Day 9

It has been a really long 48 hours!  I am so sorry for not emailing last night, but we literally only had a maximum of 4 hours to sleep.  So, I had to go to bed.  Anyhow....I am sending two separate emails tonight....one for Tuesday and one for today!  So here is Day 9....

We were able to sleep in again and start off with a good breakfast at the hotel!  We traveled by bus into town and split up in two different groups.

Some of us went to Harrod's...London's famous, old, and "posh" department store.  It was lovely and completely overpriced, but we can say we've experienced it!

The main part of the group took the Tube over to the River Thames and waited in line for the London Eye.  Unfortunately, the line was so long, they were not able to get on because we had to get to an appointment with a local guide!  The group was very disappointed, but they did get to see the area.

We all had lunch and then met up with our bus driver "just around the corner"!  That is not a literal term here -- or at least not with Satyen, our guide! :)  We have certainly gotten in plenty of steps!


We picked up our local guide and rode up to Windsor Castle.  He was full of all sorts of knowledge which he shared with us on our 45 minute trip to Windsor!  He told us all about the very important year of 1066 in which England was invaded for the last time by a foreign power - William, the Duke of Normandy (aka: William the Conqueror).

To prove his greatness, William the Conqueror began building castles all over England....over a thousand of them in his first 10 years!  One of them was the Tower of London.  The other was Windsor Castle, what the queen calls her actual residence since Buckingham Palace is "the office".  She usually spends the weekends at Windsor. So, to our disappointment she was not home when we arrived!  We missed her at both castles!


The bus dropped us off, and we walked the rest of the way up the "hill" into the city of Windsor - a very quaint town that we all wish we could have spent the day in!  Our guide stopped in a few places to tell us about the castle before releasing us for about an hour.  One impressive fact was that royalty has been living in Windsor since the 1100s!  That's a legacy!


He showed us the beautiful garden where a moat once surrounded the original castle.  It is usually off limits to the public except a few times a year when they open it up to raise money for charity.  It was so beautiful - partly because it was on so many different levels as it continued to rise up the hill to the castle!  He told us the only way they are able to mow the grass is to attach lawnmowers to ropes, lower them down, and then pull them back up as they cut the grass! I suggested goats might work, but I suppose they might also eat the pretty stuff!

Our guided tour of the castle was about 40 minutes, and it was absolutely breathtaking!  We started with Queen Mary's dollhouse which was given to her for her 60th birthday by her granddaughter.  It is on a scale of 1:12, and is extremely detailed...down to working plumbing and electricity!  We moved along through the state rooms and bed chambers.  Much of the castle is still used for dinners, meetings, etc.  It is also a place in which the Queen can host overnight guests from visiting countries!  Be sure to ask your students what their favorite room was just to get them to remember what all they saw and heard!

Once we completed that tour and spent some time in the official gift shops, we were able to spend just a few minutes in St. George's Chapel which is part of the castle.  Ten kings and queens are buried there including Queen Elizabeth's own parents and sister.  This chapel was another beautiful Anglican church to add to our list of ancient churches we have visited on this tour!

We left Windsor around 4:00 so we could get to dinner on time at 5:00, but that did not happen!  We went to the wrong location and had to traipse back to the tube where our tickets did not work!  It took us over 30 minutes just to get that sorted out and back on the tube.  By the time we arrived at the correct location, we were an hour and twenty minutes late!  Somehow, they were able to feed us quickly and get us out in time to make it to the theatre right on time!  The majority of us saw Wicked! and absolutely loved it.

Many of us had already seen (some multiple times) but we were not disappointed! It was a fabulous show.  When the show was over, we were exhausted and ready for bed.  After our 40 minute bus trip back to our hotel, we crawled into bed for just a few hours of sleep because we had to be on the bus at 4:45 this morning!!!!

to be continued.....

Day 8

Good morning from London!  Yesterday was really long and exhausting, and on top of that, I got SUPER car sick in the bus on the way back to the hotel last night.  So, I was not in any shape to write out the email!  Sorry!  Here is what we did:

We got a later start to try and avoid the rush (3-hour) traffic, but we still got stuck!  We took a bus tour with our local guide, Jason, who looked a lot like Hugh Grant (and, of course, talked just like him)!


