FOR JESS: Walk Through the City

The Shard

This was an interesting walk and not what I was expecting, though there was a lot to see and learn. This seemed to focus a little more on the business side of London which is... always so very interesting! Right? I'd be lying if I said lots of exciting things happened on this walk, but I can tell you about the educational things I learned (this is for you Jess!).

London loves architecture. Everywhere you go there's some sort of history that's told through the architecture. They don't tear down old things around here. It's like you're constantly walking through centuries of history - well you are walking through centuries of history. They don't recklessly tear down anything there. We were even taken to the first ever coffee shop. How do they even remember these things? There's just such respect for history! So we were able to look at a variety of buildings. Some were structured like ancient Greece (though clearly not dating that far back), others were ancient and crumbling, others were renovated and still old, and even others were brand new designs trying to break new barriers.

Fantastic blend of old and new

Modern Gherkin mixed with
old architecture

Little old church tower in
a big city

The Monument

 Along the lines of history, this walk also discussed the Great Fire and it's repercussions. It's hard for me to imagine the kind of devastation this caused on such a huge scale. If something like that were to happen in DC we would all be horrified for the lost history alone. So for a city that respects and honors their history so much, it would be very difficult to come to terms with the loss of their identity and their culture. There are many things which we no longer have or have been rebuilt after the fire. It's really too bad. So Londoners waste no time commemorating the Great Fire and have built "the Monument". Christopher Wren (huge architect around here) built the monument so that if you tipped it on its side it would reach from Pudding Lane where the fire began to the Thames. It's in the middle of all these building, but it still stands apart and still somehow summons respect.

Gorgeous architecture

So I mentioned Christopher Wren and let me tell you, he is everywhere. I swear that every building in town somehow leads back to him. Because of the Great Fire, Christopher Wren actually took it upon
himself to rebuild the city as much as he could, so tons of churches were built by this guy. I honestly didn't know much about him (is that just me?) so I looked up some information. This guy is responsible for St. Paul's Cathedral which is just unreal. He was crazy intelligent - he was proficient in mechanics, geometry, philosophy, and he invented a number of things (though nothing super worth noting). He was a gentleman of sorts and he was really revolutionary to make architecture something of a hobby for a gentleman. He also designed the library in Cambridge and was responsible for the Baroque design of Hampton Court. (If it's not baroque, don't fix it!)

Here's another fun fact: the guy who wrote this book we fondly refer to as Dr. B (Dr. Bassett) is definitely a grown man. There were so many dark alleys and passageways he wanted us to walk down. As a group of girls, we found this super sketch. So it's something of a thing now that if we see a place that looks like you could be assaulted, we all say that it's someplace Dr. B wants us to go!

My favorite people in the world

My favorite man (besides 
my daddy) in the world

"Architecture aims at Eternity" - Christopher Wren