Sunday
We woke up early to get something to eat, then got on the bus to go about a half hour to Manchester Airport. While waiting at the airport, Sammie and I went and got snacks for the long flight ahead. We were trying to use up our European money before we left! :) The long flight back was tiring. I watched some movies with the coaches and a few fellow players. Our coach Ben had everyone count to three then press play so we all could enjoy the same moments at the same time. We watched Sisters (don't watch, it was so boring), The Brothers Grimsby (cringy, and while funny at times, extremely inappropriate for all ages), and The Finest Hours (good movie).
The flight from Atlanta to Chicago was rough. It was supposed to be about an hour and twenty minutes long. To start it was delayed about 20 minutes, not bad considering it was out of Atlanta; however, our real problem came in once we neared Chicago. Due to storms we hovered around, circling for a very long time. Once we landed, the total flight time was two hours and eleven minutes. I played a LOT of solitaire and listened to a LOT of music, but it wasn't too bad. After landing we circled on the ground for another forty minutes because of lightning. I was so excited to be off the plane when it was all over. In all honesty being stuck in the airport and the plane were kind of a blessing in disguise. I made a lot of friendships during the trip, so it was nice to get a little extra time with them once we all had the ability to get on some American 4G!
Thank you everyone from the bottom of my heart. This trip was truly an experience of a lifetime. This trip was amazing from day one. I got to see so many beautiful things and go to so many places I never would have been able to do without your help. I got to climb inside castles that are literally thousands of years old, I got to see a nearly exact replica of the theater Shakespeare used, and enjoy wandering around a foreign city with my dad. It was such an amazing experience putting my skills to the test against players who were much better players than me. It was also fun playing with some of these players. Two of the girls that played with us in our third game were super nice and fun.
Thank you once again for giving me the ability to go on this amazing trip. Without your support my dream trip would have stayed a dream.
THANK YOU!! -Delaney
Monday, July 25, 2016
Saturday
Saturday
Saturday started with our last friendly game of the trip. We got to play two different teams with the average age around 20. I struck up a nice conversation with a defender who was 22.
After a quick bite to eat and a shower we then headed to a professional soccer match. Teams were Preston North End vs. Stoke City FC. We had great seats behind the goal in the Stoke City section. It was a fun game to watch ending in a 1-1 score.
We all put on our flats and headed out for a nightcap soccer match with most of the girls and boys and coaches -- even my dad played. We went out to a nearby park and chose a grassy field. The grass was crazy long making everything all the more interesting. It was a fun ending to our trip.
Once we got back from our pickup game it was mostly us packing and getting things organized (and by we I mean mostly dad). I went down to the lobby to play cards with some teammates one last time.
Love,
Delaney
Saturday started with our last friendly game of the trip. We got to play two different teams with the average age around 20. I struck up a nice conversation with a defender who was 22.
After a quick bite to eat and a shower we then headed to a professional soccer match. Teams were Preston North End vs. Stoke City FC. We had great seats behind the goal in the Stoke City section. It was a fun game to watch ending in a 1-1 score.
We all put on our flats and headed out for a nightcap soccer match with most of the girls and boys and coaches -- even my dad played. We went out to a nearby park and chose a grassy field. The grass was crazy long making everything all the more interesting. It was a fun ending to our trip.
Once we got back from our pickup game it was mostly us packing and getting things organized (and by we I mean mostly dad). I went down to the lobby to play cards with some teammates one last time.
Love,
Delaney
Friday, July 22, 2016
Friday
Friday
Today started early as we set out for a non-soccer day to Liverpool. We were dropped off at Albert Docks, on the River Mersey. Liverpool is on the West end of the UK near the Irish Sea and just across from Dublin. We only had a few hours to spend there, so we started at the Merseyside Maritime Museum. Ships were the lifeblood of Liverpool and this free museum had some great history.
