The historical and modern worlds meet.

Every Wednesday is devoted to some sort of field trip or field study that will supplement the British Life & Culture class we had on the Monday before. This week’s field trip was a walk along the Thames River. That’s the big river in London that you always see in pictures. A lot people thought the walk was going to be boring because we weren’t leaving London to go see anything cool or different. But the thing with London is that it’s so big, so basically whenever you get off at a tube stop, you’re bound to see something you’ve never seen before.

The walk started at the northwest corner of Tower Bridge. When our professor told us to meet at the northwest corner of Tower Bridge, I look at the graduate assistant and said, “Umm, you’re going to have to tell me where that is because I don’t do northwest directions. I do “it’s by the Wal-Mart” directions.” So he helped me figure it out, and most of the group made it there without any trouble.

Tower Bridge is the most common bridge seen in photographs, although many people always mistake it for London Bridge. A fun little fact about the bridge is that it was built during the reign of Queen Victoria and is painted blue because that was her favorite color. Very close by to Tower Bridge is the Tower of London. This is the place where many prisoners would be put on trial and then most likely beheaded. The main character in the movie “Braveheart”, William Wallace, and a few of King Henry’s wives were brought here. The most amazing thing to me about what my professor told me about the Tower of London is that it was built in 1066, making it almost 1000 years old! That’s absolutely amazing to me when you think about how there probably isn’t even anything half that old in the States.

I’ve never really been a huge fan of history, but I think it’s fascinating how there will be a modern business building right beside another building that has stood there for hundreds of years. I guess you probably get used to all this once you’ve lived in the city for awhile, but I just think it’s so cool! About halfway through the walk, we finally reached London Bridge, which looks just like a plain, old, American bridge. It’s been rebuilt three different times, and apparently a man from Arizona purchased the remains of the first London Bridge when they tore it down thinking it was actually Tower Bridge. So the original London Bridge is actually in Arizona. Hmm, who knew?

Our professor also pointed out a pub across the river and said a man named Samuel Pete (I think that’s it), watched as the Great Fire swept across London on the other side of the river. Apparently when the man saw the fire, he ran home because he needed to bury his cheese. Seriously though. That’s the story. I think because cheese was really expensive back in those days, so he wanted to try to save it. I don’t really know how well that worked out, but I’m thinking not too great.

The walk ended by the buildings of Parliament and the Clock Tower. Our professor told us not to call it Big Ben because that’s actually the name of the bell in the tower and not the name of the tower itself. So there you go. After the walk ended, we went to go see where the Prime Minster lives, which is basically a hole in the wall with five bobbies guarding a gate. Not like the White House at all. We also walked by the Household Calvary, which are the guards who sit on horses for hours and aren’t allowed to smile. There was a girl who kept trying to pet the horse while we were over there… Hello, you can’t do that. Do you want someone touching you while you’re trying to work? No, I don’t think so.

And of course a day is not complete without some shopping. Mel and I decided a trip to Harrods was necessary. That store is really cool to see because everything is so unique, including the elevators. After you use the toilet, you have the option of spraying different expensive perfumes on yourself, like Vera Wang. And the food stalls are incredible also. So much food! But really, everything is out of the price range of a poor college student. I found some delicious lip gloss that I really liked, but when I found out it was 12 pounds for a tiny little tube, I didn’t really want it as bad. There was also Betty Crocker cake mix there for 3 pounds and 50 pence. That’s over 6 dollars!! Craziness. I’ll just have to come back someday with I actually have extra spending money. Until then, Harrods is off limits. But, we did find a really cute store full of accessories and a nice, big H&M on the way home, so the shopping did not end badly.

Yesterday was pretty low-key. It was mostly filled with classes, homework, and grocery shopping so nothing to exciting to report there. But on a side note, my new favorite flavor is blackcurrant. Makes a delicious jam and lovely tea. :)

Until next time,
Rachel