Well, I miss London, even if the weather wasn’t so great. I know I share that thought with others, but it is good to be home as well. Having been to London before, I wasn’t sure what to expect of this trip, but it exceeded my expectations is every way pretty much. I only spent a few days there when I went in late 2016, and didn’t get to see nearly everything I wanted to. This trip allowed me to really explore the city and the architecture, something I couldn’t focus on so much on my other visit.

London is easily one of my favorite cities I’ve ever been to, maybe only rivaled by Florence. The stuff we did during the day was always good, but I also loved that we had some time to explore in the evenings, as well as on our free day. Going off the beaten path somewhat was nice, and we could immerse ourselves in a part of the cities culture that we may not have been able to experience otherwise. There are so many hidden gems throughout the city, and we could only see so many. If I lived in London (which is something I would consider) I would probably have to explore a different area every night or weekend because of how vast and diverse it is.

Overall, I really enjoyed this trip. I made some friends and saw plenty of incredible things in the city. I’ll be trying my hardest to make it out to London again soon, because it really is one of the greatest cities in the world.

I have to say London is No.1 on my list of all the cities I want to have a second trip, and I am literally planning to have a family trip to London again this summer break. I think London is a very different city, compared to all of the other cities I have ever lived in or traveled to. I love the way how it combined the old historical buildings with new modern style architecture. In this city, you don’t see the modern buildings very often, expect in few couple blocks. I think London tries its best to keep all those old buildings without letting them be replaced by the newer ones.

When I walk in the street, I can easily tell which one lives in London, and which one is not, by their outfits. I think it is very interesting that people in London tend to wear very classy and fancy. They all seem very proud, especially with their British accent :).

If I have to pick up a scene in this trip that gives me the most impressive experience, I will say it is the afternoon when we stand in front of the London Eye, and listen to the busker playing songs. I watch people walking by, and I can feel their happiness, and love. I think that is my best moment in this trip.

What an amazing experience. It was everything I expected and more. Learning about the culture and, most interesting to me, the architecture, was something truly valuable and I plan to keep what I learned for a long time. This trip was honestly so inspirational for me and gave me the fuel I didn’t know I needed.

Firstly looking at some of the amazing culture I experienced were plentiful. From some of the delicious and unique food I had such as conveyor belt sushi from Yo! Sushi, to the amazing Indian food at Dishoom as well as traditional English breakfast in the morning at the hotel. In addition, the AC Milan v Arsenal match was easily an experience I can never forget. I raved on about it in one of my in-country posts so I won’t go on and on about it but it was such an incredible experience at a sport I love. Walking around the city with friends and by myself, not going to major site but experiencing some of the city life was just as intriguing and beneficial as my other amazing experiences. On my free day I went to my family’s house in London and that in it by itself was an interesting glimpse into everyday British life. My conversations with them also helped understand the cultural differences and similarities between British and the American lifestyle.

I learned a lot about the architecture styles found in London just through sketching, forcing me to understand the details that I may have otherwise missed. Studying the older gothic designs all the way to beautiful modern buildings and projects (which I especially liked). Learning from the group leaders was already informational as is but since many students on this trip had different backgrounds and/or were further in the architecture program, I was able to learn from my peers as well. I feel like I learned so much about architecture on this trip because of this one-two punch of knowledge so to speak. We had an amazing group on this trip, making learning fun and ultimately making this experience so much better.

Looking back at the trip to London, I cannot believe how much I saw in one short week. There were a couple things I was especially looking forward to before leaving for London. Before leaving, I was looking forward to learning how to navigate the tube system in London. The first couple times I rode the tube were a bit intimidating and confusing, but by the end of the week I could confidently plan my route using the tube map. I was also looking forward to visiting Stonehenge and St. Paul’s, both of which exceeded my expectations. I particularly enjoyed my visit to the Stonehenge visitor’s center, because the exhibit did a really good job at explaining the history and significance of the site before Stonehenge was built. However, my favorite parts of the London trip were experiences that I did not anticipate, and were total surprises. I did not anticipate going on a tour of Banksy pieces and exploring Camden Town on Thursday, but it was so much fun I decided to go back to Camden Market on my free day. I also did not anticipate how fun it would be to experience London nightlife. Even just going out to dinner in the city or trying a pub was a really fun time. I hope I have the chance to visit London again soon!