There were quite a few replicas of ships from the start of the docks (1837) to present day. There was a lot of information about WWI and WWII ships and what part they played in the war. Another exhibit was the Sinking of the Lusitania, something I learned about in History class this year. Germans sank the ship with Americans on board; that action precipitated the US entry into WWI.
A fact that we didn't know, there were many ties to Liverpool and the Titanic. White Star Line, the company that built the Titanic, was headquartered in Liverpool. Many of the officers, including her Captain were all from Liverpool. There was a special display in the museum about the Titanic along with items recovered from the ocean floor.
There is a Beatles Museum and Exhibit at the Docks (for a fee), but we decided to head into town. It is on Mathew Street that the Beatles were born! There are few shops, including a Beatle's store with some original memorabilia.
We then saw a cool place from the outside that seemed to have some character so we popped in. We had to go down about 5-6 flights, but the place was amazing. Many stars have played here -- Beatles, BB King, Queen, and many others.
Next got a bite to eat, got on a bus, and headed to Chester. Chester has some history as it started in 70 AD. It has some Roman Walls protecting the city, old churches, and nice quaint shops. We also got our first rain while here. This turned out to be a good thing as we hurried into Chester Cathedral and was able to join the last Tower Tour.
This is a picture of the entire structure from the outside. We were up at the top!
They are doing fundraiser at the Cathedral to raise money for their education program with Lego. There was a Lego Exhibit (we didn't go), and they are building an exact replica of the church. For one pound I was able to place a Lego Brick -- 1 of 350,000.
I'm adding my brick.
This is where my piece will go -- one of the stained glass windows.
And this is the window in the Church where I was building.
My dad's Grandma Benich always liked to light candles in the church. So whenever my dad comes across that opportunity, he lights one in her honor.
We had a little time left to explore Chester so we headed down some side streets and out to the Roman Wall which is around the city. The wall was constructed in 70-80 AD. It even has a moat around it!
We got rained on pretty good in Chester; our first rain of the trip. We headed back to the hotel, had dinner, played some games with the girls, and I am ready to call it a night. Our last full day in England is tomorrow!
Love,
Delaney
Today started early as we set out for a non-soccer day to Liverpool. We were dropped off at Albert Docks, on the River Mersey. Liverpool is on the West end of the UK near the Irish Sea and just across from Dublin. We only had a few hours to spend there, so we started at the Merseyside Maritime Museum. Ships were the lifeblood of Liverpool and this free museum had some great history.
There were quite a few replicas of ships from the start of the docks (1837) to present day. There was a lot of information about WWI and WWII ships and what part they played in the war. Another exhibit was the Sinking of the Lusitania, something I learned about in History class this year. Germans sank the ship with Americans on board; that action precipitated the US entry into WWI.
A fact that we didn't know, there were many ties to Liverpool and the Titanic. White Star Line, the company that built the Titanic, was headquartered in Liverpool. Many of the officers, including her Captain were all from Liverpool. There was a special display in the museum about the Titanic along with items recovered from the ocean floor.
There is a Beatles Museum and Exhibit at the Docks (for a fee), but we decided to head into town. It is on Mathew Street that the Beatles were born! There are few shops, including a Beatle's store with some original memorabilia.
We then saw a cool place from the outside that seemed to have some character so we popped in. We had to go down about 5-6 flights, but the place was amazing. Many stars have played here -- Beatles, BB King, Queen, and many others.
Next got a bite to eat, got on a bus, and headed to Chester. Chester has some history as it started in 70 AD. It has some Roman Walls protecting the city, old churches, and nice quaint shops. We also got our first rain while here. This turned out to be a good thing as we hurried into Chester Cathedral and was able to join the last Tower Tour.
This is a picture of the entire structure from the outside. We were up at the top!
They are doing fundraiser at the Cathedral to raise money for their education program with Lego. There was a Lego Exhibit (we didn't go), and they are building an exact replica of the church. For one pound I was able to place a Lego Brick -- 1 of 350,000.
