Monday, March 13, 2017
Sunday, March 12, 2017
The Trip Home
It is always hard to end a wonderful trip. The week flew by as it always does, and now
comes the time to reflect, reminisce and embrace the way we always grow when traveling.
Each night our group meets in the community room of our hostel to review the day and plan for our next day. These 9pm meetings always become a wonderful evening ritual that brings the group together in more ways than one. It is a time to work on our blog, do homework, socialize with other travelers and relax together. I will start our trip home with a photograph of our last meeting Saturday night because I enjoy this time with the group so much.
Officially - Our last day began at 5:45am in the entrance way of our beloved Clink 78.
Our bus driver packed us up for a quiet ride through the early morning streets of London
to Heathrow Airport.
We arrive without a hitch and are honored to be flying out of "The Queen's Terminal"
London is a warm, polite, and inviting city, and they wish us goodbye.
After an uneventful flight to Newark International Airport, we are promptly picked up
by our shuttle bus to Albany.
We have one final group hug and go our separate ways to prepare for the start of
school tomorrow.
Thank you to our wonderful group of travelers. Everyone was prompt, considerate, enthusiastic, thoughtful and ready for an adventure. We built good memories and lasting friendships. I hope this trip is the starting point for many wonderful traveling experiences for our students.
A special thank you to Chris St Cyr who was there to pick up the many loose threads, support our blog, expand our trip social media presence, and be a great travel companion.
CHEERS! To our blog followers. We hope you enjoyed our adventure.
submitted by Jessica Loy
comes the time to reflect, reminisce and embrace the way we always grow when traveling.
Each night our group meets in the community room of our hostel to review the day and plan for our next day. These 9pm meetings always become a wonderful evening ritual that brings the group together in more ways than one. It is a time to work on our blog, do homework, socialize with other travelers and relax together. I will start our trip home with a photograph of our last meeting Saturday night because I enjoy this time with the group so much.
Officially - Our last day began at 5:45am in the entrance way of our beloved Clink 78.
Our bus driver packed us up for a quiet ride through the early morning streets of London
to Heathrow Airport.
We arrive without a hitch and are honored to be flying out of "The Queen's Terminal"
London is a warm, polite, and inviting city, and they wish us goodbye.
After an uneventful flight to Newark International Airport, we are promptly picked up
by our shuttle bus to Albany.
We have one final group hug and go our separate ways to prepare for the start of
school tomorrow.
Each student received a momento from London–A bag of Hardy's traditional British candy including the famous fried egg candies and a pin commemorating the lovely London Underground design system. The original design of this Underground system was Harry Beck.
Thank you to our wonderful group of travelers. Everyone was prompt, considerate, enthusiastic, thoughtful and ready for an adventure. We built good memories and lasting friendships. I hope this trip is the starting point for many wonderful traveling experiences for our students.
A special thank you to Chris St Cyr who was there to pick up the many loose threads, support our blog, expand our trip social media presence, and be a great travel companion.
CHEERS! To our blog followers. We hope you enjoyed our adventure.
submitted by Jessica Loy
Saturday, March 11, 2017
Design 9: Final day
11-3-2017
As told by Reina
Aloha! Today is the last day before we leave London and we all had a free day to explore the city.
Regina, Robyn and Matt started their free day with a proper English breakfast at a local Costa.
Then we headed out to the House of Illustration to see an exhibition by the artist Jo Brocklehurst Nobodies and Somebodies which was in the style of a high fashion punk Degas. It consisted of drawings she had made of 80's and 90's punk scene in English nightclubs and theatres.
Next we went back to Portebello Road to do more shopping with more money. We got food from the outside vendors and listened to this busker who was playing Jim Hendrix's Foxy Lady on an electric tennis racket. His drum set was a MacGyvered typewriter and cups, and his microphone was a corded telephone.
A few vendors were selling old type pieces and California cases, so we all got a small haul of interesting type blocks.
One vendor was selling little cigarette cards, collectable sets of 50 which came with cigarette boxes in the late 1800's until the 1940's. Regina picked up a set that were retro babes from the 40's. Betty is definitely bae, girl can flex.