This trip was worth every penny and the memories will last a lifetime! Before the trip, I was skeptical on how much I would enjoy it because I had never been to a huge city that had so many diverse people and cultures, but I am so glad that I went. I have learned so much about the culture of London and have really expanded my horizons to further understanding of how other people from another place are so similar to us here in Columbus. I also enjoyed many of the sites we visited and was pleasantly surprised by a few like Stourhead which can be much more appreciated in person.

This was my first trip to Europe, and it did not disappoint in the least. I am excited for future travels and any time I may go back to London. While on this trip, I have grown to appreciate how other countries operate and have begun to understand how buildings and the environment affect people. London also has a vast combination of Architecture throughout the different Era’s, and it was interesting to compare how the styles changed but at the same time still addressed each other. London is a city I definitely can not wait to get back to for further exploration and discovery of the many hidden wonders it still has to offer!

After coming back from London, my world in Columbus seems a lot smaller. The familiarity of my own city is comforting, but there is so much to be said about the unfamiliar that is so intriguing.  This trip was my first time out of the country and it really opened my eyes to how much there is to explore. Through my travels I was able to learn and adapt to a new culture, experience independence, and grow as a person. London was a great city to start with since it has such a wide variety of people and architecture. I loved how there was so much contemporary aspects to the city but it was so well blended with such a rich history. Despite the fact that I am not a Knowlton student, I feel there is so much that everyone can learn through architecture like I did. I will always remember this trip as the best week of my life. I cannot wait to expand on my travels and explore everything the world has to offer. This trip was the first step to my life as a traveler. London will always be in my heart and I know that I will see it again one day.

This trip was my first time leaving North America and it really exceeded expectations. I’m already ready to go back and explore even more of London and even the rest of the world. The city was the most incredible experience and it really allowed me to expand as a person. It is so diverse and can really teach you a lot if your open to accepting everything in the city. All of the sites and places we got to go and see really captures the intricacy of the past versus the present. Each place really made history come to life and shows how it effects the present, even after so long. I learned so much from this experience and I know I will take it with me for the rest of my life. Honestly, I really got to grow and coming back to the states I feel like I look at everything so differently. However, I really came to appreciate the experience of learning how to live in a city like London. I feel like it really gave me some more independence and allowed me to find a new since of freedom to find my own way. I know that I am definitely going to explore more study abroad options to continue my education by learning about other cultures.

I have to admit, I was a bit unsure about this trip before we left for London. I had never been outside of the country before, never been on a flight for more than two hours, and really only knew one person in the class. I had no idea what the dynamic of the group would be or if the time change would be hard for me. There were all kinds of things that I was worried about. I must say, though, the trip was well worth the money and time. The city was beautiful, and I absolutely loved getting to explore this new place. Even the smallest things like riding the tube were exciting to me. Everything was new and different. When you go on a trip like this, I think the people have just as much of an impact on your experience as the places you see. That being said, I really enjoyed getting to know everyone in the class and definitely made some great friends. I had heard good things about this trip from friends who have gone on it before, and (even though not everything worked out perfectly) I would recommend this trip without a doubt. London was quite the experience and one that I will not forget.

This London trip for me is a totally new experience. The way we are experiencing the city is not like a normal tourist. When I travel before, it’s usually mainly around sight and really get into the details about each sights. By that, I was not paying much attention to the city itself. I walk because I shop, I was transporting from one sights to the other. However on this trip, we walk for a fresh new experience for the city. If I was alone, I will never get to see this large amount of places in just 8 days, I will never go down to the bank of Thames, I’ll never walk into the Temple area since I will consider that’s private and etc. This trip became new and excited for me since it sets up a background, a base-rock for my future trip to London or Britain. I have to admit that I was not so interested about English culture before I took this class, but here I am, wishing to go back and revisit every place I have touched, every sights we somehow missed and every sights that we mentioned. I’m full of the knowledge about their culture and city, their way of living and now I’m ready to rethink about the specific sights in a different perspective.

I have been back in Columbus for four days now, though it feels like I never left. My time in London flew by so quickly that it’s difficult to discern what happened on each day of the trip. I am happy to be back in Columbus but I am also yearning for an even longer experience in London as I feel like I have not been able to fully experience everything the city has to offer.

