The City Walk

Amy, Sydnie, Laura and I did this walk Tuesday night. We had a blast! It was so fun to go explore around the city. We could definitely tell this is more of a commercial area rather than residential; since we did it in the evening, parts of the walk seemed almost deserted. All the businessman were just leaving from work. The main features of this walk that we noticed were statues and tall city buildings rather than gardens or natural areas. it was really cool to see buildings that I've heard about, but didn't actually know where they were/what they were/what they looked like. It was so awesome to see Lloyd's! I had no idea how cool of a building it is. It was so huge and kinda had this futuristic vibe to it; it almost looked like building had its plumbing inside out. I had heard about this building, but it was interesting to find out exactly what it was: a famous insurance market that was started in 1680. We also got to pass through the Royal Exchange Buildings - started as a meeting place for merchants in the 1500's apparently. And I'm also glad I got to see the Bank of England - Sydnie really wanted to see this because it was in Mary Poppins! I really liked to see how these places have so much history and are so old, yet they're still in use today and are still play a major role in London's economy. It just emphasizes London's identity as a unique blend of old/traditional and new/modern.

And of course, we got to see some sites of pure historical significance. We got to see the Monument for the Great Fire, which I didn't even know existed.It was a huge column that was there to commemorate the Great Fire of 1666 which burned down huge portions of the city; it was really cool that it was built on the actual spot where the fire started. And I had no idea it was built by Christopher Wren! He really was famous for more than just St. Paul's - we also saw St. Mary-le-bow Church, designed by Wren as well. He was definitely one of the most famous architects of London. And of course, at the very end of the walk it was awesome to get another view of the Tower of London!

Westminster Walk

Lorraine and I decided to do this walk on Sunday afternoon in between the morning service and Evensong at Westminster Abbey. We had heard that this was a really cool walk to do at night, but we loved doing it during the day. Once again, we got to explore a part of the city that I had never been to before. I really love how these walks take us down the back streets and through random, out of the way areas; Lorraine and I were talking about how even though we're being guided by the book, it still feels like we're exploring and discovering lesser known, out of the way things. I loved how we got to walk past the houses of people like William Pitt and Sir Isaac Newton! It's interesting how their houses are now just regular shops or homes - you wouldn't even notice any significance to them if it weren't for the blue circle plaques that saw their name and years they lived there for. It was so awesome seeing where these people actually lived! It was also kinda cool because in the area around William Pitt's house, there were all these TV/movie trailers parked on the side of the road; there were all these actors' names on the doors of the trailers, we didn't recognize any - but who knows, they could be famous British actors and we were right outside their trailers!
I also really loved being able to see Buckingham Palace! The only time I had been there before was on the day of the Royal Wedding when the entire area was just crazy and packed full of people.It was so nice to be able to see everything on a normal day when there aren't as many people. The area was way more open and the gardens were gorgeous with the red flowers. I loved being able to actually go up to the gate and see the red guards right outside - and the flag was flying so the Queen was inside! So exciting.

Lambeth and the South Bank Walk

For this walk, I actually got to lead it! We got a pretty big group together: it was me, Amy, Sydnie, Macy, Mckenna, Sarah, Emily King, and the Miller kids. I was a little nervous because this meant I was navigating and I didn't want to get the whole group lost! But it ended up being just great.This was actually probably the most fun walk I've done. Archbishop's Park was so fun! There was an amazing playground that is every child's dream: there was tall slides and small animals you can ride in and a rock wall and a rope spiderweb and all kinds of other play equipment. As soon as we saw it, we all starting walking fast and then broke out into an all out run. It was so fun!After that we walked along the south bank of the Thames and it was gorgeous. We got to look out over Big Ben and the Thames right as the sun was setting - it was the perfect time of day.
We walked along the river and it was awesome to see the people sitting on all the benches and walking past the lampposts. We walked past the London Eye, which was absolutely massive to see up close. This was also a super busy spot in terms of restaurants and nightlife.
There were lots of people out and about having fun. We also got to walk over Waterloo bridge, which was a beautiful view and the first time I've walked across the river Thames. Overall, I would say the word to describe this walk would be enjoyable. And we didn't even get lost once!

Soho to Trafalgar Square Walk

Lorraine and I also decided to run this one as well! This one wasn't my favorite walk - there wasn't a whole lot to see that I was super interested in, but like anywhere in London, it was still enjoyable to experience it. It was cool while we running around to see places that I recognized and be able to orient myself; this walk was close to the Bloomsbury walk and so I was able to feel somewhat familiar with that section of the city. And once we could see the pillar from Trafalgar Square I was really able to orient myself and have a lot of those "Oh now I know where we are!" moments. Some parts of the walk were new too though. Even though this area isn't as shifty as it used to be, I could still tell that this wasn't the most wholesome, family-friendly area and I'm glad me and Lorraine ran here in the morning. But! It was also really cool to be able to run through Chinatown. I didn't even know this part of the city existed and I'm so glad we got to go through it! It smelled amazing the entire time and it was really interesting to see different types of shops and food places that you don't see anywhere in London - I feel like this really was a whole different side to the city.

