Day Twelve

Day twelve was another one of my favorite days, but it is also quite a blurry one. By the end of the day, I was so delirious with exhaustion that I couldn't remember a lot of it. I'm going to try and recall as much as I can, though!

I slept very well because our beds were amazing! I took a few pictures of the hotel room, but all after we made a mess of it, and I can't locate them on this computer, so a loss.

We started our day with a walk to the tube, the part of the London train system that is mostly above ground. It was about a fifteen minute trek through the city and road construction. It was a very pleasant day, though, and the walk was equally so. Because our group was so large, we had to wait for the "Walk" street signal to pop up twice to get our whole group across.

We arrived at our train with perfect timing, courtesy of our wonderful delegation manager. We didn't have to wait for more than ten minutes. We each grabbed a train buddy, so we could keep track of each other. Mine was a girl named Crosby, and we spent a lot of the day together.

A train going through the station.

We rode the train got on a few more trains like this, and then we hit the Underground station, where we rode for about thirty minutes on several different trains. It was a little difficult keeping track of everyone, and making sure they all got on the same train. Sometimes we didn't succeed, and some people got left behind! In the event of that happening, we would just wait at the boarding station until the next train with our buddies arrived. The system is so efficient, that we don't have to wait very long for each train. London, I must say, has a much more efficient train system that Washington D.C. At least in my experience.

And so we arrived where we were meeting with a former member of parliament. I can't remember the building or the street, because I was in Sheep Mode. But I remember it was a rich district that . . . had to do with COLLEGES. I'm not going to say more because I'll sound like an idiot. But anyway, we went in a building, up several flights of stairs, and into the the meeting room.

I was expecting that we would be the only delegation there, but there were tons of delegations. Texas was the majority population, but there were several others.

Our meeting was about an hour and forty-five minutes long, and our MP talked about how he got his position, what his position entails, and how the government works. It was very fascinating. I was surprised to learn how chaotic parliament meetings are. Ideas and suggestions are thrown around rapidly from any member that has some, and yet it is somehow contained with strict rules of propriety and rituals. I doubt I would be able to learn how it works in an hour and a half. No pictures, because somehow I thought that would be rude.

We went to lunch at Medieval Banquet (that's its actual name), complete with its own King Henry VIII! They had gowns that you could try on, but I decided not to. Surprisingly, it was the guys that actually tried stuff on. We had a sit down with Henry, who had decided to take a break from his grave and talk to us humble folk. It wasn't an actor or anything. Seriously.

Looking slightly creepy in the natural, purple, medieval glow.

Some of the building.

We went to the Tower of London next! We grabbed a few trains and walked the rest, and then we were finally there. I never actually knew what the place looked like, and when I saw it, it wasn't what I was expecting. It was a hodgepodge of different structures, a beautiful, but irregular hodgepodge. It has had add ons, things removed, things remodeled, and so it was very large. It was impossible to take a picture of the whole thing at once.

Tower entrance.

We were all sent off, with buddies of course, to explore on our own. My group was the smallest. It was just me and Crosby, but that meant that we could do what we wanted on our own time, really, so it was nice.

We saw a lot of really cool things. One of my favorites was the exhibit of the suits of armor worn by the kings through the ages. It was interesting to see the differences in style as time went on. We also so reconstructions of the horses that the kings rode.

King Edward VI's armor. He was a child king.

This particular horse stared through my soul and petrified me with its unusual smile.

Time flew by, and we soon only had thirty minutes left. I suggested going to see the crown jewels. Crosby, being ever practical, said that with the line, we might not get through in time.

"Nah," I said, with a wave of my hand, "we have plenty of time."

So we hopped in line. It was very, very slow going through the building. You didn't even get to see the jewels at the beginning, just a walk through video presentation that took fifteen minutes to get through. By the time we were out of there, we had 2 minutes to get back! We didn't get to see the jewels for more than thirty seconds, but they were gorgeous. I don't regret it, and I'm glad that we were in a short line, or else we would have never gotten out of there.

I had a blast there. It was full of history, and there was so much to see and do, that I couldn't name it all.

Next to the River Thames with Daisy and Luke.

China town was interesting. You walk five feet, and then all of a sudden everything changes, and you are in a totally different area.

