Favorite Walks!

I can't believe that I'm done with the walks and that our time in London is almost up! Here's the rundown on my three favorite walks:

1. Southwark and Bankside

This was one of the first walks I did, and it was a fun because we did part of it at night and part by day. This area is actually one of my very favorites in London and I've been there a lot. This might be partly because Nick, Scott, and I found our favorite little lunch joint by chance on this walk. Amano on Clink Street is so good! I've been four times! Southwark and Bankside has some of the best views in all of London, too. I love walking across the Millennium Bridge to the Tate Modern and then looking back at St. Paul's, plus looking down the Thames to London Bridge and the Tower Bridge. Not to mention, the Globe is right there too. It's just an all-around cool part of London, I think!

2. Central Parks

Central Parks was so fun and so beautiful! I'm not exaggerating when I say that this was one of my favorite things I've done the whole time here in London. It only cost a pound to rent a bike and ride through London for an hour. We saw so many things! -- Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace, St. James' Park, Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, and Kensington High Street. I will highly recommend going on a bike ride through the parks and the city to anyone who visits London!

 3. Regent's Park

Regent's Park is my favorite park in London. I fell in love with it on this walk. It is so beautiful and well-kept; I loved the rowing pond, and huge open fields, and the perfectly-manicured gardens. There were tons of families out, people walking dogs or playing football, and everyone was just enjoying themselves on such a beautiful day. It made me realize that even amidst the hustle and bustle of city life, Londoners really know how to relax and enjoy nature and life. 

Walk #10: Bloomsbury

Yesterday morning I set out by myself to do my final walk. Yay! I was pleasantly surprised by the Bloomsbury area, which I'd never been to before. It was pretty quiet, well-kept, and residential. I saw a lot of families in the various squares and parks, and a lot of young and middle-aged professionals walking to work. I liked seeing these real Londoners out and about doing their normal routines. I think Bloomsbury is an area I could live in if I were to move to London. It's definitely close to the heart of the city and everything you need, but at the same time there's not too much touristy stuff nearby or hustle and bustle. On this walk there were also a few notable sights along this walk, including the Foundling Museum, Charles Dickens' House, and of course, the mammoth British Museum. This is where I ended my walk so I could finally go in and see it and get that off my checklist before leaving London!

Charles Dickens' house

Is this for real? Who picked that name? But seriously, where can I get transfer papers?

The British Museum is way cool!

Walk #9: Lambeth and Southbank

Lambeth and South Bank was yet another cool walk. I just decided to go by myself one afternoon. I liked that it was an easy stroll along the Thames a lot of the way and offered a lot of major London sights and great views, even though it was a cloudy day. It's fun to walk down the sidewalk past the London Eye and the Southbank Center, London Aquarium, etc. I also liked walking by the Somerset House again after visiting it for the Courtald Gallery. I thought the Lambeth part of the walk was nice since it is a pretty area with nice parks and quaint streets. This was certainly another enjoyable and peaceful walk through London!

Walk #8: Westminster

A few Sundays ago after chuch, Tara, Scott, Shelisa, Hannah and I went on the Westminster walk. I took another whirl at leading, and it went pretty well since a lot of this area was familiar.  This walk was great because we got to go past some of my favorite, sights in London. I love stepping out of Westminster station and seeing Big Ben and Parliament looming above and Westminster Abbey just across the street. The view right there along the Thames is awesome too.  I was also glad to finally go on this walk because we saw famous things that I was worried I wouldn't get the chance to see, like the remains of Whitehall Palace, No. 10 Downing Street, the Horse Guard Parade and where the Trooping of the Colour will be held later this week, and St. James's Palace, which looked like a mini Hampton Court. Around that area we walked through some streets that had a ton of really fancy, high-end men's stores. Scott dubbed it "the man district." Toward the end of the walk I liked strolling past Buckingham Palace. It was beautiful on a sunny day and it wasn't way crowded like during the Royal Wedding. Westminster is a really pretty area that I thought I knew pretty well, but actually hadn't seen much of before.

Horse Guard Parade

St. James's Palace

I got a picture in a guard box!

Just the girls in front of Buck Palace

Walk #7: Central Parks

The Central Parks walk has been the best walk to date! Perhaps that is because we didn't walk it though, we biked it! So, for weeks, Nick and I had been planning to rent Barclay's bikes and do this walk. Finally, last Friday morning we gathered up some people and headed out to cruise central London and the parks. The group was Nick, me, Kelsey, Scott, Andrea, Hillary, Alexa, Alison, and Taylor. After a little hassle with the Barclay's machines, we finally all set off on our ride. It was the perfect morning to ride, and of course the parks were gorgeous! The walk took us through St. James's, Green, and Hyde Parks, and Kensington Gardens, too. I am familiar with Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens, but it was nice to see the other parks I haven't been to before. I really admire London, and England in general, for it's inclusion of city parks and commons for public use. One thing that I've noticed during all these walks, but especially on this one, is that the big things in London are a lot closer together than you think. No wonder so many people here walk or ride their bikes everywhere; it really is quite manageable. We normally ride the tube for a good 20-30 minutes to get from the Centre, right by Kensington Gardens to Buckingham Palace, but we easily rode our bikes that same distance in about an equal amount of time! On the bikes you can still see the city up close, but it's more fun than walking. Riding down the mall towards Buckingham Palace was so perfect. Everything -- the park, the palace, the weather -- was so beautiful and I was thinking in my head, it doesn't get much better than this! This bike ride has actually been one of my favorite experiences during the whole time here in London. 

Buckingham Palace by ride-by!

The group in front of Kensington Palace

Walk #6: Soho to Trafalgar Sq.

Soho to Trafalgar was such a fun walk! This district is interesting because there is such a variety of people, attractions, history, etc. Kristen, Andrea, Nick, and I did this walk together one afternoon. We started off the walk at Goodge St. station -- what a funny name! We saw Pollock's Toy Museum  and Soho soon after and then walked for a long time through Soho which is pretty much a shopping/eating district, but it also had some interesting/questionable locales too. Chinatown was definitely a highlight of the walk for me. I've never been to one before in any big city and this one was pretty crazy! Next we wound our way through to the theatre district and saw a bunch of theatres with major and minor productions, including the Queen's Theatre, where we saw Les Mis later that night!  One funny thing that happened on the walk was when we passed by a bunch of street artists right around Leicester Square who did portraits/caricatures. We kind of wanted to get one, but it was a little pricey and the guy was ticked off when Nick told him we'd check the other prices. He told us not to come back! We decided not to get one done after all, haha. Of course, the walk ended in Trafalgar Square, which is one of my favorite parts of London. I love the hustle and bustle of this part of the city; there is always something interesting going on!

Walk #5: Inns of Court

I went on the Inns of Court walk with Kelsey, Hillary, Alexa, and Alison. The walk was really fun and it was really cool to do one at night, but it was also disappointing because a lot of the gates and paths were closed, so we couldn't see any of the sites along the route, especially the major inns it's famous for. My favorite part of the walk was seeing the Royal Courts of Justice. For one, the building had really cool architecture -- it kind of looks like a cross between a cathedral and the Disneyland castle. I also liked seeing this because my sister is a lawyer, so it was like a little pilgrimage for her. We had fun taking this walk together and it was definitely a different part of town than I've really seen yet; nicer and well-kept with no tourists.

 The Royal Courts of Justice

A notable point along the route

The lighting on the Royal Courts of Justice was so cool when we ended our walk at night!