London Walks: A Walk on the Wild Side Journal

The last half of our first Saturday here in London was spent exploring "the wild side" of London. The  South side of Thames is super cool and this walk was pretty relaxing except for we were all getting pretty exhausted and had achey feet! Regardless I loved this walk, it was a great way to end the day. As we made our way across the bridge I started to get excited. It is the prettiest bridge and I have heard and seen about it my whole life in movies and different television shows. Nothing is like seeing it in real life. I plan on going back to the Tower Bridge to go in to the Exhibition and go across on the overhead walkway.

After crossing over the bridge and getting a look at the city hall the Thames river immediately grabbed my attention. Though the water is a very deep shade of brown and the beach is more of a rocky shoreline, it reminded me of the beach at home and made me very happy to see. One of these days I want to go down below the Thames path and walk along the shore! Across the way I was able to easily identify the Swiss Reinsurance tower and The Monument then, with help from the other girls I recognized Lloyd's building and the Tower of London.

We then passed through Hay's Gallery and we were enthralled with the different booths selling things like scarves, jewelry, funny posters and little trinkets. I bought a ring that will be a reminder of my first day exploring in London.

The London Bridge was a little bit underwhelming due to its grey cement structure. But walking across it and getting a good view of the Tower Bridge made it a little more exciting. Also, seeing the Southwark cathedral from this view was cool because I could easily make out the top and all of its details.

We took the opportunity to walk into the Southwark Cathedral and view all the different memorials listed in the walks book. The cathedral was beautiful and definitely definitely definitely up to the expectation of the Cathedrals I have seen in photos. This was a great one to start at, I know there are many more amazing ones that I will get to see over the next few months. We sat for a while and observed the stained glass windows and watched the choir take photos in their choir clothes. This Cathedral was very peaceful and I felt relaxed as I read about many different men and women.

The other bridge that I liked was the Millennial Bridge built in 2000. After reading that originally it seemed to sway when people walked on it I was a bit nervous, but its easy to see that it is a very stable and secure bridge now. I also liked seeing this bridge because in one of my favorite movies " What a Girl Wants" they walk along the bridge.

As we continued along the Thames and entered the different museums, galleries and halls I was mainly intrigued by the Tate Modern Museum. Currently they have a Matisse exhibit that I would have loved to see but unfortunately it was closed by the time we arrived and tomorrow (Sunday) is its last day on display at the Tate Modern Museum. The other pieces inside the museum were incredible but we had to leave quickly after because we did not want to be out past dark today. Which was a good thing we left because after viewing the other places we arrived at the embankment tube stop to find that it was under construction. Tired and exhausted we moved to the temple station, which was also under construction! So, we sat at a bus stop for a while but after 20 minutes of waiting we gathered our strength and made it to the Charring Cross station. Soon after we arrived back at 27 Palace Court to Relax and enjoy some pizza for dinner. This walk may end up being in my top three. But has also gotten me more excited for the rest of the walks.

Tower Bridge!

View of the Financial Center Buildings

Entrance to Hay's Gallery

Hay's Gallery

Southwark Cathedral

cute em inside of Southwark Cathedral

Sir Francis Chandler Drake

The old location of the Globe

That feeling when your feet want to fall off and the tubes are under construction

Southwark Cathedral