Day 9-Epic Countryside Adventures

Hey guys, sadly this is our last post from the lovely lands across the Atlantic. Today was a scenic end to an awesome trip. We all awoke...on time of course! We awoke to a lovely breakfast cooked by the hotel kitchen of either Bacon, Sausage, and a Tomato, or a vegitarian dish consisting of eggs and spinach. Both options were delicious and a good start to the morning.

We hopped on the bus and headed out of town to start our tour of the Ring of Kerry. Killarney is part of a peninsula and the Ring of Kerry is the outer layer of that peninsula. The Ring is 110 miles long and it took us the length of the day to tour it. The day consisted of multiple picture spots where we all got lovely pictures of the gorgeous Irish countryside. One of the stops wasn't a picture spot, but actually it was a small village, Kerry Peatbog Village. It was a quaint and peaceful place...then our bus arrived. We stormed the walls and torched the buildings in respect to the actual time period. By storming the walls and torching the buildings we mean we stopped at the gift shop and took a stormload of pictures. There was a live person in the exhibit, though, and she played the accordian. There were also these Irish Wolfhounds which are the size of a wolf, but are dogs. They were awesome looking. There were also miniature ponies that looked depressed, but we tried them smile. This was also the site of Robbie's purchase of his epic green Leprechaun Hat. It was nifty. Drew said this about the tour, "I slept alot." Most students slept some on the bus ride and missed some of the tour, but most enjoyed the beautiful scenery while they were awake. Another epic part of the tour was when Braveheart was playing, and epic battle music began playing while we came up through snow covered mountains.

Lunch was at a cliffside cafe overlooking one of the bays. The food was way overpriced, but since it was the last meal we would buy, and the only restaurant in the area, we ate there. Food was extremely delicious though, and the gift shop offered wonderful deals. We then finished our tour of the Ring of Kerry and got back to the city at around 4.

Eric gave us 2 hours and 45 minutes to explore the city. Mick spent the time listening to some sermons on cd; Drew walked around with Nick and actually met some locals. Ben and Evan found an army surplus store to shop in. Will, Lance, Ryan, and Daniel all stayed and chilled at the the hotel. Daniel said he actually watched Star Wars Episode III.

We met up at 6:45 for dinner. We went to a local hotel and dined at their restaurant. It was a vegetable soup and a beef dish. Dessert was a piece of apple pie with cinnamon on top. It was quite delicious. Eric gave a sweet message after dinner saying, "You guys reminded me why I love doing what I do."

We came back to the hotel and took a group picture, one with everyone including Byrnes, and another picture with just HCA'ers. We then presented gifts to our chaperones. Mr. K and Mr. Rob gave Irish Blessings to each parent that came. We gave Eric an HCA Football (aka soccer) shirt, right off Aaron Lucas' back, that each person in the group had signed. We gave Mr. K an Ireland Flag that everyone signed and a British flag that said "Class of 2010". Mr. Rob got an Irish Jersey that he can wear on casual days at school because it has a collar. We also gave Mrs. Klempner a scarf as a thanks for keeping Mr. K sane.

The students all stayed in the lobby and are hanging out for our last night together. Our wake up call comes at 3:30 tomorrow, and we leave the hotel at 4:30. We were told to pack tonight. Our bus ride to the airport will be two hours and we should fly out around 10. That is where your iteneraries come in handy to find out when to pick us up. Thank you again for reading everyone, and we hope this blog has been beneficial to your sanity on your kids being gone. We all miss you and look forward to seeing you soon!!!!

Day 8-Bus rides, Bus rides, and Mono

This morning started off differently for lots of people than usual. From what we know, at least half of the group woke up late and had to rush. Made for a fast paced morning, but breakfast was delicious. Yogurts, bread, and fruit were the bulk of our selections. We all gobbled up the food and headed for our bus for an 8 o'clock departure.

The morning started off a bit slow, as we rode 2 hours to a restroom stop. We thought there might not be bathrooms at our first stop so we stopped at the loo just in case. We also followed regular tourist tradition, and raided the Subway for all of its cookies while we were at the restroom.

We hopped back on the bus to ride 30 minutes to Cahir Castle (pronounced "care"). We didn't get to go inside or really explore the grounds that much. The fifteen minutes for pictures and stretching our legs was greatly appreciated.

We hopped on the bus again for another hour and headed to Blarney Castle, home of the Blarney Stone. We got off and most of the group headed straight for the stone. For those of you who don't know why this is so important, according to legend, those who kiss the Blarney Stone will be granted with the gift of gab. Meaning their speech will be eloquent and it may increase the amount they talk. Mariah was so excited about kissing the Blarney stone, that even though she missed it by a foot, she feels she won't get mono like those who actually kissed the stone. Most of the group then headed out straight to lunch, but a few brave individuals actually went on a walk of the grounds, where Mariah got to see the lake, Robbie got to climb a tree, and Drew got chased by a car.

Most people headed to lunch though, and enjoyed the local cuisine. Nick Cannon said, "I tried to eat an Irish cow, topped with cheese and bacon with a side of fries, but it was just too big and I was unable to conquer the cow."

After lunch guess what we did? We got back on the bus and rode an hour to Cobh (pronounced Cove). Cobh wss a site where emigrants left the country during the potato famine and were subjected to grim situations while riding the boats. It was also the last port stop for the Titanic, and it was also the sinking place of the Lusitania. The exhibit consisted of lots of pictures, movies, and wax figurines. There were also these iron bars that our class decided would be fun to squeeze through. So one by one, we pushed through. Of course there was a gift shop at the end, and our group bought many souveneirs. At 4:45 our group did something very shocking...we got back on the bus.

