Hello! I’m going to apologize in advance for the lack of student traveler input here because it is like pulling teeth getting them to write anything 😂 but just know, they are having a blast and everything I write is for them. ♡
Tower of London
We started today off traveling to the Tower of London. The White Tower in the center was a magnificent building that was surrounded by many towers designed to protect the White Tower. The White Tower housed royal possessions and the royal family as well.
We went through the Tower of London pretty quickly because we really wanted to head into our free time and explore London on our own. By this day we were ready to tackle public transportation on our own!
The Raven
Honestly, my favorite thing about the Tower of London were the ravens who lived on the premises. I am a crazy bird person, I love all birds so much. The raven I approached was SO CLOSE to me, but I apparently got too close to it because it gave me a warning bite. It was very gentle! My own birds, much smaller than the raven, can draw blood easily but this raven was just warning me to back off.
Lunch
We started off finding a great Chinese restaurant, it was recommended by a nice man who was selling souvenirs at a stand. I’m really glad he recommended it because it was delicious. I ordered dumplings and Richelle, Antonio, and Ryan all liked them! (Props to Richelle for stepping out of her food comfort zone while she’s been here)
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is 100% one of my favorite places here. I could spend all day exploring or sitting and enjoying the scenery. The amount of flowers and plants along sidewalks and restaurants and shops is lovely.
There was an art market at Covent Garden where small business owners sold their artwork and creations, I loved supporting the artists! It was a great place to collect some souvenirs.
Whittard of Chelsea
Earlier we had found one tea shop in Covent Garden that had a bunch of tea and was pretty cool, but then as I was wandering around looking for a bathroom I found Whittard of Chelsea. This cute little shop sells tea and coffee products, and it was in the moment I walked into the store that I knew I was going to need to bring home an extra bag of luggage. I did not take great pictures after I was done tasting because I had too much to carry 😂
They had free tea tasting around the store so you could taste the tea before you bought it! The employee was very helpful and so sweet, and I can order more tea online from them in the future. :)
Mamushka
We had a simple dinner tonight, it was basically a fried chicken patty with fries and coleslaw. It was okay, but the kids definitely got McDonald’s later that night. Ridiculous right? We are in LONDON and they get McDonalds? 😂
Lobby Time
One of our favorite parts of the trip has been hanging out at night once we are back at the hotel. Even though we are tired, we love spending time together down in the lobby.
We ended up playing 2 truths and 1 lie with our tour director and it was a blast. We are really going to miss that quality time we got to spend with everyone in the evenings.
RICHELLE
On day 5 we had a lot of free time which gave us the opportunity to explore on our own and revisit areas that we had previously visited and enjoyed. We wandered into Chinatown and had lunch at a nice little restaurant. I tried some dumplings and surprisingly liked them :), so yay me for trying new things.
We then went to Covent Garden and just wandered around and shopped. I had some macaroons, the coffee flavored one was delicious, but the salted caramel one was a little disappointing :(
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Tomorrow
We get to go visit Bletchley Park tomorrow and we are super excited for a true STEM experience trying to decipher and use codes! I’m excited to eventually incorporate some coding into my math classes at home. We have two full days left in London then we will travel to Paris! 🇫🇷
♡ Champlin