Hazel ’26 and Harmoni ’26 describe a day in Richmond.
This morning at eight, we ate a delicious, varied breakfast at our hotel, choosing between yogurts, eggs and bacon, pastries, juice, and coffee. After breakfast, we walked down the block to the Southwark Tube station and took the Jubilee line two stops to Westminster, where we switched to the Green line, taking the tube all the way to Richmond. On the tube, we chatted and read books, listened to music, and sat quietly, enjoying the trip. It was about a 40-minute ride, but luckily there was plenty of seating available! When we arrived in Richmond, we walked a short distance to a nearby café situated right next to a picturesque bridge and the Thames river. After buying drinks, we settled in to draw the beautiful landscape and the people until lunchtime. Some students chose to focus on perspective, drawing nearby buildings and architecture, and some chose to focus on drawing people, thinking about how to capture them in a short amount of time. We worked for an hour and a half, trying out different mediums such as watercolors, pencil, and pen. We had a lovely quiet morning in Richmond which we wrapped up by sharing our work and process.
-Hazel ’26
After spending an hour and half drawing the beautiful landscape that we saw before us, it was time for lunch! We gathered into groups of three or four and walked around the Mainstreet in Richmond to buy food from five guys, Wagamama, Meghan’s, and more! I personally got a burger, fries, and a strawberry milkshake from five guys! (I really enjoyed it) We had two hours for lunch and then we returned to the group. Nathan brought us all BeanBoozled and we had fun trying the absolutely disgusting, revolting, and horrifying jellybeans. After drinking water and chewing gum to try to wash the foul taste out of our mouths, we found another spot to draw. However, our second drawing session was cut a bit short because of the high tide!! We all walked to the pier and waited for our boat to come, and I decided to entertain the group by having a dancing session with an elderly British man. We boarded the boat and practiced drawing fleeting images. I had a little trouble with drawing quickly and lack of details until I asked for help from Mrs. Bicknell. The boat ride was about an hour and a half and when we pulled into the pier, we were blessed with the view of the London eye, Big Ben, and the palace of Westminster. We walked through a heavy tourist area and made our way to parliament square where we had a debrief conversation about our days. We all shared one word to describe our day, how you felt after the long day, something that we all learned, and discussed the difference between being a traveler and a tourist. After our talk, we took the VERY crowded tube back to the hotel and got ready for dinner! For dinner, we went to Franco Manca and had some delicious pizza!
-Harmoni ’26
