Final Day in London

A tiny piece of the Chelsea Flower Show

Big Ben and Parliament Building

Our trip is coming to a quick end. The last two days in London have absolutely flown by and now, for most, its time to pack our bags and head home bright and early tomorrow morning. I think most of us are ready to be home, or at least state side, where we can take some comfort in familiarity and perhaps enjoy not living our of a suitcase.

The last two days in London have been amazing. This is my third time here and I have to say it never gets old! We all split up these last two days and no two groups did the exact same thing at the same time, but I do think we all managed to see most all of the same things. Big Ben and Parliament, the London Eye, Buckingham Palace, Abbey Road, and the Tower Bridge were all places everyone saw. They were all absolutely spectacular! A bunch of us, if not most all of us, are planning to venture out one last time after our family dinner tonight to go take some evening/night pictures of Ben and Parliament as one last hoorah before we all part ways tomorrow! Besides hitting up the big tourist places, we wandered the streets doing some last minute souvenir shopping - even stopped in Harrods which was completely overwhelming. Never have I seen so much stuff and variety in one store! It was insanely cool!

Last night, a little over half the group went down to the theater district and saw Wicked or Billy Jean. By the amount I heard about it when they all got back it sounded like both shows were phenomenal. While they were at the show a smaller group of us had tickets for the Chelsea Flower Show. It was spectacular. I don't think I will ever again see such a display of plants in my life. It was completely overwhelming between all the colors, smells, and people! Garry told me this morning that yesterday alone there were 30,000 visitors to the CFS! 30,000!!! There were flowers and plants there from every corner of the world and in every color imaginable! Even the booths set up displaying garden sculptures and lawn furniture had some extraordinary pieces!

This whole trip has been nothing but amazing! I think trips like these are not only a great learning experience but are also an amazing opportunity to travel with your peers to places that are sometimes off the beaten path and offer the chance to engage yourself in an unfamiliar culture. And I think and hope I speak for everyone when I say that this trip has opened our eyes to the world that exists beyond our doors. It has been the experience of a life time!! I would definitely like to thank Garry for all his hard work in getting this trip together. He and Bill have both done an amazing job guiding us along this adventure and we are most appreciative!