… Goodbye, London, Goodbye!
Friday, December 21st
We left the hotel early in the morning on a walking tour of London’s South Bank. It had stopped raining and some sun rays were slowly warming up the day. It did not feel like London in December and we decided to make the most of it. We got off the underground at Westminster Abbey and crossed the Westminster Bridge. We walked straight ahead till our first stop: The Tate Modern and Shakespeare’s Globe. Some girls decided to visit the theatre while others, the wonderful art museum. The Globe is a reconstruction of the original theatre that caught fire in 1613 and also hosts an exhibition hall. Plays are performed in the spring and summer. The Tate Modern is a modern art gallery that features a permanent collection of paintings by Braque, Matisse, Pollock among its 60.000 masterpieces. We met again at the foot of the Millennium Bridge to continue our walk towards St. Paul’s Cathedral, and from there to the Tower of London.
When we reached the Tower, the group split once more. One group visited the Tower of London, built by William the Conqueror, which is actually a castle and served, as a palace, observatory, storehouse and, above all, as a prison. The group did not miss the amazing crown jewels. Another group went the Tate Britain, which celebrates paintings from the XVI century to the XX century and hosts works by Turner, Hogarth and Gainsborough, among others. A third group went to the Imperial War Museum that focuses on military action of British and Commonwealth troops along the XX century.
After an intense day most the girls returned to the hotel while some went to theatre to see the hit musical Billy Elliot.
Saturday, December 22nd
It was a grey and rainy day, but this did not refrain us from following the day’s schedule. We left the hotel and headed towards Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery. With more than 2000 Western European paintings on display, this is one of the largest galleries in the world. There are seminal paintings from every important epoch in the history of art, including works by Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Titian, Velázquez, Turner, Van Gogh and Renoir. None of the girls wanted to miss one of the famous Sunflower masterpieces painted by Van Gogh.
We then headed towards Buckingham Palace, the official residence of Queen Elizabeth II and then walked to Westminster Abbey, the place of coronation for England’s sovereigns. Within the Abbey, they found UK’s oldest door, Poet’s Corner, the Coronation Chair, the tombs of Mary Tudor, Elizabeth I, Mary Queen of Scots and Sir Isaac Newton, among other highlights.
Believe it or not, after visiting the Abbey we had lunch and then went to the British Museum and visited the galleries devoted to ancient civilizations, from Egypt to Western Asia, the Middle East, the Romans and Greece. The girls were impressed by the Egyptian mummies and the Parthenon sculptures. After this visit we took the underground to Notting Hill and Portobello Road where the girls rummaged through the various shops . In spite of the rainy weather, we really made the most of our day.
Sunday, December 23rd
Sunday was the last day of our trip to London. The girls were given free time in the morning to visit places they had missed, to shop for Christmas presents or to simply stay at the hotel getting ready for our long journey back home. Some went to the Victoria and Albert Museum to visit a Hollywood Costumes exhibition, others went to the London Eye, another small group to the Natural History Museum and the some returned to the National Gallery.
After lunch, we returned to the hotel and the bus picked us up at 2 o’clock to take us to Heathrow to catch our flight to Madrid and then home. It had been an amazing trip, we did not waste a single minute of our visit to the UK and none of us will forget the great moments we shared, the fun we had and everything we learnt, not only in the exciting museums, but from each other.
We will look at the pictures and relive all those wonderful moments which will accompany us the rest of our lives…
Mónica Bruck
Head of the Humanities Department, Middle & Senior
2 Comments
¡Qué lujo leerlas M. Inés y Mónica! Seguí cada nota y cada foto con el mismo anhelo que retomo mi novela favorita, esa que me espera a la noche en la mesita de luz.
Gracias por compartir con todos nosotros la magia que tuvo la gira, de alguna manera viajamos con uds.
Andy
Andy, ¡qué honor que compares nuestras notas con esa novela que espera en la mesita de luz! El hecho de que nos leyeran era lo que le daba más sentido a lo que escribíamos. Ahora… termina el relato y queda el agradable sabor de todo lo vivido.