I'm adding my brick.
This is where my piece will go -- one of the stained glass windows.
And this is the window in the Church where I was building.
My dad's Grandma Benich always liked to light candles in the church. So whenever my dad comes across that opportunity, he lights one in her honor.
We had a little time left to explore Chester so we headed down some side streets and out to the Roman Wall which is around the city. The wall was constructed in 70-80 AD. It even has a moat around it!
We got rained on pretty good in Chester; our first rain of the trip. We headed back to the hotel, had dinner, played some games with the girls, and I am ready to call it a night. Our last full day in England is tomorrow!
Love,
Delaney
Thursday, July 21, 2016
Thursday
Thursday
Today started out with an early morning training session. I got up after some prodding by my dad. I got dressed to go, grabbed a bite to eat, and walked to the fields. Our practice session lasted about 90 minutes. We started out with a cute game one of the younger boys wanted to play called Bedo Bedo (my spelling may be off). Once everyone understood what was going on, we all had a lot of fun with it. After the game we warmed up a bit and broke into four teams. We spent the rest of training doing small sided stuff. We were practicing at Manchester University fields. While I was at practice, my dad was nice enough to do a few loads of laundry for me at the nearest laundromat.
After practice and a quick shower, we headed to my dad's most anticipated destination -- Old Trafford Stadium. For those that aren't soccer fans, that is the home to the world's largest soccer club, Manchester United. Cristiano Ronaldo, David Beckham, and current player Wayne Rooney are some of their most notables. Old Trafford opened in 1910 and holds almost 76,000 for a game.
We got to go on a tour; we started in the museum. We wandered from room to room seeing trophies and literal history around all of us. There were also jerseys, stats, old newspapers, and much more spanning over a century's worth of soccer.
My dad and I are big Wayne Rooney fans. He is just awesome with the ball. He only needs a few goals this upcoming season to be the all-time leading scorer in Manchester United history.
Here we are standing near the actual pitch. The tour guide explained that the field behind us is brand new. The old field had been gutted and pulled away to make way for new grass. It was hard being so close to such a beautiful field on not being able to go stand on it.
We visited both the home and away locker rooms. Here I am with Jessie, Nikki, Matt (he's a coach), and Sammie posing in the home team's locker rooms.
The visitor's locker room had jerseys and pictures up of some of the most famous players to dress in there. Abby Wambach and the US women's team played one of their Olympic games here.
Here is a picture of all the players on the trip in front of the Manchester United Stadium.
After the tour, we headed back to the hotel for dinner. We went back to the same fields as this morning to watch the boys play their game. Then both girls teams kicked off at the same time. Our opponents today were again really good; their ages ranged from 17-26 -- more of a women's team than the girls teams we are used to. We held our own for the first half but not so much the second half. We had two girls help us out; they were both really nice and talented. They are both heading to the US to play college -- one in Virginia and the other Mississippi. They stayed after the game to chat with us, and we all exchanged social media information to keep in touch. They are excited to head to the US.
Here I am taking a corner during the second half of the game; we almost scored off of it!
Finally, I wanted to make an announcement -
Well, not really, but I hope to have some sort of signing sometime during my senior year. I've applied to a few different colleges that I hope to continue my career after high school. I know I have to put some time into that process, but after this summer and coming on this trip, all I can think of is playing my senior year and having a great time.
More tomorrow,
Delaney
Today started out with an early morning training session. I got up after some prodding by my dad. I got dressed to go, grabbed a bite to eat, and walked to the fields. Our practice session lasted about 90 minutes. We started out with a cute game one of the younger boys wanted to play called Bedo Bedo (my spelling may be off). Once everyone understood what was going on, we all had a lot of fun with it. After the game we warmed up a bit and broke into four teams. We spent the rest of training doing small sided stuff. We were practicing at Manchester University fields. While I was at practice, my dad was nice enough to do a few loads of laundry for me at the nearest laundromat.
