fighters have played in recent times

My mum posing with this artistic nod to one of the biggest names in music 

After traversing through the city, it was high time for some lunch! It took us no longer than a lovely five-minute stroll to get to Old Town to the modern areas of West Quay and the Marlands. Two shopping centres at the centre of Southampton which when combined together has around 200 shops!

Lunch with a view of the docks. The Harmony of the Seas, the world’s biggest cruise ship, set sail from here on her maiden voyage.

Our day was simply amazing. Until now, I never really had a fuller grasp of the rich and vast history Southampton really has. The stories displayed in the Tudor house has given me a glimpse of the city, its people and the wider world throughout the years. On the other hand, the Zany Zebra trail was a brilliant interactive activity for the whole family which my five-year-old brother certainly enjoyed. It didn’t hurt to have the shops and restaurants close by either.

If you’re about to join the University of Southampton in the next academic year or plan to stay in the city during the summer, don’t hesitate to do a little research on what else you can get up to.

Southampton certainly has plenty of shops for you to choose from but there is more to it than meets the eye.

Rylyn

Books to read over the summer

July is not only high season for university Open Days, like I mentioned in my last blog post. July is also high season for a proper Summer Holiday.

Most undergraduates finish exams at the latest in June and none of us are back at university until September. This means that July and August are months for appreciating the freedom of not having any assignments due or required reading.

It doesn’t mean that you can’t use the Summer Holiday to be productive. There’s definitely more than one way of being productive over the summer, but one thing I will do is read – a lot.

The thing about being a university student is that we read a lot – all the time, and at some point I stopped reading books I chose and read course books nonstop. Through university and my course I read a lot of deeply interesting pieces, but I can’t remember the last time I picked a book myself (during term time) started reading it and actually finished it. Therefore, there is no better time than right now to read some good books, which I’m sure will be very relevant for my course as well.

I’m going to share my top picks that I have read or I’m planning to read before my third year begins in September. It’s a little mix between academic and fiction!

Inequality and the 1% by Danny Dorling

This is a book I have already read and enjoyed so much I think I spent three days reading it. Danny Dorling asks whether we “can afford the superrich?”. I’ve always been aware of inequality, but it is through this book I have really understood just how much it affects us. I’ll admit that I read this book last summer, but it is still as relevant as ever. When Danny Dorling actually came to the University of Southampton earlier this year to hold a lecture on inequality, I was quick to book my place. This book has been relevant to not only the economics and statistics courses I have done, but also my politics ones.

Intelligent Governance For the 21st Century – A Middle Way Between West and East by Nicolas Berggruen and Nathan Gardles

This is the book I’m currently reading, and so far it is very interesting. Don’t let the very academic title fool you; it is a very interesting read if you are interested in China and Chinese governance. Personally, my excitement for China and Chinese politics came after I did a module on Chinese Politics last semester. If you are doing a Politics or Humanities-related course and have the chance to chose Chinese Politics in your second or third year with Dr. Monique Chu – DO IT! It’s one of the modules I have enjoyed the most so far at the University.

The Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Phillip Sendker

When I finish the book I’m reading now, I’m planning on moving on from academic books to this one - a little break in between all the academic English I read doesn’t hurt. I have the Norwegian translation of the book and I honestly can’t remember the last time I read a book in Norwegian, so this will be a nice change. The book is much as the title implies; a romantic novel. It has sold over one million copies, so I’m counting on this being a good read as well.

The Sunrise by Victoria Hislop

Okay, I admit it (again); I read this one last summer, but it is worth to mention because it is a beautiful book and, although it is fiction, the setting is very realistic because it’s based on a real-time event; Cyprus during the war with Turkey. Victoria Hislop does not only write a beautiful story, she writes diplomatically about the actual conflict and does not try to shift the blame on either side, which makes you only focus on the actual story she tells. She ends the book by saying; “I wanted to tell a story that showed how the events in Cyprus were a disaster for both communities – and to suggest that the issue of “good” and “evil” is not a matter of ethnicity”, which I think she did brilliantly.

