We enjoyed a delicious meal in Chinatown. The girls held their chopsticks like flutes so that I could take their photo. We talked about the trip and what each person felt had been good and what could have been better.

We then trooped over to Her Majesty's Theatre to see The Phantom of the Opera, meeting Chris Bain, the flutist for that production, at the stage door before the show. He was so nice that within a minute I felt as though I'd known him for years. The girls were jazzed up; they joked with him, displayed their British accents, sang the songs from Phantom. They were irrepressible in their joy and excitement, which he took in stride with a twinkle in his eye. He told us that he's been playing Phantom for fifteen years, and, checking his notebook for the exact number, said that night was his 3280th time. I asked him if he was tired of the music, and he responded that he loves the music.

The show was terrific, and from our upper balcony first row seats we were able to see Chris in the pit as he waved to us, and switched between flute and piccolo. After the show, he took us onto the stage, to the understage where all the machines and mechanical equipment are, and into the pit. He showed the girls his book and explained about passages that were difficult to play, and pointed out the overhang above his chair on which he's written the names of all forty conductors under which he's done the show. Finally, we went back outside so he could sign the girls' autographs, and the woman who had played Christine, the lead role, was waiting for a ride. The girls talked to her and got her autograph as well. Needless to say, they were in the clouds. What a grand ending to a phenomenal trip.

The four girls got along with each other well during the entire six days. There was not one harsh word or fight among them. In fact, I affectionately thought of them as "The Clump," because everywhere we went, they huddled together in a little circle of four. They "clumped" in the underground subway stations, talking and giggling; they clumped in the shops, peering at the merchandise, and walking down the streets, they'd walk in a clump, sometimes arm in arm, talking, laughing, and frequently singing. They knew every word of every rock 'n roll song I'd ever heard, and a few extra as well. I was so proud of them each time they played their flutes, and was constantly struck by their intelligence, their consideration of others, and the beauty of their spirits.