Regents Park

I led my last (but certainly not least) walk around regents park on this sunny day with liz bevan, Elise, carly & mike. I think this was probably one of my favorite walks and a place i definitely want to go back running at. I think one of the reasons I've loved these walks so much is because they have given me great ideas for places to run and helped me explore many different sites I maybe wouldn't have otherwise seen.

This regents park was so beautiful and we went on a great day for it. On primrose hill there was a beautiful view overlooking the city which I really enjoyed. And then walking along the outkskirts of the football playing fields, by the pond and seeing the gardens & flowers in full bloom were all just gorgeous! I really loved it and it got me excited for spring in london, just right around the corner. I am so glad we had this London walks class and for the opportunity it gave me to explore and discover important landmarks in London, as well as getting to know other people on this program better. It was a great experience! Thanks London walks..

Kew to Hammersmith

For my 2nd to last walk I did the nice long walk from Kew Gardens Station all the way to Hammersmith Station with Liz Bevan, Elise and Carly. Liz and Carly took turns being our leaders for our journey. At first I must admit I wasn't really looking forward to this walk as much just because I knew it was going to be a long one that took a good portion of time, but it turned out to be better than I had expected. It was actually kind of nice to get away from the central London city and into the suburbs where families really live, children go to school, play in parks, etc. The walk along the Thames River pathway was also refreshing to see teams out rowing and boating. The pic of us above is at the Chiswick House was built in the 1720s by the architect Lord Burlington as a place where he could display his art collection and entertain friends. The gardens (although not in full bloom yet) were also really nice and had a more natural classical antiquity approach from the 18th century. The little cottages and houses on this walk were really cute to walk by (would be such a fun place to live). I ended up enjoying this walk overall-even though it was quite a bit longer than the others, I had good company and we had a good time exploring and seeing the history together!

Westminster & St James

Liz bevan, carly Flamm & I led each other on a beautiful night walk taking us by big ben, house of parliament & right by buckingham palace. It was a great way to see the city all lit up at night with spectacular views. It kept hitting us on the walk just how lucky we are to be living in this city with all the history and culture present in buildings and monuments every where you look. The pic below is of us right in front of buckingham where the queen resides. The queen wasn't there when we walked by because the union flag wasn't flying. I really enjoyed this walk and seeing how everything was all connected. I have gone on some great runs thru st James park & by big ben but this was a nice opportunity for me to just walk around and actually learn about all the history that was present around those areas. Definitely a great walk to be done-night or day!

Fleet Street and St. Paul's

This city west walk was much different than the city east walk I went on earlier. This walk was known for London's printing, publishing and newspaper industries also including monasteries, cathedrals & churches. The picture below is of Elise (our group leader) & I outside St. Sepulchre. It was said to acquire this name from the Middle Ages when crusading knights headed off to the Holy Land to fight for the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. St. Sepulchre is the largest city church after St. Paul's Cathedral.

This second pic below was taken outside of Johnson's Court. In here was the house of Dr. Johnson where he worked on the great dictionary. I love the quote below by him that says, "when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life" as I feel this to be true here in London with so much to see and explore. These walks make me realize this to be especially the case as you can't get tired of London when there are so many little & big places to discover!