Lorraine and I took photos on her phone, but unfortunately, her phone got stolen :(

Bloomsbury Walk

For this walk, Lorraine and I decided to actually run it! We went in the morning and some parts were pretty crowded, so it was pretty crazy trying to run our way through the maze. But it was a really nice walk! I wouldn't say it was my favorite or the most interesting, but it was still nice to see a different part of town. The first thing we ran past that I thought was pretty cool was the British Musuem; at first, we ran past the back of it and it didn't look that impressive, but later we ran past the front and it was amazing! It was so huge! And it made me really excited to actually go there and go inside. It was also way awesome to run past Charles Dickens' house where he wrote Olive Twist and Nicholas Nickleby. It was was kind of an ordinary house out of the way, but it was really cool to see where one of the most famous authors of all time lived. What I also really loved about this walk was being able to run through some of the really small parks that you wouldn't normally notice or go to. They're like small pockets of green in the city and they were gorgeous! My favorite was St. George's Gardens. It was a little interesting because it's actually also a graveyard - so there were tombstones lining the fences and everything. But it wasn't creepy, there were so many different types of flowers and roses; there was a small fountain in the center with benches all around and it was beautiful!

Central Parks Walk

For this walk, we went through the major parks of central London: Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park, St. James Park, etc. I went with Sarah and Mckenna and we decided to do this walk by bike! This was the best decision ever. It only cost a pound to rest the bikes from the bike stations they have around the city. It was so awesome! We still got to see all the sites and fully appreciate being outside without getting super tired from walking the whole way. It made it so much more enjoyable and I feel like I was able to appreciate the sites even more. We went in the evening and it was beautiful to see people strolling around the parks. I decided one of my favorite spots on this walk was along the Serpentine river, right near the fountains and by the the Peter Pan statue.

It was exciting because I had never been that far east in the parks before. There were more parts that were just wide open spaces and had paths across huge spans of grass. I loved seeing so many people running and biking and we actually saw a lot of people rollerblading, which I was really jealous of. It was the perfect temperature, the perfect time of day, and everything was just beautiful. I kept thinking how perfect it was to just be leisurely bike riding around the parks where every view you see is the perfect scene.

Bankside and Southwark Walk

The first picture is of us in front of the Duke of Wellington's ship. It was awesome to see and read about a lot of history towards the beginning of this walk. I liked seeing the recreated Globe Theater and then being able to see the actual site of the original Globe Theater. I felt like we walked through a lot more of narrow, older alleyways and I liked exploring through them. To be honest though, my favorite part of this walk was towards the end when we came to the more famous and familiar sites like Tower Bridge and the Tower of London. was so gorgeous walking along the Thames and seeing the Tower Bridge through the twinkle lights strung from the lampposts! It made me really glad we did this walk at night so we could fully get the effect of the bridge all lit up. Walking across was amazing too. Lorraine and I had been talking earlier about how you really can't capture these buildings on camera - you don't realize how huge they are until you see them in real life and then it's so surprising, but in a good way. Another one of my favorite memories I want to remember from this walk is seeing the Tower of London. Honestly, I've never thought the Tower of London looked that cool. It always seemed pretty small and not that interesting to look at architecturally. But once we got across the bridge and we saw the Tower of London with a giant UK flag waving from the top and the moonlit clouds behind it, it looked pretty legit!

Fleet Street and St. Paul's Walk

I thought this walk was interesting because we were able to see more lesser-known historical sites that are somewhat tucked away in this area of London. I liked how it felt like we were walking more through the backstreets rather than on main tourist highways. We were able to see buildings we probably wouldn’t have seen if we had just been wandering around in our spare time; places like Ye Old Cheshire Cheese (a haunt of Charles Dickens), Dr. Johnson’s house, and the Black Friar Pub. I also really liked seeing the St. Sepelchre’s Church – at first it just looked like a cool old church, but reading about it we found out that crusades to the Holy Land in the Middle Ages started their journeys from this spot.


I think we had a totally different experience doing this walk in the evening on Friday night than if we had done it any other time. First of all, we walked past several pubs; it was crazy to see how many groups of young business men would all stand outside and drink in their suits and loosened ties. At every pub, you would just see at least 5 or 6 small groups of these men outside in business suits, talking and laughing. Sydnie made the comment that you can tell when the British are drinking because they talk louder. And besides the pubs, people in general seemed to be more friendly and more energetic – it seemed like there were way more people asking if they could take a picture for us or help us find our way.

Regent's Park Walk

The thing I liked best about this walk was that although we were still in London, we were able to experience more of the nature and scenery that the city has to offer. Walking through Regent's Park before we got to Boating Lake was nice because of the large expanses of grass the trees that lined the trail. We saw lots of people just sitting on benches and in the grass, talking and enjoying the sun. It was really nice to be able to sit under one of the trees near an ice cream stand and just rest for a couple minutes; we were somewhat worn out from walking all around Camden Market and it was so relaxing to just have that open space under the tree to spread out and enjoy the day. After, I loved walking along the Boating Lake because of all the birds and flowers - the variety makes the whole scene so much more beautiful and interesting. We saw geese and swans wandering and flying all across the water and around the wooden lounge chairs that the city provides. The pathway on the far side of the river is lined with all kinds of amazing flowers. It added so much to the color and beauty of the park overall! I loved it. And walking further, we came to the Inner Circle, which had even more flowers and spaces of green grass and benches. It was cool because we walked past as a wedding was going on; there was a bride and wedding party walking along the path and there was a photographer taking pictures like crazy. It was also fun to do this walk with a big group of people because we were all able to talk and take our time.


By far, my favorite part of the walk was Primrose Hill. I absolutely loved Primrose Hill and it's a place I want to go back again and again before I leave London. It was gorgeous! The walkways lined with black lampposts and the trees and the view from the top of the hill made it the best place of all time. From the top of the hill, you could the whole London skyline. I loved how people were having picnics and it was a little more windy, so others were out flying kites. This was by far one of my favorite experiences we've had since being here.