Today was a very relaxed day compared to the past week here in Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and England. We visited four capitals on this trip Dublin, Belfast, Edinburgh and London. On our last day, we took the train to Trafalgar Square, a beautiful square filled with a fountain and people enjoying the nice Saturday with family. After the square, we went back to Piccadilly circle for those of us who went to the Castle the day before. We had some lunch, did some more shopping and enjoyed some people watching. We then went back to the tube and caught the line to Waterloo. The Waterloo station takes you near the London eye and the pier. Unfortunately, since it was a Saturday it was a 2-3 hour wait for the London Eye. We didn’t have the time to wait, but we were able to do some more shopping and watch some of the street performers. It was now about an hour before our meeting time for dinner. We started to make our way to dinner and found this very cool little beach and the Pier with a man who built a sand castle and had buckets down below that the students and adults could try to throw coin into. Now this beach was about 10-12 feet below and you had to take stairs to get down, which we did not do. The students did try to throw coin into the bucket. I must say that this was quite genius by the guy to make quite a bit of money for his beach art work. After the beach, we continued to dinner and crossed the Queens Bridge. We made it to dinner with about fifteen minutes to spare. Dinner was beef, carrots, potato, peas and a traditional British bread. After dinner, we decided to head back to the hotel to begin our packing for our trip back to Detroit in the morning. It will be quite hard to say goodbye to our great tour guide Roberto and our traveling family from Upstate New York. Hopefully one day we can run into eachother again. I hope that Roberto can be our tour guide through Spain in June. We did request him. It’s about an eight hour flight back with hopefully no delays since we are getting back kind of late. Wake-up tomorrow is around 7:30 am and on the bus by 8:30 am. It’s been a great trip to Ireland and the UK. More soon as we head to Spain in late June.
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Today was filled with birthdays, palaces, 14.2 miles of walking, Windsor castle, shopping, meeting fellow teachers and finding our way around by subway. It was a fantastic day for our students, parents and chaperones on the trip. We had the great opportunity to meet our local tour guide Mark today. He was quite funny and kept the students very interested in what he had to say about his city. We saw a lot of great sights the London Tower, Big Ben (Under construction), Westminster, Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park, the London Eye, Shakespheres Globe, ST. Paul’s Church and the changing of the guard. It was a fantastic tour through the great city of London. After the changing of the guards, the group broke up into two. Some went off to Windsor Castle while others stayed in the city to do some much needed shopping for souvenir for friends and family. We also met up with Mr. Youngblood who spent the entire day with us. We headed off to Piccadilly square which I would compare to a small Times Square. There was street singers, a guy dressed in a British Flag dancing to Elton John hits and many shops to spend your hard earned money. We stayed here for about two hours and had lunch, did some shopping and just enjoyed the street artists and their melodies. I guess they were singing Ed Sheeren which made the students very happy. After the square we took a short walk to Oxford Street where we visited a very cool toy store that was five stories, Nike Town and H/M. We then jumped on the Subway and went to Harrods. At Harrods, of you have never been to London, it is a must see. They sell everything that you can imagine. They even sold an elephant one time and used to sell live animals in the early days. I heard when I was young in the 20’s and 30’s Montgomery Ward’s sold live animals also. This store is absolutely amazing, Mr. Naim wanted to get a Kobe Steak, unfortunately we did not have the time. Hopefully next time. We then went to Chelsea FC Stadium, Another amazing place. We were able to see their Wall of Champions and do some shopping. Now it was time to meet the Windsor Castle group and head to dinner. After dinner, we took the train to Liverpool Street. What famous band is from Liverpool?? Well, there is a strange man that stalked the streets of London in 1888, named Jack the Ripper. Our tour guide was fantastic. One of the best spooky tours that I have ever been a part of. When he walks up in full costume and keeps the students attention the whole 1.5 hours, you know he is good. If you go to London, this tour is a must. After the tour it was back on the subway to our hotel, it was finally time for some much needed rest. Well today started off with another fire alarm at around 6:00 am or so. I guess it really doesn’t matter since we lost at least an hour of valuable sleep. It was another busy day on the tour as we visited Edinburgh and then had to head by train to London. After the alarm, it was time for breakfast. I was quite surprised at the quality of the breakfast compared to our other hotels. I must say that this hotel was far from the quality of our previous hotels, so far, on this trip. After breakfast it was time to pack up and load the bus before our tour through Edinburgh.
