Dickinson College Humanities Program in Norwich

After little sleep, I awoke this morning at 7:30 to begin my journey down the Thames rive; the first event of this trip to really make me feel like I was in London. Coming from New York City, I am used to city life, trains, buses, and lots of people. So exploring the city on our first day and learning the tube was a little less exciting for me. As I walked the streets and rode the train I felt almost like I was still back home, that the plane had circled JFK for 6hrs and 55mins and then just put me back where I started.

Big Ben

But that feeling disappeared as soon as I stepped onto the Ferry boarding dock and spotted Big Ben in the distance. Instantly I realized that there was nothing like this back home. After snapping way too many photos of the distance clock tower, we boarded the Ferry which would take us down the river.

I found the Ferry ride itself to be mostly relaxing, especially considering the low amount of sleep I was running on. We docked near a dirt beach and headed on our long walking tour around Greenwich. Although I found the history and fun facts that we learned along the way interesting, what really got me excited was the details of the architecture. Not only was every single building ornaments with ionic or corinthian columns, but also faces, family crests, and shields. As an art minor, I find the time spent on the monuments and decorative elements of London to be the most beautiful thing about it.

Royal Observatory

For example, when I visitied the Royal Observatory today, it was not the clock museum, the view from the telescope tower, or even the amazing planetarium show that I loved most about that part of our day tour, but rather the gorgeous and detailed buildings that housed these things.

“Astronomia” Mermaid Relief

Just as I left the planetarium show (which I encouraged everyone to attend, and turned out to be a huge success!) I spotted a mermaid relief low on the wall across from the exit. On a closer look I found the word “Astronomia” engraved on it. I found that these small details and reliefs awakened my passion for visual arts that the historical facts and information never could.

That is another element of this city that really differs from my home city. Although the architecture of New York will always have a special place in my heart, it lacks the ancient and authentic hand crafted beauty that the old buildings of London have. There is always something very striking to me about the juxtaposition of the modern buildings against the classical structures that founded this city.  It is almost like there is a continuing battle between history and modernization. Unfortunately for my passion, it looks like modernization is winning.

If you would like to continue following my adventures, feel free to visit my photo page for a slideshow tour of some of the sites I have seen over the past two days: http://s644.photobucket.com/albums/uu163/mliberty2011/London%20the%20first%20two%20days/?albumview=slideshow