Emily Lloyd and I did this walk just the two of us, and this was a great decision because this area is very crowded with tourist and other explorers like ourselves. With out our normal crew we maneuvered through the crowds efficiently and were really able to enjoy all that this walk had to offer.
As I hoped off the last stair out of the underground Big Ben immediately greeted me! It is kind of comical to me that I have been in England for three weeks now and was just getting to see all of these major sites. We could not figure out the bus system that day so we took the tube to the area and then walked to the beginning of the walk. The first stop was the London Aquarium and London Eye. I was tempted to buy a ticket and hop onto the London eye right at that moment and even considered coming back to the aquarium at a later date. The aquarium is obviously pretty large and cost about twenty-five million pounds to create back in 1997, so the worth of it is definitely much greater now than 14 years ago! The eye is everything I expected, but its location seemed a bit random to me. I appreciate that these were included in the walk because it assured me that I do want to experience both of these attractions while I am living in London.
We crossed over the Westminster Bridge and were once again passing by Big Ben. Arthur Bassett, informed me via the walks book, that Big Ben is actually the name of the bell at the top of the tower, not the actual tower itself. Another fun fact I learned from this walk is that the Houses of Parliament are more correctly known as Westminster Palace. Hopefully these tips will help me to seem more like a local!
As I stood at the foot of Westminster Abbey in awe, it hit me how lucky I am to be in such an incredible city that is overflowing with rich history and learning experiences. The doors were not open so we promised we would make out way back here to purchase tickets to go inside the Abbey. The architectural detail on the outside is unreal and fascinating. No picture I had seen prior to this walk had prepared me for the amazing sight that the Westminster Abbey brings.
We decided to do the extra parts of the walk on Victoria Street once we were finished seeing St. Thomas’ Hospital. Victoria Street was charming and started out as a practical road that could connect parliament with the Victoria Station. I loved seeing “ Little Ben” and we joked about its family relation to big Ben. We decided that it is most likely Big Ben’s younger brother, because it couldn’t be his son, because as far as we are concerned Big Ben is not married and has not moved from his current location in quite sometime!
The Tate Britain was our final destination before heading back to the lovely BYU center. The great thing about the Tate Britain is that it only contains British art and so it gives a detailed and engaging look into Great Britain’s history. We only explored two of the units within the museum, but our interested has been caught and we are planning to come back before we head out to Scotland.
This walk was very informational and beneficial to me so that I can further my knowledge in the area of Great Britain’s government and political systems. I still have much to learn, but I am now one step closer!
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| BIG BEN |
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| Westminster Abbey |
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| Westminster Abbey |
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| Westminster Abbey |
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| Westminster Abbey |
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| Seen outside of Parliament |
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| Seen in Victoria Gardens |
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| London Eye and London Aquarium |
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| Ran into this same guy for the SECOND time on the Westminster Bridge |
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