The first day or two in the city felt almost surreal. I couldn’t believe that I was across the Atlantic Ocean in a foreign country. Everything felt so similar to the United States though I knew that so much was different. It was not until the second or third night of the trip that I became comfortable with being in such a large and unknown city, and once I was comfortable, I allowed myself to really branch out and try to explore my surroundings.

Overall, I am very grateful for have the opportunity to travel to a brand new country and immerse myself in their culture.  By the end of the trip I was very comfortable with navigating London on my own and I felt as if I was able to fend for myself without any kind of guidance. I really wish that I had more time to explore the city, though I was ready to come home by the end of the week. Hopefully I will have the opportunity to return to London one day and pick up where I left off.

This was my last day in London. Me and a couple others decided to start the morning off going to local thrift stores and record shops. While going through these stores I came across many us sports teams and companies. The record stores were very neat and well organized. These were all in the same area also. We decided to go to Firezza for very good pizza for our lunch. This was very filling and cheap. The other half of the day we decided to go souvenir shopping at Camden market. Unfortunately the weather was not in our favor all day and it was even worse out in Camden. It was a very cool experience, experiencing the different markets and storefronts. We ended up getting lost and turned around in the Camden lock because it was so large and so many different booths. The lock was beautiful with the canal boat sitting outside in the food area. I thought that the weather would have deterred many people from going out to the market but it didn’t and we saw many different people and it was interesting to just people watch. The entrance to the tube station was very small and it was the first time we had to wait in a queue to get in. Unfortunately we were out in the snow and wind all day and my cold decided to come back and made it worse. We decided to nap for awhile before we went out and finish shopping and got our last meal. I tried pho for the first time and wasn’t let down. We quickly finished and head to Tate again for our last visit. We wanted to see the neon sign exhibit. It didn’t disappoint and we got to swing for one last time. Our walk back was very beautiful as we walked over the snow covered Millennium bridge to the snow covered St Paul’s were I was able to finally take my first Telephone booth picture.

The second to last day of the trip we started the day at Westminster abbey. This was very different from the previous churches we visited on the trip. Westminster was filled with famous English figures. Unlike the other two the building was actually filled floor to ceiling. I enjoyed seeing all these figures and royalty. Our guide filled our heads with a lot of knowledge that I got overloaded really quick. I decided to go to the Victoria and Albert Museum as my museum of my choice. There were many different exhibits there. Unlike the British museum I felt that the artifacts there were not taken as brutally. Unfortunately we ended the museum with the architecture exhibit and I wasn’t impressed with it. The day was a very nice day with the sun constantly shining though. A few of us decided to go visit Tate modern since it was open later. This was a different experience than when we visited previously because there was no crowd and it was calm and peaceful. The oil tanks were very cool to stand in and experience not just the exhibit that was housed there but the space it was housed in. I am finally getting over my cold from the past few days.

I can’t believe I’m sitting on the bus about to leave for home. It’s such a bummer. Last night I contemplated everything we had done and wow we saw a lot! It was shocking to go back through my thousands of photos to see they were all from here. London itself is a conglomeration of hundreds of styles of buildings, and the diversity of cultures matches just as well. Most of all, besides the architecture, I loved seeing people interact with one another. There is such an amazing dynamic. But on the other hand, there are things I will be happy to see when we get back: public trash cans, water fountains, and my friends. It’s very interesting that London didn’t have any of those. Nevertheless the city was amazing and I don’t want to go Home.

No one can beat the beauty that is Oxford! With its centuries old colleges and adorable streets, there is no wonder that Cambridge is jealous. I arrived in Oxford around 11am and took a tour of the alleys before heading into the Bodleian Library. The building itself was as grand as could be. It was no question of why it took 12 years to create. My favorite part about it was the Duke Humphries library. I couldn’t take any pictures because like John Soane there are specific rules, but the divinity school before it was a prime example of old school sponsoring. The ceiling was covered in insignias from people who donated money to finishing it. I loved seeing it. And I loved seeing the other colleges as well! 

Today we went to Buckingham Palace and Harrods. Nothing really stood out to me as far as the facade of Buckingham Palace goes. It seemed to be pretty plain and uniform from the outside but I am sure that the inside had much more detail in every aspect of the building. After taking pictures like the one shown below, we went to the Queens gallery. It was interesting to see the different paintings that and drawings that were a part of Charles II’s collection.

