Day 18 - Last day in London

We are leaving London with a bang!! Today was nonstop from the start.

We had our meeting with the member from Parliament first thing morning. He spoke to the students about the differences between American Government and English Government. He was very informative and entertaining and the students asked some great questions. You should be proud of them.

We had lunch in a courtyard at the LSE (London School of Economics) and then headed off to a theatre workshop at the Imperial College of London. The students learned that William Shakespeare was a rapper and worked on their listening skills and watching skills to catch clues and even did some improvisation.

From there we took a short trip over to Abbey Road to see where the infamous Beatles picture of them walking across the street was taken. Back on the tube, we made our way to Covent Gardens for some shopping. What a place that was!! I am at a loss of words to describe it.

Back on the tube and to dinner and then a trip on the London Eye! What a view of London!!

Can you believe it has been nearly three weeks since we departed on this journey. We, the teachers, can't tell you how proud we are of the students. We were complimented over and over again at how well behaved they were. They mastered the tube and navigating the crowded, busy streets of London. They have grown up with their interpersonal communications. They have dealt with the ups and downs of traveling in a group and living with roommates. It has been a pleasure sharing this experience with them!

See everyone tomorrow! We are excited to be coming home.

(pictures not loading tonight, will try again for the airport in the morning).

Day 17 - London

What a day, what a day, what a day!!

We got to ride 'The Tube' today. After breakfast we headed to the light rail station and took the light rail into London where we switched to the underground system. You would have been so proud of how well everyone did with getting on and off the tube all day - even during rush hour!!

We made our way to Westminster Station and walked to Buckingham Palace for the Changing of the Guards. We made our way by Downey street and then a stroll through St. James park. At first we were not sure if it was going to happen, but the sun came out just in time. We got our group into position at the steps of the fountain out front as it was already packed right by the gates. The pomp and circumstance began promptly at 11:30. It was difficult to see everything as it is behind a gate now, but it was still an awesome sight to see. Such precision.

From there, we made our way back to the tube to go to lunch near the Tower of London. Upon arriving at the Banquet Hall, we were greeted by King Henry VIII and we were served our meal by wenches. The kids seemed to really enjoy the meal of roasted chicken, roasted potatoes and parsnips and pasta. King Henry even brought out a birthday pie to Cody!!

After our feast, it was off to the Tower of London. The students explored many parts of the Tower and learned a little of the history of the Tower of London. Many of the students decided to go see the crown jewels - AMAZING!!! One of the septors actually has the world's largest diamond in it 0 talk about BLING! We also were able to see where many lost their heads, including Anne Boilyn and King Henry VI (I believe). We walked through White Tower which had displays of the different armor through the ages and weapons and even had the chance to vote on who we thought killed the Princes of Wales or whether or not it was a conspiracy. All very interesting stuff.
Then it was off for a cruise on the River Thames. A relaxing view down to the river with a very informative guide pointing out different points of interest along the route that might otherwise have gone missed, such as the building that was once owned by the OXO company, that managed to get free advertizing for itself by putting the company name in lights on the windows that lit up red at night.

After docking, it was back to the tube and onto China Town for dinner. We had a delicious meal of chicken and broccoli, sweet and sour chicken, beef and peppers and vegie chow mein.

The evening ended with a night at the Theatre. We went and saw "Million Dollar Quartet" which is about the night that Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins got together. The music was great and everyone enjoyed it. We finally arrived back at the hotel a little after 11. Everyone is tucked in soundly and hopefully dreaming of another great day tomorrow, our last day in England. Can you believe it is almost time for us to be coming home??

Day 16 - Oxford and London

These last few days are busy, busy, busy. Today we headed off to Oxford University. We walked around all the different colleges under the umbrella of Oxford University. The architecture was amazing. It was open day at the colleges, so there were a lot of students looking at Oxford for their future educational needs. I think we may have had a few of our own students wanting to come back when they are older and apply.

From there we headed to London and the final 3 days of the program. We had an overview bus tour of London City, which included the London eye, Buckingham Palace, Clarence House (where Prince Charles, Camilla, Prince William and Kate, and Henry live), St. James Palace (where Princess Anne lives), Westminster Abbey, Parliament Building, Big Ben (which is really just the bell inside the clock tower), St. Paul's Cathedral (where Princess Di and Prince Charles were married). We also did the mini Harry Potter tour of London, including Trafalagar Square where the premiere of the last Harry Potter movie was showing this evening and there were thousands of people camping out to be part of this event. We also drove by Diagon Alley, Gringott's Bank, Wobbly Bridge (and we made it wobble!) and where Daniel Radcliffe went to school. We had some spectacular views and are looking forward to a more in depth tour tomorrow.

Day 15 - Shakespeare and Warwick

What a busy, busy day we had after a rather leisurely morning.

