Inns of Court

This is the second walk that I went on in the same day and by the time we started this one it was pouring and I had no umbrella! But, I persevered and stuck with it and was able to see a lot of the inns of court in London. I really liked the looks of the courts and I loved wandering through them---especially the one with the cloister towards the inn. They were very peaceful even though they were in a busy part of London. I was sure glad to be done with the walk by the end of it because I was soaked, but I'm glad I was able to see those things.

Top 3 Walks

My top 3 walks are:

Regent's Park
Lambeth and Southbank
Kew to Hammersmith

I loved the Regent's Park walk because of the beautiful scenery found in that park. I loved seeing families walking together with their children enjoying each other's company. I loved seeing all the dogs running around the park having a grand old time. I love that people just let their dogs roam free and that the dogs are so well behaved here. The park was so green and the flowers were just starting to bloom. We passed by a small pond and a little stream filled with ducks and swans. I hope that I have time to go back there before I leave to rent a paddle boat and have some fun. Probably what made the walk so wonderful was the beautiful sunshine that we didn't see that much. The day was gorgeous and I think that made all the difference.

Lambeth and Southbank was also on a beautiful day. What made it memorable was the fun experience that my group had while doing it. After seeing a beautiful panoramic view of Parliament and Big Ben and taking pictures we were stopped by police officers telling us that there had been an 'incident'. Emily that he said that someone had been shot and she started to freak out and almost caused mass hysteria with random passerbys. It was just a really funny moment and very memorable to me.

Kew to Hammersmith was also a great walk and I enjoyed it a lot, thus putting it in my top 3. Even though the walk was very long, and we got lost and added probably another mile or two, I still loved it. The day was beautiful (I"m beginning to sense a pattern) and it was great to just walk along the Thames. We were able to see a boat racing competition and mingle with the crowds watching that. I really enjoyed the scenery and the view and also seeing all the trees and flowers blooming. There was also another part that added to this great walk---the bathroom emergency. Emily had to go so bad, we were so lost, and there was no bathroom anywhere. We just basically laughed our pants off the entire time and we'd have to stop every once in awhile for Emily to contain herself. It was a great laugh and a great memory.

Also, I did the survey... I don't know if it tells you who did it... since I didn't put my name anywhere on the survey itself. Thanks!

Westminster to St. James

I went on this walk with Michelle, Emily, Jamie and me. I enjoyed this walk besides the rainy weather. There were a lot of great views through St. James' park and I really enjoyed seeing Buckingham palace. We just saw the tail end of the changing of the guard so that was pretty cool. I think this walk would have been way better on a sunny, beautiful day. But, that's the case with most of these walks. I enjoyed seeing the palace and spotting all the tourists since tourist season has now basically started. Overall, I'm glad to have this walk over

Soho

Jaynann and I set out for our walk to Soho not expecting much to happen. But as soon as we started walking around Soho and going through the theatre district we both could sense that something was going on, we just couldn't put our finger on it. As Jaynann said, "There is something afoot in London town today." We heard and saw multiple helicopters circling the area, and we saw the police everywhere. Something was definitely going on.  It didn't take us long to spot the first protestors and their little signs. Eventually the few stragglers turned into massive crowds (which is where Jaynann and I took our picture). The people were protesting multiple things. In fact, after asking a police officer what they were protesting, I still have no idea what they were protesting. "Anything and everything" according to that officer.

The highlight of the walk was when we were walking down the street and I glanced up and saw 3 men on the roof of this building. They weren't normal men. These men were dressed all in black, with ski masks and binoculars. If you ask me, they were definitely snipers. Something fishy was going on. I was going to have Jaynann take a picture, but I didn't want her to get shot.

Anyway, long story short... the walk was good... the protest was crazy... and we got through alive!

Kew to Hammersmith

The Kew to Hammersmith was an interesting one. I had heard from quite a few people how long this walk was, so I wasn't looking forward to that. But, when we first got off the tube stop and walked around I was struck by how pretty everything was. it was a gorgeous day--blue skies and warm sun. The trees were all in blossum and it seemed like everyone was just in a greater mood. So, the start of our walk was great. Somewhere along the way we did get lost. I'm not really sure what happened, all I know is that we weren't on the same path that the walks book said we should be on. We stayed close to the Thames and witnessed some boat races going on and also a bunch of people on the banks prepping for some races. It was cool to see a different side of England, since it was more in the countryside. About halfway through we had a bathroom emergency, and yet we didn't find a bathroom until the end of the walk. Go figure.

Overall the walk was very beautiful and I enjoyed it... even with all the crazy detours and stress of trying to find a bathroom. Haha.

St. Paul's and Fleet Street

Michelle and I in front of the statue of Dr. Johnson's cat. He must have loved that cat a lot.

Michelle and I reenacted Sweeney Todd after finding a barber shop on Fleet Street.

I enjoyed parts of this walk, but mostly I found that we were going to random places that weren't that interesting. I loved seeing St. Paul's Cathedral. Its so enormous and this walk was the first time I'd seen it. I wish we could go see that as a group and go inside. Christopher Wren was an amazing architect. All along the walk we saw all these churches and all of them were designed by him. It's amazing to see how much one man can contribute to the world.

I also enjoyed walking along Fleet street, mainly because of Sweeney Todd. It was awesome seeing that, although I can't imagine how whoever wrote that musical got the idea of having him live on Fleet Street. Especially when I look at how it's laid out now--lots of businesses, no houses/places to live.

Today, the day after I went on this walk, Jaynann and I went to the London museum and went to the more modern section. This section was full of lots of information and artifacts from the Blitz. We sat down and watched this movie clip. It was a bunch of pictures with voice over interviews of people that were there when it happened. It was really neat to hear the experiences and see the pictures. There was a part where they talked about St. Paul's and how everything around it was destroyed, but somehow that cathedral stayed up. I thought that was a really neat story.

Central Parks

I had heard from a few people that they did not like this walk very much. But, I was very surprised after going on the walk to hear that. I enjoyed it quite a bit. It wasn't the most exciting, but it was fun to just relax and enjoy 3 beautiful parks that London has to offer us. It did seem long at times, but the views were wonderful. 

When we passed Buckingham Palace time was definitely on our side, because they were just doing the changing of the guard. It was neat to see that, and it definitely wasn't as busy since we were there on a Tuesday afternoon.  I had missed the changing of the guard when we went with our class, so it was neat to see. I think I might try to go back and get closer for all the festivities. 

One of my favorite parts of the walk was walking through Hyde park along the Serpentine. It was beautiful and I loved all the birds as long as they didn't try to fly over me! Haha. I did not want a repeat of the traumatic experience that happened to me last Sunday. I want to go back to the Serpentine and try renting one of those boats to ride around on the lake. We also made sure we went past the Peter Pan statue. There was a wreath that someone had made with a poem for their little girl that had died. It was heartbreaking to read it, but neat to make the memory of seeing that statue more prominent in my mind.

I enjoyed learning about how St. James' park was once a Zoo and they had Elephants. That seems like a crazy animal to have here in cloudy London.

By the end of the walk I was ready to be home, even though I enjoyed the walk quite a bit.