Day 1
After traveling for what seemed like days. We all finally safely made it to London. We went through some crazy turbulence, and some crowded underground rides but yes, we are here.
For our first day Dr. J set up a tour of Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, London Eye, and also the changing of the guard. We all got downstairs ready to go (on time, might I add) with excited expressions on all of our faces. Eager to see the sights we made our way to the underground and got off at Westminster. Right when we came above ground right in front of us was the breath taking Elizabeth Tower (AKA Big Ben). I was so eager to see this amazing iconic tower because I had previously presented to the class about Big Ben and became personally invested.
After we all took pictures we made our way to Westminster Abbey. We met with our Tour guide Sean (who was absolutely phenomenal) and began our tour. What an incredibly space Westminster Abbey is. The church was absolutely overflowing with history. From poets corner, to all the kings and queens tombs, to the legendary services held there the place was remarkable. One of my favorite things I learned about Westminster was about the coronation chair. Behind a panel of glass was the chair every king and queen has sat in for their coronation. However if you looked at the back panel of the chair there are initials of school boys. This is because the chair used to be placed in a detention room at the boys secondary school across the way. During their detention they would etch their initials into the back! Crazy!
Another thing I loved about Westminster was that Charles Darwin and Sir Isaac Newton are said to be buried there. I was amazed that men of that scientific stature were buried in a church. I thought that was so intriguing. We also went by the poet’s corner that carried the bodies of Charles Darwin, and Sir Lawerence Olivier.
The building overall was stunning. The architecture inside and out was rich in English Tudor Style
After Westminster was Buckingham palace, which was cool. It reminded me a lot of Hurst castle. It was very interesting to walk through and listen to the audio tours. My favorite sections of the house were probably the art collections kings and queens have collected over time.
Finally we made it to the London Eye. It was a great sight all the way at the top of the observation wheel.
After a long, but incredible day of sight seeing a group of us went to a small interactive play/theme park called The London Dungeoun. It was scary but actually really fun! We learned a lot about some of the infamous dark times London has had. Such as The plague and Jack the Ripper. I don’t do well with scary at all, but when you’re with an awesome group of friends you can’t help but have fun in laugh!
Well, after a 12 hour first day we made our way back to the hotel. Such an amazing first day, I absolutely could not be more excited to see what this city has to show!