My entertainment for the next weeks.

If you’re still in need for some inspiration on books to read over the summer, you should check out our blog post for the world book day.

Alexandra

Summer plans and exam results

I’m now back home in the country where the sun never sets. Norway is amazing and I love the long summer nights, but when it gets dark around midnight and light around 3am, it can get a bit confusing throughout the day.

Apart from that, I hope that my blog post about why it is so very important to vote and about the EU referendum made at least someone go out and do their civic duty yesterday. As I’m writing this blog post the results aren’t ready, but I’m extremely eager to find out.

Some other results that have recently been released are the results for semester two, which came out yesterday. I hope all continuing students here at is pleased with their results and do remember that if you’re not, it’s not the end of the world. You can read my fellow blogger Rylyn’s tips on how to cope with exam results anxiety.

Please, do always remember the great opportunities you have through the University to get help if you’re not happy with your results.

Personally, I’m quite happy with my results and I’m therefore very ready to enjoy my holiday!

 Hello, glorious Oslo Fjord.

There is not too much planned apart from a short trip to Denmark and my annual trip to Romania before I go back to England. At some point before any of my trips, I need to properly unpack all my suitcases from England. One would’ve thought that after living abroad for two years I’d know the best ways to pack and unpack quickly, but I don’t. I do, however, promise than when I learn the quickest way of unpacking I will share it on the blog, because currently it’s hard to see the floor in my room!

Apart from the desperate tidy my room needs, I’m excited to follow the Euros, read some good books, hopefully read something course related and catch up with friends in between all my trips. It has become the new normal for me to only properly see my friends from Oslo twice a year. It is mostly during summer we are all back home in Oslo for more than a week or a couple of days. As sad as it might be, it has at least made me appreciate not only my friends from home, but also my parents a lot more than before. People I saw on a daily basis have now become people I don’t see for months and months, so when I first see them I treasure every second of it.

If you are going to start university in September, you will soon understand what I mean and if you are at university already, I’m sure you can already relate!

In these glorious months of holiday that are in front of us, I will continue blogging on Life at Southampton and I would appreciate any suggestions on what you would like to read about – so comment with your suggestions below!

Alexandra

My mini Italian adventure

I'm writing this post sat outside a little restaurant on the banks of one of Venice's many canals. Two days ago our mini adventure began when we flew from Gatwick to Milan, where we stayed for one night before catching the train to Venice in the morning.

We decided to do a little bit of a whistle-stop tour of major Italian cities, rather than stay in one place for the week because neither I nor my partner have experienced much of Italy before, and we couldn't decide on just one place to go.

Tomorrow we will set off for Florence where we will stay for two nights and then finish our trip with three days in Rome.

Milan's very fancy train station

I am absolutely in love with the Italian railway system. The trains are beautifully comfortable and half the price of English trains, so they really are a cost effective way of travelling around the country. In hindsight, however, I would have opted for a student interrail pass, rather than buying the tickets at the station. When we originally looked at the prices, it seemed to work out about the same, but of course, we completely neglected the fact that the prices go up massively when you are buying tickets on the day. That said, it was still only €40 for the three-hour journey from Milan to Venice, and I think I would struggle to get the train from Southampton to Birmingham for that price!

Rialto bridge as seen from the bus!

The bus in Venice puts Unilink to shame! While it's quite a bit more costly than a Unilink return (€20 for the day), seeing Venice from the canals rather than walking around gives you an entirely different perspective, plus the ticket cost includes boats to Morano, which is around the same distance from the bus stop as the Isle of Wight from Southampton (and that trip alone would set you back £20)

Academia dome

The main method for keeping costs down this trip has been taking the time to choose the accommodation, to try and get the best price possible. In Venice, rather than staying on the island which would have cost upwards of £150 for two nights (?!) we are staying in a hostel on the mainland, which cost £49 for two people for two nights!

