Intro

Hi everyone. My name is Lily Haas, and I am a junior computer science major and likely classics minor at Carleton College. I enjoy photography in my free time and put a special twist on it in my travels- the addition of a Grogu plush. My friends and family know about my mild obsession with the character from the Disney+ series The Mandalorian, so really the only surprise here is that the Grogu plush I decided to bring along was able to fit in the small bag I carried on our excursions. But more on that later.

Our summer term wrapped up in Cambridge with a relatively light schedule. Possibly for the first time we had no excursions and every morning free for a week. This gave lots of time to reflect on the past ten weeks in between study sessions for our finals. This brings me back to my Grogu photography. What better way to reflect on the trip than by taking a scroll through my camera roll?

Food

Grogu likes to document some of his favorite foods when traveling so he knows where to return if he can’t decide on lunch one day.

Going all the way back on June 25th, we see Grogu with one of my favorite meals on this trip- crepes with Nutella and strawberries (and this time ice cream). I discovered the restaurant that served this on the second day of the trip and went back multiple times after, usually dragging Ashok along with me.

Next is from our day trip to London for the escape “room” (or as DLN called it on Moodle, “practical code breaking”). Saving the imaginary UN conference had us really work up and appetite and we found ourselves at the Museum Tavern just across the street from the British Museum. Mac and cheese was just the thing to refuel and spend the rest of the day exploring the museum.

Finally, when we went back to stay in London for 10 days, Grogu decided to steal some of Ashok’s rose lemonade at dinner while he was distracted.

Sightseeing

Grogu joined us on several group excursions and loved posing for pictures.

The interactive HMS Belfast provided a couple of photo opportunities for Grogu. He sat in a life preserver and fried up some chips in the kitchen. For more pictures on the HMS Belfast and an explanation of its significance see the earlier posts by Sam and Hannah.

Have you really been to London if you haven’t taken a picture with Big Ben? Grogu didn’t think so either. Later that day we would see Westminster Abbey, but Grogu was too exhausted from all the walking for any pictures there.

Grogu just had to get a picture with Paddington Bear after our day trip to Oxford, where he got a new pin to decorate his robe.

Given a free afternoon, another trip to the British Museum was in order. This museum has a vast collection that cannot be sufficiently explored in a single day. This time Grogu was able to get an up close picture with a piece of the Parthenon.

On one of our days off, Kimberly and I took Grogu to see the Tower of London. We got to see the Tower of London Superbloom celebrating the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. The moat was filled with beautiful flowers to celebrate this remarkable anniversary. The area near the entrance also provided an incredible view of Tower Bridge. We even found a cutout to take a picture at.

Next Grogu got to go to Bletchley Park and use the same Enigma Machine that Benedict Cumberbatch used in The Imitation Game.

Then at the D-Day Museum in Portsmouth Grogu pretended to pilot a landing craft.

Over midterm break in Paris, Grogu saw the Mona Lisa, the Arc de Triomphe, and the Eiffel Tower. He enjoyed the view from the top of the Eiffel Tower at night, especially seeing the Arc de Triomphe lit up at night.

After returning to Cambridge, Grogu insisted on buying a Cambridge sweater to remember his time spent abroad.

One Last Adventure

For one last adventure before leaving, Ashok and I took a day trip to London to go to a hedge maze recommended by DLN. We found the center of the maze using a less than intelligent strategy but had fun anyways. Grogu decided to pose in the arch located at the center. We used the same less than intelligent strategy to find our way back out and then moved on to the inside of the palace. Here Grogu took his rightful place on the throne. Our next stop was the Museum of Natural History where Grogu came face to face with a stegosaurus. Afterwards, Grogu took the new Lego Aston Martin at the Leicester Square Lego store for a spin. Ashok and I ended our day at King’s Cross to visit Platform 9 ¾ before returning to Cambridge to prepare for our upcoming finals.

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This brings me to the end of my camera roll save some pictures of whiteboards from our finals study sessions. I hope you have all enjoyed scrolling down memory lane with me.