Soho to Trafalgar Square

After church the other week, a few of us went for a little Sunday stroll from Soho to Trafalgar Square.  Actually, we went from Trafalgar Square to Soho, because it worked out better that way.

It was a fun walk!  We passed the National Gallery and Trafalgar Square--beautiful as always.

It ended up being really convenient that we passed through Soho on a Sunday afternoon, because most of the "specialty" shops were closed.  We did see two men wearing pink skirts, high heels, and blonde wigs though.  A pretty surprising sight for a Sunday afternoon!  It was sort of awesome.

Some of the major sights included lots of theaters, Chinatown, and Pollack's toy store.  It was a fun walk.  

Fleet Street and St. Paul's

This walk was really fun.  After a long (but awesome) morning at the Royal Gallery, it felt really great to walk around and find all of the landmarks in this walk.  We started at St. Paul's station and were able to see St. Paul's Cathedral right away.  It was beautiful.  The grounds with all the beautiful flowers, the architecture, the sheer size of the cathedral--all of it made me really excited to get a tour of the cathedral that afternoon.

After that, we walked through what seemed to be the business part of town.  We saw lots of office buildings and people in suits.  It was fun!

We also some beautiful old buildings, including the King's College Library.  It was stunning!  One of my favorite things about London is the mix of old with new.  Beautiful, historic buildings stand right next to Modern, industrial-looking ones all over town and the contrast is awesome to note.

We also passed Dr. Johnson's house--he wrote the dictionary!  That was cool.  We finally ended up back around St. Paul's Cathedral again, where we met the whole group for a tour.

I was behind the lens in this picture, but here's the rest of the walking group outside the Cathedral!

Regent's Park Walk

After our group walk on the Regent Canals and lunch and shopping at Camden Market, I went with some friends on the Regent's Park Walk.  After what was already a long day of walking, this walk seemed especially long.  We were still able to have some fun though.

One of the biggest accomplishments of the day was climbing Primrose Hill.  The view from the top was amazing--we could see all of London!

Other highlights included walking past the London Zoo, spotting Fredrich Engel's house, watching all of the interesting people, and running into a wedding procession in the middle of Regent's Park!

We took a picture at the big fountain near the London Zoo.  It was a fun monument to pass by!

Regent's Park is beautiful, and getting to explore it some more was really fun!

Central Parks Walk (Run?)

This morning, I was looking to both do a walk for our class and go for a run.  Per Dr. Crowe's suggestion, I decided to do both!  I took the tube to Westminster Station and started running!

It was a beautiful run.  At the beginning, I passed Big Ben and Parliament--my first time seeing it!  It was a little surreal.

I walked past lots of very official looking buildings, including the Foreign Office Building.  The architecture was simply beautiful; very ornate and European-looking.  I loved passing all of the monuments and statues.  The Wellington Arch was my favorite.

Eventually, I made my way to St. James Park.  I passed through to Green Park, then made my way to Hyde Park, and finished my jog in Kensington Garden.  The parks were all really beautiful and it ended up being a beautiful way to start my morning.  I was joined by lots of other runners and bikers, which was fun.

The scenery throughout all of the parks was beautiful.  I loved passing Round Pond and the Serprentine River.  Even though it was under construction, I really loved passing Kensington Palace.  It was beautiful!

Overall, my run was beautiful.  I loved having the London Walks route to give my work-out some structure!

I forgot to bring my camera (plus there was obviously no way I could carry it), so here's a picture from my first walk in Hyde Park!  Hope it suffices.