 Guess what kind of food we had for dinner!

It's Chinese! I bet you guessed wrong, eh, eh?

When we got inside, there was a wedding ceremony going on, which I found very odd, but it was really sweet, too. The couple was lovely. We headed upstairs and got our food. I had the best sweet and sour chicken ever! I want ALL of the chicken! I want some right now...Mid dinner, I went into the bathroom and changed into my dress. We were going to see a play, baby!

The play was Million Dollar Quartet, a long walk from China Town, indeed. I had changed my shoes from tennis shoes to five dollar flats. I forgot to bring my comfortable dress shoes, and so I had to buy mine at a French supermarket! They went with my dress, though, polka dots and all.

The play was really, really, good. It had the best Johnny Cash and Elvis impersonators. The music was fantastic. Mid way through, they started singing "Down By the Riverside", and I started crying a little because it's a song that we sing a lot back home. Kind of uncanny, huh?

It was great, but when we got out I was so tired I could have sleep walked. By the time we got on the train, I was delirious. I started to babble. I put a flower hair clip in my hair (like an actual, 3-d, large flower clip) sideways on my head, and I turned to my seat mate/friend and said, "Do I look pretty?"

"Yes, yes, Esther. You look pretty."

I turned to my delegation LEADER and said.

"Kathy!"

And Kathy said, "Hi Esther! Are you tired?"

"Oh yes, very very tired. DO I LOOK PRETTY?"

"You look very pretty Esther."

Such good people. My friends carried me some of the way, like I was a drunkard. It was a lot of fun, though. As soon as I got to the hotel, I was out like a light. And that was my day!

DAY ELEVEN:

I wrote in my journal,

I slept like a rock last night; like a rock that developed human needs and decided it needed to sleep.

I need to work on my similes. Anyway, today was the day that I would say goodbye to UKSA. A very sad moment, because I think UKSA was my favorite part. It was a great bonding and learning experience, and I will remember it forever. One bad thing that did happen was a real shocker, though. I unloaded my suitcase from their storage room, and to my up most horror, the wheel had broken off! The people that had handled it had snapped it off on accident, and they even put the broken wheel in my suitcase for some twisted memento. Well, there was no way that I could fix the wheel, or afford a new suitcase, so I was stuck with carrying a forty pound black monster around for the rest of the week. Not fun, but at least I had a suitcase!

We said goodbye to our instructors, a sad moment indeed. I will especially miss Freddy, the adorable one who was willing to kick himself in the butt for 50 pence if he was "in the mood".

We had a very long walk uphill to our ferry. I would rather not relive that, because, well, it was very hard. I was so thankful by the time I got to the ferry. One male delegate carried my suitcase to the storage room. I love men with their arm muscles and their chivalry . . . of course, that kind of thing happened twice in the trip.

The ferry ride was about an hour. I occupied my time by reading Water for Elephants. It was pretty good. I might write a review about it someday in my other, much less updated, blog. We landed, hopped on our bus, and headed to London! London is my favorite city that I have visited. It's smaller than I thought it was, but it's really cool.

Parliament building!

We went to the Imperial War Museum.

It was so interesting! Very, very informative, and really big. Like all others, I didn't get to stay and look at all I wanted, but what I did see was very cool. There was one exhibit dedicated to the life of children during WWII, and it was a real eye-opener. One fact I found interesting was that children were given the biggest portions during the war. They were given meat and vegetables to promote growth. Grains were not recommended because they were harder to digest, and were only given as supplements. I would really like to visit the place again and see what I missed.

Next up, London Eye! I think it's one of those things that everyone wants to do, and it was so amazing! The line didn't take long at all, due to our P2P privileges, but I think that it would have gone fast anyway because the people working the lines are efficient and the capsules are massive.

London Eye from a distance.

We got into the capsules in no time, and we were soon enjoying the wonderful view.

Me in the capsule.

Shortly after this picture was taken, someone said, "Esther, you are so funny!" And I was like, eh? And she said that she thought it was cute how I always smiled so wide. I don't even notice that I smile so wide.

Me and my gal pals!

