Over spring break, MICDS students took their sense of adventure overseas to London and Berlin for a tour of the cities’ significant landmarks and more arts than you can imagine.
First Stop: London
A tour guide led students through the city’s unique neighborhoods, walked along the South Bank, and visited the historic Tower of London and Tower Bridge before heading to the Tate Modern Art Gallery to walk among some of the most famous contemporary artworks in the world.
On day two, students learned about London’s majestic past and fast-paced present on a sightseeing tour of Trafalgar Square, the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, and Buckingham Palace, as well as new buildings changing the historic London skyline. One of the highlights was visiting St. Paul’s Cathedral, Sir Christopher Wren’s architectural masterpiece well known as the seat of the Church of England. Across the River Thames, students toured Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre and enjoyed a performance of Stranger Things in London’s famous West End—a crowd favorite!
A day trip out of the city was calling, so the group made their way to the mysterious prehistoric monuments of Stonehenge and the city of Bath. After exploring Bath’s history, they spent an evening in London under the lights of the Picadilly Circus.
For the final day in London, students experienced a guided walking tour of London’s West End Theatre District, led by a theater expert, and a guided tour of the world-famous Royal Opera House in Covent Garden. They enjoyed a backstage tour and marveled at the imagination of set designers, props and costumes, and sound and lighting. To close out a theater-full day, they attended an evening theater performance of Dear Octopus at the Royal National Theatre.
Chaperones for the trip included Upper School Arts Teacher Patrick Huber, JK-12 Arts Department Chair Dr. Jo Nardolillo, and Erin Hamill, Director of Global Learning & Upper School Community Service, who shared, «Many of the trips I’ve chaperoned in the past have been for our language immersion exchange trips in France and Germany, including a recent trip to Andalusia, Spain, for our Spanish students. This was a nice change for me: an opportunity to explore the arts in London and Berlin with our students who are interested in the arts, whether they are thespians, musicians, or studio artists. We saw so much excitement in the areas they were particularly interested in, but also curiosity and awe with the arts in another country.»
Second Stop: Berlin
After a short flight from London, students descended into Berlin, known as one of Europe’s most dynamic cities. When Berlin was divided, the Eastern and Western sections maintained separate opera houses and other institutions. Now, the united city offers two of everything and is known as a hub of European innovation. Before dinner, students visited the dome and rooftop terrace of the Reichstag Building, home to the German Parliament.
The following day, our intrepid travelers got to the heart of Berlin’s World War II and Cold War heritage with guided visits to a remaining portion of the Berlin Wall, the Holocaust Memorial, and Potsdamer Platz. The afternoon brought a lovely visit to the Nueses Museum, where notable antiquities such as the bust of Nefertiti reside.
Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, the city has been on the cutting edge of “street art,” and students got an insider’s view of Berlin’s street culture with a street art tour. On a walking tour, they learned about this edgy modern art movement that revealed stencil art, paste-ups, graffiti, murals, and tagging. After a visit to the KINDL Contemporary Art Museum, a rugged, primitive, yet futuristic-looking museum, students enjoyed a performance at the Konzerthaus.
When asked about the arts portion of the trip, Dalton Costick ’26 shared, «The musical performance in Germany was breathtaking, and the technical parts of the Stranger Things play were inspiring. As someone with an interest in technical theater, I was ecstatic to see and be inspired by plays that pushed the limits of what’s possible in theater.»
As an art teacher, Huber was especially ecstatic about the value the tour guides added to the trip, «The highlights provided by the tour guides included a passionate story about St. Paul’s Cathedral during World War II, a wonderful tour of the West End in London with a dynamic young actor/theater historian, a thought-provoking tour of street art in Berlin, and an impromptu performance arranged and directed by our tour leader Johann at a Berlin memorial for the books burned by Nazis.»
Costick added, «I enjoyed coming closer to and making new friends while getting to experience the wonderful and vibrant culture and art of London and Berlin.» Hamill said, «I truly learned a lot from the students and am thrilled I could share this experience with them.»