This is Leigh and I will try and bring you up-to-date before I need to join the group. It has been a busy time, of course.
In London we had a great guide named Prudy, who cracked a lot of jokes and told us some history. We saw (in no particular order) The Tower of London, the Tower Bridge, Westminister Abbey, Big Ben (you know it's the bell, not the tower, of course...so we really didn't "see" Big Ben), had a cruise on the Thames in the rain, ate with King Henry VIII, walked, and walked, and walked, and saw "Wicked". After the play we took the tube back to our hotel and it was an interesting experience for most of the students. We stayed in our small groups and counted heads, and most of didn't sit down for fear of not getting off at the right stop. Most of the students loved the big city and did very well getting around. We now have an assortment of new jackets, scarfs, etc.
When we went to see the Member of Parliment our group sat in the front row and looked impressive in their long sleeve blue delegation shirts. They were very attentive, asked lots of good questions, and made the leaders proud. The MP now has a matching polo to remember us by.
We travelled to the countryside and Warwick Castle. The students wandered around first and got some great photos from the tower. There were also recreated rooms for 2 periods of history that were important in the history of the castle...medieval times and fighting for the king and the 1890s with the Warwick family and the family of Winston Churchill. They wax figures in the rooms made the history come alive. When the Castle closed to the general public there we about 200 PTP students left. We were met by the kings' knights who taught the students fighting methods of the day, including archery, sword fighting, and something with long sticks and jabbing at each other's midsections. We ate chicken and jacket potatos in the rain. After this long day we finally arrived at the hotel at 11:00.
We left this morning at 8:30 and travelled to Chester, on the Wales border. This is a charming Roman/Tutor town with tons of shops and lots of history. Two Roman legion guards in full, authentic garb took the students on a tour of the town and they learned all about the history of the Romans in this area. After lunch we will do some independent shopping and the students will have a "supermarket sweep" to buy tomorrow's lunch. Then we travel into Wales to our upscale youth hostel. Tomorrow the students will have their full-on experience and to the repelling down the castle wall. On to Dublin by ferry the next day.
All the students are well, behaving themselves, getting to know each other and having a great time. Will write again when we can.
The leaders...Leigh, John, Brenda, and Doug
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Having blogged during other trips, I've been anxiously waiting for one of Leigh's detail-packed updates. Thanks Leigh!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great news! We have been waiting with baited breath here in the States.
ReplyDeleteThanks Leigh,John,Brenda and Doug!
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you all are having a BLAST! Thanks for being there for are kids...we love the blog!
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ReplyDeleteThanks for the update, Note to all ATT calling card users. There are three access numbers to use depending on the local carrier. they are C&W 0-500-89-0011, British Telecom 0-800-89-0011 and NTL 0-800-013-0011. That is why the cards may not be working. Calling from Ireland uses only one, 1-800-550-000. ATT fails to tell you about that. Have Fun!!!
ReplyDeletehave any of the children tried calling home ??
ReplyDeleteWe are afraid that we have missed calls.
Always look forward to the blogs and hearing how things are going.. lots of people are asking how everything is going for all of you. Good luck on the repelling!
ReplyDeletethank you so much for the update. Sounds like so much fun and really fast -paced.
ReplyDeleteI did receive a message on facebook- and was also informed that the phone was not working, wondering now if there is a problem using the international phone cards..
we are very grateful to all of you , thank you again
Sounds like everything is going great and the kids are in good hands !
ReplyDeleteAccording to a rep at AT&T (before the trip) as long as the access codes were used the phone cards would work fine. However, the codes would not work from all telephones.New World telephones would need to be used.
Jessica called from London. Her Verizon card evidently works. Am waiting to hear from her again. She was supposed to meet a couple of our cousins in Chester. Hope she got to see them.
ReplyDeletethought I'd restate my comment - trip sounds full of energy and excitement. thanks to all.
ReplyDeletePS the 5:15 and 6 AM cycle class say Hey to Gabrielle Bradshaw.
Thanks for all of the phone card info.. the online info also gives the access number that steve and diane posted for Ireland. Hope the kids get it all straightened out.
ReplyDeleteI am so excited to read a new entry. Thanks for taking time to write so we can follow your incredible journey!
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