Friday April 19
After breakfast, we boarded the coach and traveled to Stonehenge.
Barrington and I briefly shared an elevator today. He asked me how I liked the hotel, and I said that it was my favorite thus far, despite my poor sleep the night before. Barrington also sang for us on the bus before our departure to Stonehenge. Today will be a good day - Hailey
Just convinced Nick to change his name to Victory Patel when he becomes an evil dictator. Hannah has been on a perpetual sugar high since we knew that this trip existed. Matt and John are staring contemplatively into space. David is being a stinky stink like always. Hailey is wearing her sunglasses because she thinks she’s cool. Allie is laughing whenever I write a sentence. Matt and John just found out what I wrote about them.
Live from 5 minutes into a 2 hour drive, Chris
Chris is not that funny. This is going to be a long bus ride. - Allie
Allie stinks - Chris
Allie and Chris both stink, - Matt
On the other hand the grass here smells quite nice I’m not going to lie. I want the grass as my lawn… now.. I want to live here.. I’m currently on a bus, this is so exciting because it’s a 2 hour bus ride as opposed to a 4 hour one. Yeah I’m talking about you Shakespeare. I think I display that we are clearly tourists very well as I leapfrog over every pole I see and the language barrier has been a little difficult for me. Chris is explaining his game to a very confused Allie. This commentary may continue throughout this bus ride. John is loving his window seat right now. Nick is sitting with his eyes closed plotting to take over the world and Hailey is wearing some sweet shades on a pretty dark bus. We are all really cool..
I’ll shut up now, - Matt
Breaking news, Allie and Chris stink
I’m serious.
Seriously.
Hailey just said she is rich, I laughed inside.
Love this formatting - Matt
Stratford-upon-Avon was cool, despite the fact that the whole town seems to go to sleep at 5:30. I did get to try a Blueberry Jelly-Belly soda, which pretty much revolutionized the way I view soft drinks. “Mystic Dimension,” a store dedicated to “The preservation of Fairies and Magickal Beings” was unfortunately closed by the time I got to visit it. All the Shakespeare stuff was cool though, especially the actors we saw perform, and for whom we performed as well (awkward sentence construction for the win). The appropriately named city of Bath was exceedingly pleasant, as was the surrounding countryside. Today we’re going to Stonehenge, which should be pretty fun.
Chris stinks.
Allie is rapt with interest in Chris’ pokemon lecture.
Nick is asleep with his head on the chair in front of him.
And that’s about it. - John
ON a rather serious note I actually love it here in England. The architecture here is absolutely gorgeous. Westminster Abbey was one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen. I’ve never seen so much gold. I was joking that I would bring a shovel and bury myself and put up a cardboard sign for me to be buried there just because a lot of legends and royalty of England or even the sciences or the arts are buried there. And well, who doesn’t think I’m a legend? I felt like an ant the ceilings were so high. You all all know I’m not a legend but I love it there! Good Bye, from this bus ride. I never want to sing the US national anthem in a British cathedral again, nor do I want to fall flat on my face in a cathedral again. But who all can say they fell on there face in Hogwarts? I CAN! - Matthewsean
Hi America,
The past few days have been far better than I could have possibly imagined. Stratford Upon Avon was a beautiful little town. Shout out to the other Longmeadow tour group that we saw in Stratford…small world. Yesterday we sang at Gloucester Cathedral, which was a set for Hogwarts. I was amazing. Some of the best acoustics I have ever experienced. We have been doing a lot of riding in the bus, or coach as the Brits refer to it, but the beautiful green hills and landscapes we’ve seen almost nonstop have made the long rides quite enjoyable. We are currently on our way to Stonehenge. I hear it rocks.
TTFN - Tyler
Good one, Tyler,
-Eric
Nothing like listening to tunes and looking out the window at England’s gorgeous countryside. Unreal. Can’t believe it’s already Friday. -Laura
I’ve decided to move to Bath instead of going to college. Bye!
-Julia
I can’t believe it’s already Friday. I’ve had such an amazing week. The English countryside is absolutely breathtaking. Yesterday, we sang at Gloucester Cathedral yesterday and it was so incredible. (Don’t worry, Lauren, I took a lot of pictures of Hogwarts!) –Anna C.
Welp. It has been decided. I’m going to move to the English countryside. You’ll understand once you see the pictures. I swear, the grass is really greener on this side of the Atlantic. See ya laters alligators. Manon and I are going to finish jamming out to Ingrid Michaelson. Ta ta!