Our last stop was at Harrods, which is a large department store known for the type and the amount of high end name brands it carries. Nearly a block past the tube stop, I saw people walking around in brands such as Dior and Louis Vuitton  and could only imagine what the inside of Harrods would look like. It was pretty crowded today but I really enjoyed looking at all the clothing and shoes that you don’t generally see in Columbus. While I didn’t buy anything here it was fun to explore and visit other shops in the area.

Harrods Department Store

Buckingham Palace

My free day was a great experience because I chose to relax and enjoy London at a much slower pace. Originally, I had planned on making a day trip out to Oxford, but I found that there are so many more things that I wanted to do in the city. London has so much to offer, and I could not miss the opportunity to hit all of my interest points.

I slept in later than normal, allowing myself to relax and remain comfortable, and then some friends and I went shopping around Soho. I had two goals in mind: find souvenirs for my parents and find record should for myself. After a bit of traveling through a snowy London, I found three wonderful record stores. Phonica and Sister Ray were my favorites, but each shop had a beautifully distinct ambiance that I loved. With extensive collections of music from the past 60 years, I looked through every CD collection and found some amazing deals. I purchased five different albums (The Cure, Beach House, The Smiths, etc.) that I love for andy around £15. It was an fantastic deal. We also did some thrift shopping and searching, but with very little success. The resale clothing stores had amazing finds, but the prices were astronomical unfortunately.

After finding no souvenirs in Soho, I decided to go to Camden Market in search of some. It was so cool to be in such a busy area with such unique shops, but the cold snow and masses of people made the small spaces overwhelming. The specially run clothing, jewelry, and food shops were extremely captivating, but I still could not find any gifts for my parents to enjoy. After a few hours of exploring this amazing market, we decided to come back the hotel area and shop at Primark. This store, because of its reasonable prices and unique clothing selection, has become my favorite shop in London. I finally found some great souvenirs there!

Day 7 was great because I got to travel and explore at my own pace and move comfortably despite a very cold day. It was so sad to prepare to leave this city, but I am glad to say that I maximized my experience while I was here. London has been a fabulous experience, and I would absolutely love to travel back here again soon!

We went to Westminster this morning. The tour guide was very nice and introduced tons of stories behind the sculpture and history to us. The triforium of the church is divided into two parts. The part close to the west exit is very plain, while the other part is well-carved. The reason is that the architecture was built in two different times. I think it is a very interesting part of architecture that people can tell the history by the appearance of the architecture. Later on, we went to the Greenwich, and have a tour for the ceiling of the painting hall. It was extremely impressive, because people hardly have the chance to take such a close look at the painting on the ceiling.

Westminster

We went to stone henge and stourhead today. Stone henge is much smaller than I thought and stones are placed much closer together. Stourhead is amazing and it is definitely one of the most beautiful sites I’ve ever seen. It is extremely peaceful, and you can even hear the sound of the leaves when the wind blows. I like the way the architect set the lake in the middle, so that wherever you stand in the park, you can always see the water. It is mentioned that there is not much height difference between each level of the lake. There is only 4 feet high of the lake.

Stourhead

I went to brick lane market and spent all my afternoon there. I think brick land is the greatest for vintage lovers. There were thousands of vintage shops, a large underground vintage market, and few overground markets. Every shop has their own styles, like street style, royal style, classical style… People over there were dressed really nice. Although it was a fabulous place for vintage clothes, there was nothing about vintage decorations. Unlike Greenwich market which I went yesterday, Brick Lane Market has only clothes. However, Greenwich market has many strange vintage stuff which is really interesting, like glass bottles, cups, jewelry boxes, old books… And for Camden market, they have thousands of kinds of food from different countries, like Mexican, Chinese, Japanese… I think it is really interesting that London has so many markets which focus on different things. I really hope I would have more time to visit more markets because they are cheap and interesting.

I went to Painting Hall yesterday too. It was absolutely amazing. I can not imagine how could Sir James Thornhill could paint on the ceiling and use perspective skills to make the ceilings looks like a dome. The painting hall is unique because it only uses paint to create 3-dimensional interior.

