San Diego Children's Choir, England/Wales Tour
Monday, July 8, 2002

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"I don't know. It was following you." Anthony and Greg at the Science Museum Good thing this bus has seats in the aisle The back of the bus crew They let anyone into this park
Mr. Herman and Jenna Is there room for me? Taking the tube Now look here and listen up!
The Red Brigade The divas dining at "Sticky Fingers" Just friends Alex consoles Kellen upon learning of their soccer team's loss
The tweenies What? You're taking our picture too! Yeah! We're cool! Gabe's last supper
You're going to make us stop reading for how long? En Guarde! Nothing but smiles! Ya, we're the chaperones
Joe's watching you, Gabe! Local color Jenna goes to Hogwarts. Kings Cross, London

Today we went to Hampton Court Palace. It was very interesting, especially the history behind it. The Palace was used by Cardinal Wolsey, but King Henry the VIII was really jealous of it (because it was more lavish than his home) so Wolsey gave it to the King. To explore the palace we took audio tours complete with music and narration. There were magnificent ceilings, some beautifully painted, others with amazing arches lined with gold. There were huge tapestries depicting Bible stories and legends. The palace is said to be haunted, but the tour guide said it was probably a myth. The royal chapel is breathtaking, with a blue ceiling with gold everywhere that is still used today. They have a choir but we didn't get to hear them. The court gardens were also really beautiful with topiaries in the shape of cornets. (I want to know how they are maintained. - Anneke)

The maze in Hampton court was okay, amazing, or fun depending on whom you ask. The point was to find the way to the center and then retrace your steps back to the entrance. The hedges weren't very thick, so you could see people through them. But it was still fun. And what excursion would complete with out a visit to the gift shop. The most popular purchases among the choir were little wooden swords and postcards.

After Hampton Court we split into groups for leisure time. My group went to the Science Museum. It didn't really interest me until I found the Life Science exhibit, which I really love. From the museum we journied by underground to the Kensington Garden where we saw a statue of Peter Pan with a bunch of women climbing the base at his feet. As we exited we ran into Ali I. and Sandra. Allie came with us and Sandra went off to meet other choristers. From the garden our group walked to Paddington Station (no bear was sighted) and then took the tube to Kings Cross Station. We found platforms 9 & 10 and also found where they filmed the scene (really platform 6 & 7) of Harry Potter entering platform 9 3/4 to travel to Hogwarts. (Anneke)

Another group went shopping and I (Dani) joined this group with some of my friends. Places we hit were the bookstore, a toy store and a food stand for some tasteless European pizza. We met back up with everybody else and took the underground (subway) to dinner. I'd never been on a subway before, so it was interesting. On our way down a lot of us took the stairs because there was a long line for the escalator. Big mistake! The spiral staircase seemed to go on forever. The actual part where you ride in the subway was great. Most of us stood up and we had to stand a certain way so we didn't fall down during the sudden starts and stops.

England is cool because they have chocolate vending machines. (No Mom, I didn't get any.) A lot of people are trying to pick up British accents, but they still aren't believable to the locals yet. Oh, and the airline didn't have peanuts (which aren't good to eat in church, but aren't bad most other places.) (Dani)

After that we took another tube to a restaurant called "Sticky Fingers" (owned by a member of the Rolling Stone) for burgers.

Respectfully submitted by
Anneke and Dani

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