On our tour, we were able to see the home of the Prime Minister of Scotland, which is their first female leader. We were also able to visit the statue of Greyfriar Bobby. The tale goes that GreyFriar Booby’s owner died and this Skye terrier spent fourteen years guarding the grave of his owner before he died himself on May 14 1872. I would say that Bobby was quite loyal to his owner, John Grey. After we passed the resting spot of Bobby, we continued our tour around the city with Grant, our Scottish tour guide, who was all dressed in authentic Scottish clothing, Kilt and all. Not too far from Bobby, if you looked up to your right you will see Edinburgh Castle, a beautiful sight from most areas of Edinburgh. Once we arrived at the castle, Grant our local tour guide took us through the main gates of the castle, into the one of the most beautiful sights of looking the city and the sea that you could ever see. As you walk through the castle grounds it was very steep and not an easy walk. We were able to find a meeting point by the Red Post box. We then headed up the hill to the royal square. Once we arrived at the square we had several choice of things to see. The Royal Jewels, the Great Hall and the war memorial. After the Castle we headed to lunch, an Italian Lunch, I think our tour Guide Roberto who is from Italy threw that one in for us. It was a great lunch filled with pizza, pasta and fish and chips. We then had to head to Waverly train station to take our five hour ride to London. The ride to London was quite uneventful. The kids and adults all debated different things on the train or just relaxed and enjoyed the sights of the countryside, plus the different cities we took in on the way. As we arrived to London our bus was waiting for us for the 45 minutes ride to our hotel in Greenwich, I believe the East side of London. Today, we head to the center of London to visit the many sights within the city. We will also catch-up with Mr. Youngblood today who is also in London and spend the afternoon with him as others will visit Windsor Castle. More soon. 4:45 am comes really quick. I must say today was a very long day and I can tell the students are beginning to see how these trips really work. The meeting we had before our trip couldn’t explain how busy we really are traveling around the world. I am also very proud of the students for their endurance, especially today. As the wake-up call came in at 4:45 am (11:45 pm your time) I know today would be a long day. It was important that we treated it like a marathon and not a race. Our first trek was to get from our Hotel in Belfast and head over to the Dock for our 2.5 hour cruise to Scotland, our third country on this trip. We made it with no issues. We took all of our bags off the bus and brought them into the port to be loaded on the Ship. The process was quite easy as you put your own bag on the belt. Once you do this you head to the waiting area to board the boat. Kind of like a regular cruise ship at home without the glamour. Once the 2.5 hours of much needed rest and relaxation from our cruise ended. It was time to enter our third country on the trip Scotland. The weather was quite miserable here in Scotland today, we experienced rain, sleet and a lot of snow. Not quite the welcome that we expected from the Scots. We also met our third driver Peter, quite the character and a really good guy who wants to do his best for his passengers. Our great Tour guide Roberto (Pop, Pop) made sure everyone collected their luggage and we worked as a team to get it on the bus. Once everything was on the bus we headed towards Glasgow, about a 1.5 hour drive from the port. This allowed time for another much needed time for rest. The drive to Glasgow was very scenic as we drove through the coast of the Irish/Scottish Sea. As we entered Glasgow, Peter gave us a quick tutorial of the important buildings of the city. We stopped briefly for lunch, which we actually enjoyed some Italian today. Once lunch was complete, we headed to the other side of town to learn about the Tax collectors tower and the hangings in the city during the 16th century. Now it was time to head out to Edinburgh, another 1.5 hour drive to the other side of Scotland. Again, we experienced weather all of the way to Edinburgh and all of our time in Edinburgh. It really did not clear up until we left the city. We received a short tour of the city before about an hour and a half of free time before dinner. Dinner was a mash and sausages, it was not too bad, but not the best representation of Scotland which would be Fish and Chips. I could probably do the Fish and Chips at least once a day. It is so fresh and the chips so crisp. After dinner, it was off to the hotel