Lambently London

Hello All!

Icons of London*

Lambent - glowing or gleaming with a soft radiance.

The year will be over in a few hours and I feel obliged to at least finish telling you about my London adventures by then.  Since I originally started to write this post on Dec 15 (vacationing around Europe after London was very hectic), I will finish it in the tense I started ... it'll be more exciting that way, I promise.

I am so sad that my program has come to an end, but it’s also a relief to be finished with the semester.  My parents and boyfriend, Ben, have joined me on these continuing adventures and, boy, what a last weekend in London it was!

Friday was a bit of a mess.  After moving all my stuff from one end of South Kensington to the other (out of the dorm to our hotel), we all went to the Western Marble Arch for a very lively and extensive Shabbat dinner.  I think they served six or seven courses!

Challah and dipping sauces

Fish

Matzo Ball soup

Chicken and veggies

Whiskey (yes, this was served all by itself, which we thought implied the end of the meal … haha, WRONG!)

Red meats

Dessert

With extremely full bellies and lots of jet lag, we all fell asleep pretty quick that night.  But, at the tender hour of 1:28am, the fire alarms started to blare in the tiny hallways of the hotel.  We threw on our coats and tried not to trip down the stairs as all the visitors filed outside onto the sidewalk.  I'm not sure how much my coat actually helped because I was still standing in 30 degree weather in shorts.  Apparently someone had been smoking in their room.  One man voiced his discontent by loudly informing everyone around him that he had to get up very early for work the next day ... like any of us could do something about it.  Long story short, we were eventually allowed back inside.

Santas in front of The Sherlock Holmes

The rest of the weekend was filled with fun visits to the Victoria and Albert Museum and the British Museum (both free, by the way).  I highly recommend the V&A - there are so many cool things to see there and the exhibits are always changing or rotating what is on display, which is probably why I found myself there so often.

After a delicious meal out in Soho on Saturday night, Ben and I ventured out in a very windy and somewhat wet London in search of a good time.  Our first stop was the Sherlock Holmes pub, located just a block off of Trafalgar Square.  The interior was decorated with SH everything and there were even specialty ales on tap named after Holmes and Dr. Watson.  But, the best part of our visit was unique to that night: there were a dozen or two people dressed up in Santa suits!  When we asked them what was going on (because we had already seen a number of people on the streets in similar garb), they told us that there had been a Santa-Con (convention) that night.  In fact, every year on that night there is a Santa-Con in London.  They turned out to be super cool people and we ended up staying a few drinks longer than we expected!  A bunch of them were particularly fond of Ben's newly acquired bowler hat (he literally picked it up between dinner and the pub that night).  In fact, upon learning that we were American, one of them said that because "that is a great hat, I could forgive anything in that hat!"  They liked the hat so much that when they asked me to snap a picture of all of the Santas together, Ben was pulled into the shot.  And thus the bowler was immortalized .... as you will see in this and later posts, that hat became the most iconic item on our magical mystery tour across Europe!

Big Ben, Westminster

The Bowler

I realize that I don't look as dapper in the hat as Ben, but it IS a great hat!

We ended our night down at Westminster, listening to Big Ben strike 11pm.  Due to the less than optimal weather, there weren't many people about, but we were approached by a Chaplin man who wanted us to pay him to act like Chaplin.  I have to say other than the white face and Chaplin mustache, he didn't really look like the famous Charlie ... about 100 pounds too fat, in my opinion.

I really hope you enjoyed reading about London and experiencing it with me.  Of course, I could not cover everything in these posts, but I tried my best to tell you the most exciting parts.  It was certainly a lot of fun to write these posts (don't worry they don't end here!), and I hope they've inspired you to take your own to trip to London.


* "Icons of London" photo: I really love this photo because it has the Red Telephone booth, a Red Route Master bus, a glimpse of the Houses of Parliament, and the stairs of Westminster Tube station ... the very same steps that Daniel Craig vaulted up onto Whitehall Road in Skyfall!

Earth Shard-ering Views

Hello Readers!

What a BEAUTIFUL day it is in London today!  The clouds are thin and wispy today, which means that Londoners have the rare chance to enjoy the blue skies.  As for me, I am currently sitting on a bench in Hyde Park – I just cannot get enough of it.  Now that winter is near, the squirrels are FAT, and their escapes from pursuing dogs become even narrower.  It’s quite entertaining to watch!

