The Final

Laura: I think that my favorite walk I went on was Regent's Park. Even though we had some trouble on that walk with angry people, and extremely slow people, I really enjoyed it. Partly because I enjoy walking out in nature and seeing all of the beauty around. I just love it.

The other two walks that I really enjoyed are the Bankside and Southward walk and Westbourne Park Station to Notting Hill. I really liked the Bankside and Southward because it was fun to get out into the city and see the Thames. I also thought it was really cool that we got to see the London Bridge. Tower of London is one of my favorite things in London so I always take the chance when I have it to walk past it (You also walk past the Tower on the City (East) walk). I liked the Westbourne Park Station to Notting Hill because it is so close to home. I think it is good for us to get out around where we are instead of just heading to the big things in London. It is really fun to walk down Portobello road and walk through the market. Even though a lot of the walk was residential its fun to see it because its where we live.

Maddy:

I present you with my top three favorite walks (and why):

1. Notting Hill

I loved this walk because it forced us to explore more deeply a part of our own neighborhood. Portobello road is so close and I loved exploring and navigating through with a purpose. It helped that this walk was littered with various bakeries and shops, which added the perfect distractions and pit stops throughout our walk.

2. South Bank

I loved this walk because it brought us to the heart of London. It seemed like we just spent a few hours wandering around and enjoying our landscape more than completing one of the assigned walks. Also, similar to Notting Hill, there were various places to stop for snacks, which always seems to lighten the mood and make for a more jovial experience.

3. Kew to Hammersmith

I know not everyone loved this walk. Yes, it was incredibly long. I'm not sure if I was in an exceptionally good mood, or if the beautiful weather made for an enhanced experience, but this was definitely one of my favorite walks. It seemed as though we just spent the whole time laughing and enjoying our walk through a less-explored part of London.

NOTE: I was the group leader for Sara, Julie, and Devon when they completed the Notting Hill walk. I had already done this walk, which made it especially easy to guide them but still enjoy it myself.

Bloomsbury

March 30, 2011

Laura: This was a great walk! One reason I really liked this one is because I am always in this area of town, but only to go to the British Museum. I never go further than that. I really liked walking Doughty Street where Charles Dickens and Sydney Smith both lived. I don’t think I can express enough how cool it is to be in all of these famous places and to see places where there is so much history. It is definitely one of my favorite reasons for being here. That is also why I love the British Museum so much. It’s amazing how much history is in that building, I could spend hours in there and not get bored. It was kind of cool to walk behind the building, all I ever do is go right to the entrance

Maddy:

As Laura said, we're often in this part of town on our visits to the British Museum. I already enjoy being in the area, but it was especially neat to learn some of the stories and history behind certain parts. For example, I loved reading in the guide book about Handel's concerts for orphans. Sometimes I forget how much history exists in the city around us. Reading about this story and seeing the exact place where the concerts took place served as a good reminder how deeply historical this city is.

Westminster and St James

March 20. 2011

Laura: I went on the Westminster walk at night since everyone said that they liked it best at night. All or the buildings lit up were beautiful. I think it is so cool living in London and just being able to hop on a bus and seeing places like Westminster and Parliament. When people think about London the Big Ben bell tower is what you think of and it is so neat that we are here and can see it anytime we want. Anyway, even though this walk was beautiful at night I kind of wish I had gone and done it during the day to see some of the statues and memorials better. I really liked the Greenwich time/date thing that was on the side walk on Abington Street right by Westminster. It was just a cool thing to see that I stopped and read and tried to figure out.

Maddy:

Similar to South Bank, I loved the scenes along this walk because they're such iconic London landmarks. I think the most intriguing part of the walk for myself was Number 10 Downing Street. Something I've been particularly interested in since coming to London is the way David Cameron and the Queen both act as primary public figures. It's interesting to compare Number 10 Downing Street to Buckingham Palace and the juxtaposition of tradition and modern government working in tandem.

