The appeal of this zone was heightened by the introduction of the aforementioned Panda egg. In a style that American sports coaches would be proud of, we had primed the children for the search of this egg; "What do we want? The Panda egg. When do we want it? Now!" We had screeched in the days leading up to Sunday. Thus when a fellow egger offered to reveal the whereabouts of the coveted egg and even drew us a map, we were in egg heaven. A hurried walk around the corner and we found the panda waiting patiently in a foyer for us. Squashing the children and the buggy through the rather fast revolving doors was a bit of a scary moment, but the 'oohs' and 'ahhs' of appreciation from the children made it worth it.
What I liked about this zone was the diversity of the locations; the glorious vaulted ceilings of Leadenhall Market, the designer courtyards of Devonshire Square, the arena like balconies of Broadgate Circle and the heady heights of the Monument. I don't pretend to be an architectural connoisseur but you cannot fail to be impressed by the combination of sophisticated modernity nestled alongside the stoic classicity of buildings such as The Royal Exchange.
We managed to complete the zone and even fitted in a trip up the Monument, which both children loved. However, our trip to the top was short-lived as we had caught wind of the fact that the yet to be found Wally Egg was currently doing the rounds at Convent Garden. My son is a huge Where's Wally fan and was determined to finally track it down, so it was a quick car journey to Convent Garden where my husband offloaded us to find a parking space. A child in each hand, we raced around the pavilion looking for our stripy friend. But he was nowhere to be seen. A phonecall from the husband to say that he was unable to find a space and we had ten minutes to find the egg and get back to the car put the search into the league of Aneka Rice's Treasure Hunt (for those of you old enough to remember it). The newly installed Moshi Monster bus looked like a likely candidate for an egg to hide in but the kind assistant informed us that no, Wally was hanging out in Pizza Express. Two more circuits of the pavilion and a Google search later, we had tracked down the pizza restaurant but alas no Wally in sight. The children were becoming disheartened and the suggestion that we try to find him next time didn't go down well, so in desperation we tried the Big Egg Hunt pop-up shop in the centre of Convent Garden. "Please tell us where Wally is?" We whined, pathetically. The very helpful staff consulted their phones and informed us he was resting. Resting? The staff, no doubt spotting the trembling lips of the children, took pity on us. "He may be back at Action For Children. Check there." A lead, a lead, we had a lead.
It was too far to walk and get back in time, so it was back to the eggmobile for a quick dash around the one-way streets to the Action For Children HQ. Tyres squealing, we screeched to a halt outside the building and searched the windows for Wally but he was nowhere to be seen. At this point, I actually felt like crying myself. My ever resourceful husband decided to try inside. It was a long wait for us all as we stared longingly at the doorway he had disappeared through and cheers of jubilation when he re-emerged minutes later, hurriedly ushering us into the building. A woman motioned to a blanket. "You know famous people have stunt doubles? Well so does Wally," she explained before lifting the blanket to reveal Wally in all his glory. OK so admittedly it wasn't the Wally that was currently hiding somewhere in Convent Garden, but it was the next best thing and the children were overjoyed at finally finding him. We must take this opportunity to thank the staff at Action For Children and The Big Egg Hunt pop-up shop in Convent Garden for being so helpful and obliging, it was greatly appreciated and helped finish off a wonderful day in the city.
For those of you who are still to undertake your own egg hunt, there is still time to get involved, even if you choose to only do a zone or two. It's a great way to explore London and take in some of the sights and it's completely inexpensive. For more details on how to get involved or to download zone maps, then visit: http://thebigegghunt.co.uk/
It was too far to walk and get back in time, so it was back to the eggmobile for a quick dash around the one-way streets to the Action For Children HQ. Tyres squealing, we screeched to a halt outside the building and searched the windows for Wally but he was nowhere to be seen. At this point, I actually felt like crying myself. My ever resourceful husband decided to try inside. It was a long wait for us all as we stared longingly at the doorway he had disappeared through and cheers of jubilation when he re-emerged minutes later, hurriedly ushering us into the building. A woman motioned to a blanket. "You know famous people have stunt doubles? Well so does Wally," she explained before lifting the blanket to reveal Wally in all his glory. OK so admittedly it wasn't the Wally that was currently hiding somewhere in Convent Garden, but it was the next best thing and the children were overjoyed at finally finding him. We must take this opportunity to thank the staff at Action For Children and The Big Egg Hunt pop-up shop in Convent Garden for being so helpful and obliging, it was greatly appreciated and helped finish off a wonderful day in the city.
