My Travels to England Part Two
By Laura Sadowski
For those of you who read my last article, or have not, just as a reminder in the summer of 2009 I was chosen to be a Student Ambassador with other students from other states and towns for the organization People to People to represent the American youth in France and England. My last article was about my time spent in France and now I am writing about my time in England.
Over night I had ridden a ferry from France to England. That morning from the port we were getting on a bus to Stonehenge. The bus driver was a very nice man named Jack and everybody was so excited because his was the first British accent we actually heard in England. He dropped everyone off across the street from Stonehenge in this field type area. We were given little voice tour guide machines and went to every station learning all about Stonehenge. It’s still so interesting to me that no one knows how this structure even came to exist.
After that, we went out for an interesting brunch. I believe we went to an old house turned into a restaurant because the bus had to squeeze through the woods. And to top of driving in the woods in a huge bus it was pouring so to even get there we had to drive and walk through mud. This place was very tiny so the entire group had to sit in three different rooms. I was in the group that was the smallest so we sat by the front where the kitchen, chef, and workers were. It was only me, my friends Rachel and Lexi and the delegation leaders. I wish I could remember the name of the restaurant because it was very good. If you ever in the English woods I would recommend eating there.
The next day, I met a Parliament leader so instead of a dress up in your most comfortable walking clothes day it was dress up in your nicest clothes day. We got there after he had introduced himself so I missed who he was and is part in Parliament. After that we walked and took the Tube, London’s subway system, to the London Eye. All the girls, including me, were wearing nice flats and heels and it is very hard walking on the cobblestone roads with them. We had to walk over bridges and fields to finally get to the downtown green. There was a bunch of stuff going on; street performers, magic shows, painted people on stilts, singers, break dancers, etc. When we finally got to the line we got to go in the front because we were their “special” guests. It is about a half an hour the whole way around. Like on an amusement park ride, the company has you take a picture. We all had to squish in one part if the glass so everyone got in the picture I mean when will you ever be on the London Eye again at the ages of twelve or thirteen?
The next day, we could all sleep in because we didn’t have anything to do till about noon so we could sleep in a little bit. That was very exciting news for me because I was still making up for waking up two hours late in France. This day was very exciting because it was medieval day! We took a ferry and went to the London Tower. So much happened there. Henry the eighth built it to be sort of an entrapment for his many wives if they were going for an execution and for a safe place when London was being attacked. We didn’t get to see the execution tower because it was so big and gruesome you had to pay another ticket to get in there. We went everywhere else though. One tower I went in were where the guards stood with their guns and their practicing area. They even allowed you try on armor that the soldiers used. I also went to the dungeon. Interesting fact they have and had a system, back in the eighteen hundreds and even today, to keep the crows in the London Tower area. There is some sort of a fence somewhere that prevents them from flying away because crows represent death and it’s bad luck if one flies away from the tower.
For lunch. keeping with the theme, we went to a medieval restaurant. The restaurant was at the bottom of a castle. To get to the restaurant you walk down a bunch of spiral stairs to this really dark brick place, just like you see in the medieval movies. And there, we had a gigantic fest; huge pieces of chicken, mash potatoes, salads, jam, bread, etc., pretty much everything you have at thanksgiving but much bigger. And since they didn’t use utensils back then we had to use our hands to eat. They did provide plenty of napkins though. There was even an actor there who had this huge fat suit on and his job was just to imitate Henry the eighth, a very rude and vulgar man. Everybody took pictures of him and he told me he would make me his wife some day. I don’t know what you would have done but at that moment my twelve year old self was planning my princess wedding!
We then went to this medieval village where we learned how to fight with swords, bow n arrows, and by our hands. We again had a medieval feast but in a much smaller version and with utensils. At the end of the night they had a huge flame thrower and threw flames right across the pond fifteen times!
