LONDON PART 1

Hello friends! Today I bring you the highly anticipated London blog! Today I will be covering the first day because this post ended up being A LOT longer than I originally thought it was going to be. I have been avoiding writing this blog post. I think this is the hardest thing I have ever had to write. Every time I think back to my trip I am overwhelmed by so many emotions. I think back to the many moments that I had, and I feel so much joy, anger at some of my kids (yes I am a choir mom), and so much sadness. I’m sad cause the trip had to end, but that is NOT the point of this post! Let’s get IT!!

Day 1: The first day of the trip started at BNA (Nashville Airport) at 4 pm. I met up with the choir and we checked into our flight before heading off to security. Everyone went through security very smoothly, and we eventually made it to our gate. We all hung out until our flight was called which was about an hour. Once we got on the plane we all tried to get settled into our seats fairly quickly and after 10 minutes we took off! The plane ride was NEVER ENDING, and the food that was served on the plane was TRASH! I do not recommend. Our flight was about 8 hours, and it was an overnight flight. I slept a few hours in total, but it was very hard when you don’t have much legroom.

---

Once we landed we filed off the plane, grabbed our bags, and went through customs which was surprisingly easy. After our group had gone through we made our way to our bus that was going to take us to our hotel. This is a picture I took on that bus on our way to the hotel. We stayed at the Holiday Inn in the Kensington Area. We couldn’t get into our rooms right away, so we put our stuff into a little holding room. After putting our stuff away we made our way to our “orientation” where we met our “tour guide” Harry! Harry is THE BEST guy I have ever met, and it is NOT because of the fact that he is from London. 

The orientation went by really fast and after we were able to go around London and explore it on our own. Before venturing off on our own, Harry took us to Gloucester Station to show us how the tube (London Underground/subway) worked. I and another chaperone took a few of the kids to The Ritz and we walked around there for a little bit before getting something to eat. The first place we went to was a pub and we all had a cheeseburger and chips (fries in the US). I know, not the most British thing to eat as a first meal, but it was the only pub/restaurant around that we could afford. After eating we walked down to Hyde Park and we went to Buckingham Palace.

My group saw the changing of the guards, and it was FANTASTIC! I definitely fangirled while I was there. After some more sightseeing, we took the tube back to our hotel which was right by Gloucester Station which was really nice. I got a hang of the underground system pretty fast, and I also adjusted really fast and really well to the London atmosphere. 

After getting back to the hotel we got into our rooms and freshened up super fast cause the London New Years Day Parade was hosting a special dinner for us. It was NOT good AT ALL! One thing I will not miss is BLAND FOOD! OH MY GOODNESS! Granted, the fish and chips are the bomb. After dinner, we had a late-night rehearsal for our concert the next day. It was a pretty good rehearsal, and I’m so happy that it was over fairly fast.  After that we went to bed, thus ending the first day. 

---

That's it for today! I'm so sorry that this has literally taken me 2 and a half months to right, but I have been INSANELY busy. I will return soon, hopefully, with the rest of my trip. HAVE A GREAT WEEK GUYS!

-Noelle Janae-