On Portobello road you cant miss the billboard on the outside of The Distillery which has a lot of beautiful type happening.
Having decided to go to a pub for dinner we headed out to look or one that would serve dinner since apparently not all pubs will serve food on Saturday evenings. One non commercial pub known as the Boot wasn't serving food but did have a naked man sitting on their pool table with most of the pub drawing him (it would have been awkward to have taken a pic, but also you wouldn't want a picture anyway). Regina noticed a local difference in that it's common for pubs here to have gambling fruit slot machines.
11-3-2017
As told by Chris
11-3-2017. That's how it would be written here in London. A more logical order of day, month, year. Why don't we in the U.S. write the date like this?
As we headed along the morning path I noticed the signage of a business in the neighborhood that had similar type to a work of street art we saw the previous day.
At our first stop, Starbucks, the cashier decided that my name was Martin and proceeded to label my cup with my new moniker.
After getting my White Americano (an Americano with hot milk) I started the day with Jessica and her sister Alyson as we made our way via the tube (subway) to Piccadilly Circus. No clowns or elephants at this circus. The British definition is "A rounded open space in a town or city where several streets converge."
Just down the road from the circus was the Royal Academy of the Arts which had on display "Revolution: Russian Art 1917 – 1932." No photos were allows but check out the doors and typography found in the courtyard entrance to the museum.
After being inspired by revolutionary communist propaganda art I had a need to fulfill the capitalist in me by going to Hamleys, a London toy store that has been in business since 1760. Yup. That's Professor St.Cyr with the Hamleys teddy bear. On my way to Hamleys I walked down the Savile Row. A street famous for tailors specializing in bespoke clothing for over 200 years.
After doing a little bit of shopping I headed to the Houses of Parliament for a tour. I took this photo while standing in the queue for tickets. Minutes after taking it I was told the tours were sold out for the day. Oh well. It'll be on the list for the next time I'm in London.
From the ticket office I made my way back to the London Eye. Earlier in the week I went up in the Eye (naming rights to Coca-cola) with the students, but since we were one of the last groups for the day I didn't get a chance to get an elongated penny to add to my collection. So I waded through the sea of tourists (as a tourist myself I know how to do this) to get back to the gift shop to get not one but two pennies that were pressed with the images of the London Eye and Big Ben on them. FYI Big Ben is just a nickname. It is officially the Great Bell of Clock in Elizabeth Tower.
After extricating myself from the sea I took the tube over to St. James park where I enjoyed a vanilla ice cream (there weren't any other options) as I walked through the park enjoying the beautiful park, people, and the day.
NERD ALERT: After finishing my ice cream I decided to — wait for it — find a geocache. So I opened the app and found myself walking out of the park and into the neighborhood of the Ministry of Justice. If you've ever seen people in a park staring at a tree or on the street staring at a fire hydrant, most likely they're not crazy, they're searching for a geocache. The trick is to not look like your crazy or up to something nefarious. This can be a challenge when you're across the street from a building surrounded by surveillance cameras and displaying a sign saying "Ministry of Justice." After about ten minutes I did find it. Success! My first find outside of the United States. Check it off the bucket list.
I then hopped on a double-decker bus to Trafalgar Square where I switched buses to head over to the neighborhood where I met up with Jessica and Alyson for dinner at Ye Olde Chesire Cheese. You know it's English when the name starts with "Ye" and "Olde" has an "e" on the end. I ordered the Chicken Roulade with new potatoes and for dessert I had the Sticky Toffee Pudding & Custard.
On the way back to the tube we stopped for one last look at the London cityscape. Goodbye London. It's been great.
Cheers!
Chris
As told by Reina
Aloha! Today is the last day before we leave London and we all had a free day to explore the city.
Regina, Robyn and Matt started their free day with a proper English breakfast at a local Costa.
 |
| That looks awful! But it tasted fine— a proper English breakfast. |
Then we headed out to the House of Illustration to see an exhibition by the artist Jo Brocklehurst Nobodies and Somebodies which was in the style of a high fashion punk Degas. It consisted of drawings she had made of 80's and 90's punk scene in English nightclubs and theatres.
