Wednesday, June 2, 2010

02 June 2010

The Lovely Professors Parkhouse and Wolfe All of us as a group after Oliver.




Today was the very last day of our trip in the UK. So today was a free day for all of us, but this evening we all went to a show at Covent Gardens, Oliver. Before that, we went to dinner at Henry's, a restaurant a five minute walk from the theatre. We all got dressed to the 'nine's', and enjoyed our meal at Henry's. We all ate either steak, fish and chips, or pasta. The dinner was absolutely scrumptous, and everyone loved it. All of us were full afterward. Just when we all thought we couldn't eat anymore, we all had a desert. It was vanilla ice cream and a cake smothered in caramel! Yummy! Being that we were slightly late to dinner, we all had to rush to get to the theatre. Luckily, it was only five minutes away and we all made it in time and were seated in the Grand Circle. The musical was excellent. Marjorie and Cassie were next to me and they were laughing the whole time and afterward said that they greatly enjoyed the play. Listening to everyone after the show, they were all quoting it and laughing. Right after the musical, we took the group photo and headed back toward Covent Garden tube station for the last time to take the tube to Bakerloo back to Regents. Tomorrow, we leave early for Regents to go back to the US. We all had a spectacular time on this trip and loved the people we were around. The last three weeks have been special, unique and exciting for all of us.
Best of Luck to the UK trip 2010 students!

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

01 June 2010

It was a sad day today because it was the last planned trip with Professor Wolfe and Professor Parkhouse. Unfortunately, it was a slightly yucky day with some rain and a little cold. However, we all made the best of it. We left a little later and took the tube to Lamberth North to the Imperial War Museum. Once we walked in, we were immediately slammed with history. There were war planes hanging from the ceiling, war tanks on the ground, and there was a large periscope that was used in WW I to see incoming planes. It didn't work too well today because there was cloud cover, but according to Professor Parkhouse, if you look into it then you can see Hyde Park from where we were. Before we were let loose Professor Parkhouse wanted to show us two exhibits. First we went to Trench Exhibit, which was made in the way the soldiers of WW I would have lived in the trenches. It was very heart-wrenching to think that men had to live in those conditions and maybe not return because they died in battle. It was quite an experience for all of us to have seen that exhibit. After that exhibit, Professor Parkhouse took us to the Bomb Shelter exhibit which was even more intense then the Trench exhibit. It was a realistic interpretation of what life was like in the shelters during the war. First we sat on benches and listened to recording of a man who was in a bomb shelter and dialogue. We heard the bomb 'dropping' and at one moment the bench moved, which startled us all. After a few minutes, we walked through an exhibit which was a representation of what the destruction of the streets looked like. It was very hard to see such things and imagine what it was actually like for the people of London to endure. Those exhibits were very touching and showed us all what people endured the war and the hardships they had to go through. Once we all went through those exhibits, we were able to go about as we pleased. One exhibit that I went through was the Holocaust Exhibit. Going through that exhibit was very hard because there was so much death surrounding the history. Seeing all of the people affected and all of the people involved in the deaths of millions of people was hard to see. That was the last of the exhibits that we saw today. It was a good day at the Imperial War museum, and I hope to go back and see that all again. Today is also the day that we all went with Professor Wolfe to have tea at the Cavendish in London. It was a short walk from the tub station and the Cavendish was a gorgeous establishment. Professor Wolfe had ordered us all little tea sandwiches and delicious crumpets. We also chose the different kinds of tea that we wanted. It was delicious, and we all had a good time together. Once we were all done with our tea, we were all stuffed. Finally, we said goodbye to the Cavendish and were allowed to go our own way. There was a choice of Professor Wolfe showing us where Harrods was or we could go back to Regents. Tomorrow is a free day but I will be reporting on the events of tomorrow. Later on in the day we are all going to dinner and seeing a show.

Until tomorrow, we shall see whats in store....