"Mama, I'm coming home..."

Well friends and family members, today was another full day, but there was a bittersweet feeling to the day. Our last day in London. We walked a circuit around St. Paul's Cathedral (where Princess Dianna got married) and then we all got to run a short distance in a British road race so that we could cross the course and get to the Millennium Bridge. We crossed the Thames and went to the Tate Modern. The Tate Modern is a wonderful museum located in an old power plant building. The building was remodeled and opened 10 years ago and they are already adding on to the museum. The Tate Modern boasts the highest number of visitors per year for any art museum. Yes, friends, that trumps the Louvre!

We had a special opportunity to see a special exhibit while we were at the museum, Damien Hirst. He's the guy who has animals suspended in formaldehyde and pharmaceutical installations. It was a challenging show in many ways, but very interesting to see this once in a lifetime show. They had a special special exhibit of a diamond encrusted skull by Damien Hirst that we had to queue up for. The line moved pretty quickly and it was quite the sight! It was specially displayed a small dark room with very concentrated lighting just on the artwork. This would never have made ADA in the United States! There were a few steps that had to be made in near complete darkness. Perhaps this was part of Mr. Hirst's plan for the exhibit. Hmmm. That was our last museum on the trip and now everyone is: packed, packing or going to bed. We have a very early wake-up call and the van collects us at 5:15 in the morning. So, with that, I am signing off.

A VERY SPECIAL THANKS to Dr. Mick Luehrman who did the majority of the planning for our wonderful trip. He has been a fantastic leader, instructor and tour guide!