The Beginning of the End

This morning Carolyn and I were able to sleep in until 8:30, when we were up and at ‘em for our last architecture class. To be honest, we were both dreading the last field trip because it was to Greenwich, a beautiful area in East London, but it takes about 45 minutes to get there on the tube. Not only that, but we had already visited the first weekend as part of our orientation and were able to spend the entire day there… in the warmth and sun. Repeating something we had already done in depth AND in the freezing cold was not how we wanted to spend one of our last five days. However, we love our professor, so we decided to make the best of it.
After a short video in class, we headed on the tube to Canary Wharf, London's new developing business district. It is London’s Manhattan in a sense, but even though the tallest buildings in Britain can be found here, they are no rival to the skyscrapers in New York City! The area also faced a lot of scrutiny (and still does) because it is so out of context from the rest of London and bears absolutely zero historical references.
After a quick walk around the area (including the modern tube station designed by our professor’s husband’s firm), we headed on the DLR (Docklands Light Railway… London’s version of the monorail) to the Isle of Dogs. The Isle of Dogs is a part of east London that is bounded by the Thames on three sides, and for that reason was once one of London’s main docklands and trading center.
From the embankment of one side you have a beautiful view of Greenwich. But how do you get to the other side? There are no bridges at this point of the Thames. No boats for us to take. And I certainly wasn’t going to swim! Solution? We walked under the river! There is a tunnel running the width of the Thames that goes from the Isle of Dogs right into Greenwich, perfect for the purpose of the class.

View from the Isle of Dogs

In the Tunnel!

After successfully walking under the river (only a few minor leaks), we took a tour of the University of Greenwich campus, including the chapel and painting gallery (where they eat and sit for final exams), before heading over to the Queen’s House, a former royal residence in the 17th century. Greenwich is best known for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich Meridian (0° longitude dividing the Eastern and Western hemispheres) and GMT.

Our professor’s plans were to climb up (the steep path) to the Royal Observatory in order to see the meridian and enjoy the beautiful view (except it was pretty foggy); however, by some miracle, the path was blocked off due to icy conditions! I could not have been more excited. Our teacher suggested climbing up the grass part of the hill, but I pointed out that might be dangerous, and she agreed, considering she didn’t want to be responsible for BU getting sued. Thankfully, just as we were all getting beyond the point of numb, we were able to start our long trek back to South Kensington by means of the DLR and tube.
By the time we got back to Courtfield is was a little after two o’clock, so Carolyn and I had lunch at our flat before lounging (and defrosting) for the rest of the afternoon.
Cue 7:30 when Carolyn, Maggie, Ashley, Allie, and I headed out to Covent Garden for dinner. Carolyn and I had both raved to the other three about how incredible Masala Zone was (our favorite Indian restaurant), so they all wanted to try it before they left. No one was disappointed; delicious every time! Our next destination of the night was Somerset House, where they have set up a gorgeous ice skating rink (sponsored by Tiffany & Co.) in the central courtyard. Unfortunately, right as I got to the ticket booth, the woman abruptly informed us that there was only one more ticket left. So instead of skating, we just took pictures, which was half of the fun! We had already had the skating experience at the Natural History Museum, so just getting to take in the beautiful surroundings was great. The best part was a mini Tiffany store housed in no other than a little blue box! Too cute. Inside was jewelry of course, but also Tiffany cupcakes and a delicious assortment of candies, gingerbread, and chocolates. Even the Christmas Tree in the center of the courtyard was placed inside of a little blue box!

After we had gotten our picture-fill, we walked to Trafalgar square where we admired the Norwegian Christmas tree (given annually since 1947, from Oslo, as a "token of gratitude for London's assistance during 1940-45") and Menorah! It was like Christmakuh at my house… only in London! :)

Since we all needed an activity to replace the ice skating, naturally we turned to food. So we headed to Snog, our favorite frozen yogurt place, for a treat. I got natural flavor with hot apple crumble, while Carolyn got chocolate with strawberries and coconut. Luckily we won’t miss our froyo fixes too much, because Pinkberry is waiting for us at home! 
After a quick ride on the tube, we were back in our flat by 10:30. It’s so strange how we don’t have anything scheduled for tomorrow! It’s our first free Tuesday in a while. Unfortunately, we have a final essay we need to prepare for Architecture, and the most dreaded word of all… pack!
        Cheers,
        LC