1st update
We arrived safely this morning--tired but thrilled to be in London! After checking into our hotel, we walked through Hyde Park. What should have been a 15 minute walk turned into over an hour of enjoying the incredible beauty of a huge English park filled with flowers, meadows, ponds with majestic swans and ducks and Kensington Palace in the near distance.
After lunch, we boarded a river boat which cruised us past the Houses of Parliament, Tower of London, and other sights both old and new. We disembarked at Greenwich and had the most unique experience--we walked UP THE HILL to the Prime Meridian and were able to stand with one foot in the eastern hemisphere and one foot in the western!
After we unpacked and settled into our apartments, we ambled over to Paddington Station and ate dinner and picked up breakfast, dinner and snack food.
Should be a good night's sleep--and another big day tomorrow as we head off to the Tower of London (but not OFF with anyone's head!) and to Christopher Wren's architectural masterpiece, St. Paul's Cathedral.
Cheerio!
2nd Update
Today was our first "real" day in London and it was packed full.
-We began the day at the Tower of London which has been an active, inhabited area since 55AD when the Romans first established Londinium on the banks of the Thames.. The kids loved hearing our guide teach them the history of this fortress/royal residence/prison--especially since our guide was one of the members of the famous London Beefeaters and was hilarious!
From there we headed to St. Paul's Cathedral. Some of us (everyone but creaky, terrified-of-heights Mrs. Huckaby) went up all the stairs to the top--close to 1000 steps! The top pinnacle of St. Paul's is one of the highest and best views in London--we've got the video to prove it, too! They weren't the worse for wear except for maybe the other chaperone :-). It was especially cool to see the American Chapel dedicated to the 28,000 US soldiers who died helping defend Britain during World War II. You should definitely ask Sydney about her take on the word "NEVADA".
From there, we still had time to spend about an hour and a half at the Museum of London--a great place for hands-on-history. We left only because it was closing time--and everyone learned something. Maybe even Anna's poem will remain there as a remembrance of Grace Prep forever!
I think we all have an appreciation for a BIG kitchen and dishwashers after last night's spaghetti dinner--but it was fun to laugh together and enjoy talking about our day. You must ask these kids what they learned--it was incredible to hear them talk about their day yesterday and all that they took in.
Well, another report will be about Friday--ta ta for now!
3rd Update
Greetings!
By now we are feeling like "underground conquerors" as we jumped on and off trains and in and out of "tube" stations today. We began by taking a train out of the city to Windsor Castle—and it took our breath away as we pulled into the station and saw the largest working palace in the world. It looks like a "fairy tale princess" castle with turrets, gardens, walls and two brigades (1500!) soldiers living in and near it to guard the queen and her palace. Haley even managed to "bump" into one of those soldiers!
We watched the changing of the guard which includes a marching band, lots of precision and drill and an oh-so-British feel to it. We saw where Henry VIII and nine other British monarchs were buried in the floor of the St. George Chapel. We witnessed some INCREDIBLE staterooms and couldn't believe all the gold and portraits and thrones—wow!
The highlight of the day—or at least on equal par—for the girls, though, was full afternoon English tea at The Crooked House Tea Room. We very daintily stuffed ourselves with scones, Devonshire cream, jam, savory canapés (you'll have to ask!), cucumber, smoked salmon, and cheese sandwiches and tea. It was wonderful.
Next, we came back to London and went to see Trafalgar Square where the kids laughed and had a blast climbing on the huge lions at the base of the Admiral Lord Nelson memorial statue. We then walked the few blocks to view the craziness that is Picadilly Circus (no, Anna, there are no clowns).
Dinner is over, we've had a great day and looking forward to another fun day tomorrow!
We started the day with a trip to Westminster Abbey. After taking a plethora of pictures of the outside, we ventured into the Abbey itself. Everyone was in awe. The high vaulted ceilings, elaborate marble sculptures, beautiful stained-glass windows, and numerous graves astounded us for hours. There were many kings and queens buried there, including Elizabeth the first. Many of the students were also impressed with the grave of Geoffrey Chaucer after reading his "Canterbury Tales" in Junior English. After spending all morning there, we hopped on a tube and journeyed to the Cabinet War Rooms. Before going inside, we had a quick lunch and met up with Drew Bobo, who is also in London. It was a relaxing time of reunion and fellowship. Soon afterwards, we went into the War Rooms. These rooms were the meeting place of Winston Churchill and his staff during World War II. All the furnishings have been left intact since that time. Needless to say, everyone was quite impressed. These rooms gave a great perspective on life during the War, and also provided interesting information about Churchill's life. After we finished our tour there, we made our way to the Imperial War Museum. This museum spans four stories and houses many planes, tanks and weapons from the last century. It also has several hands-on exhibits such as a life-size model trench that demonstrates the type of warfare common in the First World War. There were art galleries of pictures depicting battle scenes and an entire area devoted to a Holocaust Museum. In short, there was something for everybody. As the day faded into evening, we departed from this museum and headed home, where we enjoyed dinner and went promptly to bed.