We were able to see most of the major landmarks during the tour.  We stopped at St. Paul's Cathedral for a few pictures and a bathroom break.  St. Paul's is famous for many things...in particular, Charles and Dianna's wedding!  The original cathedral was destroyed in the Big Fire of 1666.  The newer one was completed in 1710! 

We also took a picture under Temple Bar which is the "gateway" between Westminster and London which are actually considered two different cities.  We saw Hyde Park, Harrod's, the River Thames, which is 214 miles long, and the London Stock Exchange.  

We drove past the hoards of people waiting to get in to Westminster Abbey, but we did not get to go in ourselves.  Westminster Abbey has hosted the coronation of every king and queen of England for the past 900 years! It is most certainly a famous landmark...also the location of Prince William and Kate's wedding!!




















We ended our tour at Buckingham Palace where Queen Victoria was the first monarch to live.  The Union Jack flag was flying at the palace which symbolized that the Queen was not home.  We're hoping she will be at Windsor Castle when we visit today! :)

We learned that the dragons we keep seeing along the side of the road signify that your are entering or leaving London.  The dragons face London.

We ate lunch in Piccadilly Circus which is a central place in London known for entertainment.  

We ended the day with a special "Jack the Ripper" guide through the events of his murder spree.  Although it sounds scary, it was really more entertaining a funny! 

Day 3

We are back in our hotel for an early evening tonight after a very thorough tour of Dublin.  After eating a very hearty breakfast this morning, we boarded our coach with bus driver, Derrek.  We then picked up our first local tour guide, James, who is from Dublin and has a very nice Dublin-Irish accent!

As Derrek drove us around the city, James told us about much of the history involved here.  We have learned that the Guinness family is very powerful and wealthy. Guinness produces 3.5 million pints EACH day!  They are the ones who set up the Guinness Book of World Records, and they established a very prominent hospital in Dublin at which the babies born here are given Guinness in their bottles!!  It is said to have many nutrients for the babies and has become a common practice!!

We stopped at King Edward’s Door which was decorated for a visit he was to pay to Dublin but never actually made.  They are known here for their ornate and decorative doors.

We stopped at St. Patrick’s Cathedral and learned some history about St. Patrick and the Anglican church which was started by King Henry VIII after the Pope spoke to him about his divorces and other unacceptable behavior in the Catholic church.  

St. Patrick was the one who began using the three-leaf shamrock to teach about the Holy Trinity - Father, Son, and Holy Ghost (Spirit).

We asked about the Celtic Cross and wondered why they even had a different cross.  

James told us that the Celtic (hard “c”) Cross was invented by monks when Ireland moved from being Pagan to Christian.  The circle in the middle is really from the pagan symbol for the sun and everlasting life. The cross, of course, was from the Christians.  Celtic was the religion that combined the two.

Next, we went to Trinity College which was set up as a men’s college by Queen Elizabeth.  Most of the students, now, are women. At the college is a very old library which contains the Book of Kells and all sorts of old Irish books.  The Book of Kells is an ornately decorated version of the four gospels which are written in Latin and in Gaelic Calligraphy.

Next we had free time downtown where we were able to buy all things green and Guinness!  Unfortunately, we have not heard anything about Leprechauns, but we have seen some fun gifts that have Leprechauns on them!

We finished our day at The Czech Inn where we enjoyed pork chops and rice smothered in a mushroom sauce.  Then, we finished it off with an apple pie and vanilla ice cream! We did get rained on today, but we were prepared with ponchos and umbrellas!

Lastly, we learned that red heads do not come from Ireland!!!  Red heads are from Viking Blood, and the Irish really don’t like the myth!

It has been a very interesting day with some rather contrasting words.  Our tour director told us we would be having lots of Craic today and should stay well-lubricated!  He also taught us about Hookers as we were discussing a local beer called Galway Hooker. See below for definitions:

Craic - the Gaelic word for “fun”

Well-lubricated was actually a mistake.  He meant to say hydrated but couldn’t think of the word we use!

Hooker - a boat on the West coast of Ireland

So, tomorrow we are off to Belfast in Northern Ireland which Satyen tells us has a very interesting history!  Stay tuned for more information!

 

Jacqueline