The free day was a day of markets to say the least. After taking the tube to Camden town, the Camden market as well the Stables market were overwhelming in all aspects; multiple levels of labyrinthine booths and stalls. Although I had to step back and process the situation, it was amazing to behold. Along with that, it was interesting to witness the refabrication of the spaces into a contemporary shopping place from their original paddock and dock yards design. In contrast, later that day we ventured to Portobello street in the Notting Hill neighborhood. Not only was the market itself different, but so was the neighborhood itself, which does make sense. Differing from the punk aspect of Camden, Notting Hill was evidently more a residence of the upper crust. This was reflected in the Portobello market itself. In this case the street was shut off for only pedestrian traffic for a handful of blocks with the store fronts opening into the road on the single long strip. Though both markets had the same hustle and bustle vibe, they brought them about in uniquely different ways, which I am glad to have been able to witness on this given free day.

We went to lots of places in the morning, like the dining hall, temple church. It was really lucky that we can go into the dining hall and see those fabulous paintings and structure in the building. In the afternoon, we went to Allies and Morrison, which is an architecture firm on Southwark Street. It was my first-time visit an architecture firm, so it was totally new to me. And with no doubt, I really appreciate that I can have this chance to see a real architecture firm looks like. Although, to be honest, I did not understand what they were doing, but this visiting at least provides me some backgrounds of the firm. Moreover, the building itself is really interesting. It combines two different time period walls which I think is fit London because they are all trying to have innovation but at the same time preserving historical things very well.

At night, we went to Her Majesty’s Theater to see The Phantom of Opera. I think the installation on the stage is amazing. In the beginning, there was a bunch of glasses in the middle of the stage, which was totally a mess. And then, when the show began, those glasses magically became a huge gorgeous crystal light and rose to the ceiling. In general, it was a really great show.

Bus Day

Today was our tour of the countryside and one of my favorite days. We took a bus the whole day. The day started out with us waking up earlier than usual and heading out to Stonehenge. The ride was very long and I was able to fall asleep on the way out. When I woke up I saw many roping green hills and then Stonehenge appeared. At Stonehenge I felt really calm and relaxed just admiring the stones and surrounding landscape. After we were through at Stonehenge we headed to Stourhead. Upon a few travel “hiccups” our travel lasted longer. Arriving at stout head was very nice because we traveled through the town around it and experienced it in a new way. Stourhead is one of my favorite gardens in England that I studied in my theory class. While walking through the garden it feels like it has always been there and in the back of my mind I kept reminding myself it was all constructed and made a specific way. I got lost in my sketching there and lost track of time making me hurry through the last part but still able to experience the garden. We ended our bus trip going to Salisbury and touring the cathedral and the town town around it. We then head home and a group of us went out to get authentic Pad Thai.

Kew Garden and Tube Learning

This day is another one of my favorite days thus far. We traveled out of the city again to the Royal Conservatory and Kew Gardens. I attempted to walk the whole garden and see as much as I could before we had to leave. Traveling there was very long and we had to transfer a couple times. Going back was more stressful because we got to the Kew Garden station and the Tube we needed to get on was cancelled twice. We were then saved by a mysterious District line when we were worried about what to do. While on the line we were able to figure out the multiple routes we needed to take. We still got a little frightened when that mysterious train terminated at the stop but we were able to hop on the right one right away. We were able to make it back to St Giles and on our way to the Group Tea at the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square.04565300-B392-4869-A3DB-FAEFC23E07ED-2lnctpx

Stourhead bridge

Stonehenge sketch

Plan of Salisbury Cathedral

Today we had our day trip to Stonehenge, Stourhead and Salisbury Cathedral. Today has been one of my favorite days so far since we got to see outside of the big city. The stones at Stonehenge were shorter than I expected, but nonetheless incredible. The tour guide mentioned that Christopher Wren lived nearby and that on the stones it looks like it says “I wren” and its theorized he may have frequented here as a child. Stourhead was absolutely beautiful. The fact that the landscape was all manmade is super interesting because it looks really authentic despite things being maybe a little too perfect. Lastly, Salisbury Cathedral was one I was looking forward to as a pre-law student. It is so cool to see one of the original copies od the Magna Carta since it’s such an important document that still influences the way the world operates today. I also found out that Salisbury Cathedral had the first all female choir. I did sketches at each location and truly enjoyed understanding each through pencil & paper.