Lambeth and South Bank

March 9, 2011

Laura: I really enjoyed the Lambeth and South Bank walk. It was again nice to walk along the Thames. I always enjoy being around rivers, probably because I have lived so close to one my entire life. I loved walking past the London eye and seeing all of the street performers that were along there. I always find it enjoyable to watch them. It was a lovely day with a beautiful view of parliament across the river. I also loved walking by the museum of garden history. My guess is that it probably would be kind of boring but beautiful to look at. It bet it would be gorgeous when all of the plants and flowers are in bloom.

Maddy:

I think I would go so far as to declare this my favorite walk yet. I love the stretch of sidewalk that runs adjacent to the river, alongside the London Eye. There are benches periodically placed along the river and they're the perfect place to stop and overlook the river. I have found this to be one of my favorite places in London--being visibly surrounded by Big Ben, Westminster, Parliament and the London Eye really makes it feel like I'm in London, more so than any other place in the city. This part of town was especially busy for a weekday, there were street performers, business people, runners, rollerbladers, skaters and all over the place. I liked this walk so much that I've been back a few times since, simply to relax along the Thames and overlook the city's signature skyline.

The City (East)

February 25, 2011

Laura: We ended up going on this walk just randomly when we were near the area. It was nice to get another finished before we head into this very packed month. I hadn’t been back to the Tower of London area since we went there our very first week here in London. I liked going back. It is amazing how you can see such an old building surrounded by all of these new places and new technology. My favorite place on the walk was Leadenhall Market. We ate lunch there and did a little bit of shopping and got some delicious French desserts. I could have sat there and eaten all day. I want to go back and go to the museum by the Bank of England. It would be really interesting.

Maddy:

This was a surprisingly interesting walk. The City East walk led us through the aforementioned market and the Bank of England and surrounding area. I found this part of town especially interesting. This part of town was dead one minute and then crazy the next, as everyone was coming outside for their lunch break. Laura and I came back another day to go through the Bank of England museum--just one example of how the walks have pointed out areas of interest in London we might not have discovered otherwise.

Kew to Hammersmith

February 24, 2011

Laura: This walk was really long. It was nice walking along the Thames though. I always seem to find it so relaxing. It reminds me so much of home with the rocky beaches and the weather and the trees and just everything. I liked walking along the river and seeing all of the people out rowing and doing things out on their boats. It made me want to go out there and do something, especially since the weather was so nice. It was amazing how far we walked on this walk, it was incredibly long. I want to go back sometime in March or April and go to the Kew Gardens when they are in bloom. We saw many flowers along the walk that were starting to bloom so we are getting pretty close to that season and the time to go out and see gardens.

Maddy: Undoubtedly, my favorite walk yet. We decided to complete this walk last Thursday, when the weather was wonderful! It was almost 60 degrees out and we loved walking along the shore of the Thames with the sun shining. Blake led our group and did an excellent job of keeping us on task. Like Laura said, the shoreline experience reminded me so much of beaches in the Northwest and I loved being able to see that part of London. Between the bridge, the water, the sun and the flower patch we came across on our way home, it was a great day spent learning more about the area and having fun with each other.

Blake leading us on our walk.

Inns of Court

(Laura let me do her hair and we ended up with matching do's! Everyone in the group teased us throughout the walk. I think Blake was embarrassed to be seen with us.)

February 21, 2011

Laura: This was a pretty good walk. I was most excited when we saw Twinnings. I had been wondering where it was and now I know! We took quite a few detours on this walk and went into a lot of the places we passed. I loved going into Twinnings especially because we learned about it a few weeks ago in history. Everything has so much more meaning when we learn about them before we go. It makes all of the places we go just that much better. I liked going over by Lincoln’s Inn Fields. I had actually wandered around in there before and over by the Royal Courts of Justice. I was over there before when I went to John Soane’s museum. I liked the museum, all of the things he collected were amazing.