After practice and a quick shower, we headed to my dad's most anticipated destination -- Old Trafford Stadium. For those that aren't soccer fans, that is the home to the world's largest soccer club, Manchester United. Cristiano Ronaldo, David Beckham, and current player Wayne Rooney are some of their most notables. Old Trafford opened in 1910 and holds almost 76,000 for a game.
We got to go on a tour; we started in the museum. We wandered from room to room seeing trophies and literal history around all of us. There were also jerseys, stats, old newspapers, and much more spanning over a century's worth of soccer.
My dad and I are big Wayne Rooney fans. He is just awesome with the ball. He only needs a few goals this upcoming season to be the all-time leading scorer in Manchester United history.
Here we are standing near the actual pitch. The tour guide explained that the field behind us is brand new. The old field had been gutted and pulled away to make way for new grass. It was hard being so close to such a beautiful field on not being able to go stand on it.
We visited both the home and away locker rooms. Here I am with Jessie, Nikki, Matt (he's a coach), and Sammie posing in the home team's locker rooms.
The visitor's locker room had jerseys and pictures up of some of the most famous players to dress in there. Abby Wambach and the US women's team played one of their Olympic games here.
After the tour, we took some group shots. The left picture is every player that goes to Crown Point. From top to bottom, left to right we have Sammie, Maddie, Nick, Me, Abby, Sela, Emmie, Libby, and Emily. On the right it's all the same girls we just had Nick step out so we could get a Crown Point Girls Soccer picture.
Here is a picture of all the players on the trip in front of the Manchester United Stadium.
After the tour, we headed back to the hotel for dinner. We went back to the same fields as this morning to watch the boys play their game. Then both girls teams kicked off at the same time. Our opponents today were again really good; their ages ranged from 17-26 -- more of a women's team than the girls teams we are used to. We held our own for the first half but not so much the second half. We had two girls help us out; they were both really nice and talented. They are both heading to the US to play college -- one in Virginia and the other Mississippi. They stayed after the game to chat with us, and we all exchanged social media information to keep in touch. They are excited to head to the US.
Here I am taking a corner during the second half of the game; we almost scored off of it!
Finally, I wanted to make an announcement -
Well, not really, but I hope to have some sort of signing sometime during my senior year. I've applied to a few different colleges that I hope to continue my career after high school. I know I have to put some time into that process, but after this summer and coming on this trip, all I can think of is playing my senior year and having a great time.
More tomorrow,
Delaney
Wednesday, July 20, 2016
Wednesday
Wednesday
Well, I thought the travel woes were behind us. The ride from our hotel in the London area to Manchester started at 8:00 AM and was to have us arrive in Manchester at 12:00 Noon. Well, we made it at 3:30! There was an accident on the major highway, so we had to divert to some side roads. It was like taking the back roads instead of I-65 down to Indy. I basically spent the entire bus ride sleeping in a million different positions.
Once we got settled in, we had a good meal in the hotel. Due to the boy's previous game being cancelled, they had a new game set up for today. The girls were given the choice to train or watch the boys play. We all decided since the boys came to our game the day before, we would watch their game in return. I grabbed my soccer bag to carry my phone and other necessities, and we departed for the boys game in Manchester. Since I did have my soccer bag with me, I also happened to have my soccer gear -- turned out to be a good thing as the boys team needed some extra players. And as you know me, I am always willing to play! It was a really cool opportunity to play. They had quite a few good players on the other team, so it was neat to challenge myself against them.
After we got back to the hotel, we were hungry. My team and one of the younger girls decided pizza sounded really good, and we found a pizza place to eat near the hotel. After devouring our pizza, we stopped at the McDonald's next to the hotel for some McFlurries. Then after enjoying our ice cream, we all just hung out in the lobby until I couldn't stand not showering anymore! Lol
Finally, I was able to soak in the tub and finish up my two blogs. Need to get some rest now and be ready for a practice in the morning and a game in the evening.
