Day 10: Ar ein ffordd i Langollen (On our way to Llangollen)
The hotel singers got up once again, bright and early for a final Sutton Coldfield English breakfast. Homestay singers said goodbye to their families, some of our singers even went home with gifts from their homestays! As we said “tata” to Sutton Coldfield, we said “hello” to our new courrier, Garrett (not to be confused with Garreth). We boarded the BRAND NEW coach (2024, Neoplan) and drove an hour and a half to the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal. It is a world heritage site just outside of the city of Llangollen which includes an 11 mile linear corridor. It is considered ‘the tallest navigable aqueduct in the world and stands 126ft. 8in. high. Singers were able to walk across the aqueduct, grab some hot chocolate from the narrowboat cafe and watch people canoe down the canal. It was such a peaceful sight and multiple singers described this moment as the highlight of their day!
After the aqueduct, we got dropped off in the small town of Oswestry for a lunch break. Some singers grabbed sandwiches, others grabbed pasties and sausage rolls. Adults grabbed extra groceries since the boarding school we are staying at is not close to any actual supermarkets or grocery stores. We hopped back on the coach for a quick drive to the boarding school where we will be staying for the rest of our trip. After arriving at the school – located on a large plot of land with old wooden playgrounds and expansive greenery – singers rehearsed and fine tuned their competition songs.
Hungry from rehearsing and exploring, students were gifted with homemade pizza from a very cute mobile pizza shop. Each singer and staff member were given either a cheese or pepperoni individual pizza, complete with chocolate cake and a potato salad! Singers were happy with their meals and ended the night racing each other on the misty field. Thank you Ava for coordinating showers as you fully embodied the Matron role in these dorms!
It is crunch time, folks! Tomorrow is the start of competition and we are jumping with excitement! Although we are not competing tomorrow, we will be singing in part of the welcome concert. We are so proud of our singers and we thank you, friends and families, for allowing your singers to partake in this incredible opportunity!
