Kerrang!, Hyde Park, a Super Moon, and the Royal Birth (WOAH!)

                                       

     I just got back from one of the most excellent days that I have           had in London (so far). After class had concluded, I gathered my things and began to head to Oxford Circus for my meeting with Ryan Cooper at the Kerrang! offices. For my British Media class, we had to select a media outlet in which we would use to compare and contrast with a similar outlet back in the states. I was psyched to have selected Kerrang! The largest rock publication in the world, outselling Rolling Stone.

     I had a short journey (or so I thought) to the K! offices, but upon my arrival, I was told that I had entered the K! radio offices and I still had several blocks to go. I continued on in the right direction until I finally made it to the Bauer Media Group offices which housed K! I met Ryan and was able to sit in the conference room and get my interview for my paper. Ryan was a good dude and pretty stoked that I was all the way from the states and had an interest in K! He gave me the grand tour of the K! offices, which to my surprise, was relatively small and housed about 15 members on staff. Not bad for being the #1 rock publication in the world!

The K! offices - some of the editors and design team

The back wall at the K! office featuring some of the recent covers

     I concluded my visit with Ryan and the rest of the awesome people at the K! offices with a head full of insight to this rock publication and a wealth of information for my paper. Across the street was a burger joint called, Byron and it was about lunch time. I still had a FULL day of adventure ahead, so I stopped and grabbed a bite to eat. 

                                                                                                                                

     With a full belly and a sense of excitement, I began my journey to Hyde Park for my solo walk. One of the assignments that Peter had given us (and one that I was most stoked about) was to go on a solo journey through popular destinations or parks around London. I was fortunate enough to have selected Hyde Park & Kennsington Gardens. Hyde Park is massive! I had several "checkpoints" to see as I made my journey through the park. The first was the Peter Pan statue and seeing as how I am a lost boy, I knew it was meant to be that I got this card. Second was the Serpentine Art Gallery which I found to be extremely weird but oddly cool. The third check point lead me through a large forest which was suppose to end in a "scenic rose garden," but that exhibit was no longer available.

Entrance to Hyde Park

                               

                                      Peter Pan Statue

                                 

Sculpture / Cafe outside the Serpentine Gallery

                                  

     The fourth stop was the very large, very lavish Prince Albert monument. It was pretty awesome to see this massive monument that was right in the middle of Hyde Park. Continuing on to the fifth stop was the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain. After just seeing the lavish Prince Albert statue, I figured the Princess Diana fountain would have to be equally extravagant, but not quite. Stop six lead me through what was left of the lush and green park to the exit, but not before passing Speaker's Corner. I got to see a lot of beauty and a lot of awesome things on this solo walk, but more importantly I finally got some time by myself and was able to really gather my thoughts and reflect on this trip and it was real humbling.

     I finished up with just enough time to make it back to Regents to get dinner and to get cleaned up. The class is meeting up this evening to go to Primrose Hill to catch a glimpse of the super moon. We had quite the trek, but once we made it, we had the sickest view of London. We all hung out for a few hours before we finally got to see the super moon rise just above The Shard. Shortly there after, we all had gotten word that Kate had given birth to the Royal Baby. The BT Communication Tower just off to the distance had a digital display at the top of it that read, "It's a Boy!"

     We took a trip to Buckingham Palace the day after the Royal Birth. It was so swarmed with people, but we had an exciting time. We had just missed the changing of the guards, but you can see them below as well.