We got to the ground too soon! Although the ride was about thirty minutes long. The London Eye is the largest Ferris wheel in the world after all!
We had dinner at a fancy pizza place. The food was delicious, but I could have eaten even more! It started to rain as we left for our bus, and I forgot my rain gear. I got wet, but it was also really fun walking in the rain.
Our hotel was a Hilton, and it was wonderful! My roommate and I got a whole room to ourselves, and the beds were big and comfy, and the bathroom was spacious and clean. We were so excited that we opened up a bottle of water as a toast to our happiness. Shortly after drinking the water, a girl came into our room and pointed out that the water was 4.99 . . . Huzzah.

Another great day.

DAY 8

DAY 8

Today would go down as the most emotional day of the trip -- at least for me. I can't speak for my other delegation members, of course.

I woke up sleepy because we had to get up at 5:15 or so in order to get ready in time for breakfast. There was another delegation coming to eat right after us, so we had to eat and clear out. Breakfast was almost warm, with slices of ham and fresh milk and scrambled eggs. I had a really bad experience with scrambled eggs somewhere along Europe, and after that they all tasted nasty, so I avoided them like anyone would avoid a toxic egg. I had a ham sandwich, but had to scarf it down too quickly because I had to go upstairs and grab my suitcase. Since we weren't allowed to use the elevator, I dragged down my suitcase five flights. Better than the drag upstairs yesterday!

We hopped on the bus. I was excited, for today, but also wary. Today was going to focus on D-Day, and so I knew I was going to weep.

 Grey clouds knit closely together, and rain began to sprinkle us as we stepped off of our bus. I am glad that I took precautions and brought my rain gear, or my fun would have been "dampened". (HAHAAHAHAA) We walked to a cliff side where Germans had been encamped on D-Day, about twenty miles from Omaha beach. Destroyed and ruined bunkers littered the area, along with ones that were still in fine condition. We saw turrets and fox holes and a stand where a massive gun would have stood, being able to shoot over 5 miles if I rememeber correctly.

The spike in the center is where a giant gun would have been.

We toured a bunker, which was quite interesting indeed. We learned that bunkers were practically invicible structures, and the only way to destroy them was to blow them up from the inside. An example of this stood not far away, where a massive stone more than ten feet tall stood many, many yards where it was originally before the bunker it was a part of blew up.

A bunker intact.

A destroyed bunker.

We also saw the cliffs that American soldiers scaled on their way to capture the German base.

We went to Omaha beach shortly after that, where I filled a bag (that was previously filled with delicious fruit snacks) with sand. We didn't stay long, since a delegation was coming for a ceremony.

We went to the Normandy American Memorial Cemetery next. It was a great experience, but I really don't want to tap into the emotions that require me to write about it. It's just too sad. I'll just be weak and take it from my journal.

The rain was pouring by the time we got on the bus, and it still was as we arrived at the cemetery. I think it's kind of symbolic that it was raining. I didn't know beforehand, but we were doing a memorial service for our fallen troops. We stood in a line and recited the national anthem. Some were chosen to place a wreath on the monument that stood overlooking the graves. When I stood there singing, I was pummelled with sadness, but with pride, too.  The tears didn't hit until we walked the cemetery. I just wanted to sit in the rain and cry my eyes out.

I remember that my voice was strained when I sang, and afterwords I just stayed silent. If I talked I would have burst into tears. It is truly something to stand before those who have given their lives for you, indirectly or not.

We went to Caen's memorial museum after that. It was fantastically informative! And of course, I cried here too, but not as badly. I wish I could have stayed in each exhibit longer, but my fellow delegates blazed through each room so fast I could barely keep up! It was like that with all the museums I went to, but at least I got a taste of them.

Standing in the Caen's memorial museum

We set off for our ferry to England! While we were at the building where the bus picked us up for the ferry, I had time to relax. I played some games with my friends and had a really good time. Then we boarded our pick-up bus to the ferry. It was HUGE! Massive, gigantic.

We had a quick orientation about the place, and then were sent to our rooms. Because we were welcome guests, the ferry was going to hold a private disco just of us. I'm sure it would have been fun, but I decided not to go. We were only going to get five hours sleep, and if I had gone it would have been cut down to four. Instead, I went to my room. One of my friends stayed behind too, so I wasn't alone. I put on my PJs and let the ocean lull me to sleep.

Getting ready for sleep!