June 20, 2009

London Day 2: Walking

Today started off pretty uneventfully: we had a meeting of the faculty for about an hour, then walked around the college area for a bit. I had my camera, and it was a beautiful day, so I wanted to spend the rest of the day just walking. Todd and Wayne, two of the other faculty, decided to join me. Todd had a walking tours of London book (or at least his friend did), so we decided to pick it up and take a walk.

His friend met us in Primrose Park, just northwest of Regent’s Park, so we climbed Primrose Hill to have a look at London laid out before us. Fantastic. Looking at the book, we decided to head to the financial district of London. We walked for several hours before we remembered that it was Saturday and we hadn’t yet had a pint.

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  Primrose Hill.

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  The grave of William Blake.

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  In the financial district.

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  Todd and Wayne.

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  I love pubs.

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  At Wagamama.

We ended the evening by meeting a couple other faculty members—Sunita, Martha, and Dan—for dinner and drinks on the South Bank of the Thames near Embankment. Dinner was at a noodle place called Wagamama (it was OK) and drinks were had upstairs with a gorgeous view of the Thames. After drinks, Todd and I weren’t yet finished, so we rode the Underground to Camden to go to a jazz bar we couldn’t find. We ended up having a pint in Camden before catching the tube back to our neighborhood for one final pint.

Highlights of the day include: climbing Primrose Hill; seeing the Lloyd’s Building; finding the graves of William Blake, Daniel Defoe, and John Bunyan in the Bunhill Fields Cemetery; visiting St. Olave’s church; walking through Eastcheap; seeing the financial center of London and it’s centuries or architecture; and spending time with new friends.

Canon Camera Information
Camera: Canon Digital Rebel XT1, Canon EOS 30D, Canon EOS 5D, or Canon EOS 6D • Prime Lenses: Sigma 10mm f/2.8 EX DC Fisheye HSM, Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM, Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM, or Canon EF f/1.2 85mm L USM • Zoom Lenses: Canon EF f/2.8 16–35mm L, Canon EF 24–70mm L, Canon EF 70–200mm L IS USM, Tokina AT-X 124 AF PRO DX 12-24mm f/4 • Processed with Apple Aperture.