Monday in London

Monday was scheduled to be our Globe Theatre Day. After a big day at Stratford just the day before, we ought we would start out a little later and hit the Globe in time for our noon appointment. It is no fun to be in one's room when you are in London, so we asked to fill an hour with something quick near the Globe. That just happened to be the Tate Modern Art Galłery. We made our way down to the Thames using the tube. We walked across the Millenium Bridge with St. Phillips in the background. The Millenium Bridge takes you directly to Tate Modern and we had nearly two hours for the kids to roam the collection. Their assignment was to take pictures of several pieces they thought should be in the permanent collection at Hand Middle School. Again, they found us at our meeting spot precisely on time with a million stories to tell of what they had scene. Only one alarm went off while they were there when one girl got a little too interested in one piece of art. 

The Globe Theatre is two doors down so we went quickly over there for our appointment. That was when I broke off from the group to cross London in order to retrieve a bag that had been left at dinner the night before. London is a tremendous city with very busy people. But, I must admit that I always felt safe, and people were incredibly polite to us at all times. Ms Davidson accompanied the kids to the Globe, and Charlotte pointed me in the right direction for retrieving the bag. I approached this journey with trepidation because the city is so huge, but I knew that with phone and gps in hand, I could do it. I left the Tate, walked across Millenium Bridge and to the opposite side of St. Paul's. I found the Underground station and took the Circle line. I followed this for 6-7 stops and got off at Queensway. Orienting myself once I came out of the station was the most difficult. But, I figured the direction to go and before I knew it, I was walking through the beautiful neighborhood you see on Notting Hil and quickly found the restaurant. 

When I met the kids back at The Globe, Ms Davidson raved about what they had been doing . . , 

A little over an hour later I was back with my Hand crew with the missing bag (and money) in tow. It was off to Borrough Market for lunch. Borrough Market is amazing open market where many of London's cultures come together to sell their foods. We only had about 30 minutes but kids came back to us with amazing meals that they would have great difficulty finding back in SC. As promised earlier, Monday afternoon was reserved for roaming Covent Gardens. Your kids love to shop, and we held off the shopping until our last day of the trip. We gave them two hours, and like clockwork they rejoined us at our meeting spot. 

Wagamama was the site of our final meal and was definitely a good one. They specialize in Asian noodles, and the kids loved it. With chopsticks in hand, they went to town on their noodles. I think many of them were disappointed that they could not easily carry their leftovers with them as we were heading to the theatre for a performance of Wicked.

Since this was our last meal with Charlotte, we gave her some fun little things for her to remember her Hand Middle School crew. She got a variety of SC items along with some Hand pencils and stickers. It was fun to hear the kids step up and explain to her the importance of the Palmetto tree and the crescent. She was also excited to get a sweet thank you note written on a London postcard by each child on the trip. And, of course, we generously tipped her as a way of thanking her for doing so much to help us get to know London better. 

Another Tube ride to get closer to the theatre and a crowded walk for several blocks, and there we were at Wicked. We arrived just in time to get to our fabulous seats. When Hand came to London in 2013, we also saw Wicked but this production was significantly better, and all of the kids seemed to really enjoy it.