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.