Sadly, compared to the day before we did not have the greatest sleeping day. At four in the morning we had to wake up because we had a two hour drive to see the British Baths. I can’t even describe to you how pretty this place was. It sounds weird for a place where people to take baths to be beautiful but it was. There was mosaics everywhere, gold, silver, anything you would think of. All the baths are naturally heated and hasn’t been washed since people actually used. So, if you were thinking about going in, just to let you know you would definitely get an infection. We met some actresses being the woman in baths who would wash people and then it started to rain.
As we were leaving, we had to cross a busy street and my friends foot got rain over. If you are ever in England remember to look to the left as well as the right. My friend was off to the hospital and we were off to the mountains to go to a camp. I was in the group that got to climb a telephone pole, walk a tightrope, and then come back down. I felt so proud of myself and couldn’t believe I was up that high! Everyone was cheering for me and I was the only girl who did it!
The next day was our second to last day. We went to the British museum and there was a plethora of things to see. The Rosetta Stone, a tomb of a real mummy, and a whole thing on Egypt. We were in there for pretty much all day since there was so much to see.
We then went to a restaurant which I’m sorry to say was disgusting! They served traditional English food and there’s a reason England isn’t know for its food. It was like an old shooting pub so there were real animal heads on the wall which smelled and had flies in there mouths and eyes it made everyone sick! Try eating your dinner with a dead deer's head in your face!
On our way home they surprised us that tomorrow, on our last day, at night we would be going to see a show on the west end, London’s version of Broadway, “Wicked”! I was so excited I’ve always wanted to see that show!
We woke up all sad that morning and it wasn’t a good feeling. It was our last day of an incredible trip. We took a tour of the city of London, we got out at where Princess Diana and Prince Charles got married and I took five pictures illegally because I was not aware you couldn’t take pictures in that particular church. We stopped outside somewhere parts of Harry Potter were filmed and then we had lunch at a real pub. Right from there we went to the West End to see "Wicked." The show was amazing!
And then the last day was finally here! Everyone was so sad because we were like a little family! It was the greatest experience of my life!
For those of you who read my last article, or have not, just as a reminder in the summer of 2009 I was chosen to be a Student Ambassador with other students from other states and towns for the organization People to People to represent the American youth in France and England. My last article was about my time spent in France and now I am writing about my time in England.
Over night I had ridden a ferry from France to England. That morning from the port we were getting on a bus to Stonehenge. The bus driver was a very nice man named Jack and everybody was so excited because his was the first British accent we actually heard in England. He dropped everyone off across the street from Stonehenge in this field type area. We were given little voice tour guide machines and went to every station learning all about Stonehenge. It’s still so interesting to me that no one knows how this structure even came to exist.
After that, we went out for an interesting brunch. I believe we went to an old house turned into a restaurant because the bus had to squeeze through the woods. And to top of driving in the woods in a huge bus it was pouring so to even get there we had to drive and walk through mud. This place was very tiny so the entire group had to sit in three different rooms. I was in the group that was the smallest so we sat by the front where the kitchen, chef, and workers were. It was only me, my friends Rachel and Lexi and the delegation leaders. I wish I could remember the name of the restaurant because it was very good. If you ever in the English woods I would recommend eating there.
The next day, I met a Parliament leader so instead of a dress up in your most comfortable walking clothes day it was dress up in your nicest clothes day. We got there after he had introduced himself so I missed who he was and is part in Parliament. After that we walked and took the Tube, London’s subway system, to the London Eye. All the girls, including me, were wearing nice flats and heels and it is very hard walking on the cobblestone roads with them. We had to walk over bridges and fields to finally get to the downtown green. There was a bunch of stuff going on; street performers, magic shows, painted people on stilts, singers, break dancers, etc. When we finally got to the line we got to go in the front because we were their “special” guests. It is about a half an hour the whole way around. Like on an amusement park ride, the company has you take a picture. We all had to squish in one part if the glass so everyone got in the picture I mean when will you ever be on the London Eye again at the ages of twelve or thirteen?
