London Scavenger Hunt

As part of our orientation, Arcadia created a scavenger hunt for us to explore London. We were split into groups and given a litof tasks to accomplish at several London landmarks. After a quick pub lunch, we ventured off to find our first location. We were instructed to take the Tube (London Underground) to St. Paul’s Cathedral and find two installationsoutside that honour the Queen. Just aquick trip on the Northern Line and a change at Bank to the Central Line and we were there! St. Paul’s is a stunning building, its dome towering over the Themes river and the surrounding buildings. As we played tourist and snapped some photographs, we came across a statue in front of the main steps commemorating the Queen. Though I never found the second mention (maybe the rest of my group did?) I checked that one off and we set off.

St. Paul's Cathedral Statue of the Queen!

Since it was a beautiful day in London, we were all hesitant to immediately run back underground so we walked across the Millennium Bridge, which features St. Paul’s at one end and the Globe Theater and Tate Modern Museum at the other. The Millennium Bridge is famous in my mind for the scene in Harry Potter 6 where the death eaters destroy the bridge with their black smoke flying tricks. Obviously I relate everything here to Harry Potter whenever possible. To others I’m sure the bridge is notable for its modern architecture or something boring like that (just teasing).

Path to Millennium Bridge!

After trekking across the bridge, we walked along the south shore and gradually made our way to our next few stops. Our day’s adventures included a stop at 10 Downing Street (where Prime Minister David Cameron lives), the National Gallery, Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, and Covent Garden. Our final stop landed us in Southbank to find the illusive “giraffe” which turned out to be a trendy restaurant overlooking the river. Though we didn’t stay, Southbank is definitely on my list to explore as well as several of the other venues we hunted for. The day was exhausting, but it was a great way to get our bearings in the big city.

Big Ben

cheers,
kate.