I have always wanted to experience Stonehenge as it have been one of the sites that I have been looking forward to during this trip. When I was finally able to see the site in person, I was surprise as it was much smaller than what I imagine it to be and what I saw in media and photos. Although, the site was much smaller, I really appreciated the road that was constructed for us to be able to see such an historical site closed up. It made me felt as if I was part of the era that the Stonehenge was first constructed. I am impressed that people during that age were able to come up with the concept of the Stonehenge and actually able to successfully build the site. What is more interesting is that the site can withstand so much centuries and still exists for people to experience in the modern day.

Exploring the Barbican complex was an enlightening experience. In incorporating all aspects of architecture, landscape, and urban planning, the Barbican showcased itself as a successful development of the post World War II housing era, which was interesting to behold since such successful projects are few and far between. It was also interesting to see the brutalist style in contrast with the verdure. The green was able to bring out the natural qualities of each structures materiality, in my opinion, and present the complex as more of a community, bringing the residents out into the public spaces, specifically with the central court illustrated in the picture. Along with that, the civic purposes further added to this aspect of community, which completes the complex and make it an extraordinary place to visit to actually see a successful post war housing area utilizing architecture, landscape architecture, and urban planning; one that I myself would even be up for living in!

We went to British Museum in the morning. I think the structure of museum is really interesting because it combined the old building with the modern glass roof. For me, it’s a little bit strange. Also at the connection between modern roof and old building, there are a lot of lights. So even it was a rainy day, the interior still looked bright, just like the sunlight through the glass roof, but the truth is it was artificial light. I think it is really interesting that they use artificial light the mimic the natural light. I felt regret because I do not have enough time to see the entire exhibition in the museum.

The most attractive place for me in Britain museum is the ceiling. A clear and bright ceiling provides a good natural light inside the building. The transparent material makes the space expanded. The roof covers the whole area of the Great Court spans from the room in central to the edge of the buildings. The structure of the roof is formed by different size of triangular in a curve shape, such as a net full of triangular. This ceiling gives a strong sense of visual space. I thought I could draw the ceiling along the lines, but it wasn’t easy.

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After a long day of traveling, I had a wonderful first day in country. I enjoyed wandering, getting lost, and experiencing the culture that London offers. I also enjoyed seeing Barbican. It was really unique to see this space that so greatly contrast the area around it. I was very surprised to see how the designers approached Brutalism. I like their ability to soften the architectural presence through vegetation and water. I had a great experience there, but my favorite part of the day was traveling to St. Paul’s Cathedral. It was a painful and tiring experience to climb to the top of the dome, but it was worth every second. I loved that view of London. I also greatly enjoyed just sitting down and sketching in the space. Dan and I accidentally spent an hour on just one sketch, but it turned out fantastic. I used pens to draw an angled view of the church’s nave. I tried to not put too much ink on the page, but I could not stop my obsession with details to show through. After spending way too much time on this sketch, I made second pencil sketch of a window and wall with angels guarding a door. I really like this sketch, and how I used lighter strokes to expose the forms of the angels and the architecture around them.

Pen sketch in St. Paul’s Cathedral

Pencil sketch in St. Paul’s Cathedral

Today I saw a very interesting exhibition at the History of Tate Modern. The second floor of exhibition is related to color. Although the display on the video has failed, which should show the yellow and purple shadows in the front and back of the circle, I still feel very cool. I can understand the principle of light refraction, but what I am curious about is how the designer turns all the people’s shadows into yellow. If this idea is considered part of the landscape design, it should be very interesting.

Princess Diana Memorial + Sunset

Tower Bridge via Southbank

I absolutely LOVED our walking tour today and seeing how my understanding of the map actually came to life while exploring the city. My favorite parts of today were seeing & crossing Tower Bridge which was so much more colorful than I thought. Tate modern was another favorite of mine today. Not only did we get to go on swings, but it was really cool to know the purpose of the swings- that the more people that combine effort, the more work gets done. Lastly, the Princess Diana memorial was stunning as well. I loved how the movement of water was used to depict her life.

Exploring the Barbican complex was an enlightening experience. In incorporating all aspects of architecture, landscape, and urban planning, the Barbican showcased itself as a successful development of the post World War II housing era, which was interesting to behold since such successful projects are few and far between. It was also interesting to see the brutalist style in contrast with the verdure. The green was able to bring out the natural qualities of each structures materiality, in my opinion, and present the complex as more of a community, bringing the residents out into the public spaces, specifically with the central court illustrated in the picture. Along with that, the civic purposes further added to this aspect of community, which completes the complex and make it an extraordinary place to visit to actually see a successful post war housing area utilizing architecture, landscape architecture, and urban planning; one that I myself would even be up for living in!

