Day 3: London

We started our day by laying out the rules for riding on the London Underground - commonly called "The Tube". We divided the group into 3 groups to make counting off easier...and quicker. We wore our red shirts today which was about the best idea we have ever had, considering how many times we were on and off the extremely crowded Tube. We first went to St. John's, Smith Square. I read it was completed in 1728...burned in 1742, struck by lightning in 1773, then destroyed again by a bomb in 1941. No worries though, we all made it out of their safely!

There we had our visit with Patrick Nichols, a former member of Parliament (MP). He talked a lot about some of the differences in our governments and also some of the similarities. Most of the students seemed to really enjoy him...Patrick Nichols seemed especially attached to having his photograph made with our group...which we did at the end - on the steps of St. John's, Smith Square.This is across the street from St. John's, Smith Square.

We started to walk towards our lunch destination, and stopped as we passed Westminster Abby. We didn't go in, since we only had about 15 minutes and it was £15 to enter. But we did take our fair share - and more - photographs. Westminster is steeped in history of the Royal Family.These adorable little girls were in the Westminster Abby gift shop. They were from a London school... I just loved their uniforms!

London, in case you haven't heard, is in the midst of a sweltering heat wave. It's been the headlines in some of the newspapers. Today it was 31 C... which is about 87 or 89 and extremely humid.

After lunch, we ventured over to Trafalger Square and also to the National Gallery. I loved how many of our delegates loved being in the gallery. Picasso, Renoir, Rembrandt, Monet... it was spectacular. The only negative part was the lack of time.Flowers are everywhere...in window boxes, hanging from baskets along the streets, in yards, in pots....Trafalgar Square...with the National Gallery in the background.Next was the Cabinet War Rooms...where Winston Churchill ran so much of the war from England while London was being bombed. This was not a big hit with a lot of our group... partly because it was so hot...and they were melting. Once they finished their audio tour, they came across the street to St. James Park which is beautiful.

The series of photos below are St. James Park.Back on the Tube to Covent Gardens....only negative part - at least according to some of our ladies - not enough shopping time! Oh well, we found a Starbucks! At Covent Gardens, there is an open air market, street performers, and many, many, many shops!This was a 'red shirt day'...

Below are photos during our dinner before going to see Wicked!
Back on the Tube...and on to the theater district to see WICKED. It was spectacular ... and since it wasn't over until 10:30 p.m., we didn't get back to our hotel until close to midnight.So there was our 3rd and last full day in London. It's been exciting...and it's been so much fun to see the complete awe on the faces of your kids... with comments like, "This is SO COOL!!!" and "I'm saving all my money to come back!"... plus, all the talk we hear between them about things they have seen and learned... well, it's an incredible experience for us too.
I'm looking forward to posting all the photographs once we get home... but I don't know how to do it...or even know if I could...so for now, just try to imagine the incredible time your kids are having!