My Walk to School

Hola!

So, I am finally doing a post about my walk to school. I finally got around to talking pictures on my way to school. Yay! The unyay thing is that this week was reading week and I was hoping to go on adventures but that did not happen. On Tuesday we had an essay writing information session that was...helpfulish but less helpful than I think any of us were hoping. Apparently the guy who talked to us about essays had been told that we had never had to write essays before, so he talked us through the basics for a while before someone spoke up. But the guy was really nice and trying hard so it's all good.

There had been plans with some other Pomona people to go to Edinburgh, Scotland from Thursday to Sunday, but we all had quite a bit of work to do so I've stayed in London. I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't disappointed, but I think the archaeology paper due Friday is probably better for the extra time I got and at least I won't be stressed writing the short developmental neurobiology paper due Monday. I'm anxious to start adventuring though. The next couple of weekends I'm hoping to get out of London and see things like Stonehenge, Oxford, Cambridge, Bath and more. London is amazing but it's time to get out and explore and figure out transportation and maybe lodgings. So hopefully posts in the near future will be EXTRA exciting.

However, without further ado, I present the 3 miles of AWESOME walk to school. It all starts when upon leaving the gates of Goldsmid House. Across the street is a Sainsbury's Market. For some reason I thought that this market was a corporate center for Sainsbury's so I didn't bother with it for the first few weeks of living here. Turns out, it's the largest grocery store I've encountered here thus far. I'm reaaaaaaaaally smart.

The next thing of note that I walk past is the London Victoria Station. It's huge and filled with shops and trains and buses and an underground station and PEOPLE. So many people. On mornings when I oversleep and have to use the Tube it is CRAZY. It turns out that between 8:00 and 10:00 is a terrible time to need to use the tube but also really the only time I'd need it. Go figure.

This next part is the wall along Buckingham Palace. Every once in a wall there are horses coming in and out of the Mews and I get really happy. More frequently though there is just...evidence of horses and then I worry a little about my shoes and tread veeeeeery carefully.

I considered touring the Buckingham Mews but it was £7.50 or something like that and there were no guarantees that I would get to see ponies. And really, what's the point of anything without ponies? It'd just be a bunch of royal cars. Which are not ponies and therefore not interesting to me.

At the end of the wall there is this open space. Were it between 10:30ish and 12 on a day when the Changing of the Guard was going down, there would be people ALL AROUND here with cameras and giddy anticipation. Then there would be people with cool hats playing instruments and walking towards the palace.

OH M GEE, IT IS BUCKINGHAM PALACE. Now, palaces are pretty cool in general, but this palace is especially cool because, 1) it's Buckingham Freaking Palace and 2) it has the seal of Britain all over it which has a lion AND a unicorn and is therefore awesomeness in seal form. This next picture of a statue that is beautiful and all that except it's also scary. I mean, the logical part of me does not think that it's terrible scary, unless it feel over on people...but it looks to stable to do that. However, there is an illogical part of me that desperately wishes The Doctor and the TARDIS are real and therefore has to believe that the angels on this statue are Weeping Angels. That would be problematic.

During the daytime this irrational fear is not a problem as there are a bunch of people so the statues are always being looked at. At night though...it's the scariest part of my journey home.

Green Park! Green park is one of the bajillion lovely parks in this city. I ran through here one day and it was all green and beautiful. Not quite as awesome as St. James Park or Hyde Park but still lovely.

Because a palace can never have too much gold plating. This is across the street from Buckingham Palace. Sometimes all the fanciness can be a bit overwhelming. This next picture is of The Mall.

My mapquest directions on the first day of getting to UCL said that I had to take The Mall. It was not clearly marked. I still haven't seen a sign advertising that this was The Mall. This was the first time that I had to rely on my completely nonexistent map skillz to figure it out, and I was pleasantly surprised when it worked. Boo-yah.

More of The Mall! Now, I love a good leaf as much as the next person but there is something so wonderful about trees in the winter. I love the sharp, twisting outlines of each branch, overlapping across the sky. Beautiful. I can't wait for spring when the branches are peppered with spots of new green.

IT IS A FUZZY HAT! I get to pass two wearers of fuzzy hats everyday. Please don't read it as sarcasm when I say I'm living the dream life. It is not meant as such. Does anybody else want to just hug the hat? Is that allowed? I'm thinking no, but I can dream.

More twisty branches and BIG BEN. That is Big Ben right there!

The Mall is also the Princess Diana Memorial Walk.

Hey! Look! It's statues of people played by Helena Bonham Carter and Collin Firth. Can you guess who they are? That's right! Mr. Darcy and Bellatrix Lestrange!

[Edit: Oops, turns out it is actually King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II. If you haven't seen "The King's Speech" STOP READING THIS AND GO WATCH IT RIGHT NOW.]

Oh! It is a statue on top of a large column! Who could it be? Umm...actually, I'm not super sure. I can't really see it...on account of it's on top of a tall column... Actually, I think it's The Duke of York Column.

Next up we have arches! Glorious arches! The Admiralty Arches!

Passing them makes me feel so important. There is a little side street that I could go up instead but I like going through the fancy arch. It's just so much more special.

Man, it's almost like you're going somewhere IMPORTANT...like...class...

Trafalgar Square!

It is a lion! RAWR. Every time I pass these lions I think of the Chronicles of Narnia. Then I wonder if I'm ever going to open up my closet door and enter a world of magic. Then I wonder if I could trade entry into Narnia for a ride on the TARDIS.

The National Portrait Gallery! It's fancy and has fancy fountains and the occasional crazy person yelling nonsense at people passing by. They aren't terribly aggressive crazies, just loud.

St. Martin in the Fields Church! I think it's pretty.

Ok, Patisserie Valeria is not a super important or impressive landmark, but I pass quite a few of these on a daily basis and the windows are sooooo enticing. There are cakes and gelato and other desserts that I just want to NOM. This has been a major test of will power.

I hadn't realized that Westminster extended this far. I live in Westminster. School is in Camden. All are in London.

It is a crane! There is construction work going down. I really like the combination of red and yellow and blue sky. It makes it almost worth the noise and signs and everything.

Apparently, "We Will Rock You" is more than a name, it's a promise. You can tell they are serious about it because of the giant golden man sticking an enviable pose. This is on Tottenham Court Road. Which is apparently where Hermione brings Harry and Ron in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in order to escape the deatheaters that attack Bill and Fleur's wedding.

More Tottenham!

I'm sufficiently comfortable with this blog's lack of popularity to say that this hurts my soul every time I pass it. Ugh. Scientology? Really. I read the article about Paul Haggis and his departure from the Church of Scientology and it was legitimately terrifying.

Proof that this is, in fact, Tottenham Court Road! Because maybe I had lied about that...now you know I didn't.

It's Torrington Place! Soooo close to my destination. Turn down here and...

It's UCL! The corner of it at least. And here is the proper, classy entrance...

And there we are! Goldsmid House to University College London. I was worried that the novelty of the walk would wear off and get tiresome after a while but that still hasn't happened. I still feel luck and awed and wonderful going there and back. :)

Much love and cheers!

Oops! I almost forgot, this is just off of Charing Cross Road. :D The dude passing me while I took this picture looked very amused, but I had to do it.