My
first flying adventure was definitely an adventure. The plane we took from
rapid to Chicago had 3 seats per row so I ended up with a window seat. I didn’t
have too much of a problem with take-off, but I could tell from that that I was
not going to like landing and I was right about that. I hate descending. It
makes me nauseous so that was a fun time but we landed just fine and were
actually a few minutes earlier than we were supposed to be. We made our way
through Chicago’s airport and waited for our next flight. This plane was much
bigger and had seven seats in each row. Lucky me, I ended up dead center. This
sucked. I really wanted to be able to watch out the window especially since we
flew into a sunrise and flew over Ireland, but oh well. I spent most of this
flight watching movies. I thought I would be able to sleep a lot easier than I
actually did so that made for a long day. I think I slept for less than an hour
total. We got into London at about 8 a.m. We got to make our own special line
for customs and everything from there on went smoothly.
We then
met with our ISA leaders. Maria, Thomas, and I’m not 100% sure of the other
girl’s name but I think it was also Maria. We then traveled to Windsor to see
the castle. It worked out well and we actually ended up being there during the
changing of the guards which is only a big event once a day so that was pretty
cool. We then had the option of touring the castle which I chose to do. It was
pretty cool and is where many royal families have lived. There was a room with
swords and guns and such decorating the walls, but it was not just one gun here
or there, it was many of the same weapon in a cool pattern. There were also
rooms that have been rebuilt since there was a fire at the castle on November
20, 1992. That is the day I was born so it interested me that something so
significant happened here.
After
the castle, I had some free time to kill so I wandered the streets of Windsor
and looked for a place to enjoy my first foreign meal. I ended up getting a delicious
Spanish Chicken and Vegetable dish at a Tapas restaurant I found. We were also
given an option of going to see Eton School. This is a highly prestigious
school for boys ages 12-18. Both current princes attended school there, as well
as the Prime Minister, and several famous celebrities, including Tom Hiddleston
and Hugh Laurie. Unfortunately, we were
not able to go inside the school because they are not on break, but that meant
we were able to see the boys walking around in their suits and dress robes. I
swear some of them could have come straight out of a Harry Potter movie.
We
finally then made it to our hotel, the Royal National Hotel. There are 3 people
in my room and we each have our own bed, which I am greatly looking forward to
climbing into later. I wanted to sleep as soon as we got there, but the
teachers wanted to show us around Russell Square, which did prove to be useful.
I ate a local pub with some friends, and had my first legal drink!! It was a
strawberry and lime cider and was okay, but I’m not a huge fan of beers or
ciders and it had that beer-y taste, if you know what I mean. But it was
probably one of the best ciders I have ever had, so that was a plus. We then
went to the store to get some basic stuff we didn’t pack with us, such as
shampoo and conditioner. Overall, it has been quite an exciting day. Tomorrow,
we are off to the Magistrate’s Criminal Court but that will be over by about 1
in the afternoon so who knows what else the day could hold!
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