Friday, May 25, 2012

Day 4: Westminster Abbey


Kelsi and I having lunch in the park

Westminster Abbey

Westminster Abbey

The New Scotland Yard

From the courtyard inside the abbey, unfortunately there were no photos allowed to be taken inside. 

Area in front of the abbey

Today we headed over to Edelman PR Agency. It was an amazing opportunity to meet with London public relations personnel, and get to hear their side of how they operate. Worldwide, Edelman has over 4,000 employees in over 60 offices. The office is amazing; it has a great view with lots of space. They have nearly 300 people employed, and a space for employee events with a bar in the office. They spoke a lot about social media and how they view it in London. They said their bottom line is building relationships and building trust between people. Without those two things, public relations would not work. Then after the agency answered our questions for an hour and a half, we grabbed sandwiches from Pret A Manger (they are everywhere), and sat in a park while eating lunch. It was a really nice day to be outside. Then we went to Westminster Abbey, a church used in London since the 12th century and even before. It was breathtakingly beautiful as we stood beneath it’s massive front. A few of us spent over 2 hours seeing every corner of the abbey. With so much to see, there were still a few things that the tour didn’t clearly point out; such as Princess Diana’s burial site, which is inside of the church. Also buried there were famous writers and poets buried there such as Jane Austen, William Shakespeare, Lord Byron, and Alfred Lord Tennyson. Also the Queen Mother, the current queen, Queen Elizabeth II’s mother is buried there. I stood on the steps where William and Kate said their vows at the royal wedding just over a year ago. I stood 6 inches from the tomb of Henry VIII, Henry Tudor who we hear of so much in movies and television for beheading Anne Boleyn and several other wives. There was so much to see and do, I feel as though I could have stayed all day. Back in the hotel, we had a visit from Nicole Barbosa, who was Texas Tech journalism graduate who moved to England, finished her masters and found a job. She had so many interesting things to say, and lots of suggestions for our next week in London. Tomorrow we head to Paris at 9:30 a.m., and I am thrilled.

No comments:

Post a Comment