Where it all Began

Earl's Court was the start of many journeys on our trip to London.  A typical day in London started around 7am (2am for the folks back in Minnesota) and arriving at the tube station no later than 9:30am.  My first experience on the tube was going to a church service at Westminster Abbey. Thankfully I was with a group of people because I had not learned how to navigate the public transportation yet.  I would normally arrive back to think Apartments around 5pm and head out in a hour to get something to eat in the town of London.  I had very many good eats on the trip and I always enjoyed eating on the Thames river because of the beautiful view.

On our first class day Monday we headed to a primary school where we were warmly greeted by the head teacher and the students at Brandlehow primary school. We gave the childhood presentations about apples and wild rice to a very young class.  I was surprised at how well behaved the students were compared to my elementary school days.  Later on in the day we visited Hampton primary school.  We met Jim Bliss from RHS who works with multiple schools creating a friendly teaching and learning environment surrounding horticulture.  As week progressed we visited a few more primary schools and one highschool.  Overall I really enjoyed working with the kids in the garden at Hampton and Christ Church Primary.  At Hampton I worked with Jim and a few students from a grade four class plant and prune a tree.  My favorite interaction with a student was at Christ Church Primary.  I worked with a kid named Jack who was able to brighten up my day (I had no sun in London to brighten it up) by being super friendly and interesting.  Jack told me that the London Eye got its name from the aerial view in the eye and that there is no number 13 cart on the Eye.  He was very intelligent for his age and that is something I can respect when a younger kid has the skills to fully communicate with an adult.  I learned a few interesting ideas I would like to present to the schools back in Minneapolis which are creating a bug hotel and collecting rainwater from the roof.  

The entire trip wasn't just school work thankfully, I was able to enjoy the numerous sites of London which entails: Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, Globe Theater, Phantom of the Opera, Platform 9 3/4, Hatfield House, Kennsington Palace, Buckingham Palace, Museums, Kew Gardens, and much more.  The picture on the left is me about to head off the Hogwarts school of Wizardry and Witchcraft. To me Kingscross was cool because I was able to see a specific location where the Warner Bros filmed Harry Potter.  By the end of the week I wanted to stay longer in London and was not ready to come home because I loved the city and enjoyed the company of my classmates.  I would go back in a heartbeat if I ever got the chance to see London again.  The only thing I would change is the weather.