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.