After we had our tour of London by coach, we started out of the city towards Windsor. We had seen the castle by air since Heathrow is actually near the castle, but we had not yet had a chance to check it out.
We got there in time for a late lunch, and I had lunch at the Horse and Groom, a little pub near the castle. Dalia, Beth, Stacy, and Shell joined me there, as well as Erica and Zach. The experience was awesome! Frankly, it was everything I had imagined an English pub might be, except the music was better. Instead of “pub music” that I had imagined (which was never very clear in my imagination, I admit it), we had Jack Johnson and James Blunt playing in the background.
(MUSICAL SIDENOTE: While we were sitting in the lobby of the hotel the afternoon before, we had a rather interesting experience. There we were, a bunch of country bumpkins sitting in a lobby of a hotel in central London. The whole experience was rather surreal… and then it had to get a bit more surreal… guess what song was playing in the lobby? Lynard Skynard’s “Sweet Home Alabama”!)
After a great lunch of bangers and mash accompanied by incredible hospitality from the owner of the pub, we made our way to Windsor Castle, the weekend residence of the queen. We got to see the famous doll house of Queen Mary as well as her entire doll collection. I am not even into that stuff, but I had to admit that it was impressive. We then went on a tour through the public part of the castle, and I was simply in awe. All I could think as I was touring was how awesome it would be to grow up in a home like that. Can you imagine playing hide and go seek in such a place? Matt and I managed to get in enough trouble in our house, and the only interesting thing it offered was a laundry shoot to slide down!
We really didn’t have enough time in Windsor, but that is just one of the drawbacks of having such a busy schedule. In fact, there were several shops at the train depot I wanted to check out, but I didn’t have enough time. There was a cigar shop that sold Cubans, and I really wanted to smoke one while I was there. (It is probably a good thing I didn’t, though. My sinuses were giving me trouble as it was; lighting up a stogie would have only made it worse.) There was also a store there that I had been wanting to check out. Penhaligon’s is a fragrance company that was established in 1870, and it comes highly recommended by a former professor of mine. I was able to walk in, but I didn’t have enough time to really check out the various fragrances.
On the way back to the coach, Alicia decided to buy me an early birthday present and bought me an Oxford hoodie! Thanks, Alicia!
We loaded up on the coach and headed back into London. We ate at Chiquitos, a Mexican place on Leicester Square. (Please note: Leicester is pronounced “Lester”.) I did learn there that every culture has their own ideas of what Mexican food is. The meal was good, but I don’t believe Rosa that owns El Jalapeno here in Millbrook would call it Mexican.
After dinner, we had a little time to kill, so the students and I went to some used bookstores right around the corner. I picked up a cookbook for my mother, and Beth bought the same one. I also found a really cool book for my brother that was an old book of English hymns. For myself, I found several different UK versions of the Harry Potter books. All in all, a great way to spend the time.
We then headed off for the Vaudeville theatre where we were going to see Stomp. We got there early, so we went next door to a coffee shop. When we finally made it into the theatre, we found that EF had hooked us up with PHENOMENAL tickets! Our entire group was sitting no further away than the 4th row. The theatre is not a large one anyway, but to be right up front adds to the experience.
I saw Stomp several years ago in New York, so I knew what to expect. I was still amazed by the sheer brilliance of the performers. The energy that these people bring to their performance is astounding. For anyone who is traveling with students, I highly recommend catching Stomp if possible.
After the show, we took the tube back to Kings Cross so we walk back to the Travelodge. I gave the students their curfew, told them to go ahead and order their pizza if they wanted to (there was a place right across the street that was good and pretty reasonable… well, as reasonable anything else in London), and then wished them a good night. Later, I ordered my pizza, did my room check, and went to bed.
More later!