The Shard, ground level

The Shard, floor 72: open observation deck

Today was my last architecture trip and we went to the top of the Shard building!  At 306 meters (1004 feet) and 72 stories high, the Shard is the tallest building in the UK and Europe.  Going to the top was such a treat for my last week here in London because, after getting to know the city pretty well, it was just amazing to be able to see it from a seemingly impossible angle!  I saw more of St Paul’s at once than anywhere I’ve stood on the ground, the Globe Theater looked so tiny, the HMS Belfast (first ship to land at Normandy, France, towards the end of WWII) so grand, etc.  Because it is such a clear day today, we were able to see all the way out to Wembley Stadium in the northwest, with its iconic arch, Olympic Stadium to the northeast, Battersea Power Station to the south, Hyde Park / Notting Hill to the west, and the Thames Barrier WAY to the east.  As cool as the panorama was, being in really tall buildings gives me a bit of motion sickness because of how the building sways (some of my classmates were horrified to learn that all tall buildings are built to sway).  Plus, it didn’t help that floor 72 of the Shard is OUTSIDE!  Because the Shard, designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano, is made to look like a shard of glass sticking out of the ground, the ceiling of the top deck is semi-open to the elements, which meant it was quite windy and cold up there.

Hyde Park. Can you spot the Shard?

An aside: while most of the modern “skyscrapers” in London were built by Brits, namely Richard Rogers and Norman Foster, this massive addition to the skyline is by an Italian.  There are mixed feelings among Londoners about whether that adds to the identity of London as a world / international city or if it hinders the British feat of having the tallest building in Europe.  Plus, because buildings go up so quickly here, some locals didn’t even notice until it was finished, and are a bit indifferent to its presence.

Personally, I think the Shard is a bit plain … really, nothing spectacular.  It’s just not interesting in the way a Rogers or Foster building is, but Piano’s design won the competition.  The consolation is that when you’re up there looking at the panorama, you don’t actually have to see the Shard – you get to see all the more interesting buildings of London!




What am I looking at?!

Northwest view from the Shard

I will do my best to clearly indicate the major landmarks in these pictures ... if you don't know London, it all just seems like a big jumble!  Also, I apologize for any unclear pictures -- the window washers were MIA.

Northwest view: Pretty much smack-dab in the center of the photo is St Paul's Cathedral.  Starting from the bottom, the three bridges are the Cannon St train bridge, Southwark Bridge (pronounced Su-thuk), and Blackfriars Bridge.

North bank: the City, Tower of London, HMS Belfast

North bank: The tall building on the far left is what Londoners call the Walkie Talkie (from another angle it looks like a giant radio-ing device!).  Behind that building and to the right, the spiral/striped building is The Gherkin (built by Norman Foster), and one of my favorite buildings in London - certainly, it was the one I was most excited to see.  On the river is the HMS Belfast, and the Tower of London is on the far right of the photo on the north bank -- can you see the white rectangles? They are some of the many ice rinks assembled for London's holiday season!

Awesome story about the HMS Belfast ... King George VI really wanted to be aboard when the Belfast landed on Normandy, but Churchill convinced him that it was a bad idea for the Britain's monarch to do that.  Instead, Churchill fancied himself on the Belfast for the landing on Normandy.  It was President FDR who talked him out of that one -- not necessarily because it was irresponsible of the PM to do it (which it was), but really because Church was simply too fat!

West: Tower Bridge, City Hall, Canary Wharf

West: Tower Bridge is iconic and honestly hard to miss in this one.  You can also spot part of the Tower of London on the far left.  Across the Thames from the Tower of London is City Hall - it is round and looks a bit lop-sided.  The tall buildings in the center of the photo is Canary Wharf (see my previous post).  It's hard to tell, but the Thames bends around Canary Wharf and creates a peninsula (Isle of Dogs) ... you may see that it continues beyond the tall buildings.  It may be too hard to tell from this photo, but the Thames Barrier (installed to help with flood control; the Thames is a tidal river) is visible.  I have not made it out there -- it's pretty far ... think of the Tube fare! -- but I hear it's really cool.

I hope you enjoyed these panoramas.  Thanks for reading and come back soon!

