Days 1 and 2: Home to London, England

Days 1 and 2        6/23/11 and 6/24/11

I arrived a little more than two hours early at the airport for our 3:30 flight to Detroit and discovered I was almost the last one there. The seven members going with me to London were:

At the Airport

Janey Nurnberger         JuneTruswell                  Sharon  Blanchard       Ashley Devries

Lacey Nurnberger        Steve Jorgensen          

Betsy Simpson                    



Brien, Betsy, and Steven in the back row

We left Grand Rapids for a pleasant 30 minute flight to Detroit Metro Airport. Our flight left on time from Detroit and we were off to England. Everyone but June had the very back seat on the plane, which was unique. We played games, watched movies and tried to sleep in preparation for the next day.   

We got to London on time at about 7:40 am local time. The flight was 7 hours and 3 minutes. Sadly, we spent about an hour and a half in line to get our passports processed. The fellow who helped us get to the back of the line (about 3 “blocks”) said budget cuts were to blame as well as not handling the arrival schedule very well. We met up with a group form Texas after we got through the line. They had 12 people in their group.

An EF representative took us out of the terminal and we met Chris Mulhorn, our tour director. He had been with EF about 16 years and is from England.

We all got on the bus with our bags and started heading to London. He gave us a nice welcome and pointed out a few things. My group did very well to try and stay awake to hear it. The ride was long with plenty of stop lights that took a couple of minutes to complete. I was nodding off and I had managed to get some sleep on the plane.

We arrived at our hotel, the Premier Inn at the Docklands. All rooms except 3 were ready so we took a half hour to move in and freshen up. Chris took us to the nearest railroad station from the hotel and we headed back into town. We connected at Tower Hill and took the metro tube to the station Embankment. We got out and had a half hour to walk around, getting something to eat and exchange money. I used my credit card and got 100 pounds. The exchange rate was £100=$160.04.

We continued our walking tour of London. We got the brief history of Charing Cross. It is one of many cross-themed statues King Edward I as a memorial to his wife, Eleanor.

Charing Cross

We visited Trafalgar Square and got a history lesson on how the war at the battle of Trafalgar in Spain resulted in the death of Lord Admiral Horatio Nelson. They put his body in a cask of alcoholic drink to help preserve his body. Some legends say the sailors would take some of the alcoholic drink and say they were drinking to Lord Nelson's health.

Charles I at Trafalgar Square

Countdown to the Olympics

Ashley and Betsy at Trafalgar Square

We also saw one of the original sites of a Charing Cross, now replaced with a statue of Charles I on a horse in Trafalgar square. Distances in London are measure from their distance from this statue.

We walked to where our fish and chips meal was. It was a restaurant called Mr. Fish. We had cod and french fries. The restaurant made sure that there was ketchup to be had. We came back out of the restaurant and it had cooled down. The group was pretty tired and so most decided to go back.

The other groups traveling with us were from Kansas (a big group of high school kids and a smaller group of college kids). I did bed check at 8:00 pm and the students were ready for bed.

Day 3: London, England

Day 3:   London, England    6/25/11

We all had a good night's sleep, averaging about 8 hours. For breakfast we had the choice of a regular continental breakfast or pay 2.75 pounds  more and getting the hot foods (eggs, sausage, etc.)  We got on our 9:00 bus and met David at Tower Gate. He was our guide and took us around town and gave us information. He had a nice voice and had worked for the BBC news and television station. Some facts about London he gave:

•         There are new buildings built next to old buildings because the new buildings were built on the site where the Germans bombed the old buildings.

•         London was part of the Roman Empire, but when the German tribes (Anglo and Saxon) drove them away, the language took root and would start to become English.

•         The Welsh were originally in the London area before being driven out by the Anglo-Saxons or Romans.

•         Once the English drove out the Anglo-Saxons, the crown was born.

•         Kensington is a very rich area where you have to have ridiculous money in order to live.

•         The department store Harrods was owned by the Fayad family, whose son died with Princess Di in Paris. The family thought that the British and French were secretly involved with it and sold the business.

•         Oliver Cromwell challenged the King and there was a revolution which ended in the King losing his head. Years later, the Monarch was invited back to help settle the political situations between the politicians, starting the fact that the king is just a figurehead in the government.