Maddy: This was was nice, but not one of my most favorites. Not to reiterate everything Laura said, but I loved when we turned the corner and saw Twinnings! I thought it was interesting there was an entire legal district in London, a place where all of the lawyers congregate and work. Seeing as we were there in the mid-afternoon and all of the lawyers were busy working, it was quiet and almost eerily empty. We passed the Old Curiosity Shop, an interesting landmark that sparked some discussion within the group. Finally, Lincoln's Inn Fields provided a sweet escape from the city. I loved the way the square seemed isolated behind the gate and greenery, truly providing a bit of privacy and escape from the regular hustle of the city. I imagine the lawyers of the legal district enjoy this spot during their lunch breaks.

Fleet Street and St. Paul's

February 17, 2011

Laura: This walk I went out with Maddy and Geoff. I have decided that it is a lot easier to go out and do the walks in smaller groups. You don’t have to constantly be worried about other people and you can go into all of the places that you want. I thought it was pretty cool seeing the area in London where the last hanging took place. I never really think of those types of things but I always think they are interesting when I hear about them. Even though we didn’t go into St. Paul’s we walked around the entire thing and went in the little courtyard area. It was really pretty and there were some interesting statues. I am really excited for when we go in as a group!

Maddy: This walk started with a trip to Chipotle for burritos. I think this might have been the only reason Geoff decided to come with us. Anyways, I loved seeing St. Paul's cathedral. It seemed to just rise up out of the city and I was surprised when we turned a corner and saw it towering over everything. Like Laura, I'm excited for when we go as a group to see the view of the city from the top. The walk led us through Fleet Street, an especially interesting place for communications majors like myself. Also, Fleet Street was the neighborhood of Sweeney Todd, one of the first serial killers, an especially interesting place for those that love tragedy and blood, like Geoff.

Central Parks

February 4, 2011

Laura: I went and did the Central Parks walk with Maddy and Lyse and then Part of it with Geoff another day. I think this was my favorite walk. It was the most relaxing walk, just wandering through the park and strolling along at our own pace. We did the walk backwards since we live close to the end. It was fun and easy to follow. We took a lot of detours and walked around extra things we saw in the park. My favorite was walking around the little water fountain area near Lancaster gate. We sat there for a while and ate lunch. I also really liked the statue of Peter Pan; he is such a fun character. I liked in the book how it told us that J.M. Barrie had the statue erected overnight so that children would think the fairies had brought it. That is just so cute.

Maddy: I LOVE PARKS! What I liked best about this walk was how leisurely we decided to take it. We weren't in a hurry, we weren't stressed because certain members of our group felt the need to run everywhere, and we weren't wet because the sun was out! We grabbed some lunch to go from Tesco and ate lunch along the way. We enjoyed walking by the ponds and finally understanding how MASSIVE the park is. In between reading from the book and learning about the landmarks, Lyse, Laura and I discussed our high school loves (Laura just warned this might be too much information for our blog post). Sadly, Geoff was not there for this discussion. Mostly, I enjoyed the walk because it got us outside and allowed us to explore an area so close to home.

Westbourne Park Station to Notting Hill

January 27th, 2011

Maddy: I had heard some discouraging words about this walk, so I was a bit surprised when I really enjoyed it. I loved exploring our neighborhood and seeing a less familiar end of it. In all honesty, I really loved all the shopping options. We completed this walk in two separate segments, one of which was during the Saturday market, and the shopping and energy of the neighborhood was so fun and exciting. The walk was more lively than others because there was so much going on. We ended up stopping at the Hummingbird Bakery for cupcakes, a vintage vender for earrings, and scouting out future real estate options among the pastel-colored houses.

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Laura: This walk ended up being a lot longer than I thought it was going to be. There was a lot of walking through residential areas that wasn’t my favorite. I spent a lot of time walking along Portobello Road and looking in the little shops and spent a lot of my time wandering that street. My favorite part was the Hummingbird Bakery that we found. They have some really good cupcakes. I really liked towards the beginning of Portobello Road all of the houses that you see that are all of the different pastel colors. It is so unique and really pretty.

