Thursday, July 5
Usually at Worcester, we have the weekends to explore and do whatever we want. However, part of our tuition to come here paid for a weekend in London. Pretty cool.
When we get to London, it’s around 9:00 p.m., but our bus driver gives us an hour tour of the city. We see all the major sites, like Buckingham Palace and Big Ben. That was fun. We also saw a man get hit by a car. That was not fun.
We arrive at the dorms we are staying in and they are pretty nice. They’re less than a five minute walk from the Globe Theatre, which is awesome. Even though it’s getting late, we decide to explore.
As we walk around London, we start to realize a couple things. First of all, it’s beautiful. The architecture is incredible and everything just seems to be a little bit more magical than it is in the States. We walked along the Millennium Bridge and the view is breathtaking. The entire bridge is lit up with small, blue lights and it’s kind of like walking through a fairy garden. Looming up in front of us is St. Pauls, which is gorgeous. Sprinkled along the sides of the bridge are tons upon tons of empty wine glasses and mugs. We were confused about this, but when we crossed over onto the other side, we realized why they were there.
In London, people party in the streets. As in, there is no open container law. This was pretty cool to see. And, it might make for a lot of glassware to collect on the bridge, but the atmosphere is incredible. At random points throughout London, there are pianos that are free for anyone to play. As soon as we’d crossed the bridge, we found one with a group of people crowded around. A man was playing the free piano and his girlfriend accompanied him on the violin. It made an amazing atmosphere, where everyone felt connected by the music. Everyone was encouraging and would urge other people to go up and make music for the group. It was like a community and I loved the feeling that I got by just standing there. As we were walking back, an older woman was playing with the entire group enclosing her around the piano. I’ve never seen someone look so content and that moment alone made me fall in love with London.
Friday, July 6
Ryan, Chelsea, Valerie, Sarah, Annie, Emily, Jonathan and I woke up early because it was the beginning of the best day of my life. After breakfast and a long tube ride ending at King’s Cross station, we arrived at The Guardian.
The Guardian is literally my favorite newspaper in the entire world. It’s absolutely gorgeous. The design of it is incredible and they use bright, popping colors. I fell completely, absolutely, ridiculously in love with them during the Society of News Design Conference in St. Louis last September. When Ryan told me that he was able to get a tour for a few students, I almost cried. And, when we actually got to The Guardian and they handed me a press pass with my name on it, I almost died.
We arrived at the building that houses both The Guardian and it’s sister paper, The Observer, and the building was gorgeous. Everything was white-on-white with pops of bright color. The colors were all the same ones that they use in their paper and the fonts on the building were the same, too. So, basically, walking through The Guardian was like walking through the newspaper. It was awesome. The designer in all of us were geeking out hardcore. It was probably sickening to witness.
We were even able to sit in on the 10:00 news meeting. I cannot even describe how cool this was. First of all, their conference room is like no other conference room I’ve seen in my life. Instead of a long table with rows and rows of chairs, there was a gigantic U-shaped, bright yellow couch. Various people that worked for the paper were just sitting on the couch, cross-legged, drinking coffee and getting ready to begin their meeting. In the corner, they have a gigantic bulletin board, where people had taken colored index cards and written different story, design and inspirational ideas. It was the greatest place I have ever been. Listening to everyone talk about what was going on in the world, what they were going to cover and what was going to be in The Guardian for the next day’s paper was one of the most interesting moments of my life. It definitely made me realize that I picked the right major and I am exactly where I want to be. One of the coolest parts about the meeting was that one of their developers had made a new tool for them to see what their competitors were covering on their websites at any given time. It was an incredible tool, very useful for website competition, and we were able to see the unveiling at the same time editors of the paper did. Definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience that I will always be so happy about having.
After the meeting, we were given a tour of the entire paper. It’s literally gorgeous. They did away with all their conference and meeting rooms as well as individual offices to promote a stronger community. Instead, sprinkled within the white-on-white desks and sea of Macs, they have brightly colored couches with high backs. Yes, people at The Guardian have meetings on gigantic, colorful couches. I’ve never been more jealous in my life.