about a forty-five minute drive to the city of Stirling. A very medieval city with a beautiful castle on top of the hill. It is also the home to William Wallace (Of Braveheart fame). There is a huge monument to him above the city. Now the hotel was a little bit shaky from the beginning. Normal small European rooms, but more like dorm rooms compared to hotel rooms. Our first Fire Alarm went off around 10:30 am because the boiler overheated. This did not allow me to finish this blog this morning. The Second alarm went off when I started to finish the blog and send it out this morning. It went off for the same reason. I would say that we probably shouldn’t shower since that is the reason that it went off, but for the bus and the sake of the bus we must shower. Today we do our tour of Edinburgh castle and this afternoon we head to our final destination on this trip London. We arrive in London quite late, so I am not sure what we will be able to see before lights out. More tomorrow Today was quite a busy day traveling through Northern Ireland. We were able to sleep in a bit until 8am. It all started with a traditional Irish Breakfast. Eggs, Bacon, beans, tomatoes, toast and tea. Quite delicious and a great start to the day. After breakfast, we headed to The Giants Causeway about an hour north of Belfast. When we arrived, we decided to take the Red Trail to the Causeway which was about a forty-five minute walk, up a hill across a pasture and down some stairs and then back up hill through one of the most beautiful views of the Irish Sea. You could see the Giants boot from a distance while the sea forced itself across the coast. When we arrived near the top of the causeway the view was absolutely breathtaking. We were able to take several pictures of the Irish Sea on this cold and bitter day. As we headed back towards the visitors center of the Park, we were able to snap a few pictures of the students climbing the rocks near the Irish Sea. Once we completed our excursion, we arrived at the visitor’s center for lunch and some shopping. Most of the students had the opportunity to try Traditional Irish Stew. I must say that it was quite good, but the Mint chocolate brownie was to die for. After a fantastic lunch we headed to Derry, which has a similar story as Belfast during the Trouble times in Northern Ireland. Our Local Guide Ronin was very knowledgeable about the history of his city and the violence that occurred between the Catholics and Protestants within his city. I thought the most enlightening question by a student was the question why this happened. There was really no answer why except the hatred that occurred between the two groups after a period of time of fighting. It’s really astonishing to me how this countries separates groups of people over religion. To the eyes of most people both groups are Christian, but the history of religious persecution in Europe and especially the United Kingdom has gone on for centuries and helped build our country during colonization. It was very interesting walking through the murals of the city and seeing the walls built by the English royalty in the 15th century that divided the country. After our visit to Derry or London Derry (If your Protestant), but since I am Catholic I will refer to it as Derry. We headed back to Belfast for Dinner. We had our first opportunity to enjoy Fish and Chips at the 100 year old John Longs Fish and Chips. (Could Long John Silvers has stolen this name??) The fish was quite good, but we were missing Mushy Peas, a staple of English Fish and Chips. Most of the students enjoyed the dinner and ice cream dessert that followed. Unfortunately this is our last night in Ireland as we head to Scotland in the morning. We have a 4:45 am wake-up and a 5:30 am departure to head to our Ferry across the Irish Sea to Scotland. Tomorrow, we take a five hour ferry and bus ride to Edinburgh. We will meet a Scottie dog and a city where you can view the castle from anywhere in the city. We will also meet the location where Harry potter was created in a small café overlooking a school. Hogwarts, we will find out tomorrow. The day started off filled with Sleet, Rain and Snow, during our drive to Belfast. It was quite the miserable drive, as they would say in Northern Ireland, I would agree. The drive from Dundelik to Belfast was a little over an hour. It was quite the drive as it started off with a steady rain which turn into sleet and not long after turned to snow. Now our driver Patrick Smiley claims that in one day you can have each of the four seasons, but I see Ireland more as a late fall type of country. It was a chilly 0 Celsius for most of the day, but it did get as high as 1 Celsius. How could you tell though?
