Program 1: Summer 2018 – Day 7

Reachers across Cambridge were excited to wake up bright and early this morning to kick off our much-anticipated trip to London. With the sun shining brightly and balmy temperatures predicted for the day, tiredness from the previous day’s excursion was quickly forgotten, as the bus journey provided plenty of opportunity for napping! First stop was the museums, situated in Kensington: the Victoria and Albert for some, and the Science Museum for others. The V&A attracted the art lovers amongst us, offering a huge variety of exhibitions ranging from textiles and fashion, through to art and photography. Our favourite exhibition was ‘The Future Starts Here’, a collection of over 100 objects creating a picture of what the near future might look like. The exhibition included smart appliances and satellites, and out students were fascinated to reflect on how these objects could change the way we interact with the world in just a few years’ time. Nearby, the Science Museum enthralled our budding Reach scientists, offering fun interactive exhibitions on subjects as diverse as flight, clocks and the human body. One of the highlights of the visit was the ‘Wonderlab’ gallery, which allowed our students to get hands-on with live scientific experiments. We played with forces on giant slides, travelled through space under a canopy of stars, and so much more! We particularly enjoyed the rocket show, where we saw rockets being launched into space from Earth. We learnt about rocket fuel, astronauts, and Newton’s Laws of Motion. Minds were well and truly blown by our respective museum experiences, we then headed to Harrods, the home of luxury goods and designer fashion, for some high-end retail therapy. Many of our students took advantage of the huge range of clothes, fresh fruit, chocolate, art and books on offer, with many others opting for ice-cream to cool down on what was an absolutely scorching day in the capital. The most famous department store in London, Harrods certainly offered something for everyone! At the end of the afternoon, we climbed back aboard the buses and headed back to Cambridge, hot, tired, but weighed down with purchases and fascinated by what we had seen in the museums! The evening was spent winding down from our exciting day, with some relaxed sports games played at Downing. Some also participated in karaoke at Trinity Hall, and students showed off their skills with some of the biggest modern hits, as well as the timeless classics. It was great to discover some of the sports stars and singing sensations of the future among our Reachers, and we expect big things of them in the future!