Youngs Abroad!: More of London

Wednesday
This morning Ella and I went to the Victoria and Albert Museum to see the Mary Quant exhibition. It was so interesting seeing the changes and development of the fashion industry, as a result of the influence of MQ. Ella had studied her and the area of the Mods, as part of her degree and seeing it 'n the flesh' was really special. After that, we cam back to Bolingbrook Road, met David and we went to try and sort out our UK bank account - easier said than done! Can't believe how difficult they make things, but we are determined to work through it before we leave. We went to school to meet Eliza and it is just wonderful to see the relationship that she and Ella have. I think she enjoyed meeting us, just to make sure that we weren't going to take her away with us!
After doing the daily supermarket visit, we had another delicious dinner and then went around to meet Lara and Jez. Again, it was so nice to see Ella as part of her 'English' family. They were still pretty exhausted after their travels, so Ella came home with us for a while, before we all headed to bed.

Thursday
We had the pleasure of walking Eliza to school - schools are very different to what we are used to in NZ. 250 students in a three story building - and it was one of two considered to Prince George to attend.
Ella had booked tickets for us to go to the Sky Garden, on the roof of the building at 20 Fenchurch Street. As with most things British, we had to queue, and it was freezing. The garden itself was quite small, but the views across the city were stunning. Unfortunately it did start to rain and we couldn't go out on the observation deck, bit it was still fantastic. A great way to see the city spread out before you. Ella headed back home and we then went to Monument, built to commemorate the Great Fire of London. There were 311 steps and, if if fell over, it would just touch the Tower of London - great tip Anne!
We then caught the train to Canary Wharf, really interesting area of new development. There was an above ground garden walk that included a New Zealand tree fern, which made it even better. Then we attempted to get back to Hammersmith, only to find that, due to a broken down train, the Central Line was partially closed and had major delays on the rest of the line. We did find a way back, but it was a bit of challenge.
Another visit to the bank and we are getting closer, but will still need to go back on Monday, hopefully to get everything finally sorted.
We went to one of Ella's locals, The Bird in Hand, with her nanny family, for dinner. A very pleasant evening, getting to know Lara and Jez and just reinforcing that Ella is absolutely in the right place. We are so proud of the wonderful person she is.