London — ahhh — beautiful, industrial, mildly fragrant London. The first time I traveled there was when I was eight. The second was when I was on my trip this summer, and I must say that I enjoyed the second much more (sorry mom and dad). I revisited most of the places that I was fortunate enough to have previously experienced. Luckily enough for me, I was in a group of 50 teenagers who loved to goof off, just like myself. Nothing was ever incredibly boring at any time.

We had the fortunate pleasure of meeting a parliamentarian, but I’ll come to that later. We also saw a wonderful show called “The Railway Children.” I recommend that you go and see if it you’re in the area, the entire show is truly spectacular and the visual effects are simply marvelous. I was nudged during intermission by one of my fellow peers — “Look! Russell Brand is two rows down from us.” And surely enough, he was. Mr. Brand was a very nice man, and was kind enough to allow pictures with us and talk to us for a good few minutes. I sadly did not get a picture with him as I did not want to completely infringe on his privacy, but I did have a very lovely conversation with him.

Back to the parliamentarian that I mentioned earlier — a former member of parliament and now a journalist was kind enough to meet with us and describe the British parliament to us and answer any questions we had. Due to my involvement in the Future Business Leaders of America at Washington High School, I know quite a lot regarding to parliamentary procedure. Needless to say myself and another fellow member of FBLA kept him quite busy with questions. One of the greatest advantages to traveling with a student group is that you get to experience other cultures in a more intimate way. Although I had visited London previously with my family, I never would have been able to meet a member of Parliament in a small group setting.

While it may not be my favorite city, London is spectacularly beautiful and full of Celtic culture that I miss every day.

Abby Harris is sophomore at Washington High School who took part in People to People, an international program that allowed her to visit England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales over the summer.