FOR JESS: Little Venice

This architecture is so
similar to some near home!

Little Venice is this delightful little gem in the middle of nowhere. It's seriously one of the shortest walks, so what could I learn from it, you ask (Jess)? Well let me tell you. London is filled with hidden gems. Who knew that inside this horribly busy city there would be an entire little (rich) oasis! It's really quite beautiful and it comes out of nowhere.

Little Venice

So I emerged from the underground and had no concept of where I was. To be fair, that doesn't happen so much anymore. I might not be quite sure where everything connects, but in general I can find my way around and have a general understanding of home and the Thames. In that little area, I
had no idea. So just when you think you've got a grasp on things, you are forced to remember that maybe there's still a lot to learn. Same goes for London in general. There's always more to learn and it's probably a little too easy to get complacent and forget to keep my eyes open to learning!

Crescent where Robert
Browning lived

Another crazy thing is this area is known as Little Venice because it has this pretty, little canal that runs right down the center. I have no idea where the water comes from or where it goes and I have no idea how this river-like canal ended up in the middle of London, but it's wonderful. London comes through once again to surprise me with a new culture.

As an English major, I also really love learning about my favorite authors and guess what? Robert Browning lived here as did Lord Byron and rumor has it they were the ones
who helped give this area its nickname. I love being able to travel to places where my favorite authors and poets lived to be
able to see what they were seeing. It's like Wordsworth - when I visit the Lake District it makes sense why he wrote the way he did and where his inspiration came from. So it's always enlightening to go back to peoples' roots and see how it influences their writing.


"London is enchanting. I step out upon a tawny coloured magic carpet, it seems, and get carried into beauty without raising a finger.† People pop in and out, lightly, divertingly like rabbits; and I look down Southampton Row, wet as a seal's back or red and yellow with sunshine, and watch the omnibuses going and coming and hear the old crazy organs. One of these days I will write about London, and how it takes up the private life and carries it on, without any effort." - Virginia Woolf

Little Venice with
little cuties! 

St. Mary's church nearby

Bridge House Pub - famous
pub, interesting people