More later,
Delaney
Well, I thought the travel woes were behind us. The ride from our hotel in the London area to Manchester started at 8:00 AM and was to have us arrive in Manchester at 12:00 Noon. Well, we made it at 3:30! There was an accident on the major highway, so we had to divert to some side roads. It was like taking the back roads instead of I-65 down to Indy. I basically spent the entire bus ride sleeping in a million different positions.
Once we got settled in, we had a good meal in the hotel. Due to the boy's previous game being cancelled, they had a new game set up for today. The girls were given the choice to train or watch the boys play. We all decided since the boys came to our game the day before, we would watch their game in return. I grabbed my soccer bag to carry my phone and other necessities, and we departed for the boys game in Manchester. Since I did have my soccer bag with me, I also happened to have my soccer gear -- turned out to be a good thing as the boys team needed some extra players. And as you know me, I am always willing to play! It was a really cool opportunity to play. They had quite a few good players on the other team, so it was neat to challenge myself against them.
After we got back to the hotel, we were hungry. My team and one of the younger girls decided pizza sounded really good, and we found a pizza place to eat near the hotel. After devouring our pizza, we stopped at the McDonald's next to the hotel for some McFlurries. Then after enjoying our ice cream, we all just hung out in the lobby until I couldn't stand not showering anymore! Lol
Finally, I was able to soak in the tub and finish up my two blogs. Need to get some rest now and be ready for a practice in the morning and a game in the evening.
More later,
Delaney
Tuesday
Tuesday
Today's schedule was a trip into London, a game and then back to the hotel. It was a great day, but full of mishaps.
Traveling today was miserable. As I mentioned, we are about an hour and a half from London. Today was one of the hottest days of the year, reaching temperatures in the 90's. Mix that with a double decker bus that has no air and no windows; I was about to pass out! Next, the boys had to cancel their game because of group of "travelers" or gypsys that came into the town and decided to take over the fields. The law allows the police to kick them out but with a 48 hour window. The traffic leaving London to our games was extremely bad; it took an extra hour to get to the game, and we were late. Finally, on our way back from our game, we got held up in traffic due to an accident. We stood at the same point for about two hours.
With all that being said, we still had such a great day.
The bus dropped us off at the London Eye. We jumped in line right away (Dad made me "move quickly" most of the time this week). It turned out to be a good idea as we were up in a car soon after and when we got out, the lines were hundreds deep.
The London Eye is well built, as my dad said, and he didn't have any problem with going for the ride. He is not a fan of ferris wheel type rides, even at the county fair. They loaded 25 people into a pod, and we had some awesome views of the city.
We headed straight to the tube after we got off the London Eye and headed to Abbey Road. We stopped in the Abbey Road Studio to check out all the Beatles stuff. Then without getting hit, we crossed the iconic street. There were a lot of others doing the same thing; I guess it's like that every single day.
We got back on the tube and headed to find a pub; my dad wanted some Fish & Chips. We found a really neat place, and he said it was very good. None for me, thanks, seafood is not my thing. I had a steak instead. We walked off the food and stopped at Sherlock Holmes Pub. Since we didn't have time to go to Baker's Street, I wanted to stop in to check it out. It was so cool seeing all the items they had throughout the pub. They even had a beer named after Sherlock and Watson.
We met up with the group to head towards our game. We played at a professional team's training grounds. The fields were in excellent condition. Our game was on one of their newest fields with the latest turf technology. Our younger girls team earned Three Lions United its first International WIN; beating the other club 2-1. Our team did really well, also. The club team we played had three different levels, and we played three 20 minute periods. We had the advantage the first period playing against their U17 equivalent team and ended 0-0. We continued to play a second period to a 0-0 score with their next oldest team -- their U18 team and older girls coming back from injuries. We lost 0-2 the final period to their professional reserve team; college age girls that are a step away from playing in the premiere league. A couple of them came off our game and suited up for their top team which was playing a boys team next. Even though we lost, we played really well and hung with them most of the time.
