WALKING TOUR FINAL POST

The top three walks:
1. Southwark/Bankside (click here to go to the post about it)
A few things contributed to make this numero uno! First, the weather! Sunny and fab with a breeze, pitch perfect temperature: a touch too cool in the shade, but oh so warm and springy with the sun. Also, I loved the surprise element of the Southwark Cathedral. When I went inside, I lost my breath for a second, cause the sun was streamin in through the windows, and the stone crossed ceiling was just so Gothic, and the orchestra was playing something magic. It also was nice to be by the Thames, makes it feel fancy.

2. Regents Park (click here to see)
Again, the weather here, just spot on! And I was in some dang good company (thank you Lorraine and Sydnie!). There was plenty of fowl entertainment (all the ducks were hilarious) and the fields just kinda sparkled at you, and all the greenery was so nice. Indeed, on this walk, we stumbled on a gem of a church also, St. Marks. And to think we weren't even gonna go inside (we weren't, until we discovered the door ajar and our curiosity just got the best of us). But the stained glass windows were heartwarming and the space felt so old and full of history!

3. The City (click here to take a peek)
This one made #3 because of all the architecture. Sheesh, Londy town knows how to do its building. The Bank of England was so grand! Huge pillars and such, and its own museum, and those HUGE Alice in Wonderland like doors. Shelisa and I did get quite a bit lost. But hey, when in London getting lost is good because you find things like the Lloyds building. This building was something else, like Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory gone evil or a surrealist painting of our industrial society. Loved the surprise it gave us.

Maybe that's the common element, I loved all the walks where we unearthed something fabulous. I gotta admit, sometimes it was a touch annoying to HAVE to complete these walks, but once I went on them I absolutely never regretted them and always found something new and awesome to discover. I just had to make sure and budget in some extra time for the walks to go off the beaten path a little bit.

WALKING TOUR #10 Soho to Trafalgar Square

Amy and I led this walk together, it was just the pair of us that completed it. Soho Square was a cute little park near the Jersey Boys Theatre (that I went to a bit earlier!) that had some touching art. Take a lil peek. Amy and I interpreted it as interactive art.

The plaque said... the nudity symbolizes being stripped from inhibitions and bringing all of yourself to society. Also, this sculpture was called Interaction, hence Amy and I interacting

Trafalgar Square is also a treat. Its got some stunner views of the National Gallery (home to some swell Monet's and Turner's as well as a clincher Da Vinci piece).The ambiance of the square is neat too... bustling with people all the time, a proud statue of Horatio Nelson who led a great naval victory for Britain during the Napoleonic Wars (Britain lost no ships, while the Franco Spanish side lost a whoppin 22), and good shopping. The feeling is hip yet cultural, think romantic comedy movie set in Europe.

Trafalgar Square, with National Gallery there with the pediment and columns.

This photo is from google, but it shows exactly what we saw (I didn't get a pic of the Nelson statue myself!!)

Amy and I struttin our stuff in front of the Soho Square sign. We had to ask a few disgruntled  locals to take this picture, Amy's camera button proved a bit too complicated for the average joe

WALKING TOUR #9 Lambeth

Walking along the Thames river, right by the London Eye and Aquarium, and right up to the Somerset House, all was beautiful and breezy. Walkers were Tara, Shelisa, and myself. And shhooot, the London Eye is way bigger than I thought! It's like a Ferris Wheel, but except 2 people sitting in each carriage, its enough room for like 15.

Tara and I lovin the view off the Westminster Bridge

The EYE! it was supposed to be a temporary establishment... however it was too popular so they left it  up!

I haven't yet walked on this side of the Thames, so it was cool to get a good look at it from the other side. There were quite a few swanky looking restaurants, with dressed up sophisticated looking people everywhere, which I was loving to watch! In fact, Tara and I plan to get "all gussied up" and work the scene tomorrow night there, so hopefully its just as hoppin tomorrow night.

These pictures are NOT a foreshadowing of my and Tara's sophistication that will happen tomorrow night. FYI.

An over sized grass couch by the Thames... I'm not sure why exactly it was there, but cool? yep.

Are we immature? uhhh... 

Walking Group photo! the gang. This lion was riiight when we got of the Westminster Bridge

WALKING TOUR #8 Bloomsbury

Mollie and I jointly led this walk! It was just us two, but it was nice to walk in the rain and chit chat and see all the "____ who accomplished ____ lived here" plaques on the houses.

Mollie and I in front of a fountain in Bloomsbury Square

An example of one of the famous plaques. Pretty cool, eh? Dicken's flat was pretty nice too.

I gotta be honest, the walk wasn't too eventful really, but it was real nice and relaxing. We passed by the University of London (NOT London College like I said before! Thanks granny), very nice, and a few other things. But the jaunt was cool as it was rainin and misty the whole time.

We saw Handel St. on the walk, so named as Handel performed his Messiah on this street to raise money for the orphans in Foundling Hospital.

