The first part of our trip took us on a United Flight last Weds night from the DC Dulles airport to London Heathrow airport. Tom convinced me it would be better if we drove ourselves. We had a quicker flight with a strong tailwind-just about 5 1/2 hours. I would have preferred to sleep all night, especially since I wasn't feeling too well. But between dinner service and drinks and snacks, the very nice flight attendants kept us busy and awake. And the economy seats are so much smaller than they used to be! Hard to get a comfortable spot for sleeping. Although I did manage to get a very fluffy pillow! Overall it was still a great flight and we arrived in London around 9am, 5 hours later time difference than Baltimore and made it through a very long, hot customs line.
I guess we were the last one's to arrive. The rest of our Girl Scout Group was already there. Our group consisted of 50 girls and women from all over the country-South Carolina, Seattle Washington, California, and Nebraska. Ages ranged from a 10 yo girl to a Grandma. Most of the girls were around 15-16 yrs old. We all boarded our bus and headed to our hotel in Beckton, south of London. We checked into our rooms and grabbed some sandwiches at a local equivalent of Walmart. We then boarded the local train and headed into London where we switched to the tube to head downtown for a walking tour. Our first train ride was interesting as it ran above ground, operated by robotics-no driver! We got a great view of Olympic village and East London University, a local stadium for concerts as well as the marshes that run into Thames river. Our walking tour took us by Big Ben, Picadilly Circus, the National Gallery, London Tower and the Tower Bridge. We stopped for dinner near the London tower at an Asian restaurant and did some souvenir shopping. Then headed back to the hotel on the trains.
We were pretty exhausted. Unfortunately, Allison and I were stuck with the group's misfit mom and daughter as roommates. Very nice people from Nebraska, but constantly losing everything(including a close call with the passports). The daughter had anxiety attacks and spent more time in our room than her room. I could have paid more and roomed just with Allison, but she was hoping to spend time with the scouts and meet new people. She did meet a few girls that she enjoyed hanging out with but they never had the opportunity to share a room. And my roommate snored horribly. Although I was so tired it almost didn't matter.
The next morning after breakfast(which was mostly cereal, yogurt, juice and coffee(no cream), we took a bus tour of London. We drove over the Tower bridge and around the Tower of London. Next visit we will have to go in. Many of the places we visited, even cathedrals, charge an entrance fee so it can be quite an expensive trip. The Tower of London was used as a castle, fortress and prison where they currently keep the crown jewels. It hosted lots of executions with lots of royal prisoners in the past. They also have their own ravens living on the grounds and it is said the kingdom will always stand as long as the ravens remain. We drove around Westminster Abbey and Westminster, Big Ben, #10 Downing Street, Harrods Dept store, The London Eye, with a quick walking tour around St Pauls(cathedral where Charles and Diane were married). We traveled through the neighborhoods where Shakespeare, Chaucer and Dickens lived. An American businessman rebuilt an exact replica of Shakespeare's Globe theater, including the open roof. Theater goers stand on balconies around the stage and have the opportunity to participate in the shows, just as they did during Shakespeare's day. We drove around the fictitious neighborhood of Sherlock Holmes, and the shady dark side of London including Fleet Street and the infamous barber Sweeney Todd and Jack the Ripper. There was certainly quite a dark side to London including heads on stakes as you entered the city and being buried up to your head in the marshes as the tide came in. The bloated bodies were known as Wappers(not the same as the ones at Burger King but gives you a whole new perspective). I learned that Wharf stands for Wharehouse At the River Front. And that the Romans settled London since it was conveniently located on a major river, but it was just too cold so they left. We also saw lots of spots where they filmed the Sherlock Holmes movie and tv series, and of course Harry Potter. Including the Millenium foot path bridge that was closed for several years due to poor construction. This is the bridge where the dementors attacked the pedestrians. We also saw the old train station used in the movies. And we saw quite a bit of the new, very modern London including the Mayor's Office kindly referred to as Darth Vadars helmet. We then stopped by Buckingham Palace to watch the changing of the guards. Afterwards half of our group headed out by bus for a tour of Windsor Castle near Heathrow airport. The rest stayed behind for free time and a ride on the London Eye. Allison and I had decided to tour Windsor castle, home of the Queen Mother who was actually in the castle during our tour. Sadly we did not catch a glimpse of her or her dogs. After lunch we did see Queen Mary's elaborate dollhouse, the castle tour and St George's cathedral-patron saint of England. Allison and I had the chance to have our photo close up with a royal guard and their bearskin hats! There was a bit of a mix up with transportation back into London, so we arrived to dinner late. Fish and chips in a local tavern. We had hoped to see a play-Phantom of the Opera, however the tickets were sold out that Friday night. Looks like we would have been late anyway. Just have to catch it in Baltimore next year.
On Saturday morning we headed to Hampstead, north of London for a visit at the Girl Scout World Headquarters-Pax Lodge. Lord Powell began the Boy Scout movement in England and his wife, Olave began the Girl Guides. Juliette Lowe met Lord Powell while traveling to England and began the Girl Scouts in the US. Pax Lodge or Peace Lodge was built in 1989 and was named after a vacation home of the Powells and built in honor of Olave Powell. It is a youth hostel with bedrooms and kitchenettes, meeting rooms and a patio/garden. We were met by several Girl SCout volunteer staff members from all over the world. We had a flag ceremony and sang The World Song(which Allison and I know from choir!), a pinning ceremony, tea ceremony, a tour of the building, lots of videos on the history of the building and the girl scout movement around the world and free time to buy souvenirs and swap patches. If Allison was ever interested, she could apply for a free internship at the Pax Lodge and run programs for the visiting Girl Scouts for about 2 months during the summer. What a great opportunity to visit London! We had the whole place to ourselves that morning, and then headed out to a train station for the two hour ride to Paris.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Tom and Scott spent their first weekend alone doing yardwork. Lots of bushes to trim and Scott rebuilt our stone wall around the birch trees. They also had a boys day and SCott had a friend over for a bike ride. At night, his Dad came over and Tom set up a movie outside in the backyard on our projector. Scott planned on spending the upcoming week in computer classes at Kids on Campus summer camp learning how to make 3D video games and applications.
No comments:
Post a Comment