Day 14: museums and shopping in London

Today saw the final weekend excursion of the program with our second trip to London. The day started on the glum side with torrential rain, but by the time the coach pulled up on Exhibition Road it was glorious sunshine! The excursion began with visits to two of London’s most famous museums:  the Science Museum, and the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A for short). The Science Museum is dedicated to making learning fun, and includes countless interactive exhibits on subjects ranging from medicine to space exploration. The V&A is the world’s largest museum of decorative arts and design, featuring sculptures by Rodin; a wedding dress exhibition; and a breathtaking plaster copy of Trajan’s Column. The sheer vastness of the museum’s collections meant that everywhere we looked there was something new to see, and when the time came to move on I was certainly wishing for a couple more hours to explore! Following a few hours wandering the museums it was time for some retail therapy in London’s most famous department store: Harrods. The shop has 330 departments, spread across over one million square feet of selling space, making it the largest of its kind in Europe. The range of goods on offer was incredible with personal highlights including a range of near-lifesize stuffed animals, and the enormous Food Hall filled with all kinds of delicious treats. With so much to see the day was over in a flash, and before we knew it we were on our way back to Cambridge! Written by Jonathan, Supervisor