ambivalent_me

Day One 12/27/03

We arrive in London after a sleepless, 7 hour flight at 6 A.M. (12 A.M at home) London time. We go through customs and claim our baggage and head into London. Once we get to the hotel (The Holiday Inn, Forum, and IN Kensington) we clean up and hit the ground running to adjust to London time. We get on the tube and head to Westminster. We walk around we see Big Ben, and Westminster Abby. We walked down to the River Thames (pronounced Tims) and took a river boat tour. The guide pointed out many things. We got off the boat around Tower Hill. We ate at the Riverside Café which I found the in London they don’t have free refills (gasp!) We walked around a little more and then we were all so tired, we went back to the hotel. Adria and I called Jenny and Robyn and invited them to have a tea party in our room. We had fun, watching corny British soap operas. We went down to the Dali Suite to eat dinner. After that we took showers and all crashed.

Day Two 12/28/03

The next day we had an early wake up call, and went down and ate breakfast. That morning we took a bus sightseeing tour. We got out at St. Paul’s Cathedral to take pictures and stuff. We got pictures in the phone booth and of a double Decker bus. We then stopped at Buckingham palace, to watch the changing of the guards. It was great to hear the band playing, and watchthe guards march. We marched along with them to Buckingham Place.

The bus then dropped us off at Covent Gardens. We walked around and went to the Theater Museum. We walked down to Martin-In-The-Fields church. There we ate at the Café in the Crypt. It was kind of weird to be eating on people graves however. You would never see that in America. Next we walked down to Trafalgar Square and took pictures. We then took the tube to Hyde Park Corner. Which contain the gorgeous Hyde Park. We searched and searched for the peter pan statue but it was no where to be found. We would find out later that it was actually in Kensington Park. We then got on the tube and went back to the hotel. We had another tea party and watch the 100 greatest musicals of all the time countdown. We were disappointed by the winner which was grease. We then went down to dinner. That night we went to Piccadilly and Leicester Square. Pretty much just walked around, shopped, and took pictures.

Day Three 12/29/03

The next morning we took a ride on the London Eye, which is a huge Ferris wheel, that lets you see all of London. We could see surprisingly well considering it was raining and snowing. It was such a pretty view. We then took the tube to the British Museum. We saw the Rosetta stone and the beautiful Greece Elgin marbles. We then walked quite a ways to the British Library. The library was very interesting. It had the magna carta, and really ancient maps. It also had handwritten Beatles lyrics with accompanying doodles. They had a lot of peter pan stuff which I found rather interesting. We then went back to the hotel. We had a tea party. And then we got on the bus to go to dinner. We got to know the guys who were all really great that night as we ate our fish and chips. We then went to see Mamma Mia! That night. It was so fantastic it was fun, and even the boys enjoyed it.

Day Four 12/30/03

We got an early wake up call, and jumped on the bus to take a full-day excursion to Stratford upon Avon. But first we stopped at Warwick Castle. Which was one of the highlights of the trip/ We went into the Dungeon and Torture chamber. We then walked through the living chamber. Then we went into the ghost tower which in my opinion was pretty scary. http://www.warwick-castle.co.uk/castle/ghost_tower.asp Is the story. We then went to Stratford we saw Mary Arden’s house. There they had a falcon display. They had a beautiful owl named Angus. We all get to feed and hold him. He was sooooooo sweet. Then we went to the Trinity Cathedral where Shakessphere was buried. We then are tea and scones at a little restaurant. We walked around and shopped and then ate dinner at the Moat Inn.. We rode back on the bus, pretty much everyone played BS, and goofed off singing the Price is Right Song.

Day Five 12/31/03

When we got up, we jumped on the bus and rode to Cambridge. The bus parked along the Backs (backside of all the colleges), We walked around to Cambridge. First, Lucille showed us the American Eagle Pub ( where we would eat lunch) We saw Cambridge, Kings, and the Trinity Quad. This is the day, when we actually shopped. We ate at the eagle pub, which was interesting, it was decorated with WW2 America stuff. We shopped a little. Went to the store FCUK, and to the market.

Made a call from the phone booth, which stank. We got home around 2, and we rushed to the hotel desk, And had the hotel get us cheap Lez Mis tickets. Lucille didn’t want us to go because it was New Years, and she was afraid we’d be trampled. While getting get back on the tube. So we negotiated and took a round about route. The theater was all decked with a life size picture of the poster. The play was fantastic. Guys flirted with us at the tube station, callingu se “beautiful american ladies.” When we got back, we watched fireworks from our hotel room, and went to sleep. I have to mention that this was the night i discovered they had wine in the vending machines.

DAY 6 01/01/04

We got up really early. We were so exhausted after a night of being up really late. We first jumped on the tube and went to West Minister Abby, and St. Paul’s. I really really loved Westminister, it just felt so royal. So much history had taken place here.

I was tired and hadn’t taken meds in awhile and was feeling shaky so I went back to sleep it off. The night was Phantom of the Opera.

Day 7 01/02/04

We went to Canterbury. Which was lovely. We went to a lazor and sound show of the Canterbury tales. We shopped and saw the sights, and saw the Canterbuy Cathedral. Which was so pretty. And wasn’t destroyed in King Henry’s fire. Then we went home and it was time to pack.

Day 8 01/03/04

We got up early and coached to the airport. The plane ride was 9 hrs, and not as fun as the first. I slept through both lunch and dinner¸ and woke up extremely hungry. We went through customs and found out we had a long wait. I immediately went to get food. And a magazine, by that Time we had been up 22 hrs, and I feel asleep on the gate floor. On the plane I slept from take off to landing. I hugged the boys and headed home. I was sad to be home and knew I would miss the guys I met, and even the hotel bed