Colin Shopp
Update 5
Though this day was almost completely devoted to one attraction, Hampton Court, it was a very busy day. Hampton Court is a beautiful Palace. Different areas have been built over hundreds of years, and many monarchs have lived there. Because of all the history that this Palace holds, there are many tours that took us through different time periods and different kings and queens. There was a large area built by King Henry VIII, which included a huge hall and several large rooms decked with countless antlers. The King himself may have hunted the deer to which these antlers once belonged. We also toured areas where other monarchs lived and dined. There were extravagant tapestries from the 1500’s and large silk canopies from the 1600’s and kitchens once used to serve Henry VIII and furniture from Victoria’s reign. Even the “recent stuff,” such as the Georgian ceilings of the 1800’s, was incredible. And that was just the inside. Outside the Palace are many beautiful gardens, the most magnificent of which were planted by order of William and Mary while they lived there. These gardens are immense, and are home to many varieties of trees, flowers, fountains and statues. One garden is almost entirely made up of large trees that are trimmed into a cone shape. From far away they look like little grassy hills. One other attraction in the gardens is a grapevine that is five hundred years old. It is still used to make wine, and it holds the record as the biggest grapevine in the world. After we strolled through rose gardens and grassy fields, we left Hampton Court in the late afternoon. After a quick and delicious pizza dinner, we decided to attend a Sunday night church service at the Anglican church that songwriter Matt Chandler attends. We were shocked by the service. Though we expected the Anglican church to be stiff and ritualistic, a notion helped by stained glass windows and a centuries-old building, instead the service was remarkably like our services back home. The worship was amazing, and God really touched our hearts. It was a very encouraging time, especially because it opened our eyes to the fact that people all the way around the world are worshipping and loving God just like we are. This evening was an astounding experience. After the service we walked through a large park all the way to our apartments. Along the way we stopped by a statue of Peter Pan, belted out terrible attempts at British accents, ran, skipped, jumped, and made a general ruckus. Of course it was a great time of bonding. A loud one, but a great one. Once we finally arrived home, we fell asleep almost instantly after a long day of walking and standing.
Colin Shopp
Update 6
Today we had a "wash day"—it wasn't exactly what we intended, but we do have clean clothes now! We took all our clothes down to the "laundrette" and walked out almost 4 hours later very, very grateful we have washers and dryers in our own homes!
This afternoon we went to Kensington Palace and walked through an exhibit of Princess Diana's spectacular ball gowns. We then went through a debutante exhibit where we learned to waltz and curtsy properly.
We had an early evening because the next day we knew would need to pack up and head to Dover early in the morning!
Update 7
Today we arrived in Dover from London after a two hour bus ride that took us through beautiful, rolling sheep-covered hills. We walked around the block and up the hill to our bed and breakfast where Alistair, our host, greeted us and showed us our rooms. The Churchill Guest house is "adorable" and we have all decided we love it here!
Next, we got back on the bus and went to Canterbury for the remainder of the day after a nice lunch at Dicken's. (Ally had her usual twelve or fourteen scones with Devonshire cream and jam.) The town of Canterbury is old and beautiful. We wandered through the tiny streets and then on to the Cathedral. The stained glass and beauty of this sanctuary is astounding. Parts of the cathedral date from the 1100s and showcase some of the most beautiful medieval stained glass in the world. Seeing it as an historic artifact was great, but coming back to worship there for Evensong was even better. The Cathedral choir was made up of boys and men and their a cappella voices rang in the cathedral and gave us goosebumps and moved us to tears. To know people have worshipped here for over 1400 years and we have joined them in praising God was very special.
Update 8
This morning we woke up to a "full English" breakfast at our bed and breakfast. Eggs, bacon, sausage, fried toast, mushrooms, broiled tomato, toast, jam, cream tea and baked beans is the "full" version and it was AWESOME! Alistair told us stories while Betty cooked up our meals and we now know how to properly place our silverware for both being finished and wanting more.
We next headed to Dover Castle and romped through this spectacular "princess" castle. The boys created an entire movie complete with knight's hoods and swords. We also went through the World War II tunnels where Admiral Ramsey directed the British Navy including the miracle at Dunkirk rescue of over 335,000 men.
And if that wasn't enough, we then headed to Calais, France on an enormous ferry. We just had a short time there—enough time to pick up a souvenir and eat fantastic food. Mrs. Shopp had both escargot and a crepe—does it get more French than that? A rousing game of rat tail screw had everyone laughing and made the trip home go quickly.
Tomorrow we are off to Edinburgh! We may bring home an accent!