Once we arrived in Belfast, we met our great local guide Joe. I would say that he was one of the best local guides that I have ever experienced because of his great knowledge of his city and the troubled years. We had the opportunity to see the gates that separate the Protestants and Catholics. Which to my surprise still function today. He took us through the various murals that show the pain of the issue between Protestants and Catholics, plus the issue between England and Ireland. We found out about numerous people who were political prisoners during this time. One of them Bobby Sands actually was elected to the British Government, which they did not recognize him as so, he died of a hunger strike after 62 days. He refused to wear the prisoner’s uniform and choose to wear a blanket instead. There was also a memorial to the man who killed the most Catholics, he died at a young age of 30, but is memorialized through a mural on the protestant side of the fence. After our history lesson through the city, we headed to the Titanic Belfast museum. I was quite excited about visiting this museum as were most of the students. As a young lad, my Great-Grandmother used to tell me stories about the Titanic, World War I and II and how these events affected her life. She had these newspapers she would read to me about these events and I would say that is probably why I teach history today. The museum was quite beautiful and it took you through the history of the city of Belfast, White Star (the Owners of the Titanic), H & W (The builders of the Titanic), the actual people of built the ship (We had a great opportunity to take a 6 minute ride through the building of the ship) and the Titanic’ maiden Voyage. We should all know what happened during the voyage. The museum was quite informative and was a great opportunity for our students to not only learn about the history of Belfast, but about the Titanic and the lives lost. After our visit to the Titanic, it was time to check into our hotel. We found out that during the 80’s our hotel was the most bombed hotel in all of Europe. It is also a very beautiful hotel that President Clinton stayed here in 1995. We had about 15 minutes and then we had to take a horrendous walk through cold bone chilling rain to dinner. Our dinner was a chicken sandwich with fries. The ice cream dessert was quite delicious. After dinner, it was back to the hotel for some much needed rest and the opportunity to get dry from all of the rain. Tomorrow we head to Giants Causeway and we have the opportunity to eat some delicious fish. CAPITALS OF THE BRITISH ISLES: PLANES, BUSES AND DUBLIN CITY TOURS PLUS A SPECIAL EXCURSION4/1/2018 Our trip has been so busy and exciting for our students that I have not had much time to blog about our adventure, but now it is time to catch up. Everything started this past Friday as we met at the Airport around 3 pm. To my surprise we only had two students not on time. This was a great sign on how the next ten days will go. Once we all checked in at the airport, it was time to go through security. On Good Friday, I expected the lines to be quite long and I was right. We went through the security line in about thirty minutes. Once through the line we had about an hour wait until it was time to board the plane. Our flight was a smooth seven hours from Detroit to Amsterdam, Netherlands. We had to rush to our next flight to Dublin. Once at the gate, we had a little more time than expected. The flight from Amsterdam to Dublin was less than an hour.