It was planned to be back on the bus and then to the hotel by 9 or 10, but due to that accident, it was after midnight. (The reason my blog is late today.) What do you do when you are stuck on the highway with 30 teenagers? Sing, of course! We had sing-a-longs to entertain the bus. From the National Anthem to Queen songs, we sang them all. Graeme even sang his National Anthem (God Save the Queen) for us! That special time would have never happened had we not been stuck, but it will be one of my long-term memories of the trip.
We are having a traveling day to Manchester on Wednesday. We got back to the hotel, packed up everything and slept for a few hours before we got up and had to get on the bus again.
Despite all the travel issues -- it was another great day!
Love,
Delaney
Today's schedule was a trip into London, a game and then back to the hotel. It was a great day, but full of mishaps.
Traveling today was miserable. As I mentioned, we are about an hour and a half from London. Today was one of the hottest days of the year, reaching temperatures in the 90's. Mix that with a double decker bus that has no air and no windows; I was about to pass out! Next, the boys had to cancel their game because of group of "travelers" or gypsys that came into the town and decided to take over the fields. The law allows the police to kick them out but with a 48 hour window. The traffic leaving London to our games was extremely bad; it took an extra hour to get to the game, and we were late. Finally, on our way back from our game, we got held up in traffic due to an accident. We stood at the same point for about two hours.
With all that being said, we still had such a great day.
The bus dropped us off at the London Eye. We jumped in line right away (Dad made me "move quickly" most of the time this week). It turned out to be a good idea as we were up in a car soon after and when we got out, the lines were hundreds deep.
The London Eye is well built, as my dad said, and he didn't have any problem with going for the ride. He is not a fan of ferris wheel type rides, even at the county fair. They loaded 25 people into a pod, and we had some awesome views of the city.
We headed straight to the tube after we got off the London Eye and headed to Abbey Road. We stopped in the Abbey Road Studio to check out all the Beatles stuff. Then without getting hit, we crossed the iconic street. There were a lot of others doing the same thing; I guess it's like that every single day.
We got back on the tube and headed to find a pub; my dad wanted some Fish & Chips. We found a really neat place, and he said it was very good. None for me, thanks, seafood is not my thing. I had a steak instead. We walked off the food and stopped at Sherlock Holmes Pub. Since we didn't have time to go to Baker's Street, I wanted to stop in to check it out. It was so cool seeing all the items they had throughout the pub. They even had a beer named after Sherlock and Watson.
We met up with the group to head towards our game. We played at a professional team's training grounds. The fields were in excellent condition. Our game was on one of their newest fields with the latest turf technology. Our younger girls team earned Three Lions United its first International WIN; beating the other club 2-1. Our team did really well, also. The club team we played had three different levels, and we played three 20 minute periods. We had the advantage the first period playing against their U17 equivalent team and ended 0-0. We continued to play a second period to a 0-0 score with their next oldest team -- their U18 team and older girls coming back from injuries. We lost 0-2 the final period to their professional reserve team; college age girls that are a step away from playing in the premiere league. A couple of them came off our game and suited up for their top team which was playing a boys team next. Even though we lost, we played really well and hung with them most of the time.
It was planned to be back on the bus and then to the hotel by 9 or 10, but due to that accident, it was after midnight. (The reason my blog is late today.) What do you do when you are stuck on the highway with 30 teenagers? Sing, of course! We had sing-a-longs to entertain the bus. From the National Anthem to Queen songs, we sang them all. Graeme even sang his National Anthem (God Save the Queen) for us! That special time would have never happened had we not been stuck, but it will be one of my long-term memories of the trip.
We are having a traveling day to Manchester on Wednesday. We got back to the hotel, packed up everything and slept for a few hours before we got up and had to get on the bus again.
Despite all the travel issues -- it was another great day!