WALKING TOUR #7 Bankside/ Southwark

Definitely a topnotch walk. It was on the other side of the Thames then I'm used to, so it was neat to be in a new place. We crossed over Blackfriars Bridge and turned left towards the Tate Modern Museum (a power station turned modern art museum, so the space is huge and is kind of art itself). We saw the Globe as it is now and also the original location of the Globe which was destroyed by the 1666 fire I believe (ps that fire is mentioned all the time! It changed a lot of things for London- building regulations, historical buildings, and the like).

We stepped on the bank of the Thames for a moment... though we couldn't walk along it because the tide was too high.

My favorite part was the Southwark Cathedral. We walked in, and Dulwich College (a rather expensive private school, according to one of the Cathedral Ushers) was practicing for their classical concert that night. So, there was a 20 or so person orchestra right under the Nave or center of the church playing this quite powerful number. I gotta say, Shelisa and I picked the PERFECT time to go in, the music provided a perfect backdrop to our little exploration of the church. The cathedral was very beautiful and had a fabulous ceiling, all crisscrossed and lovely.

Outside of Southwark Cathedral

We also got to cross over the Tower Bridge finally, though we didn't go in to see the Tower itself yet. We are supposed to do that as a group, but I hope its soon or we'll run outta time! Those crown jewels are calling my name...

Shelisa and I hangin out on Tower Bridge

WALKING TOUR #6 Westminster

Fab photo of the Abbey by Shelisa 

The Westminster Walk was a bit new for me. I had never been all the way around the Abbey, nor had I gone to the Horse Guards building and its grounds, and St. James' Palace was a new face for me too. The weather was great and breezy (we've sure had good luck with the weather this whole time. Barely ever rainy...)

Kaylee, Shelisa, Tara, and I
St. James Palace, commissioned to be built
by Henry VIII (what didn't he commission :)

We also got to see the horse guards outside of the Horse Guards Building (I haven't seen any other name for it, though it does seem a little too obvious a title). Everybody wanted to take a picture with them! Yikes. That would get so annoying. But of course, we wanted one too...

WALKING TOUR #5 Inns of Court

I was a tad confused by what a court actually was... here's what the Tour Book said to describe our walk:

"This is a walk through the heart of legal London featuring the capital's four ancient Inn of Court where barristers (i.e. advocates) first train and then practice. These four inns are Gray's Inn, Lincoln's Inn, Middle Temple and Inner Temple. Apart from the inns and their old courts and quiet gardens, features of the walk include the law courts in the Strand, Lincoln's Inn Fields, and Chancery Lane."

It was a quiet walk for sure, but pretty! Here's a photo or two to keep ya entertained:

Shelisa, Amy, and I in front of Lincoln's Inn

WALKING TOUR #4 Central Park

The Central Parks walk went a bit... off the plan. Macy and I went on it (starts at the Westminster Tube Station, goes through the parks St. James, Green, and Hyde and ends at the High St. Kensington Tube stop near the Centre). As other students had previously done, we wanted to bike the walk through the park paths. London has an awesome bike rental system called Barclays. Throughout the city, there are bike stations with around 20 or so bikes parked in stalls. You swipe your plastic and rent a bike for 24 hours for a pound. You can dock your bike at any station in the city when you get to your destination.

The only issue was... it took me and Macy 30 min to find a Barclays station near Westminster! Ridiculous. I think we were both a bit bitter and were having a few issues with the local's advised directions to the nearest station... and my skills with maps were having issues as well to be perfectly honest...

While searching for bikes, we did pass by the War Cabinet Rooms where Churchill debated during WW2. Very cool... though slightly shadowed by our frustrated search...

But, we did indeed find a station (riiight when I was at the end of my stick) and rented our Barclays right behind Buckingham Palace. Mace showed me up biking through traffic (she whizzed through while I was puzzling over what side of the street to be on) but we finally got to Hyde Park. We biked along the "Serpentine Path" which was a real treat (though it turned out NOT to be the right path... surprised? gotta say no...) but indeed crossed over the bridge of the Serpentine, so it turned out alright in the end.

Macy and I, the only two on the walk, at the round pond
in Hyde Park. 

WALKING TOUR #3

3. The City Walk
This walk was chock full of beautiful buildings to see. The Mansion House, Bank of England, and the Lloyds building to name a few. I did post a small touch about this before, but this is the official blog post for our London Walks class. Shelisa and I led and completed the walk on our own, and though we did get a bit lost, thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. It was rather empty around town, as the walk was done in the city a bit later at night (7 or 8 or so) and on the Bank Holiday. There were a few alleys to go down and just a bit of an awkward encounter with a lone policeman and us two girls down an otherwise deserted street. But great fun all the same.

All the buildings were getting similar as we walked
around, so I'm holding up a sign that says Bank! This
building, obviously, was the Bank of England. It was
Huge! and beautiful. And had its own museum attached.

WALKING TOUR #2 St. Paul's

Walk number 2 was around St. Paul's Cathedral. Loved this one. Lovely photos via Kaylee (in the purple jacket)

Here's St Pauls himself... though the south side
as opposed to the west front.

WALKING TOUR rundown for class

For class we are required to blog about the walks that we go on. Here it is!
1. Regents Park
We walked along the canals to get to Primrose Hill in Regents Park. The weather was sa-weet. And the view from the hill was awesome too. Primrose Hill is marked by a star on this map and the view from the hill you can see too!