•         The British have “fierce” gun laws, making it very difficult to own a gun. There were only 8 incidents last year  when a gun was fired by police. I guess all the radical right to bear arms people went to the US to settle.

We got to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. The weather clouded up., but it did not dampen the ceremony. David said the parade during the first part was the most exciting and that after it was forty minutes of boredom, so we didn't stay for the whole thing.

Changing of the Guard

Horses at the Changing of the Guard

We were dropped off at St. Paul's Cathedral and walked to the place we had lunch. The menu included cottage pie, beans and carrots, and a crumble for dessert. A cottage pie is hamburger with a topping of potatoes (shaped to look like the top of the pie crust) sprinkled with melted cheese. Sheppard pie would have included lamb. It was a nice cultural meal.

We left the restaurant to go to the Tower of London. The group was there for at least an hour and a half, looking at the grounds and some standing in line for the crown jewels. I personally took the Beefeater's tour and got some interesting things out of it.

•         There is a changing of the guard type ceremony at the tower as it is also a royal residence. I got to see it, but from a distance. A couple of Yeoman Regents (Beefeaters) and Bucking ham Palace guards did a little ceremony.

•         The moat at the tower was designed to be flushed out by the Thames river from excrement and waste that was dropped into it. The problem was that the moat was built too deep and the waste went to the bottom, which was beyond the reach of the new water. So in effect, there was a cesspool moat.

•         A possible reason why the Yeoman Regents got the name beefeaters was that during their tenure as guards, they were fed better than the typical Londoner. The poor people  were barely fed while the guards had better food from the King's table and resources. Since the Yeoman Regents were hardier than the locals, they mocked them by calling them beefeaters. 

The Tower of London

Ashley, Betsy, a fellow from Texas named Jeremy, and I  then took the tube to Knightsbridge and started our shopping spree. Our route included going up the east side of Hyde Park where we heard a Saturday concert in the midst of our shopping.  We ate at Pizza Hut and compared it to the states. I noticed that their large pizza only go up to 14 inches (at 13.95 pounds sterling) and they had different types of pizza on their menu. I'm sure it is to reflect the local's taste. We ordered a double pepperoni and a large margarita (cheese) pizza. The unlimited Pepsi and 7-Up was a welcome surprise.

We finished our shopping and bought post cards and stamps. At 8:30 we left for the hotel going through Canning Town. We found out that the train station was closed for the weekend and two gals helped us figure out that we had to take buses to get back to our stop, Royal Regent.

We got back after 9:00 pm and the others who went to the Jack the Ripper tour came back a half hour later. June said one of the highlights was seeing one of the streets that looked like Diagon Alley from the Harry Potter books. The kids had fun and went to bed  past  11:00. It looks like they are adjusting well to the time change so far.

Day 4: London, England

Day 4   London, England    6/26/11

 

The groups split up for the day. Five of us got up to go to Canterbury and Dover (the optional). The other three of us went shopping in London and visited the museum.

 

The Canterbury/Dover group traveled to Canterbury cathedral, where the archbishop of Canterbury is headquartered.  The guide, Stewart, gave some  history which included Thomas Beckett. King Henry the eighth made him the archbishop, who is the head of the Anglican church in England. He had to answer to the king. Beckett took his job seriously and took God's side over what the king wanted in certain situations. Unfortunately, he was murdered in that church quite gruesomely. Some of the members attended church there, as it was a Sunday. They even got to bring the sacraments up to the altar.

 

The town of Canterbury was quite quaint with cobblestone streets. It was quite folksy. The group stayed to explore for about two and a half hours.

 

Then they went  to Dover castle, which is the nearest point to France (about 22 miles). It was a natural defensive place that had a lighthouse that was first built by the Romans. Henry the second decided to impress the French by building a great castle. Later, King John (of Robin Hood legend) was at Dover and decided to build tunnels for hiding places in case of invasion. When Napoleon invaded, they hid in these tunnels and repelled them. Despite the government's desire to have Dover be used as a shipping post, it was used primarily for troops in both world wars.

 

The view of the town of Dover and the beach was great.

 

The museum/shopping group left the hotel around 10:00 and got to Trafalgar square a little after 11:00. We decided to go to the National Museum looking at the paintings there. Ashley is going to go into art and really enjoyed seeing the display. Betsy and I also enjoyed seeing how good the pictures were done and seeing some of the history behind it.