Once we arrived in Dublin, Ireland, we gathered our bags quickly and met our with our great tour director Roberto. I must say that I have been quite impressed with his detailed information before our arrival in Dublin. He did not disappoint when we met up with him upon our arrival. We had to wait for one person that is in our group from New York. The New York group is around 30 people. So we have a pretty good sized group. From the airport, we headed to Dublin Center City for a walking tour with Roberto. We saw quite a bit our first afternoon, in Dublin, the famous Molly Malone statue, the Potato Famine memorial, Trinity College and so much more. It was a wonderful walking tour through the city, plus we enjoyed some delicious Fish and Chips plus Mushy peas. We had some free time in Dublin, in which, we did some shopping. The students were able to buy some souvenirs, books and just enjoy the culture of the city. After our free time, we were able to enjoy a Shepard’s Pie with the most delicious Cheese cake. Finally after being up for more than 30 hours it was time for some much needed rest. We arrived at our hotel at around 7pm, bed checks at 7:30 pm and a nap before the Michigan game was in order. Day three, we enjoyed a Michigan Victory and we started our morning with a classic Irish Breakfast, quite delicious, I must say. Today, we had a busy schedule a trip from our hotel to Dublin, a wonderful visit to St. Patrick’s Cathedral with our local tour guide Carol and a walk through Trinity College to see the book of Kells and the Long room (that was filled with books from to back and up to the ceiling. It also had the famous Irish Harp. We were very lucky to next enjoy a trip to the Irish countryside to the city of Glendalough and the historic park. We were able to take about an hour drive through the countryside to this great city and historic park. When we arrived, we were able to take about a 2.2 KM walk to the Upper Lake. What a great walk through pastors with sheep, chickens and beautiful waterfalls. The adventure was priceless, some of the most beautiful scenery that I have seen in the world. After our excursion, we headed back to Dublin for dinner. Our dinner consisted of Beef Stew and a delicious Bailey’s cake. We also did about 24,000 steps today in Ireland. Tomorrow, we say goodbye to Dublin and hello to Belfast and Northern Ireland. We will visit the Titanic Museum and so much more. Well we finally made it to the Amazon after over 24 hours of delays and weather issues. Once we arrived we were greeted by extreme humidity, which was quite different from the rain and cold of Cusco. We were also greeted by a really cool bus that took us to the Madre De Dios river. Our boat ride was quite scenic with different kinds of birds and beautiful brush. I just want to add this this blogger did get injured on our boat ride because I was not paying attention to the huge board in the middle of the boat. I must thank my wife and a medic from DC for saving me. What would we do without great women in our lives???
Once we arrived at Amazonia Eco Lodge, we dropped off our bags and it was off to Monkey Island. Monkey island was very cool. The monkeys really like bottled water, bananas and oranges. They really like any kind of fruit. We saw three monkeys on our trip to the island. Our pictures are very cool and you can see how close we got to the monkey and we were able to pet the monkey too, which was great. After Monkey Island we went on a hour walk through the Jungle. We saw Caimon's, spiders and lots of different kinds of birds. It was also quite muddy on our journey through the jungle, but we were lucky that the lodge offered rain boots. I want to add that the food at the lodge was delicious. If you ever get a chance to visit this lodge I highly recommend it. Our final day in Peru, we had a real early wake-up call for another hike and Kayak ride through the jungle. It was a fun three hour journey through mud and heavy brush. After our hike and kayak ride, it was a quick shower and off to Lima for our departure back to Detroit.What a long 29 hour journey back home. It was a 1.5 hour boat ride, 2 flights back to Lima (3.0 hours), a 5 hour wait for our flight to Miami, another 4 hour layover in Miami and 29 hours later we arrived back in the D. What a long day, all that matter is we arrived home safe and we arrived home to some really great parents. This year is in the books, please watch for information on our picture exchange that should happen early May and watch for next year, Dubai, Germany and Mexico, possible Italy again if I continue to get a lot of interest. Next year we will be offering a Service learning trip: More details soon. It was a very early wake-up call today, 4 am, but we were heading to the highlight of our trip Machu Picchu, one of the wonders of the world. Machu Picchu did not disappoint. Again, we had a four hour journey to reach Machu Picchu, which I hope one day to do the hike to this great destination, Who is In? Trimer-Hartley, Any teachers, Ornstein ??? We first took a two hour bus ride to the Inca train station for our two hour train ride to Machu Picchu. The bus ride was again through winding roads, mountains and valleys. Once we arrived at the station, we grabbed a very light snack and hoped on our train through the Sacred Valley to Machu Picchu. Once we arrived, it was another thirty minute bus ride to the most fascinating place that I have ever been. I am not going to talk to much about it because I don't want to ruin it for those who have not been here yet, but I suggest you visit this great place. We spent about three hours at the site and all I can say is WOW!!!