To be or not to be - that is the question. Shakespeare was the theme for late morning/early afternoon. We made our way to Stratford-Upon-Avon - Shakespeare's birthplace and also where he died and is buried. We took a walking tour around this picturesque little town on the Avon river. We stopped at the home where he supposedly was born, the homes where both his daughters and later his granddaughter lived. Continuing on, we visited the Guilded Church, built in 1269, which is known for its stained glass windows and the pipe organ. From their we traveled onto the Holy Trinity Church where Shakespeare, his wife Anne Hathaway, his daughter Suzanna, his son-in-law John Hall, and the first husband of Elizabeth, Will's granddaughter. What an amazing place this is. hard to imagine that we were standing right next to the final resting place of such a historical figure. The irony of our lunch today was the name of our restuarant - Marlow's, as it was rumored that Christopher Marlow actually penned Shakespeare's plays.


From there we continued onto Warwick Castle. On the way, our new coach driver, Ian, challened us to climb the 530 steps on the tower to tower tour of the castle. As I'm sure you have guessed, this was a challenge we could not refuse and many of us made the trek. What amazing views from the top! Afterwards, we explored the rest of the castle until we met up the soldiers of the garrison who quickly enlisted our students to help defend Warwick Castle against intruders from foreign lands. So it was off to training - starting with learning about the defensive structure of the castle. We were fed in soldier style - outside - in light rain and then it was off to combat training.


First off, we learned sword fighting. It was amazing how quickly they picked up these skills. Yes, be afraid, be very, very afraid! :-) After mastering 30 minutes of sword fighting, we headed to learn archery and the proper dress for an arch-men. If you want to have fun with your kids after we return home, in a stern voice give the commands "Hands up, hands on knees, drum roll....WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE" The last stop in our combat training was stave training, where the students received a stern lesson in how to properly handle their staves (long wooden sticks with knives on the end - although the ones the students used omitted the knives). I think we have the makings of a pretty impressive 12th century army.


The grand finale of the evening was experiencing the firing of the world's largest medieval siege machine, trebuchet, which stood 18 meters tall (approximately 60 feet) and weighed over 2 tons. the fireball looked like a comet passing overhead.

Late night - just arriving to the hotel at 10:45 p.m. Tomorrow it is off to Oxford!

**** MORE PICTURES FROM TODAY WILL ARRIVE TOMORROW :)

Day 14 - Wales!!!

It twas an early morning for all of us having to be out of the hotel by 5:30 a.m. to catch our ferry. Sad to leave Ireland, but looking forward to more adventures in Wales. The coach ride to the ferry station was 2-1/2 hours, then a 3-1/2 hour ferry ride to Wales. The water across the Irish Sea was pretty choppy and some of the kids felt a bit queasy and got the full experience of sea legs. On board, we had a pizza lunch and we were complimented on how well behaved everyone was.

Once our ferry docked, we had another 2 hour drive to St. Fagan's National History Museum near Cardiff, WALES!!! We were all so happy to get out and stretch our legs. The grounds of this museum are huge and we had to pick what we wanted to see. Some of us walked over to St. Fagan's castle and gardens, while others took a walk through the ages of Wales. One interesting fact we learned was that people that painted houses red tended to be wealthy because they could afford to put dye in the paint or they were trying to keep evil spirits out. The students got to see a cockfighting ring and learned that it was one of the bloodiest events that the Welsh partook in. After seeing as much as we possibly could before the museum closed, the students were able to do a same amount of shopping at the gift shop since this was our only day in Wales.

Then it was off to the hotel for dinner and an early bedtime since we had been up so long. We have an action packed day tomorrow in Stratford Upon Avon and Warwickshire! Until then...all your babies are doing well and having the time of their young lives.

Day 13 - Blarney Castle

Today started with a "wee" drive to Blarney Castle. We arrived shortly after the park opened so that we would not have to wait in a long queue to "kiss the Blarney Stone." There are about 127 steps to reach the top of the tower where the Blarney stone is. All of our students partook in the ritual of of lying backwards, grabbing the iron bars, and giving the stone a kiss-a-roo. If the conversation at dinner evening is any indication, the myths surrounding the stone and the gift of gab certainly came true.

With that out of the way, we were able to enjoy a stroll around the grounds. We walked through Rock Close and the Water Gardens. Rock Close supposedly is a mystical place said to be on the site of an ancient druid settlement. We were able to see where the fairies hung out in Fairy Glade and are still protected there today (that is, if you believe in fairies). Many of the students made wishes on the Wishing Steps, as they walked backwards up the stairs with their eyes shut hoping their wishes would come true. We saw Witches Stone and Witches Kitchen. The Stone is thought to have magic powers and many left a small sacrifice (1-2 p) on top of the stone. Witches kitchen is thought to be one of the first earthen kitchens constructed.

More walking around the gardens of Blarney looking at the flora and fauna of the area on our way to lunch at the Blarney Woolen Mills. We had a lovely lunch of tea sandwiches of many varieties and tomato soup with a giant blueberry muffin for desert. YUMMY!!! After lunch, we took an hour to get some shopping in or just look around the shops.

