We wrote a while ago about some of the fantastic walks you can do in London which will take you from one side of London to the other – East-West along the Thames, North-South alongside one of the canals or just meandering across one of the huge parks. With only small stretches of road you can walk from UIC (Well Hyde Park about 15 mnutes away) to Kensington, through Holland Park then jump on a bus to Kew which joins up to Richmond Park and Wimbledon Common. A great day out! If you’d like to do something a little less strenuous and perhaps a bit more organised – you might like to try The Royal Wedding Walk, The Cty of London Walk, The Fashionable Soho walk, The Globe / Borough Market walk, The Covent Garden Walk, A ghost walk or perhaps a Beatles walk. Whatever you like the look of, if you are studying English at UIC all you have to do is come into Reception or find Mike our wonderful social organsier. We’ll help you decide what the best option is and help get you moving.

YOu might be in London ofr the first time – studying English at UIC – and a little confused about the different areas. SOme of the local areas of London are well known and have had their names for hundreds of years – Soho, Mayfair, Marylebone, Covent Garden for example but now there are new ones springing up alol over the place. The Evening Standard newspaper reported the full list yesterday – do you know where Portman Village is? how about Midtown, Swoho, Connaught Village, Noho? Who knows why these areas have suddenly got their own names – these kinds of things are often driven by estate agents trying to make fairly ordinary areas sound much better – for all the details have a look at the Standard article.