 

We had enough after an hour and a half and started exploring towards Piccadilly Circle.

It was very hot outside, definitely shorts weather. We really had good weather while we were in London. We found a place to eat called EAT. It is basically a “grab a sandwich and a drink” store, so we had a small meal. It felt good to be off our feet and inside.

 

Afterward, the girls discovered the store “The Sting” on Piccadilly Circle. They probably shopped for over an hour while Jeremy (from the Texas group) and I waited. The girls bought stuff and were quite happy.

 

Jeremy, Betsy, and Ashley at the bus stop

 

 

We knew we had to meet the rest of our group back at the restaurant that was close by, so we decided to see the Ripley's Believe it or Not museum. I paid my almost 19 pounds and managed to spend a few hours watching the displays that included:

 

•         bubble gum statues.

•         a Marilyn Monroe exhibit.

•         Torture pieces.

•         anything else Robert Ripley went around the world to obtain that was weird.

 

The tour finished with a mirror maze.

 

We spent the last hour before supper heading for our restaurant and buying souvenirs and such. We met the other group who was also shopping around. We ate at Bistro One and had another traditional English meal, bangers and mash, which is basically sausage and potatoes. Dessert was a banana cream pie like dessert with chocolate.

 

After the meal, I took some kids for a last minute trip to knock down some objectives. We went to the Hard Rock Cafe to look at presents and mementos The restaurant was not open, but we didn't care, we just wanted the mementos. Then we went to King's Cross station and tried to see 9¾ station to get our pictures by the Harry Potter cart that was bolted into the wall.

Betsy and Steve ready to go to Hogwarts  

 

Unfortunately, there was a lot of construction going on and it was moved to the front of the station. It was not the same as before as a wall almost covered with a cardboard brick wall and had the cart bolted into it. It certainly did not compare to the last one. The new station section should be much better.

 

We got back at about 9:30 and relaxed a little. We have an early wake up call at 5:00 am because we leave early to go to Paris via the Chunnel. We have to be ready to go by 6:00 as the train leaves around 8:30 or so.

Day 5: London, England to Paris, France

Day 5   London, England ---> Paris, France    6/27/11

The alarm went off at 5:00 am in anticipation of the group leaving by 6:00 am. The group did very well and we got out in good time. Even early in the morning, it took time for our bus to get through the traffic to go to St Pancras station.

We got off and went through control, leaving England. We waited about an hour and then boarded our Eurostar train, heading for Paris, France.

June and Sharon outside the Eurostar

The ladies inside the Eurostar

Everyone got in and managed to get their stuff on the train. We had a pleasant journey of a couple of hours or so and arrived in Paris, most of us sleeping in small intervals. We got out and went to our bus. The bus went through the traffic and headed for the outskirts of Paris to a town called Grigny. We stayed at the Best Hotel. The students got their rooms and were surprised at the differences between the hotel in England and the two star hotel they were in now.  They noticed that there was no air conditioning and the cleanliness was not at the same level as what they had seen before. We rested at the hotel for a couple of hours before going back to Paris to eat and see the Paris by night tour.

We got on the train at Grigny Central station and took the train towards Paris. Just like we did in London, we had to take a train to a place where the metro could take us the rest of the way into Paris.

We ate at a new spot called Hippopotamus. It looks like a new chain restaurant, as I have seen a couple of them in Paris. We had meat and potatoes and it was very well prepared. Easily the best meal we've had so far on the trip.

Afterward, we took the metro to see the Eiffel tower. It was a warm evening and the sky was at a good color to show off the tower. The crowd enjoyed it and we spent about half an hour taking pictures at the Trocodillo location. We walked down and got in line to group the tower. Everyone got tickets to up to the middle level, but you had to buy another ticket to go to the top.

   

The Eiffel Tower from Trocodillo

The group was suppose to meet at 11:00 pm but was late since it took awhile to go up to the top. Some people thought the time changed to meet was 11:30 and so by the time we had everyone, we were too late to do the Paris by night tour. We did get to see some of  it on the way home, but missed out on some other sites we would see later. The crowds were certainly throwing off our schedule. We got home late and everyone went to bed.