Of course, when you step down in price you lose some of the luxuries of hotels, such as insulation and soundproofing. We are staying in essentially a static caravan, however, it does have a private bathroom, a market on site and a pool, so on balance we made the right choice, but I wouldn't recommend it to light sleepers!

Travelling on a budget has been tricky. While we want to keep costs down, we don't want to let worrying about money spoil the trip and stop us doing things. We forwent a gondola ride (€80 for 35 minutes), or a water taxi (average €30 for a short city trip) in favour of getting the bus, but instead had dinner in a lovely restaurant and I treated myself to a Morano glass pen. James asked when I would ever use such a thing but I silenced him by pointing out that I thought it was beautiful, and that that was justification enough to buy it!

I can't wait to experience the artistic history of Florence and the majesty of Rome. I'm hoping that they live up to my imagination of them based on books and films.

For those of you travelling this summer, I hope you have a wonderful time and experience something worth writing home about!

Emma

Common People festival 2016

I’m not really sure where all the time has gone, but we have reached June. June marks the end of my second year at university and the start of the summer holidays. Next year I will be graduating and that thought itself is daunting. However, the taste of  'freedom' has taken a bit of getting used to, and I keep thinking I have an assignment due, when I don’t!

For me, the best way to get rid of it was to attend the Common People festival last weekend. Honestly, what better way to kick it off than with a trip to Norway and then a festival with no other than Craig David as the main headline – I’m not complaining!

Common People is a big music festival right on Southampton Common, so an ideal location for us students!

The main issue I have with festivals or similar events in England is that, most of the time, I have never heard of the main headline acts. House music is cool for a night out, but not what I would listen to during the day. There aren’t many artists I would go to a festival for. However, I’d go to a festival for Craig David. And so I did, last weekend when it was the Common People festival!

It was a weekend festival, but due to my student budget, I only went on the Saturday. Rumour has it that it was even more fun on the Sunday, but since I wasn’t there for that day, I will tell you about the Saturday.

Even though Craig David was the last act on, I got to see some other good bands like Public Enemy and Primal Scream, and it turns out I have heard their music by before without really realising it was them! It was a pleasant surprise to hear and see them live.

The festival itself started around 11 am, but we didn’t get there until around 5pm. Apparently, as I heard from other friends and later on read, there were massive queues to get in earlier in the day – luckily I didn’t have to queue for more than 10 minutes by the time I arrived. The queues for food and drink were very long, though, which was a bit of a disappointment, but probably typical for any festival.

The festival area itself was Southampton Common, which I’m sure most people here know quite well. They managed to fit a massive bouncy castle, a number of stages and over ten thousand people into the space without it feeling too cramped; I think it’s fair to conclude that it is a decent space for a festival!

Singing along to ‘Seven Days’ and ‘Fill Me In’ by Craig David live, was almost a bit surreal. When Craig David first had his breakthrough I was probably six or seven years old, but his songs have somehow always followed me and loads of my friends throughout our lives. I didn’t actually know he was a Southampton native until after I moved here, but as you might imagine, it was extra fun to see him live here in Southampton.

He described it as the most important show of his life and opened up the whole set by saying ‘It has never felt so good driving down the Avenue’. I personally couldn’t have had a better experience. He played all the good old hits, but also his new music and covers, which resulted in a good mix of everything, and a lot of fun!

I am already looking forward to going Common People next year and seeing which artist will be playing!

Alexandra

Student travel: deciding where to go

As Alexandra pointed out in her recent blog post, exams are very nearly over. True, I’ve been sat here twiddling my thumbs for almost a week already, but now more and more students are crossing over into the realms of freedom, and a whole lot of you are probably wondering what to do next.

I mentioned a while back that a favourite among students when it comes to the monumentally huge summer break is to spend some time travelling.

This isn’t even exclusive to third-year graduates either; the summer is big enough to cover lots of new ground, even if you’re planning on heading back down here to Southampton in September.

If you’re like me, and libraries and textbooks have very much taken over your life as of late, a change of scenery is usually a pretty exciting idea. The only question that remains from here is ‘Where?’

