Cheers everyone and welcome to London! This year, the GLCM classes of 2019 and 2020 decided to visit England to get flavour for the construction processes here. This trip will be featuring several visits to some of London’s major construction projects including KGX1 (Google London HQ) and DAMAC Tower. To start us off, I will be covering today’s orientation and travel to the historic city.

The new year started off with the main group of GLCM students departing from O’Hare International airport. The 8-hour flight featured incredible salted caramel gelato and palatable airline food, with numerous in-flight entertainment options for us to sleep through.

After that long jump across the pond, the main group landed in jolly old England just in time for the morning rush hour. Quickly grabbing their bags, the Chicago group navigated their way through London’s Underground and headed for the Hotel. Shocked at the silence and orderliness of public transit here, we clutched our bags and clustered in the corner trying not to draw attention to ourselves. This group took the Piccadilly line to the Earl’s Court stop where we got off and walked half a mile to the hotel. We arrived early and were unable to check-in, so we decided to leave our bags at the counter and head off for the most important part of the trip: eating a full English breakfast.

After some disappointing encounters with closed, highly-rated, nearby options we stumbled into the Love Walk café. Members of the group inhaled plates of poached eggs, chorizo, ham, mushrooms, tomatoes, and beans, feeling very cultured. The café also served up some great smoothies and well-needed coffee which helped this group push through their jet lag and through the rest of the day’s activities.

At 4pm, the remainder of the GLCM students convened at the hotel and met up with Clive Fuller, our London coordinator for orientation. He quickly gave us an overview of the city and gave us advice on places to visit while staying in Earl’s Court. Clive then took the GLCM students out The Britannia where we got to taste some more of London’s cuisine: pub burgers and fish and chips. The meal was topped off with some dessert, with ice cream covered brownies and a fruit crumble tart. The evening concluded with a brief tour of the Kensington area and a look at the Kensington Palace. With fully loaded days ahead of us, the GLCM crew decided to call it a night; rested to get ready for the days to come.

Overall, it was a relaxing day to help the students adjust to the changing time zones and allowing everyone to check in to the hotel. Stay tuned for some more information regarding site visits and other cultural events that will be explored later in the week!

Blog by Nick Wipperfurth