Well...what a day! Our arrival day in London is one I'm sure our students will recall as a busy one! Most of the students hit the hay early last night...almost sleeping as they walked because they were so tired!
Our various flights "across the pond" went as well as one might expect. We did have some troubleshooting to do (some minor delays and one significant one for a couple of travelers) on the spot, but all of our students handled it quite well. I was VERY impressed with their patience and maturity as they waited long hours in lines and at checkpoints as we moved through the airports. Eventually, we all got our passports stamped with the UK's customs mark and were on our way.
We were unable to check into the hotel on arrival, as we expected, so we stashed our bags and headed from our hotel (near Wembley stadium) to the Imperial War Museum to view exhibits on Trench warfare in WWI, the Blitz, and the Holocaust, as well as many large artifacts from the world wars (tanks, planes, etc.). In order to do this, we were introduced to the Tube (London's subway or underground system). Hats off to our chaperones as we conquered the difficult task of getting 44 people on and off the trains and through line switches during busy traffic! (You can imagine the difficulty... as staying on too long or not getting on at the right time would create considerable havoc!).
By that point, many of our group were completely famished...as (due to delays and other hassles) many of our group got little for lunch and had last eaten breakfast on the plane (it was 4:30 PM!). Fatigue was a constant companion today as well, since many of us (including me) slept little during our overnight flight schedule and were up for nearly 48 hours straight.
We headed (via the Tube) into downtown London and had a traditionall (AND DELICIOUS) Fish & Chips dinner at Mr. Chips. After dinner, a contingent of our group headed back to the hotel for an early bedtime (many volunteered for this...due to extreme fatigue. We were waking up students who were falling asleep sitting AND standing in the Tube trains!). The EXTREMELY hardy among us continued for a 2 hour "Ghost Walk" (haunted tour of London's East End). Our guide was impressive...even if he was getting impatient with our zombie-like slowness and unresponsiveness by this point. Those who braved the walk were back to the hotel a little after 10:00 PM and more ready for shower and bed than they have ever been in their lives, I imagine.
We did early room checks around 10:30 (curfew at 11:30, by the way) and found all in their rooms, many already in bed. I doubt this evening will yield the same result as they are now well-rested.
Breakfast will be soon at 8:30 (it's 7:37 AM BST as I write this) and we'll be off for a bus tour of London's major sites. Highlights for the day ahead include the London Eye and Les Mis! I'll post pics as soon as I can, but for now know that all is well. We were much exhausted but hopefully on the recovery and ready for the day ahead!
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