Next we went back to Portebello Road to do more shopping with more money. We got food from the outside vendors and listened to this busker who was playing Jim Hendrix's Foxy Lady on an electric tennis racket. His drum set was a MacGyvered typewriter and cups, and his microphone was a corded telephone.
A few vendors were selling old type pieces and California cases, so we all got a small haul of interesting type blocks.
One vendor was selling little cigarette cards, collectable sets of 50 which came with cigarette boxes in the late 1800's until the 1940's. Regina picked up a set that were retro babes from the 40's. Betty is definitely bae, girl can flex.
On Portobello road you cant miss the billboard on the outside of The Distillery which has a lot of beautiful type happening.
Having decided to go to a pub for dinner we headed out to look or one that would serve dinner since apparently not all pubs will serve food on Saturday evenings. One non commercial pub known as the Boot wasn't serving food but did have a naked man sitting on their pool table with most of the pub drawing him (it would have been awkward to have taken a pic, but also you wouldn't want a picture anyway). Regina noticed a local difference in that it's common for pubs here to have gambling fruit slot machines.
11-3-2017
As told by Chris
11-3-2017. That's how it would be written here in London. A more logical order of day, month, year. Why don't we in the U.S. write the date like this?
As we headed along the morning path I noticed the signage of a business in the neighborhood that had similar type to a work of street art we saw the previous day.
At our first stop, Starbucks, the cashier decided that my name was Martin and proceeded to label my cup with my new moniker.
After getting my White Americano (an Americano with hot milk) I started the day with Jessica and her sister Alyson as we made our way via the tube (subway) to Piccadilly Circus. No clowns or elephants at this circus. The British definition is "A rounded open space in a town or city where several streets converge."
Just down the road from the circus was the Royal Academy of the Arts which had on display "Revolution: Russian Art 1917 – 1932." No photos were allows but check out the doors and typography found in the courtyard entrance to the museum.
After being inspired by revolutionary communist propaganda art I had a need to fulfill the capitalist in me by going to Hamleys, a London toy store that has been in business since 1760. Yup. That's Professor St.Cyr with the Hamleys teddy bear. On my way to Hamleys I walked down the Savile Row. A street famous for tailors specializing in bespoke clothing for over 200 years.
After doing a little bit of shopping I headed to the Houses of Parliament for a tour. I took this photo while standing in the queue for tickets. Minutes after taking it I was told the tours were sold out for the day. Oh well. It'll be on the list for the next time I'm in London.
From the ticket office I made my way back to the London Eye. Earlier in the week I went up in the Eye (naming rights to Coca-cola) with the students, but since we were one of the last groups for the day I didn't get a chance to get an elongated penny to add to my collection. So I waded through the sea of tourists (as a tourist myself I know how to do this) to get back to the gift shop to get not one but two pennies that were pressed with the images of the London Eye and Big Ben on them. FYI Big Ben is just a nickname. It is officially the Great Bell of Clock in Elizabeth Tower.
After extricating myself from the sea I took the tube over to St. James park where I enjoyed a vanilla ice cream (there weren't any other options) as I walked through the park enjoying the beautiful park, people, and the day.
NERD ALERT: After finishing my ice cream I decided to — wait for it — find a geocache. So I opened the app and found myself walking out of the park and into the neighborhood of the Ministry of Justice. If you've ever seen people in a park staring at a tree or on the street staring at a fire hydrant, most likely they're not crazy, they're searching for a geocache. The trick is to not look like your crazy or up to something nefarious. This can be a challenge when you're across the street from a building surrounded by surveillance cameras and displaying a sign saying "Ministry of Justice." After about ten minutes I did find it. Success! My first find outside of the United States. Check it off the bucket list.
I then hopped on a double-decker bus to Trafalgar Square where I switched buses to head over to the neighborhood where I met up with Jessica and Alyson for dinner at Ye Olde Chesire Cheese. You know it's English when the name starts with "Ye" and "Olde" has an "e" on the end. I ordered the Chicken Roulade with new potatoes and for dessert I had the Sticky Toffee Pudding & Custard.
On the way back to the tube we stopped for one last look at the London cityscape. Goodbye London. It's been great.
Cheers!
Chris
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