The City (With a Capital "C")

Monday, October 11th
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Monday morning was back to four hour classes; but at least ours didn’t start until 9:45! Carolyn and my second elective class (and the only class we take during the internship phase) is called “London Architecture and Urbanism.” I had been told by people who took it previously that it is essentially a weekly field trip to a different part of London… and that’s what it has turned out to be! After a brief overview of the syllabus (only one paper and a “seen” final!), we headed out on our first field trip to the Barbican and the Museum of London. Both are located in the City (the one square mile historic core of London), so we had quite a distance to travel on the tube. However, once we got there we managed to see quite a bit. The Museum has been recently renovated and is very modern and updated inside, which was a nice change from everything being historical. Afterwards, we went on a short walking tour of the City before ending up at the Monument: a 61 meter tall column built as a monument to the great fire of London in 1666.

 From the Bottom of the Monument!

Inside are 311 spiral stairs up to the top observation area, and guess what? We climbed them all. By the time we reached the top our thighs were on fire (but at least we burned off some of that Italian food!). However, the climb was definitely worth it, with exquisite 360 degree views of the City, including the Tower of London, St. Pauls, the Gherkin, and even the Eye in the distance. Class was dismissed from the top of the Monument, and upon our exit, the guard handed us a certificate congratulating us on making it to the top and climbing the 311 stairs: perfect for my scrapbook to-be!

One of the Many Views from the Top!

 After taking the tube back to South Ken, Carolyn and I headed to Waitrose to stock up on groceries for the week, which for me consisted of mainly fruits and vegetables, since I desperately needed a week of no (or low) carbs after our gluttony in Italia. After lunch, we were both still very exhausted from our travels so we took the afternoon and evening to relax in our flat with friends. Tomorrow is everyone’s first day at our placements (aka internships). We’re all excited, but at the same time anxious and unsure if the “real-world” is going to be everything it’s cracked up to be. Guess we’ll have to wait and find out!

     xo LC