Regent's Park

January 24, 2011

Maddy: This walk took us to an entirely new part of town. Making it to the top of the park was a bit of a hike, but once we got there it was an incredible view of the city. The walk took us to two different parks, one of which was beautifully landscaped with fountains and elaborate shrubs. It was especially nice to finish off the walk with this park, it was peaceful and relaxing and especially soothing because everyone seemed to be in a bit of a bad mood. Something about this walk that brought me some disappointment was the London Zoo. I was expecting something grand and exciting, but the zoo seemed a little dreary and out of place.

Lesson Learned on this walk: Stopping to take pictures of squirrels might put other members of the group in a foul mood.

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Laura: Parks are some of my favorite places to go and spend my time. I find them to be really relaxing and a nice place to sit and mediate and think about life. I love Regents Park. It is so beautiful. I loved the landscaping of the park and all of the fountains that they have placed inside the park. On this walk I didn’t know what the book was talking about a lot of the time. When it would talk about all of the Terraces and buildings I didn’t know where they were or what I was supposed to be looking at. But I like walking around and seeing the little pond and all of the birds everywhere. It is just as I imagine England being.

Bankside and Southward

January 17th, 2011

Maddy:

I enjoyed this walk because it brought me along a side of London I had yet to explore. Throughout this walk I saw the Millennium Bridge, the Tower Bridge, the Tate Modern Museum and a variety of other notable landmarks.

To tell the truth, I was a little disappointed by the Tower Bridge. After all the age-old hype, I was expecting something a little more grandeur than the asphalt creation it really was. Even so, it's all okay because the Tower and Millennium Bridge are both fantastic in their own right.

My favorite part of the walk was being able to walk along the Thames River. Even though it was a little dirty and lackluster, I really enjoyed seeing some of London's natural landscape.

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Laura: I really liked this walk and being able to walk along the Thames. It might be a very dirty and gross river but in a way I find it quite beautiful. It was fun finding the Borough Market. We went on a weekday so only a few food stands were open. I think it would be really fun to go back to the market when it is open and plan to do so before I leave. I really liked seeing the globe theatre up close. I have seen it before but from really far away. It has such great history. It would be really fun to go and see a play there. I think that my favorite part of the walk was just walking along the Thames and seeing all of the bridges. I also made it a point to walk across the London Bridge and the wibbly wobbly bridge. I am not sure what the actual name of that bridge is but it is the one that is in the Harry Potter movie.

Soho to Trafalgar Square

January 10th, 2011

Maddy:

This was the first of the four walks I completed. I was a little apprehensive in the beginning, I had heard the walks were fairly long and especially brutal if it was cold out. However, shortly after starting out I realized how interesting it was to learn about the history of the area while in the middle of it.

Soho was an especially interesting area. I read in one of my guide books that it was the "young and hip" part of town. After walking through, I believe it! We saw 20th Century Fox studios, along with some other film studios and publishing houses. We saw plenty of bars, clubs and pubs, which seem perfect for those twenty-something year olds ready to mingle.

My favorite part of the walk was the "Votes for Kisses" plaque we passed for the Duchess of Devonshire. I saw a film about the Duchess and seeing somewhere that she spent time was exciting and really brought history to life for me. I also loved when we passed the water pump responsible for the cholera outbreak in 1854. It was neat to learn the history behind the cholera outbreak, as I had never really learned the details.

One part of the walk I was a little less impressed with was Chinatown. I was pretty excited to explore this part of town and I was disappointed when it seemed to be predominately tourist shops.

Overall, I enjoyed walking through Soho and I especially loved ending in Trafalgar Square, which is one of my favorite places in London so far.

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Laura: This is the first walk that I went on. I really liked going out into London and being able to learn about little bits of history that I wouldn’t have learned otherwise. It was fun walking through China town and seeing all of the restaurants and shops in there. I think that my favorite part of the walk was the water pump that caused the outbreak of Cholera. It is amazing to think that such a small thing can spread such a terrible disease and kill so many people. I also liked seeing all of the pubs that are in the Soho area. Pubs just seem so British to me. It is once you get back into areas like that and off of the main streets that you can really see England as the English see it and I really like that.