Day 6: Paris, France

Day 6,  Paris, France      6/28/11

I did not get a wake up call and almost missed the bus. (I found out later I didn't get a wake call because my room had no phone). I got ready quickly and had time for juice and a croissant before we headed back to Paris for out bus tour. The bad thing about being so far out of Paris  is the traffic. Even though we started out at 8:30 , it was almost an hour and a half before we could pick up our local guide in Paris.

She gave us a tour as the bus driver took us around Paris. She admitted that the Parisians are noted for complaining about everything, which was one of the reasons there were so many revolutions, strikes, and/or revolts. Other things that were noted:

•         Blocks of granite that formed the Bastille was used for making on of the many bridges in Paris.

•         Napoleon and Louis XIV were among the french rulers who would identify a building they commissioned with the initials at the top of the building.

•         The French got an obelisk in exchange with the Egyptians to help strengthen ties between the two countries. The obelisk looks nice at the Place de la Concorde, but the clock that was sent to Egypt didn't work.

Close to noon, I took Betsy, Jeremy, and Ashley from the Arc de Triomphe and went down the Champs d'Elysee shopping. The others went on to Versailles. Steve was lucky in that he got to  use someone else's ticket who had decided not to go. Another of our group (from Kansas) went to Montmartre and Sacred Heart church and did their own thing.

It was a very hot day, probably in the nineties. We walked down the Champs d'Elysee and stopped at stores in the hot sun. I didn't realize that some of the stores were mini malls, or places that had more than one store. Things were pricey, so we walked down to the Place de la Concorde metro station. We went to L'Opera and got out to look for a place to eat. The group decided on an Italian restaurant because it had air conditioning and the prices weren't too outrageous.

We recharged a little in the restaurant. Betsy got a calzone, I got a Niçoise salad (tuna, olives, artichokes, etc.) and other the other two got forms of pasta. We got back out and did some more shopping for an hour.

The group that went to Versailles was to be at Notre Dame cathedral at 3:30 and so that was the time we aimed to be there. We managed to work our way back to the Hotel de Ville, which is where Notre Dame was at. We got there at 4:45 and saw no sign of the group. There was a lot of people there so we got in line and went in. It was nice and dark and there were  plenty of people inside. We sat down in chairs for a few minutes to recharge before going on. We shopped until 5:00 pm and then worked our way back to the Place de Clichy, where the restaurant was. I gave the map to the kids and they figured out how to get there using the metro.

We met the other groups there and found out that they couldn't get into Versailles right away because of how late they were running. It is definitely the high season. They were able to see Versailles, but could not make the Notre Dame schedule, so they planned on doing it the next day. We had rice, green beans, and meat at our restaurant, Les  Places de Balcones. All of us hydrated with lots of water while we ate. The smart students even filled up their water bottles with the fresh water before leaving.

We went to the boat tour and I discovered it was at a new place by the Pont Neuf (the oldest bridge in Paris). It was still the same information we had heard before, but from a boat. The weather was cooler and it also made us a little sleepy.

 Janie and Lacey on the boat tour

Steven on the boat tour

Chris took us home via the subway train and out tired group retired for the night.

€100 = $142.60

Day 7: Paris, France

Day 7   Paris, France    6/29/11

We got up a little later as compared to yesterday and still had some breakfast before going to town. Some of the group went across the road to look for a bigger continental breakfast. We took off for the Louvre and it took about 45 minutes to an hour to get there. We spent two and a half hours looking around. It was very crowded, especially around the Mona Lisa, Venus De Milo, and Winged Victory. Something new I had not seen before was artists demonstrating how the painters actually painted the picture by copying certain paintings throughout the museum. The rest of my group was content so I explored a new wing of the Louvre, the top floor of the Richelieu wing. I have found that I enjoy the paintings quite a bit, marveling at how realistic some of them could get. I was also pleased that I could get 80% of the explanation on the cards next to the painting. I had not forgotten too much french.

After the Louvre, We went to Notre Dame and Chris gave a brief history of the church and an explanation of all the statues that decorated the front. Some of our group went in, while Betsy, Ashley, and Jeremy went shopping for some last minute souvenirs. We ate at Subway and I took advantage of the all you can drink Coke dispenser that was there as we ate out 31cm subs (we could have had a 15 cm sub also, but we were hungry).