We went into the multimedia recording studios, where the team makes and produces podcasts, music shows and more. We stood in the same room that many famous artists have come to record for The Guardian. It was incredible. All of the equipment is amazing and we even got to be in the room when they recorded a quick voiceover of someone coughing, which probably doesn’t sound that cool if you aren’t a complete geek like me about The Guardian, but trust me: it was cool.
After the whole tour was over, we went and talked to Ben, Ryan’s contact that got us into The Guardian in the first place. I’ve met Ben in the States before because of SND projects, so it was very cool to be able to meet him again where he works. Ben works on the iPad and interactive versions of The Guardian. We spent a half hour talking to him about design and the Olympics and things that no one else besides designers care about. SO COOL.
When you leave The Guardian, you’re supposed to return your press pass that has your name on it. Luckily, I am a small child and couldn’t figure out how to unclip it from my shirt. The receptionist told me I could keep it, which resulted in everyone else asking for their clips back. I’ve never been more happy to be inept at basic tasks.
The entire tour was amazing and just made me realize how much I love my major and what I do. I would give anything to work at The Guardian someday: it’s my dream job. I’ve never felt so lucky or wanted something so bad in my entire life. It was a changing experience and I’m so thankful for having great professors like Ryan who make this kind of thing possible for students.
After lunch, where Annie and I ate half a chicken and every conversation had something to do with how awesome The Guardian was, Chelsea, Valerie, Annie and I went to Starbucks to try to decide what cool things we should do in London. Instead, it became a struggle on how to open to door.
That’s the thing about England: some things are really weird. For example, there are two faucets on every sink. One is hot; one is cold. There’s no such thing as warm water and I still haven’t figured out how to get a normal temperature while washing my hands. Also, to get into doors, you have to press a button and push them at the exact right time. Otherwise, you end up running into it (hard) and looking like a fool in front of everyone (I did this at Starbucks). Also, the entire bathroom at Starbucks was lit only by blacklight. I don’t know why, but I can’t think of any non-disgusting reason.
In other news, I went to Platform 9 and 3/4. It was magical.
As if I wasn’t already on a media high from The Guardian, Ryan got us a tour of the BBC. I was being the biggest journalism nerd anyone could ever imagine. I don’t think I’ve ever been happier. I’m super lame. The BBC building was beautiful, but in a completely different way than The Guardian. It was more of a traditional newsroom, but they’re actually in the process of relocating out of London, so we’re among the last to view the building.
We had the best tour guides: they were funny and it was obvious that they loved their job. All of the tour guides for the BBC are actually actors, presumably on shows that air on the various BBC channels, so that was cool. We were able to see a show actually being filmed in studio. The studios were built in the 50s and that technology is still used today. It was just surreal to be able to be at a place that I get so much of my news from and see how the entire process works. I also got to sit on the same couch David Beckham did, so yeah, it was the best day ever.
The rest of the day was open to whatever we wanted to do, so some of us went to the Tate Modern Art Museum. It was weird, but interesting. We didn’t get a lot of it. None of us could understand the significance of a two chairs tied together with strings or a ring of dirt on the ground. Lee Anna thought that the museum curator sitting in the corner was art. It was time to go.
Drew’s cousin is in the military and happened to be on vacation in London for the weekend with his buddy. They made plans to meet on the Tower Bridge at 9:00, which sounds so much like a romantic comedy that Anna and I sung “We Found Love” while they ran up and down the bridge, looking for each other. (So precious). We all go to a pub for awhile and hang out, but after awhile we decide to leave Drew with the guys so they can have a man night. We leave and get semi-lost, me carrying a glove with pearls sewn into it that I found in the bathroom.
Saturday, July 7
One of the only scheduled activities we have as a group for the trip is to ride the London Eye. All of us wake up really early and meet downstairs for breakfast so we can walk over there.