In St.Paul’s Cathedral

We went to Barbican this morning, which is a neighbourhood with different functions, residence, theater, school, and etc. The circulation is very interesting. Even though it seems very organized, it is still hard for people to find the way out. Then we went to the museum of london. I love the spiralstairs at the entrance a lot, and took a great picture of it. Great Fire is shown visually in the museum. After having Japanese Udon for lunch, which tastes somehow very sour by the way, we went to St. Paul’s Cathedral, and I did the sketch there. It’s my first time to use pen do draw such a complicated perspective of an architecture. I found it would be easier to use pencil for the general position and circles at beginning. For dinner, I went to Chinatown for hot pot, and chilled for a while. Today was a great day!

I would definitely say that London is now my favorite city!!!  It is just so beautiful. Every single street, every single plot, even every single shop are just soooo beautiful!

We went to Barbican neighborhood, Museum of London, St. Paul, which is absolutely fantastic, and rooftop bar where we saw the fabulous dome part of St. Paul. Before I came to London, I only heard that St. Paul is really huge. Although I looked at pictures of the scale, I never understand until I really experienced it. It is amazing. Also, the photo is taken from the dome, and it is so cool to have the dome like this, enabling people to have a view of the whole city and outside architecture.

What a long and exciting first day it was in the city of London. As I am sitting on my hotel bed, I finally realized how exhausted I actually am from the first day of London exploration. We did not get to the hotel until late last night, therefore, after unpacking and getting ready to get to bed, there was not much time left for me to rest for today. However, even with jetlag and less than 6 hours of sleep, I still made myself wake up and used the minimum energy I still had left to get ready to meet with the other OSU London explorers. Starting with what I presumed as a traditional English breakfast at the hotel prepared me as we start our journey at the city of London. The breakfast was delicious, but it did not energize me as I thought it would. However, that all changed as I took my first step out of the St. Giles London Hotel. Suddenly, a rush of energy took over my body as the buildings and cultures that was surrounding me amazed me. This is the London that I dreamt about and I was ready to experience the sites that had scheduled for us.

Out of the London sites we visited, I was most excited about the St. Paul’s Cathedral as I heard from many friends and classmates that London’s cathedrals are the most astonishing compared to other countries. It definitely did not disappoint as I am could not control my excitement as I admire the details within the St. Paul’s Cathedral and I am about to experience something that I used to only see in movies and television. I attempted to keep a memory of the St Paul through a sketch, so I will be able to admire as we finish this trip in the city of London.

I’m not trying to exaggerate but everything in London is the best. This is the first day in London and we started it by a fresh morning walking around the city. The Bedford Square is the first place that introduced me to London as a tightly designed city with architecture, streets and landscape organized harmoniously together. As we make our way to the Barbican, the views on the double deck bus totally overwhelmed me. The streets remain a simple Beige and Grayish tone while all the red bus and people with fancy dressing light up the whole picture. The Barbican is also amazing, as it flipped my cognition about typical Brutalism buildings. The solid, dark concrete still remain depressing, but the landscape and green vegetation are so welly blended in, so that the whole place gives a sacred sense. Later on, we visited St. Paul’s. The entire cathedral is decorative with exquisite details and the cathedral reveals itself in a totally symmetrical way. I did two sketches in St. Paul’s. One for the details and one for the amazing light and shadow in the crypt. However, no matter how much I tried, the beauty of St. Paul’s can not be recorded. The most exciting thing is visiting the chinatown in the evening and had some legit Chinese food. It’s unbelievable to find the feeling of returning home in a country that I’ve never been in. The weather is humid but it’s just like my hometown. All in all, London is the best!

Now is only about 12 hours to arrive London, and I am really excited about it. I just finished packing, and hope my baggage is not too heavy. I bring the biggest suit I have and get it almost full. It is not easy for packing things for 9 days, and I always bad at packing. Hope this time I do bring everything I need.

