Now that I am settled in London, I thought I would write about my area. My school is in the middle of Kensington, which is in the north west of London. Its just outside of Central London, on the northern side of the Thames river. Since I am in a completely new city, Google Maps and CityMapper have been my lifesaver this entire trip so far. I’ve found that just a quick search of where I want to go on these apps help get me on the right track and know where to go. I like to visualize where I’m going before I actually get there, so maps are definitely helpful.
I wanted to make a map of the area I live in because I know people want to know where I live while in London. Google Maps is a great tool to group points together. They have a program called MyMaps that lets you do just that! Here is my map:
So I added my dorm, and the place where I have most of my classes, Atlantic House and Asa Briggs Hall respectively. A little further north is the Whole Foods and one of the Underground stations, High Street Kensington. Kensington is on the Circle and District Lines of the extensive tube system so its very easy to get to other parts of London in a snap.
Kensington High Street is the shopping hub in Kensington. There are tons of great places, like Urban Outfitters, TK Maxx (TJ Maxx equivalent). There are also great cafes and bookstores. And those are so close to campus. Its so weird to have a campus spread out in the city rather than everything being in a centralized location, like it is at UMW.
South of my dorm is another tube station Gloucester Road and the wonderful Nando’s Peri Peri Chicken. Another grocery store Waitrose is around the tube station. Harrod’s is just a short walk to the west of the Gloucester Road Tube station.
To the North West is Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens, which is where Prince William and Kate live with George and baby Charlotte. Hyde Park and the Gardens are gorgeous to walk through on a sunny brisk day.
I included some landmarks too like the London Eye, Greenwich, and the US Embassy. Kensington is home to many embassies, I saw the Chinese Consulate today on my walk back from the tube. There is no embassy row but they are all scattered throughout London itself.
Overall its great living in the city! I like the fact that I am just a short walk to tons of different places and I can grab the tube to another part of London in a snap!