It seems almost a silly question, but believe it or not, the world is pretty darn enormous, and thanks to this little thing called globalisation more recently, travelling to some of the more far-out destinations isn’t quite as difficult as you might think. Almost anything is on the cards; this is one of the only times in your life that you’re likely to have the freedom to completely up-sticks and wander the globe, so why not use it?

If the world is quite literally your oyster, how do you narrow it down enough to actually pull together a manageable trip? Sure, we’d all love to go everywhere, but time and money don’t usually prevail in the way we’d like them to.

Here are some things to consider when planning your trip:

With any luck, I’ll hopefully be finding myself back here in sunny Vancouver come the summer!

Desire

Like I’ve already said, this is likely to be one of the only times in your life you will have the ability to spread your wings and go where you want to go. Ask yourself: where is the one place on Earth that I’ve always wanted to travel to?

It might be Japan, it might be Peru, it might be Africa; everyone is different. Try not to fall into the same old student cycle of simply just going to the most popular destinations. True, a lot of students do go to Australia and Thailand, but that doesn’t mean that you have to if you’re interested in going somewhere else. Be creative and surprise yourself!

Contacts

This doesn’t just mean the people you’re travelling with (although it’s always a good idea to at least have a partner along for the ride!). Think about people you may know in other countries, and if you might be able to stay with them. It’ll cut the budget in half and the chances are you’ll form a great new/reignited friendship out of it too.

When I sat down to plan something for the summer, I started plotting the family I’m in touch with in the US and Canada and found a way to connect between four different cities. It might just be couch-surfing, but it’ll certainly give me a more authentic and a significantly cheaper travelling experience overall!

Budget

Sadly this ends up being the be-all and end-all of most trips. New Zealand might sound like a blast but the flights will likely set you back an entire year’s worth of rent, and the same goes for quite a few places. Have an idea in your head of how much money you’re able to spend/fundraise, and try to craft your trip realistically around that.

Some countries will be cheaper than others in terms of living costs (food etc.), but remember to factor in the money you might lose in exchange fees on currency or on tourist VISA applications.

Depending on what happens in next month’s referendum, Europe is a (potentially) cheap and beautiful alternative to world travel - Amsterdam is definitely worth a visit!

Still, with a decent amount of planning, you could find yourself living it up in an entirely different part of the world in a few months - certainly an exciting prospect if you’re still chained to a desk with deadlines looming.

Adventure calls!

Ben

How to save your summer

Regardless of whether or not the weather chooses to recognise it, we are currently experiencing what scientists have referred to in the past as 'summer'. To some this means nothing more than a supposed increase in temperature, but to university students such as myself, it has a whole other meaning.

For students, the summer period is entirely what you make it. Almost three months of un-timetabled, un-scheduled blank space to fill with whatever you see fit. Obviously this can come in many, many forms; from work placements, to travel adventures, to simply kicking back and catching up on some much-needed sleep. I’ve been spending the past six weeks trying to mix and match and find the perfect combination of all of the above, but it has definitely proven to be a far trickier task than I first anticipated.

Being away from Southampton was a little jarring at first - a shorter housing contract may have saved me a lot of rent in the long-run, but without a place to stay in the city, I had to head home to Essex until September. Jumping between two very different lifestyles can be quite difficult, and so, to avoid that rather soul-crushing state everyone will recognise as 'boredom', I’ve set out to try and conquer as much as humanly possible.

Taylor Swift was kind enough to help me avoid boredom by performing nearby in Hyde Park.

Whilst many of my friends have stayed in the city and opted for getting themselves a work placement of some sorts - from marketing internships to social media training through the University’s Excel placement scheme, I instead looked towards placements nearer to home. Luckily enough, through The Edge’s connections, I managed to secure a week working with The National Student, a far-reaching entertainment and opinion website based in London. And so, as you read this, I will be joining the ranks of the capital’s army of commuters and I couldn’t be more excited!

