Wednesday, July 2, 2014

London to Amsterdam

Whew!  It's been a wonderful whirlwind.  I literally have not had more than a minute to sit down and write about our adventures.  We have been going non stop.  When we have returned to the hotel, we are more than exhausted.  But an exhilarating sort of exhausted.  London passed quicker than the tube out of Tottingham.  The students saw plays, shopped at Portabello Road, window shopped at Harrods, stormed the Tower of London, and watched for the birds on the steps of St. Paul's Cathedral (we didn't see any, and no bird woman or Mary Poppins, either).  Some went to the sites of the 2012 London Olympics, and a few of us even went out to Wimbledon to see if we could take in a little tennis (we walked through the rain and didn't even get close to a blade of Center Court grass).  Most of us, along with every other tourist in London, witnessed the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace.  The queen wasn't home, though, or I'm sure she would have invited us in for a spot of herb tea.

The students visited with an executive from the Baringa consulting firm and also paid a visit to the Bank of England.  Mark said those visits were wonderful.  The students have been well behaved and delightful.   I would imagine some of their eyes have been opened by the differences in the way people dress and behave outside their own neighborhoods.  But the kids have been cautious and safe.  One young man left his phone on the subway.  A man picked it up and contacted us, letting us know that he would send it on to an upcoming hotel.  It is nice to see the good in the world.  And, speaking of good, it was wonderful to be able to attend church in the Hyde Park ward on Sunday.  It took us about an hour and 15 minutes of tube riding and walking to get there, but it felt good to be there.  

We are hoping the luggage of one of our young women makes it--it has yet to arrive.  She's been a great sport for the past six days without it, and we are doing all we can to find it.  

In Amsterdam we visited the flower auction and saw some of the 34.5 million flowers that pass through there each day.  Yes, each day.  It was incredible to see how they arrive, are bid upon, and move to the retailers throughout the world with such haste.  We stopped for lunch at a little fishing village, and also visited a cheese and clog-making shop.  Some of us even got to dance with the locals who were there, simply celebrating cheese and clogs.  

We got to see the house of Anne Frank, where she hid with her family for two years and wrote in her diary.  What an inspiring young woman.  Some of us took a boat ride through the canals of Amsterdam, and strolled through the halls of museums, admiring Rembrandts, Vermeers and Van Goghs.  

Wow.  There's so much more to say.  We are having a wonderful time.  These students are eager to learn, delightful to be with, and happy to be here, even through these jam-packed days.  

Some of the group at the Changing of the Guard in London


Mark getting in a quick snooze before (and during) The Lion King.  Either that, or he is being extra reverent.


Hillary and Mark (and everyone else in London) outside the palace.

At the cheese/clog shop outside Amsterdam

In Dam Platz, Amsterdam

Lunching at the fishing village


Dancing with the locals!


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