Day One: It seems we have an Eye for travel...

The Heston Hyde Hotel is a new hotel that sits a good distance from downtown London.  It's interior is quite posh and the staff is super accommodating.  I've been told the water in the indoor pool is warm and the three separate rooms for massages look very inviting.  On a normal day, I would be happy to spend my first day of travel resting in this place.  We've been in the United Kingdom for about 14 hours and I've been at the Heston Hyde for about .5 of those.  We have gone non-stop today...and yesterday for that matter.

I thought I'd provide a quick recap for all of you at home, especially those parents who may not have heard from their kids (All of whom are doing well and are enjoying themselves as far as I can tell).  When we first met at Logan, I was super excited.  I know a bunch of the kids on this trip and they are wonderful.  There are also a lot of kids that I do not know and I am looking forward for this trip as a time to get to know them a bit.  I waited at the end of the line as we checked in to make sure there were no problems...and of course, we had one.  A little mishap with a single letter on a passport of one of our students.  At first, we feared she might not be allowed to come with us, but cooler heads prevailed and our crisis was averted.  All 48 of us cleared the TSA screening process and entered Terminal E.  I quickly approached the Iberian Air gate to see if I could connect with the other SHS Eurotrippers heading on their adventure.  I was successful and said another round of goodbyes.  I even grabbed a selfie with Mr. Valerio.

We boarded our flight on time and took our seats.  Take off was a breeze and we were on our way.  It was a fairly turbulent flight, but everyone seemed okay, even our first time flyers.  I decided to watch the movie Unbroken.  I had read the book and thought the movie was a pretty good representation of what happened.  For dinner, I chose the beef option (I have always been a risk taker) over the vegetarian.  The food was edible, lol.  It was airline Sheppard's Pie.  I looked all throughout the pie, but I am not sure I found any beef.  Echos of "Where's the beef" went ringing through my head until I go to dessert. It was an apple cinnamon cheese cake crumble thing and it was delicious.  It totally made up for the three toned mash of meat, potato, and vegetable that was pretending to be Sheppard's Pie.  I heard from those who ordered the pasta option that it was okay, but I also heard that Ms. Alongi (who suffers from a food allergy) was given a first class Filet Mignon as a replacement meal.  I guess being the group leader has its privileges.

Just before we began our descent.

We landed in London around 640 am (our time).  We made it through customs and retrieved our luggage.  Everything went smoothly, although we did have one traveler get a little nauseous after we landed.  David, our EF Tour Director was meeting for us and escorted us to our coach bus.  We then took off for the hotel.  We couldn't check-in, because it was still very early, but we were able to put our luggage in a secure place and get only what we needed for a day in London.  We hit a little rush hour traffic into the city, but it worked out really well. Everyone seemed to get a little bit of a nap on our journey.

Some are asleep, some wide awake, but all are in London!!!

 David took us on a brisk walking tour of London.  We saw a ton of things, but the ones that stick out the most are Big Ben, the Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square, and the Thames River.  With all that we saw, it is hard to imagine that we will be seeing even more tomorrow on our guided city tour.

 

Some of the kids even tried to call home, but they did not have exact change...

Around lunch time, we decided to change our itinerary a little bit.  Ms. Alongi suggested that we trek over towards the River Thames to take a ride on Europe's largest Ferris Wheel; The London Eye.  We used the opportunity to take quite a few photos along the river and of each other.

Because there are so many of us, we were able to get a group rate for the ride up and a few more opportunities for pictures.

After the ride, there seemed to be a few more opportunities for photographs including this one with quite a few of the students and chaperons having a good time.

You may be wondering why there are no photos from the top of the Eye.  Well, frequent readers of this blog might remember that a certain blog-writer (who shall remain nameless) is afraid of heights and decided to take the opportunity to stay grounded.  Even though it was a beautiful day, I thought it best to not tempt fate too much on this trip and am planning on making my way to the top of the Eiffel Tower in a few days.

A couple of the kids told me about some of their specific pictures from the Eye and they may make it on here.  They might have tweeted them out too.  

The London Eye sits nearly 400 ft above the ground on the banks of the Thames River.  Each car holds about 25 passengers.  When it was built, it was the largest Ferris Wheel in the world, although a couple of competitors have exceeded its height since. 

Just because I didn't go up, doesn't mean I can find beauty in the Eye itself.

After the Eye, we continued our walking tour around London.  My fitbit has tracked over 16,000 steps and nearly 8 miles since we've landed.  My feet and legs are sore and tired, but the day has totally been worth it.  A few days ago, I stood in front of our school committee and discussed some the budget cuts facing our town and our schools.  In my discussion, I mentioned how impressed I was with our kids.  A few had just spoken and their eloquence, passion, and dedication was profound.  I spoke about our mission statement, "We Believe."  I explained that it was something that we considered whenever we made decisions that impacted our kids.  I also said that our kids are worth it...they make it easy for us to believe.  They are the best kids any teachers could ask for...I was reminded of that today.

Some of the kids right before dinner.  They had been up for over 24 hours and they are all smiles!!!

I'm sitting here, at the Heston Hyde Hotel, and it is now reached 9:30pm (GMT).  I awoke on Thursday at about 5:30am (EST).  I've had very limited sleep and I know I am not alone.  I've done these tours before and I know how grueling they can be.  Our kids, however, are new to this type of schedule, but you wouldn't know it by talking to them.  In spite of passport issues, motion sickness, or a total lack of quality sleep, our kids have been the best you could expect.  David has already complimented them several times to the chaperons and a couple times to them all.  These kids have been up for nearly 36 straight hours and they've maintained a positive attitude the entire time.  A parent once asked me why I give up my own time to take our kids to Europe and the answer, for all of us, I think, comes back to our mission statement and our kids.  They make it easy for us to believe in them.  We have another 10 days ahead of us. We have a boat ride across the channel and a high speed train ride en route to Amsterdam.  We have some emotionally difficult sites waiting for us on the beaches of Normandy and in a little Dutch attic.  I am guessing some tears will be shed, but I am also confident that our kids will be who they've always been before...they'll be great.

In a few minutes, I will head up and conduct room checks.  I am expecting that the kids will all be asleep preparing for tomorrow's adventure.  I know, in years past, that some of them wait up for me to post this blog.  I started writing this for my own recollection and to bring our trips closer to the parents, but now, I really write it for them...and for those students at SHS not with us right now.  

I went a little longer than expected, and proved that I can be a little too wordy, but I'm a little too overtired to sleep right now and I hope you'll indulge me.  I am going to try and incorporate more photos and anecdotes from our travels in future posts so I hope you will keep reading!!!  Please feel free to share this blog with anyone you'd like and to provide me with feedback in the comments section.  I've received some really good ideas in the past.

Mr. Lavoie, currently freezing in a hotel lobby because he left his Alumni Association donated sweatshirt up in his room...which has a king size bed, lol.