However, as important as work is for future experience, the summer still has plenty more to offer. With the University accepting students from all over the globe, I’ve found that even just visiting friends over the summer months can be something of an adventure in itself, giving me the opportunity to explore places I had never been before.

Thanks to my student railcard (an essential tool that no young traveller should be without), I’ve been able to parade up and down the country on any number of trains for a surprisingly affordable price. June took me to Nottingham, whilst this past weekend has been spent on the (not at all) sunny shores of Liverpool.

Catching up with friends on an adventure up to Liverpool has certainly been a summer  

Whether it be one friend or a whole group, travelling up to visit them has proven to be a great way to spend odd weekends and keep in touch whilst separated by the holidays.

Obviously, it’s not all running around though. As fun and thrilling as it was, second year proved to be one of the craziest years to date, so taking some time off to just sit and relax seems entirely reasonable. Catching up with local friends and binge-watching Netflix has helped to slow my brain down to a far calmer pace, and I’m now far more able to look forward to the year ahead and start planning life back in Southampton.

Getting a kick-start on the reading for the new academic year has definitely kept me in check - Hartley Library’s huge collection of e-books has certainly proved useful - whilst continuing my work with The Edge over the summer has allowed my creative juices to keep flowing smoothly.

It seems that even when I’m away from Southampton and the University physically, there’s still plenty to be getting on with!

Ben

Summer throwback

With it already being mid-august, my summer holiday has gone past a lot quicker than I expected it to.

Although I actually have over a month left, I am now back in Oslo and with grey skies everyday the summer feeling is slowly drifting away.

I don’t know if it’s a particularly British thing that summer holidays are so long at university, but I guess it’s more of a Norwegian thing that summer holidays are shorter. Apart from our last year in high school when we finish rather early, we usually finish around the end of June and school usually starts the third week in August. Universities in Norway actually start this week!

This year I was lucky/unlucky enough to have all my exams within the first week of the exam period - meaning that by Friday 22nd May I was free from university work until the new term starts in late September. As nice as it was to finish my exams, I was the first one in my flat to be ‘free’ from exams, and this obviously led to a lot of spare time.

The weather forecast for Southampton said sun, sun and more sun, and the Oslo forecast was saying rain and low temperatures, so I decided to not go home straight away and instead explore a bit of the south coast of England.

Thanks to living at the new Mayflower Halls, located around two minutes away from Southampton Central station, I basically just had to pick a location and go! I would really recommend arriving in Southampton early before term starts, or staying on late once term ends, so that you can explore. From Southampton Central there are direct trains to Bournemouth, Portsmouth, Brighton, Poole and other local places on the coast.

As soon as my flatmate Miranda finished her exams, we went on a day trip to Bournemouth.

We enjoyed Bournemouth so much we already know we are going back!

However, since I hadn’t ordered tickets back to Oslo until the 12th of June, I also had a lot of time to explore more of Southampton, and just go to places I usually don’t have the time to go to during term time. This included loads of trips to the docks and parks.

Celebrating my flatmate Milly’s birthday at Banana Wharf, Ocean Village.

Then the time came for me to leave Mayflower Halls and England…

Coming home and seeing my friends and family again was obviously really nice, especially since Oslo decided to stay sunny until I left for Bucharest!

 

I went on a Cabin trip to a place in Norway called Fredrikstad with these lovely ladies. (They will get very angry if I don’t refer to them as “beste chicksa” so, beste chicksa!)

Oslo sunset at … 10.30pm?! Yes, we get some long days here during the summer!

Boat trip on the Oslofjor.

My best friend Ina’s boyfriend came all the way from Minnesota, USA to Oslo! 

Cycling with my dad to the “beach” at Bygdøy here in Oslo.

And finally, a month well spent in Romania with my mum!

This pretty much sums up my summer until now! I hope you have had a lovely summer so far.

If you are starting at Southampton in September my next blog post will have some tips about our Open Days in September. Stay tuned!!

Alexandra