I try to think if there is anything that I forget to bring. I double checked my i20 and passport. I am thinking about the bad weather in London, that’ s the only thing I really worry about. I am getting used to traveling internationally, so I am not nervous at all. But is my first time to go to London, and I really look forward that. In addition, I am a little bit nervous about drawing in London. I think it is really strange for a bunch of people sit there and do drawings.

I experienced several times of short connecting time flight, and I know it is going be really hurry. I also went through several times that because the connecting time is short, and my last flight was delayed, then I did not get the next flight. It was really complex and wasting time. Hope this time, we can get our next flight successfully.

With the first day wrapping up as a group I sit in my room looking back on the day and already can’t wait to see more tomorrow. I started off with one of the best hotel breakfasts I’ve ever had, so that set the tone for the rest of the day to be a great one. Afterwards the group went to the a building center near our hotel and got to explore a little bit about the different styles of building not only in London but all around the world. Then we all left as a group to go and see the Barbican Centre, which I found particularly interesting because of the style that consisted of concrete buildings raised from the ground. It is one of the more controversial styles but I found the use of concrete especially fascinating. Once we were free to roam around by ourselves a bit I made my way to the museum of London where I took the most interest in the Great Fire exhibit. It had so many stories about different people trying to help out with the effort of putting out the fire, one person I found particularly interesting that helped with the effort was King Charles II. Once we reconvened as a group we went into St. Paul’s cathedral, it was by far the most awe inspiring chapel I have ever been inside. Before arriving the church I thought to compare it to in regards to size and history was the National Cathedral and St. Paul’s absolutely blew it out of the water. Now that the day is all wrapped up for group tours a few students and myself are planning on getting a bite to eat and exploring more of the city

Hello everyone! My name is Carrick Reider and I am a Sophomore double majoring in Architecture and Italian, with a completed minor in City & Regional Planning. I was born and raised by my mom and dad in Upper Arlington, Ohio, along with my two older brothers just right across the Olentangy River west of OSU, and coincidentally right by Aimee’s house! My hobbies include playing the piano (specifically Rachmaninoff and Liszt), and am a self-proclaimed movie buff (and with it being Oscar season you can catch me at Gateway almost every other day). I also have always loved geography and history, so being in London around the time of the royal wedding and the birth of the new royal baby will be very exciting. I have been to London Heathrow Airport for a layover before, but never the city itself. That being said, I am fortunate enough to have travelled to Ireland 4 times Scotland twice, Nicaragua for a mission trip in high school, and Chile last spring break with Aimee. My Grandmother herself is a proud Anglophile, so going to London for my first time will be a lot of fun to report back to her. I am very much looking forward to this study abroad, especially in seeing sights such as the 2012 Olympic Park (another interest of mine is the Olympic Games, summer and winter), the British Museum, the Shard, the London Eye, Buckingham Palace, Carnaby Street, Harrod’s, and the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain (Rest In Peace). Looking forward to getting to know all of you before we embark to “The Big Smoke”!

My name is Adrian Koutras and I’m from Novi, Michigan (20 minutes outside of Detroit). I was technically born in Kalamazoo, MI (west side) but I lived most of my life in Novi. It’s been nice living in the city this past semester and I truly am beginning to love Columbus. My favorite things include sports (especially soccer, football and hockey), playing guitar, video games/board games, go-karting and hanging out with my friends. I’m a second generation immigrant on both sides with my grandparents on my dad’s side coming from Greece and my grandparents on my mom’s side coming from India.

I’m a first-year majoring in Architecture, a field that I have dreamed about being apart of since I was in 5th Grade. Although I’ve had one semester of classes at Knowlton like Arch 2300 and Studio, I have thoroughly enjoyed my time and am excited for the future as part of this amazing program. I am also minoring in Business.

In terms of my travel experience, I have traveled a lot with my parents to places like Paris, Brussels, Dublin, Mumbai and more. I’ve traveled to London twice before too, however those were mostly focused on visiting family. I’m very excited to go on this trip for a multitude of reasons including the focus on architecture and sketching. I know that this trip will give me a whole new perspective on London while also improving my sketching skills. Details I never noticed in London, won’t stay unnoticed. That is what I am most excited for on this trip. However one site I’m particularily excited for is seeing Stonehenge. Ever since I saw a picture of it near my grandparents dinner table, I’ve always wanted to go to Stonehenge when I came to London but it never fit our schedule. Now I can’t wait to see it in person.

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