Sightseeing!

On Saturday afternoon we walked around Hyde Park and did some sightseeing. When we first walked into the park there were a lot of fountains by the entrance and many people let their dogs loose to run around, there were dogs wandering all over the place! It was not something I was expecting to see when entering the park. The park itself was HUGE, definitely the biggest park I have ever been to. It was a fairly nice day out so there were many bikers and joggers wandering the park as well. On the other side of the park was the Royal Albert Memorial, located in Kensington Gardens.  Across the street from this statue was the Royal Albert Hall, where many concerts are held. This was also the place where the Spice Girls performed in the movie “Spice World.”  It was such a beautiful building and not something I would normally picture concerts being held in but it was definitely interesting to see in person. After looking at these buildings we continued to explore in neighborhoods near the park which were very pretty and a lot different from the area where our apartment is located. 

Royal Albert Memorial

Royal Albert Hall

On Sunday morning we woke up early and took the tube to do some sightseeing, this was my first time using it while in London and it reminded me a lot of the T in Boston. The ride was only about 25 minutes long and when we walked up the stairs out of the station Big Ben was directly across the street. I was not expecting it to be so near to the station and it was very shocking at first to see it so up close.

After taking some pictures we kept walking down the street to look at the London Eye unfortunately it was undergoing maintenance until the 21^st of January so we weren’t able to ride it. After taking some more pictures we decided to go look at Westminster Abbey. It was hard to believe that I was looking at this amazing building, let alone that William and Kate were married there less than a year ago. We continued walking to Buckingham Palace and cut through St. James Park, which was another beautiful park. It is safe to say that London has the best parks. Once we got to Buckingham Palace we didn’t see any guards standings by the gates like they do in the movies but were able to catch a group of guards marching by to go across the street.

Westminster Abbey

St. James Park, with London Eye in the distance

Guards Marching By

Buckingham Palace

It is a little overwhelming seeing all these beautiful sights in person, and there are so many more to see over the next few months. My orientation at London College of Fashion starts tomorrow so I am very excited to finally see the school where I will be studying at this semester!