-Liz Levson
One last day in England! Ah it has flown by so fast! On our way to Stonehenge right now but I think the view from the bus is just as beautiful as anything else we’ve seen. I wish Longmeadow had green hills like this! I think the best moment was our performance yesterday at Gloucester Cathedral. Not only was it used as Hogwarts, but the acoustics were absolutely breathtaking and we sounded amazing (and there was the most amazing organ there that I was dying to play…. Pictures will come later!) Who would ever think I would be itching to play piano after seeing that organ and an all Steinway school at Gresham?
-Manon
We continued to Salisbury Cathedral, with the tallest spire in England, the world's oldest working clock (1386) and one of four surviving original copies of the Magna Carta.
hello fam,
there are some really cool rocks at Stonehenge. I can’t believe it’s our last full day in England, it’s been a pretty eventful couple of days. KC bought a ukulele yesterday and she’s really enjoying it (maybe a little too much) Although I can’t wait to see everyone, I’m really going to miss this. The countryside has lots of beautiful rolling hills. I <3 England!
-Ali M (:
D.A.D. dad,
We just went to see Stonehenge which was super pretty and mysterious and all of those things. Now we’re going to get food which is great. Yesterday we went to Bath and I loved it and I want to live there for the rest of my life. We walked around for a few hours and went into all of the cute little shops. In one of them Cecilia and I were offered wine, but we didn’t take it. Also, I bought you a present! I miss you and I’ll see you in a few days
Tempe
Hi family,
I bought a ukulele in England. Shubham convinced me to buy a ukulele. Blame it all on him. But I’m really enjoying myself so it’s fine. I bought BFF Greg some small gifts at Stonehenge even though he told me not to, but it was necessary. Leaving is going to be so hard, even though I’m really looking forward to sleeping in my own bed. I legitimately LOVE it here and never want to leave and just stay and watch soccer games all the time. But don’t worry, I AM coming home; I miss all you guys!
See you all soon,
KC
Dear family and friends,
Today we visited the beautiful Stonehenge- or should I say StoneHensh? There will be some quality pictures from that little pun. I must say, amount of plain, bare, rolling hills in this country is absolutely unbelievable. I doubt that I can appropriately express how amazingly beautiful this is without speaking personally, so I think I’ll stop there. As a side note, I’d announce to Tyler Thomas that I’m extremely mad at him for suggesting that I read the novel, Looking For Alaska, because I just got to part two, and a little part of me just died. That’s all for now, but I love you all, and I can’t wait to see you all again!
- Hensh
After free time in Salisbury, we continued to London for a special farewell dinner and overnight.
We are now on our way to our final stay at an English hotel. I can’t believe the trip is finally coming to an end. We just came back from spending some free time in Salisbury, which was beautiful. All of the smaller towns we visited have had so much character and charm, and visiting all of the little shops and restaurants has been really fun. I also have been enjoying the bus rides through the English countryside because it is absolutely amazing out here. There are so many sheep. And baby sheep. THEY ARE SO CUTE. Hannah Glick understands my passion for sheep. Anyways the view of the green grass and farm animals is pretty great.
-Rohini
I can’t believe this trip is almost over. I apologize I haven’t written more but I’ve been so busy singing and smiling—and looking at some of the most beautiful stretches of countryside I’ve ever seen. There are miles of bright green, rolling pastures, fields of BABY SHEEP, and when we come upon buildings, they’re always the most picturesque, rustic country houses with daffodils in the lawns. The daffodils we’ve seen everywhere make me so happy and they match my coat brilliantly. I’ve been so excited hearing all the British people say things like “brilliant” and everything else they say. At Stratford upon Avon, the sweetest candy shoppe owner gave me some free sour candy and called me “love”. The second sweetest person in the country, a thrift shop owner told us where to get great fish and chips today too. Note: I only had twenty pounds in my pocket today and I popped some serious tags. I knew it’d be hard to write something short but to summarize, I sang in Gloucester Cathedral (HOGWARTS.) with the most beautiful acoustics I’ve experienced, saw Charles Dickens’ grave, was referenced as fair by a Shakespearean actor, and saw a gaggle of two-foot tall children in miniature safety vests. England is stellar.
- Hannah
This trip has been truly amazing. The landscape of England is beautiful and the rolling hills make even the bus ride enjoyable. The sites we have seen on this trip and the people we have met are all incredible. Our tour guide Almar, our driver Barrington, our colleagues at Gresham’s are all amazing and the sights of cathedrals, castles, sheep, more sheep and gypsy shanty towns have entertained us thoroughly.
David