Day 1: Arrival Day

Welcome to the University of South Florida (USF) / Plymouth State University (PSU) wicked awesome UK Field study blog!  Hope all y'all enjoy it.  A little background to get you started.  We are going to be traveling from London to Cornwall, Snowdonia, Barmouth in North Wales, Lancashire, and back to London in a two week long adventure.  We are studying the land from the rolling hills to the open coast.  Our group consists of 10 students who are a mix of graduates and undergraduates, 3 faculty members, and an event coordinator.


The Fabulous Family

Your adventure begins with Day 1 brought to you by BJ Quinton and Brittany Angelo.  We are the perfect dynamic duo to get you started as BJ is a graduate student from USF and Brittany is an undergrad from PSU.

(The wicked awesome dynamic duo...all y'all can't touch us - BJ&Britt)

Our first task was to find each other at the airport.  After a couple hours of some serious struggle including delayed flights and lost luggage, 8 of the 10 students finally made it together.  The other two students would arrive at the hotel later that evening.

In the meantime, the rest of us went to an orientation lunch where we met with the Center for International Studies (CIS) and discussed what to expect during our trip and what to expect culturally as well (what on earth is a pence?).  After lunch, we high-tailed it to Westminster Pier to catch our boat for the tour on the Thames River.  Throughout the tour we learned about many historic buildings and structures along the river as well as environmental features (tides, etc.).

London Bridge

The London Eye

One of the most notable structures was Tower Bridge which is often mistaken for London Bridge, which was rebuilt in 1973 to prevent it from falling down as the song suggests.  By the way, the original London Bridge is currently sitting quite happily in Havasu County, Arizona.  We also passed by the well-known London Eye, a very large ferris wheel that was built for the Millennium but was so popular that it has been in place ever since.  Other structures included many historic buildings, most of which have unfortunately become luxury apartments.

Tower Bridge

One thing that is very different compared to Florida is the magnitude of the tide. Differences between high and low tides range from 18 to 26 feet.  The typical time is about 12 hours and 15 minutes from high tide to high tide.  Tides can be affected by many factors including atmospheric pressures and storm surges.

The "Defensive Position"

Thames Barrier Project

High tides and storm surges have, in the past, had devastating effects around the North Sea coast.  In order to counteract the  effects on London, the Thames Barrier Project was established and finished in 1982.  This barrier prevents extreme tides and storm surges from flooding London.  Large rotating cylinders called gates block the tides when they are in the "defensive position", meaning the portion of the cylinder which is usually under water is rotated upward.

After the tour was over, we succumbed to our jet lag, most of us having been awake for 35 hours.  We checked into the hotel and relaxed for a bit, preparing ourselves for the next journey... 


Sponsorship towards the creation of some of the materials for the Study Abroad in the UK trip provided by the Office of Undergraduate of Research.