Day 1 & 2 - A Very Full Day
Greetings from London. We all arrived safe and sound. We spent the day exploring London, taking a ferry ride down the Thames and having a great dinner at Jamie Oliver's restaurant. We celebrated Elizabeth's birthday with several songs as well as a memorable dessert at the restaurant.
Stay tuned for more info and photos. It has been a long day (2 days?) and we are getting some sleep before heading out tomorrow.
Check in went smoothly, and everyone made it on the plane with all their belongings! Virgin Atlantic had good choices of meals between mac & cheese, chicken and rice, and pork and mashed potatoes, and everyone was quite pleased. Most got some sleep, but there were a few that couldn't quite get comfortable. Overall, everyone was very excited to begin their journey!!!
Once we landed, we successfully got everyone's luggage and extra belongings and were on the bus to begin our adventures in London. Our first stop was to the hotel on Tower Bridge Road, where we checked in, and then once everyone was quickly settled, walked to the beautiful and very famous Tower Bridge, to catch a ferry to take us down the Thames. This particular cruise took us down toward Westminster Abbey. Along the way, we were humored by our guide explaining all the sites that are along the river. We saw the HMS Belfast, the tallest building standing 1,000 feet tall with a 6 star hotel designed by Renzo Piano, road under the very famous London Bridge, which currently is the 5th bridge to stand in it's place, yes folks, the song is true, it kept falling down... a replica of Francis Drakes pirate ship, this one actually having bee around the world twice, Shakespeare's Globe, and the very famous Millennium Foot Bridge, also debuted in one of the Harry Potter's, known to the English as the "Wibbly Wobbly" Bridge because it had to be restructured when it was actually wobbling with the weight of the walkers!! The architect said, "There's nothing wrong with my bridge, just the way people walk in London!" We ended our journey down the river at the very famous Westminster Abby, where we saw the tower that holds Big Ben. Apparently Big Ben is actually the bell that is behind the structure, and we can't actually see it! Crazy! Once we docked, half the group went on an expedition to Buckingham Palace, the Queen's residence, while the other half attended an organ recital in Westminster Abbey. Owen and Kyle were particularly wowed by the impressive power of the instrument and the resonant acoustics in the stone Gothic building.
Quite tired and very hungry by this point, we ended the night with a delicious meal at Jamie's Italian restaurant on Tooley Street! Everyone was beyond satisfied with their meals. With bellies full and lots of sleepy kids AND chaperones, we were ready for bed. Back to the hotel and off to bed to get ready for the next days adventures!
Click through the slideshow below to view some highlights from today:
