Top 3 London Walks

I enjoyed all of the London walks. I loved most of them. But I was completely in love with the following three walks because they were exciting, beautiful, charming, memorable, and unique.

The Westbourne Park and Notting Hill walk was easily my favorite, because it was our neighborhood. I loved discovering Portobello Market. We may have gotten entirely lost when we got out of the station, but we almost always get lost so it's fine! I loved the Portobello Market, my cheap "British Flag" sunglasses I bought there, and cannot wait to go back and buy a cheap painting of London when my parents come to London. The market environment was so fun, and we had a blast. But beyond the market, it was fun to walk around our neighborhood. I never would have known that just beyond the horizon, the neighborhoods started going down hills. I also discovered an uphill stretch of neighborhoods on this walk that looked perfect for running, which I never would have discovered on my own. And the cute little gated community parks in all of the neighborhoods were so charming.

I really loved the Lambeth and South Bank walk, probably because the weather was stunning that day. It was sunny! We got our very first glimpse of blossoms starting to peak through their little green cacoons. But the best part was being warm enough that we were able to take our jackets off and walk along the river in the raw sunlight. My now-ghostly skin gulped in those rays. But parliament was shining all glittery in the sunlight as well. And to be honest, it was also great because Kaylee was leading it, so we didn't get lost and we were able to get through it quickly, so it didn't feel long.

I loved the Westminster & St. James walk, as well. This walk stands out to me, because we walked it at night, when it was dark outside. We had the streets all to ourselves, without having to dodge around the throngs of people on the sidewalks. And the streets were all lit up, giving the city a magical touch. The best part, though, was the memorable way the lights lit up some of my favorite buildings. The carvings on Westminster Abbey absolutely popped. I swear I could make out the carvings ten times better that night than when I had visited before in the daytime. And visiting Buckingham Palace, when it was all lit up and completely deserted was amazing; we had the place all to ourselves.

Bankside and Southwark

This walk made me feel like I was in more of the historic London. It was a really smoggy day, and we walked by lots of buildings that were covered in dirt and grime built up from over the years. The oldest pub in London, The Anchor, was by this dark alley under a bridge that was ultra gloomy, and it led straight into the crowds, interesting smells, and arrays of unusual food of borough Market. We tried the grilled cheese sandwich that everyone's been talking about and it was quite good. I saw a damascan falafel place; is that damascan like Damascus? But it was funny seeing the Globe Theatre and the huge banner of Shakespeare's face when we were at his old house just yesterday. I loved walking over the tower bridge. It was my first time to cross it. This was fun walk.

Fleet Street and St. Paul's (The City West)

This was a terrific walk, and one that I really enjoyed. For some reason, it had a different feel than some of the other walks, probably because we had more variety in the types of buildings we were walking past. It was fun seeing so many working men in the area, all wearing their black suits; it felt so official and realistic. We may have gotten terribly lost at the beginning, but it helped us be extremely specific in following directions the rest of the time. Personal favorites from this walk were St. Paul's Cathedral, obviously, as well as the small statue of the cat, the Bridewell House of Correction (because of it's massive gates still in tact,) the Black Friar pub and its mosaic exterior, and just the knowledge that I was walking past an apartment that Shakespeare had personally been inside. I'm not much of a cat-lover, but I thought the statue was hilarious. St. Paul's Cathedral and the other Wren churches were beautiful. It was interesting to notice that some of the random churches we walked past had clear glass instead of stained glass, and I would like to find out why some day. This was a nice walk, and an enjoyable one.

Bloomsbury

This was such a neat walk! Liz and I went, just the two of us. When we got off at Tottenham Court Road Station, I thought it was going to be a walk in a downtown business area, not a fun residential/small-office building area. It was fun, because we would walk around and look for plaques on the walls, and when we found them, then we would find their names in the book. We found lots of plaques that aren't in the book, which sparked an interest! We saw some of the cutest shops on this walk, specializing in hand-sewn purses and antique furniture--my parents would have loved it! I thought it was neat that Thomas Coram cared so much about the children, and that later on the walk we walked by the children hospitals. We passed a Children's Leukemia office, which touched my heart since my little niece used to live in London and now has Leukemia. And it was fun to walk by a square built for chimney sweeps; it reminded me of Mary Poppins! The graveyard was really neat, and I wonder if that's where we will have class for the graveyard class. My two favorite parts were walking by Dickens' house, since I have been in Christmas Carol multiple times. My other favorite part was getting lost on our way back to the tube from the end of the route. We got lost in the streets, and got to enjoy the streets and environment! Plus, we found "Fancy That of London" where we bought 20 postcards for 2 pounds! Victory.

Regent's Park

The panoramic view from the top of Primrose Hill was absolutely perfect this morning. It was warm, clear, sunny, and there was a sense of spring in the air. I bet the view of the city would be stunning from this hill at night, and hope I get a chance to take my parents there when they arrive. I was shocked to see a public drinking fountain, because they seem quite rare in London; needless to say, I was not surprised when it wasn't working. It was a cool drinking fountain, though, and the second drinking fountain we found later on that walk was the craziest design I have ever seen! I am really glad that they didn't build the remaining 48 villas and opened this park to the public, because it's gorgeous! The little stream with the peaceful waterfall was so pretty, especially with the ducks and swans hanging around. The ducks had a cool red and green feather pattern on their back, which is entirely different than the ducks at my house at home. It was fun seeing the football (soccer) and the rugby fields. I love the idea of public boating ponds, and was sad when there weren't any children boating in the one for kids. It was interesting to see Charles Cockerell's house and know that he is the architect that started the monument we saw in Edinburgh. Overall, a very beautiful and low-key walk.

Kew to Hammersmith

February 22, 2011

Led by: Carly Flamm & Liz Bevan

Since we are going to have very limited time in March to do walks, we decided to find the longest walk on the list, and do it this morning when we had time. It was a very beautiful neighborhood and a neat walk, but it was not my favorite so far. It seemed like the second half of the walk, the only landmarks were small plaques on buildings, so the mileage seemed unnecessary. Plus, it was a little annoying that it started in Zone 4. Despite these two small setbacks, it was a very beautiful walk. It was nice to be able to spend so much time just walking along the calm Thames River. St. Anne's Church had a really cool graveyard, and it reminded me of a spooky Halloween movie, even in the daytime! And the park by Chiswick Home was perfect; there were flowers blooming, dogs frolicking and kids playing on the lawn. For once, I truly felt like I was in a London suburb and it was picturesque. It was obviously a nice area, because the cars lining the street were very flashy ones. It was a beautiful walk, just not as exciting as all of the other ones.

Westminster & St. James

The Westminster/St. James walk was a really neat walk, because we did it at night. Since we were leaving at night, Liz, Paige and I decided that all of us should bring our books and tag-team leading the walk, to keep us from getting lost at night. This area of town was neat to see at night because it's usually a very touristy area but much of the trail was deserted. The many monuments (it seemed like there were millions) looked more glorious and impressive in the dark. Seeing Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey lit up at night was stunning, and I feel like the details in the stone's carving were more apparent an clear at night.`What a wonderful walk and beautiful night!