Last day in London

Tonight we fly out on another red eye, but since the flight doesn't leave until late, everyone had the option to do what they wanted during this "free time." Mary and I presented them with a few options if they wanted to join us: 1) Back to the Natural History Museum for a tour of the Darwin center, 2) travel by tube/train/bus to Pirbright, the site where African explorer Stanley is buried, 3) travel by train to Mortlake to visit the tomb of polymath explorer, Richard Francis Burton, and his wife, Isabel, and 4) take the train to Cambridge to visit The Eagle Pub, where Crick and Watson boasted the first time about decoding the "secret of life" (Crick's reference to DNA-structure)...with significant input from Rosalind Franklin. 

A testament to the quality of this group of Zambassadors, two decided to return to the museum, and all the rest wanted to head off to Cambridge to see the place where Crick and Watson ate six times a week while they were working out their model of DNA structure. And so although our parties split, everyone chose science for their "day-off."

Finding the Eagle wasn't too hard, and it was a great pub with more history than just DNA - it turns out that in World War II  the Royal Air Force and the US 8th Air Force frequented the pub and wrote on the ceiling by candles and lighters. 

But the object of our travel was to see where Crick and Watson argued and laughed and enjoyed their time in the early 50s. We were not disappointed. We got to eat and drink and laugh about eating "whitebait" in the very seats where they sat years ago (commemorated with the plaques behind them). 

Then we headed back to our hotel, The Lord Kensington, to get our gear and make the trek back out to the airport. I do want to provide a bit of forewarning for the parents who have been following this blog - the updates will almost certainly not come as regularly once we are in Zambia. Internet connectivity is considerably more spotty there, so we might go several days without an update. Don't worry, this is normal! 

Oh, and one last thing, all the students wanted to do something to acknowledge their moms today. What a great bunch - not only did they all want to do sciencey-stuff on their free time, they all missed their mummies. They all were thinking about their moms on this Mother's Day, and here is how they wanted to let you know...

(It is supposed to spell out "MUM" with a heart. If you squint hard you can kind of make that out.)

ZAMBIA HO!