Steve at Notre Dame

We met at the rendezvous point and then took our hour long trip by rail and metro to the hotel in Grigny. We got their at 4:15, 15 minutes late for our bus driver. We got our bags loaded and took off for Paris, at the Austerlitz railroad station. We arrived and kept our tuff on the bus as we had our last meal in Paris, flams. Flams have always been a big hit with the students, as they are like pizza. They consist of a think crust with different toppings. One of the main ones had a cheese/onion/ham combination, while the other had a mushrooms/onion mix. For dessert, the flam was either an apple slice or chocolate.

Betsy and Ashley enjoying flams

We got our stuff to the train station and ended up waiting for a few hours before getting on the train. We all bought water and snacks that would keep us for the night on the train. We loaded at 9:00 pm and the train left at 9:56 pm for Perpignion, France. We met other EF tour groups on the train too, as they were going on another tour that happened to be at the same time as ours. They were from the west coast, Washington, Oregon, and California. They had arrived in France three days earlier. I made sure the kids were okay  and then settled into the top bunk of my couchette.

Ashley, Betsy, June, and Sharon in the couchette

Day 8: France to Barcelona, Spain

Day 8   France ---> Barcelona Spain      6/30/11

For me, the train was not that comfortable. My height was about the maximum allowed in the couchette bed, so I slept fitfully in doses. A lot of our group members had a great sleep, enjoying the sway of the train throughout the night. We were all ready to get off the train at Perpignon, France by 7:00 am. It arrived on time at 7:24 am. We got the bags off in good fashion and then got on a bus to head to the Spanish border. Approximately a half hour later, we were across.

We stopped at a rest stop for breakfast, which was a croissant, orange juice (freshly squeezed in front of our eyes) and either coffee or hot chocolate. People could buy more if they wanted to. We got back on the bus and went another 2-3 hours to Barcelona. The group alternately dozed or looked out the window as we went.

Chris described briefly the Catalonia region as we were passing through it. He said that each  Spanish region kept a strong individual identity which made it hard to have a strong central government. We got to the hotel in Barcelona, the Catalonia Aragon.

We stowed our luggage and bags in the luggage room and went on a bus tour with our local guide Tony (Antonio). He took us to Park Guell and gave us a brief history.

Views from Park Guell

Architecture from Park Guell

More Park Guell

•         A developer  wanted to make it a place where rich people lived, combining the house with nature's natural surroundings. It was at the top of a hill that overlooked Barcelona and the sea. Gaudi helped design the park. Unfortunately, no one wanted to move up there, as it was a long way to town. There were also enough anarchists around that there would be an occasional uprising against the rich, so the rich didn't want to be where the  mob could get all of them.

•         Antoni Gaudi designed Park Guell in a modernistic way. Which means the use of nature, statues and such to make buildings blend in with nature.

•         It had its own water catching system, which was necessary for the long hot days and the rain which didn't happen too often during the summer.

Then we took the bus down to Barcelona's most famous landmark, the Sagrada Familia. Things had not changed too much for me since I was there seven years ago. There were still cranes and work was being done on it. Tony said that artist from around the world were coming in to work on it, making it a truly world church. In fact, he gave an example of an oriental artist coming and changing the carvings on the church a little, giving the kids more of a slanted eye look. The citizens didn't like it, but the church made their point that the church was an ever changing thing and was meant to be a world church for God.

              
                    La Sagrada Familia                                           Betsy at the Sagrada Familia

After pictures and buying some stuff, we got on the bus and saw things like where the Barcelona Olympics site was, famous residents in the city, and other interesting facts about the city. Unfortunately, a lot of us took little naps with the train trip the night before as well as the warm weather taking its toll on us.

We said our good byes to Tony and had a couple of hours to ourselves at Las Ramblas. We ate and did some shopping until 4:00 pm, then we took the subway back to our hotel and got in our rooms. We rested and relaxed and got cleaned up until our supper meal, which was at 8:30 pm. We had a buffet of spaghetti and meat (perhaps chicken) with sauce. Fish and potatoes could also have been had. Dessert was a type of tiramisu and a lemon type of pudding.(Lemon chiffon?)

Afterward, we went back to Las Ramblas and did some more sight seeing and shopping for an hour. We did pretty good, even getting some ice cream at the store. We got to bed at around midnight preparing for our last day with the other groups tomorrow.

€100 = $153.79 (3 euro commission)