Drew is struggle bussin’. Hard. In an attempt to stand up out of bed, he falls into his wardrobe door and breaks it off the hinges. Somehow, the door retaliates and hits him on the head, causing him to fall back into bed. It’s going to be a rough day.
The view from the London Eye is absolutely incredible. From up top, you can literally see the whole city. Like I said before, the architecture is amazing, so it’s a great view. Definitely a beautiful start to the day.
Anna, Drew and I want to go to the Tower of London. We take a river taxi across the Thames, which first off, is really cool, so we know it’s going to be a good day. After that, we stand in line for half an hour, where a woman asks me if I speak English which leads me to think that I maybe should have taken Alberto up on that Venezuelan fake. The three of us contemplate whether or not I could pass for their child so we can get a discounted rate. Drew eats an inappropriately sized hot dog. Anna literally cannot contain her excitement.
Anna read a “What to See in London” book on the bus and got excited for everything — but especially the Tower of London. She was so excited that I got more excited than I had previously been and even Drew forgot about his hangover, which is really impressive. She buys a tour book and begins to rattle us off fact as we wait for the real tour guide.
We start our free tour and somehow meet up with Dan and Erica. The tour is great. Our guide is so funny and completely dressed up in full attire. The Tower of London is beyond words to describe it. It’s so big and so beautiful and there is so much history in it. I stood at the exact spot that Ann Boleyn was beheaded and looked at the most breathtaking royal jewels. We walked around in towers that prisoners were kept locked up in for years and looked at terrifyingly sad carvings they had made during their imprisonment. We participated in a reenactment, along with a plethora of Girl Scouts. We ate waffles on a stick. There were animals. There were armies. There was everything. We spent five hours there.
At night, we celebrated Rachel’s birthday at a really great Italian restaurant and then go to a Tesco to buy alcohol, mostly so we can take a novelty photo of us drinking in the streets. After that, we play card games and go to a pub, where we just play more card games and talk. It’s hard to believe we only have two weeks left here.
Sunday, July 8
After waking up early, a bunch of us take the tube to go to a market that Valerie visited when she was last in London. Somehow, we make a wrong turn and stumble upon a different market. It is possibly a black market because all designer name shirts are being sold for five pounds. It is the greatest. Every time we come upon another booth, Chelsea makes an excited sound that makes me worried she’s going to have a heart attack at any moment. We love it here.
We take the tube again and walk to Kensington Gardens, which is probably one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. It’s gigantic, which I should have expected, but didn’t. It was overwhelming in the best way possible.
Probably the greatest part of the day was going to see the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain. It’s a gigantic fountain, almost like a stream, in an oblong circle. At the highest point, water flows from both sides and it signifies her birth. Along the stream, the water gets rougher and the structure of it becomes more ragged, symbolizing her struggles she had in her life. At the end, both streams come together to form a still, calm pond. It’s mesmerizing. All of us girls took off our shoes and walked the entire stream. It was a really moving experience, to be able to feel the roughness underneath my feet. I know that sounds kind of lame, but it was such a beautiful place to spend my last day in London.
In a complete opposite environment, we went to Harrods. Harrods is a gigantic department store that has floors upon floors of expensive things like 20,000 pound gowns and diamonds bigger than my fist. I absolutely hated it. With the big crowds, way too expensive items and people obsessed with material things, it was literally everything I hate in one place. Anna and I went to every floor just to say we did, got lost inside the store, and then left immediately because we were so miserable. We went across the street to the National Geographic store where I felt much more comfortable among six pound journals and T-shirts with T-rex’s on them.
I keep having to remind myself that I’m going to be back to London at least three more times in the next few weeks for the Olympics. There’s so many things that I still want to do there; it’s a beautiful city, probably one of my favorites. I can’t believe that I am able to have the opportunity to be there while the Olympics are going on. I feel so lucky and I know that it will be the experience of a lifetime.