2 years ago I went on an exchange program to Derby, England. I was studying Illustrative Design at that time and I was going to start my third year. The year before we got a list of cities we could go to if we wanted to participate. I’m not sure why, but I just really wanted to go to England (maybe because I like their language and I love reading English books). I could chose between three cities: Bristol, Derby or Aberdeen. I had already been to Bristol once and Derby seemed like a bit of a smaller city, which I liked. Eventually I chose Derby, because it was also easily accessible by train (Aberdeen seemed a bit too far).
It was pretty nerve racking to go to Derby on my own, but I made it. I got settled in my new little student home and also met a cat who apparently loved to wonder around Princess Alice Court (the place where I stayed). The first weekend I took some time to explore the city and I also took a walk to Markeaton Park which was nearby the university building.
The first week at the University of Derby was an introduction week in which we went to Chatsworth House. It’s a huge house with lots of artworks inside and an even bigger garden surrounding it. There are paintings of many famous artists like Nicolas Poussin, Annibale Carracci, Gerrit Dou and Peter Paul Rubens. I really enjoyed visiting the place and would certainly recommend it to others.
a painting of Chatsworth House itself
Liverpool
Whilst I was in Derby I also went on some day trips to other cities. Sometimes the university organised trips especially for exchange students, but I also went to a few cities with family who came to visit.
The first trip I did was to Liverpool and was organised by the school itself. It’s a pretty big city and we didn’t really have enough time to see everything, but I did enjoy the trip. I visited the Liverpool Cathedral and took the stairs all the way up, from which you had an amazing view of the whole city (so maybe I technically did see everything). I would really like to visit Liverpool again and get some more time to see everything the city has to offer.
Derby County
One thing I also really wanted to do, was going to a live football match. Derby’s football team is called Derby County and they play in the Pride Park Stadium. During my stay I went to two football matches. The first one was when Derby County was playing against Sheffield United, who where standing at the second place in the championship at that time whilst Derby county were eighth. Eventually they managed to win with 2-1 and it was honestly one of the best evenings I’d had. I went to the game on my own because I didn’t know anybody else who loved football, but the atmosphere was so great that I felt anything but alone. I also bought a t-shirt (number 10, Lawrence) of the club before the game, so I already felt like a real fan.
The second game was against Nottingham which is their biggest rival. They call it the East Midlands Derby. I went to the game in the last week before I had to go back home. Unfortunately it ended 0 - 0, but I had a great time nonetheless.
Oxford
On the 27th of October I went to Oxford. The city is probably most famous for its university and also because some scenes of Harry Potter where filmed there. I absolutely loved visiting Oxford because it’s such a beautiful city. Everywhere you go there are beautiful buildings and it was already satisfying to just walk around and admire the architecture. I visited the Ashmolean Museum, which was free to visit at that time and they have a big collection of all sorts of artefacts like statues, guitars, coins, porcelain,…. It’s a really big museum with something for everyone. They also had a little museum shop in which I bought some Vincent van Gogh socks. Oxford was one of my favourite cities I visited during my Erasmus journey and I would definitely recommend it to others.
London
In November my big sister Hanne came to visit me. The first day we just stayed in Derby and the next two days we went to London. We had already visited London before, but it’s such a big city that you always discover new things. London has some stunning buildings as well, like for instance the Natural History Museum. And even though it was still early November, there was already a Christmas market in London which we just had to visit.
We also went to the Emirates Stadium (home to Arsenal FC) which is located in North London. I’m quite a big fan of football (and of Arsenal) so I really loved it that my sister wanted to visit the stadium with me. It really is an impressive stadium and we had an audio guide which made it even more interesting. We got to see the field and sit on the chairs where the players usually sit. We also saw the changing room, the press rooms,…. I think it’s certainly worth the visit even if you might not be a super fan of football.
Birmingham & Leicester
At the end of November my parents came to visit and together we went to Birmingham and Leicester. Birmingham is quite a big city with lots of shops and shopping centres. When we were there, there was a big Christmas market and it was really busy. There are lots of things to do and see in Birmingham and naturally we didn’t have time to do everything since we also spent quite some time at the Christmas market. I did like the city but I am personally not such a fan of crowded places (which might have been just due to the Christmas market).
Leicester was quite different from Birmingham as it is smaller and less crowded. We went to see Jewry Wall and took a walk in Abbey park, which was a nice change of scenery in comparison with Birmingham.
Nottingham
During my last week I made a little trip on my own to Nottingham which was only 20 minutes by train. I enjoyed wandering around the city and there were some lovely art shops like ‘Handmade Nottingham’. It’s a really cozy city and I also went to the Christmas market there which was the perfect opportunity to buy Christmas gifts for my family. I also went to a cat café called Kitty Café which was the best moment of my day. I had to hold myself back from taking a cat home with me. I would definitely want to go back to Nottingham someday!
Going on Erasmus to Derby has been one of the better decisions I’ve made in life. I absolutely loved my stay in Derby and visiting all these different cities and places. And I do miss it from time to time. I’m so grateful that I had the chance to go on this journey! ❤️
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