Love,
Delaney
Monday, July 18, 2016
Tourist Day
Tourist Day, Monday
So, today was our non-soccer day. We headed into London (we are staying about an hour and a half from the city) for the day.
We started at the Tower of London, a historic castle located on the north bank of the River Thames. It was founded in 1066. We had a great tour, saw a lot of really neat stuff including the Crown Jewels (no photos allowed of them)! It was amazing seeing inside of buildings that were hundreds of years old.
After a quick pizza lunch at a place called Zizzi, we headed to our next stop.
We went on the Tower Bridge -- probably the most recognizable bridge as it is now an iconic symbol of London. They recently installed a glass floor on the bridges; we had some cool views.
Since we got to see a lot of stuff yesterday, we decided to do a couple non-traditional tours. The first was Shakespeare's Globe -- a replica of the original theatre from 1614 about 800 feet from where it first stood and Shakespeare did all his plays. Did you know that all these phrases were attributed to him?
We were lucky enough to see the actors doing a rehearsal of The Taming of the Shrew during our tour. There is going to be a thousand people packed into the area we were in. Our tour guide shared some really interesting facts about Shakespeare's gift for entertaining the audience.
Then we headed to Churchill War Rooms; these rooms were preserved after WWII. Churchill had his cabinet meetings in them and made four wartime broadcasts from them.
We took a walk to Trafalgar Square. We then on to Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square. These are the entertainment areas of London -- similar to Times Square in New York -- lots of theaters and shows. This weekend they had the BFG (Big Friendly Giant) premiere, red carpet and all. We stopped in their big sports store Lilywhites -- 6 levels! An entire floor dedicated to futbol; this was just their room of clothes. There were more rooms on this floor -- including one dedicated to just cleats:
We tried to get some pictures as the sun was setting.
All-in-all, we walked over 12 miles and almost 30,000 steps according to my dad's fitbit! What an exciting but tiring day. I did manage to keep my boyfriend updated on everything throughout the day!
Cheers,
Delaney
So, today was our non-soccer day. We headed into London (we are staying about an hour and a half from the city) for the day.
We started at the Tower of London, a historic castle located on the north bank of the River Thames. It was founded in 1066. We had a great tour, saw a lot of really neat stuff including the Crown Jewels (no photos allowed of them)! It was amazing seeing inside of buildings that were hundreds of years old.
After a quick pizza lunch at a place called Zizzi, we headed to our next stop.
We went on the Tower Bridge -- probably the most recognizable bridge as it is now an iconic symbol of London. They recently installed a glass floor on the bridges; we had some cool views.
Since we got to see a lot of stuff yesterday, we decided to do a couple non-traditional tours. The first was Shakespeare's Globe -- a replica of the original theatre from 1614 about 800 feet from where it first stood and Shakespeare did all his plays. Did you know that all these phrases were attributed to him?
We were lucky enough to see the actors doing a rehearsal of The Taming of the Shrew during our tour. There is going to be a thousand people packed into the area we were in. Our tour guide shared some really interesting facts about Shakespeare's gift for entertaining the audience.
Then we headed to Churchill War Rooms; these rooms were preserved after WWII. Churchill had his cabinet meetings in them and made four wartime broadcasts from them.
We took a walk to Trafalgar Square. We then on to Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square. These are the entertainment areas of London -- similar to Times Square in New York -- lots of theaters and shows. This weekend they had the BFG (Big Friendly Giant) premiere, red carpet and all. We stopped in their big sports store Lilywhites -- 6 levels! An entire floor dedicated to futbol; this was just their room of clothes. There were more rooms on this floor -- including one dedicated to just cleats:
We tried to get some pictures as the sun was setting.
All-in-all, we walked over 12 miles and almost 30,000 steps according to my dad's fitbit! What an exciting but tiring day. I did manage to keep my boyfriend updated on everything throughout the day!
Cheers,
Delaney
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