Treasure Hunt, St. Paul's Cathedral & Sky Garden

The third day started with treasure hunt. We were divided into three different groups and walked (or ran) around the central London with a tablet to find the main sites and complete various missions. Below is one of my favorite mission pictures of our team (team name: Gryffindor!). We are in front of Covent Garden, the hub of all street performances in London, and we are trying to act like street performers!

We completed almost all of the missions with confidence and definitely enjoyed every single moment of it! At the end of the treasure hunt, we struggled to find the meeting point and ran for so long till we actually arrived at the final destination. Of course, we won the first place of the treasure hunt! :)

After the treasure hunt, we were headed to St. Paul's Cathedral. It is an Anglican cathedral at the highest point of the City of London. Those who spoke in the Cathedral, including Martin Luther King Jr, a Muslim priest, and Nelson Mandela, shows the city's support of diversity and inclusion. 

The Cathedral also includes an American Memorial Chapel, financed entirely with donations from the British people who appreciated the help of the U.S. soldiers during the World War II. It is located at the eastern apse which was destroyed after bombing in 1940 and holds the Roll of Honour that contains the names of more than 28000 Americans who served for the United Kingdom during the WWII.

I was moved by the effort of the City of London to recognize and remember those who died in defending liberty of a country that is not their own. While the United States was the first to ask for their permission to build a memorial in the city, the British went further and took full responsibility in building the memorial to show appreciation.

After the St. Paul's Cathedral tour, we were headed to the Sky Garden on top of "Walkie Talkie". I was so excited to take in the gorgeous view of the city! Unfortunately the weather was not as sunny as other days, but we could not complain for those rare funny days in London we took for granted for the first couple of days. Sky Garden was beautiful with the exquisitely decorated gardens and observation decks looking down on London with 360 degree views of the City of London. I especially loved the view of the Tower of London, the Tower Bridge, the Shard and the Gherkin.

 

Right near the Lloyds of London, top insurance market in the world, was the Gilt of Cain monument. The monument, composed of a group of columns in the shape of sugar cane, commemorates the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade. The location of this monument suggests the connection between the insurance market in the financial district and the slave trade. The sugar cane shape of the monument symbolizes the prime trade item which brought further demand for slave trade. While the monument does call for attention of the public, it was a bit disappointing how the monument was almost blocked by construction close by.