The next day, we could all sleep in because we didn’t have anything to do till about noon so we could sleep in a little bit. That was very exciting news for me because I was still making up for waking up two hours late in France. This day was very exciting because it was medieval day! We took a ferry and went to the London Tower. So much happened there. Henry the eighth built it to be sort of an entrapment for his many wives if they were going for an execution and for a safe place when London was being attacked. We didn’t get to see the execution tower because it was so big and gruesome you had to pay another ticket to get in there. We went everywhere else though. One tower I went in were where the guards stood with their guns and their practicing area. They even allowed you try on armor that the soldiers used. I also went to the dungeon. Interesting fact they have and had a system, back in the eighteen hundreds and even today, to keep the crows in the London Tower area. There is some sort of a fence somewhere that prevents them from flying away because crows represent death and it’s bad luck if one flies away from the tower.
For lunch. keeping with the theme, we went to a medieval restaurant. The restaurant was at the bottom of a castle. To get to the restaurant you walk down a bunch of spiral stairs to this really dark brick place, just like you see in the medieval movies. And there, we had a gigantic fest; huge pieces of chicken, mash potatoes, salads, jam, bread, etc., pretty much everything you have at thanksgiving but much bigger. And since they didn’t use utensils back then we had to use our hands to eat. They did provide plenty of napkins though. There was even an actor there who had this huge fat suit on and his job was just to imitate Henry the eighth, a very rude and vulgar man. Everybody took pictures of him and he told me he would make me his wife some day. I don’t know what you would have done but at that moment my twelve year old self was planning my princess wedding!
We then went to this medieval village where we learned how to fight with swords, bow n arrows, and by our hands. We again had a medieval feast but in a much smaller version and with utensils. At the end of the night they had a huge flame thrower and threw flames right across the pond fifteen times!
Sadly, compared to the day before we did not have the greatest sleeping day. At four in the morning we had to wake up because we had a two hour drive to see the British Baths. I can’t even describe to you how pretty this place was. It sounds weird for a place where people to take baths to be beautiful but it was. There was mosaics everywhere, gold, silver, anything you would think of. All the baths are naturally heated and hasn’t been washed since people actually used. So, if you were thinking about going in, just to let you know you would definitely get an infection. We met some actresses being the woman in baths who would wash people and then it started to rain.
As we were leaving, we had to cross a busy street and my friends foot got rain over. If you are ever in England remember to look to the left as well as the right. My friend was off to the hospital and we were off to the mountains to go to a camp. I was in the group that got to climb a telephone pole, walk a tightrope, and then come back down. I felt so proud of myself and couldn’t believe I was up that high! Everyone was cheering for me and I was the only girl who did it!
The next day was our second to last day. We went to the British museum and there was a plethora of things to see. The Rosetta Stone, a tomb of a real mummy, and a whole thing on Egypt. We were in there for pretty much all day since there was so much to see.
We then went to a restaurant which I’m sorry to say was disgusting! They served traditional English food and there’s a reason England isn’t know for its food. It was like an old shooting pub so there were real animal heads on the wall which smelled and had flies in there mouths and eyes it made everyone sick! Try eating your dinner with a dead deer's head in your face!
On our way home they surprised us that tomorrow, on our last day, at night we would be going to see a show on the west end, London’s version of Broadway, “Wicked”! I was so excited I’ve always wanted to see that show!
We woke up all sad that morning and it wasn’t a good feeling. It was our last day of an incredible trip. We took a tour of the city of London, we got out at where Princess Diana and Prince Charles got married and I took five pictures illegally because I was not aware you couldn’t take pictures in that particular church. We stopped outside somewhere parts of Harry Potter were filmed and then we had lunch at a real pub. Right from there we went to the West End to see "Wicked." The show was amazing!
And then the last day was finally here! Everyone was so sad because we were like a little family! It was the greatest experience of my life!