After our wonderful tour of this wonder of the world, we took another bus ride down the mountain to the city below. We had lunch at this wonderful place overlooking a waterfall and the beautiful river that it flows in. Lunch a little more Americanized than I would have liked, but the kids loved it. I also noticed that every time we have lunch somewhere in Peru, we here 80's music. I think they do it for us?? After lunch, we enjoyed for first chance to shop. Some of the students bought some great presents for their parents. We shopped for about two hours, much less than our regular shopping days in Italy a few weeks ago. After shopping it was back on the train and another four hour journey back to Cusco. Once we finally arrived in Cusco, We decided to go out to dinner at the restaurant next door. That is where we met Jason. In Peru, the Guinea Pig is a delicacy that many Peruvians enjoy for special events. One of our students decided to order this delicacy for their main entree. I must say when Jason came out with his helmet, teeth still intact and eyes, I became quite horrified, but our student was very excited to try this unique dish. In Peru, they bring out the Guinea Pig to take pictures before they cut it up and you dig in. I guess it was good because almost all of the student tried it and dissected it. Tomorrow, we tour the city of Cusco and finally get to sleep in a extra few hours. This is much needed after the last few very long days. I also want to remind the parents that we will be off the grid starting tomorrow. We will have no phone service, no internet until Saturday afternoon. Today, we started at 5 am to catch a plane to Cusco. This was the first time that we caught a plane within a trip that I can remember, but it is a lot better then taking the 24+ hour drive to reach Cusco. Lima and Cusco are about the same distance from Detroit to Chicago. Can anyone tell why it takes 24 hours to get from Lima to Cusco?? Our plane ride was very nice, and very short, about an hour over the Andie Mountains
Once we arrived in Cusco, we were off on our tour of the ruins, we visited Ollantaytambo. These ruins have great accomplishment for the Inca, because it is home to one of the greatest victories against the Spaniards. On this journey to these ruins, we had the great opportunity to visit a Peruvian school. We visited a third grade class and donated pencils, crayons, markers and coloring books. The children ere so appreciative of the school supplies. It was greatly needed for these students who live in a very poor area in the Inca valley. The visit also allowed some of our students to use the Spanish that they have been learning in school. It was really great how our students interacted with the third grade students that we visited. We were at the school for about an hour, but it was an hour that our students as well as the Peruvian students will never forget. After our visit to the school we enjoyed lunch and then headed off to the ruins. It was quite a long bus ride to the ruins through the mountains, valleys and steep hills. Some of us began to get a little motion sickness from the movement and I think the change of altitude really didn't help us to much. Once, we arrived at the ruins, it was amazing, but very rainy and cold. The temperature change was pretty dramatic from our days in Lima to what we experienced in the Inca Valley. We had the great opportunity to climb the Inca ruins and see how this magnificent civilization built these amazing communities in the mountains. It still makes me wonder how they achieved these accomplishments with the lack of technology or that we think they have a lack of technology. We also found out on this journey that a few of us are extremely afraid of heights and I am proud to say it wasn't this blogger this time. After our visit of the ruins, it was a long painful journey back to Cusco. It was also a very long day for us, so we hit the sack very quickly. We also have a very early wake-up of 4am tomorrow to head to Machu Picchu. More Soon!!! |
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AuthorMr. Lopez is the primary author of our blogs. However, on each trip Mr. Lopez invites guest bloggers to add their flair to our experiences. Guest bloggers will be noted at the bottom of the blog. Archives
April 2018
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