Hidden Halls of Greenwich & Cadmium of Canary Wharf

Yikes!  It's been an entire week of radio silence, but in that time I've completed my semester-long research paper (which I submitted just a few minutes ago) and seen some pretty amazing things.  The submission is bitter-sweet.  On one hand, I am so glad not to be worrying about it anymore and I'm quite pleased with the product (hopefully my professor and graduate assistant agree!).  On the other hand, because I've lived and breathed this for MONTHS, I guess I'm having a little separation anxiety.  But, never fear, because I still have to prepare a presentation for my next (and final *sniff*) class.

Pedestrian tunnel beneath the Thames

But enough of that because I am here to catch you up on my London adventures.

On Monday, I returned to Greenwich via Canary Wharf and the Isle of Dogs with my architecture class to see some incredible interiors that I missed last time (week 1 seems like forever ago!).  These interiors are part of Christopher Wren's Naval building, which sits on the riverfront, down the hill from the Royal Observatory, and straddles the meridian line.  Today, some of Wren complex is still the Royal Naval Academy, and the others house the University of Greenwich.  (We walked under the Thames through the pedestrian tunnel that connects the Isle of Dogs, which looks like a peninsula because of the sharp bend in the river, to Greenwich.  It felt and looked like a never-ending passageway ... I wouldn't fancy being down there if the lights went out!)  The Painted Hall is inside the Western Hemisphere building (the building has a real name, but this is more interesting), and was painted by Sir James Thornhill.  It is one of the most beautiful buildings I've visited!

Just across the courtyard, we visited a chapel in the Eastern Hemisphere building.  This interior was actually done by 18th century Pennsylvanian James Stuart.  Before we stepped inside, all I could think was "there is NO WAY this could top the Painted Hall."  I don't think it did, but the chapel was very impressive.  The best part was the white marble sculptures along the wall of the balcony section (I think this is the choir section) ..... but wait ..... they weren't sculptures at all!  These Athenian style figures were PAINTINGS made to look like 3D sculptures!  It honestly felt like I was losing my mind before I realized what was going on.

Chapel, Greenwich, Eastern Hemisphere

Painted Hall, Greenwich, Western Hemisphere

I know I went out of order in this post, but I just had to mention Greenwich first.

JP Morgan (left) and (probably) another bank, Canary Wharf

We actually started our adventure at Canary Wharf, the newest part of London, in a matter of speaking.  Located east of the City and east of Tower Bridge, Canary Wharf is where London's first tall buildings appeared ... ahem ... thank you, Mrs. Thatcher.  This part of London is where the Thames starts to get significantly wider and therefore the perfect place for the docklands.  When the docks started to shut down, Thatcher wiped the slate clean by implementing ZERO building restrictions in this area (which is why there are so many sleek tall buildings); remember those protected sight lines in the City? They don't exist here.  In fact, many of these buildings are built ON the docks, which means that every time a new one goes up, engineers have to make sure they don't overflow the canal.

Layers of Canary Wharf

Canary Wharf is what my professor refers as "Corporate America London" because it is a planned area, with straight streets and a layered look.*  The irony, though, is that the "center piece" of Canary Wharf (the tallest building) is One Canada Square ... a whopping 50 stories!**  And, if that wasn't enough, it is flanked by the Bank of America tower on one side and Citi Bank on the other.  In my opinion, it looks a bit like Chicago, with a canal running through the center, bridges, and elevated trains.  You would NEVER see this amount of layering in the City of London.  There are underground parking structures and train stations that weave between the buildings - you never really know if you are, in fact, standing on the ground level.  Also, there is no trace of old architecture - everything is covered with metal and glass.***  The only reason why the City of London remains the real financial center of London is because the Bank of England is still there.  Also, the Canary Wharf Tube station was designed by my professor's husband, Gerard Evenden, and it even won the award for best transportation center design in 2001 (I believe the station was built for the millennium).  It feels like a huge concrete cavern.  I know that sounds strange, but the design lets in a LOT of natural light, which is really nice because the Underground primarily operates underground.

Canary Wharf Tube, South Entrance

And, speaking of tall buildings, my last architecture field trip is over London Bridge to the top of the tallest building in Europe, THE SHARD.  And, while Londoners are quite proud that it is in their city, it was designed by an Italian architect - practically the only skyscraper in London NOT built by Rogers or Foster!

I didn't realize this was going to be such a long post!  Thanks for reading!


* It is this way because it was planned by a group of American and Canadian developers, which is also why the buildings are not as fantastic as the ones in the City of London.
** You would recognize One Canada Square from any movie with London - it has what looks like a big white pyramid on top.
*** Cadmium is an element on the periodic table (#48) and is a silvery-white metal.