Then it was on to our next destination, the Lawlor Hotel in Dungarvan, County Waterford. On the bus, Matthew (our delegation manager) decided to sing to us in honor of the 4th of July. The only problem is that he wanted to sing God Save the Queen. You would be proud of us - we didn't stand for that and broke out in our own rendition of God Bless America. :-) On the way, John (our bus driver) was kind enough to stop in Cork and let us all go play on the beach. The water was freezing in the Irish Sea, but we just could not resist getting our feet wet - and some of us more than just the feet.

We have now arrived at the hotel, had dinner and the kids are already in bed as we have an early wake up tomorrow 4:45 a.m. so we can catch the ferry to Wales. I can't believe tomorrow we will be saying Good-bye to Ireland and John, as we will get a new driver once we arrived in Wales.

Day 12 - Black Valley, Dunloe Gap, Killarney, County Kerry

Today was an important day in County Cork and County Kerry as the big Gaelic football match was being played. Because of this, we had an early start so that our activities would be done earlier and all workers in these 2 counties could go and watch the match. From what I was understanding this was pretty much like the Superbowl between these 2 counties to see advanced. County Kerry (the Kerry Kingdom) beat County Cork (Cork Rebels), final score 1-15 to 1-12 (each team had 1 goal and Kerry had 15 points and Cork had 12). Strange scoring system, but once you get the hang of it, it is all good.

We headed off to Ross Castle in Killarney as the starting for our trek through the Black Valley and Dunloe Gap. We boarded boats that took us over to Sir Brandon's Cottage through the lakes of Killarney. Absolutely gorgeous scenery and I hope the students really took it all in. We stopped and had lunch at the Cottage and then got in our horse and trap for a jaunty ride through the Black Valley to the Dunloe. Again - SPECTACULAR VIEWS! The Black Valley is so named because in the winter time no sun hits this particular area and it seems black. We twisted our way around the mountains, passing 7 lakes, including Serpent Lake where supposedly St. Patrick threw the last snake of Ireland. We also stopped briefly at Echo Lake and gave that a try. The echo was amazingly clear and then Brett decided to yell "Go Cork" at Echo Lake (which is in the County Kerry - remember the match being played today) and got no response. I guess even the mountains here have an opinion about the game. We ended our journey in Kate Kearney's Cottage. What an amazing excursion.

From there we headed up to a vista point near Aghadoe for another unbelievable view of the Lakes of Killarney. Elizabeth S lost one of her teeth a few days previously and according to Irish tradition, if you lose a tooth in Ireland, you bury it there so a part of you will always be in Ireland. We decided this amazing place was the spot for the burial. Elizabeth chose to bury it in the center of Parkavonear Castle, which is a 13th century Anglo-Norman ruin. Now she is an honorary Irish person.

Our last stop of the day was the Tubrid Holy Well in Millstreet. This well is the second largest holy well in Britain and Ireland! Many of the students came down to the well and said a prayer, lit a candle, drank the water or just admired the sanctity of it all. I was impressed with how respectful they were at this spiritual place, almost the quietest I have seen them yet.


As of right now, they are all playing soccer on the pitch and it is 10 minutes to tea, so with that, I will bid you adieu for the evening. Tomorrow we are off to Blarney and an amazing day.

Day 11 - Bunratty

Busy, busy day today! We started the day at Bunratty Castle. This castle is the most complete medieval castle in Ireland and is quite impressive. The castle was originally built in 1425 and took 25 years to build. It was unique to the times as it was built completely out of stone - not wood, so it could not be burnt down. We learned why the staircases and doorways in castles were so narrow (in case your students forget - so that only 1 person could fit through at any given time and the staircases to protect themselves in a swashbuckling sword fight). The entire castle has been restored to its medieval decor - and it completely decorated in 15th and 16th century furnishings. There was even a LONG (at least 20 feet long) dining table made with a single piece of wood that was over 500 years old!

On the grounds of the castle, there was a little folk park where we all walked around and were able to see some period homes and business, along with Bunratty cottage. As you can see from the pictures, Miss Debbie got herself into some trouble with the Bobbies here (HA). We ate lunch at the Corn Barn in the Folk park where the students were able to eat a traditional Irish lunch of Bacon and mash potatoes and cabbage. Most liked the bacon and mash potatoes. The cabbage was a little harder to sell.



Our next stop today was a local Bed and Breakfast which hosted a bread making demonstration and then let us try our hands at it. While the soda bread they were making was in the oven, they went out and played some Irish games and had a mini competition and Clan Walsh took the championship. Then it off to the tug of war - girls against boys and the Winner was.....drum roll please....THE GIRLS...2 out of 3 gos. We thanked our kind hosts for the lovely afternoon we spent with them and we off to the equestrian center.

Our dinner was quite good - vegetable egg rolls with sweet chili sauce, fish fingers, chips, mashed potatoes (see a theme here - they really DO like potatoes in Ireland), broccoli, carrots, salad, bread, chicken sandwich, and tomato soup. After rolling out of our chairs because we ate so much, we headed off for a show jumping demonstration and then we were able to feed and groom a couple of the horses.

Lights out at 9:45 tonight and not a peep from anyone. I guess we tired them out today. Tomorrow we are off to KIlarney for some boating, hiking and horse-drawn carriages.