So after visiting Nijmegen last weekend, one week later and I’ve had a mini reunion with three of my best Erasmus buddies! My friend Thuy, from Portland, Oregon flew over for a few days and, after picking him up from Gatwick, we headed to Bristol to meet up with two more friends from our year abroad. I truly believe it doesn’t matter where you’re studying, where you are, it’s who you’re with that makes a time, and my study abroad was so fun because of my friends, so a reunion was way overdue.
No Erasmus reunion is complete without drinks, so we spent the majority of our time bar-hopping. After a tasty lunch at St Nicks market we headed to a pub to play pool, a ping pong bar for a few games and a craft beer brewery. It was so good to catch up, reminisce and make future plans.
For dinner we headed to a DELICIOUS vegan mezze restaurant, where we shared a beaut spread (the best garlic fries I’ve ever tasted). We headed back to our friends house to get changed, drink some more and play a lil’ cards against humanity before heading out again to dance the night away.
Then we headed to London, as Thuy had never been before. With an ambitious plan to see London in just one day, we checked into our hotel (the stay club, Colindale– amazing serviced apartments in a hotel complex and really affordable), and then went on a night out barhopping in Camden. We went from the Wetherspoons (a rite of passage), to Brewdog, to the Worlds End, to Near and Far (below), to the Blues Kitchen to Joes where we ultimately danced until the early hours. 
The next day we walked round Camden in the light, away from the bustle of the nightlife, before tubing to Leicester Square. Ticking off the sights we navigated to Covent Garden, Trafalgar Square, Westminster, South Bank, stopped in the Tate and checked out the view from the top, and then on to Tower Bridge.
We ate Italian for dinner and then headed back to the apartment to drink some beers in a more relaxed environment.
The trip was entirely not about what we got up to and solely about the catch up, so apologises for my whirlwind tour. But the company was what made the weekend so special. I can’t wait until the next time, for which I’m sure I’ll fly across to Portland.