We had a two hour busride to dinner and Killarney, which is where we are residing tonight. On the busride we had two epic events occur. We watched as much of Braveheart as we could, and the back of the bus decided that after 8 days we should get on a first name basis with the other school. We talked to them for the first 30 minutes and had a fun time getting to know them. Tomorrow will be fun touring with them.

Dinner was Irish Stew. It was lamb and 3 different kinds of potatoes. Lance Dutton had this to say about dinner, "It was tasty." Sammi Petro said her alternate choice, the vegetarian choice was "weird". Dessert was neopolitan ice cream and it was incredible. We have had cake or fruit for dessert all week, and the ice cream was a refresher.

The hotel we are at tonight is new, and there is an awesome layout area. Seth is taking a picture to upload at the moment. We also had something awesome happen tonight. We had two groups leave the hotel to look at the town for a little bit, and it was exciting. One group had a onion thrown at them at a very high speed. Lance said he was thankful they didn't play baseball. The other group also had something thrown at them, they had an orange thrown at them. It seems that the people of Killarney enjoy throwing fruits and veggies at tourists. Oh well, at least no one got hurt?

But we have an 11:30 curfew and leave for a tour of the Ring of Kerry tomorrow morning. But we get to stay in the same hotel!!! It's very exciting. Hope you all have an awesome night, and it's only 2 days till you will see us all again...

Day 7-Our Exit of the UK

We woke up this morning in our quaint hotel at the wonderful time of 6 am with a wakeup call. Well some people did, others didn't get one, but no one missed the bus. Breakfast was a choice between Country Ham, Eggs, Bread, Sausage, Beans, and a loaf of bread that had the consistency of a brick. It was tasty however, but parents prepare for dental work.

The bus left the hotel at 8 and we rode our 2 hours to the ferry. We did make 2 stops on the way there though. We made one stop at a little shop in order to use the facilities and stretch our legs very quickly. Can't remember the name of the shop, but we did make up for it with the name of the second shop. It was "The Church of Mary in the Hollow of the White Hazel Near the fierce whirlpool and the Church of Tysilio by the Red Cave." Yea, the Welsh for it was "LLANFAIRPWLLGWYNGYLLGOGERYCHWYRNDROBWLLLLANTYSILIOGOGOGOCH" anyone fluent in Welsh? One lady did come on the bus though and try to tell us the ferry wasn't running. It freaked Eric out, and he called just to make sure. But it was indeed still running.

We arrived at the ferry stop and boarded our bus that took us to the ferry port. We had the ferry described to us as a basic cruise ship. With shops, movies, and restaurants. Seth pictured a swimming pool and a shuffleboard court. Robbie pictured a bowling alley and a tennis court. This was not the case since the ship did not live up to our dreams. It was a nifty space however, with lots of seats and tables for us to eat at, and a movie actually was played, it was hilarious. The movie was the hilarious Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. Some students and faculty were unable to watch because they were knocked out on Dramamine. Robbie Crawford was one of those, and he enjoyed the loopiness for the next few hours. Other students went on the top deck and enjoyed the wind and waves. We also had a selection of hot sandwiches or cold sandwiches to eat on the boat. The monopolizing staff did raise the prices, but none of us are out of money yet.

After two hours on the boat, we landed in Dublin, got on our coach, and headed for a tour of the city. Eric took us around showing us different hotspots and telling us some more valuable info on the city. We were granted two hours of freedom to roam the city and visit all of the famous sites. Cody, Lance, and Taylor DeThomas went shopping on the town during their free time. Cody spent his money buying souvenirs for his mom, dad, and brother, whom he loves very much and looks forward to their warm embrace upon his arrival at the airport. :-) Pajette found a shamrock hoodie and a shamrock necklace for his friend. Seth, Robbie, Brandon, Mick, Ben, and Nick all went to Trinity College to try to get a look at the Book of Kells. They were unable to view it, because they arrived exactly when the exhibit closed. They tried to figure out other ways of sneaking in, including impersonating a pilgramige to the book, but all ideas failed. We got on the coach and headed to our hotel.

Our hotel is actually luxurious, and some rooms have queen size beds. It should be a good night of sleep. Dinner was at another hotel, in their hotel restaurant. It was a delicous chicken dish with two different potatoes and cauliflower. After dinner was a BIRTHDAY PARTY!!!! We celebrated the birthdays of Taylor DeThomas, Lance Dutton, Ben Mason, Andrew Lucas, and Aaron Lucas. All of them have a birthday in the vicinity of the trip. Taylor and Lance had their birthdays today. We had two cakes, one was chocolate and the other chocolate with a hint of orange, including orange slices on top. We also were given party blowers and Seth says, "We amused ourselves for an inordinant amount of time with them." They were awesome, and as Evan says "Several people suffered minor injuries from them."

After dinner half of the group went to the Hard Rock Cafe in Dublin. Allie Klaubert says, "The Hard Rock cafe, it rocked Hard!" Sammi says, "The Hard Rock Cafe was FREAKIN AWESOME!" (We are not responsible for the views and words of those we quote on our blog)

We came home and have an hour and a half till curfew. Tomorrow we travel to Killarney and have a scenic day traveling in Ireland. Look forward to talking to all of you tommorrrow!

Pictures round 2, and some links to videos

Ok so if you want a video recap check out the highlight videos at:

youtube.com/dyscokiwi

Here we go for some pictures:

Day 6-A blast from the past, and face to face with the bard

This morning was a normal morning, a bit earlier of a leave, but 8:30 was our departure time. We did awake to a different breakfast this morning. it was no longer the pampered service of room delivery, but we actually had to work for our breakfast. It required waking up and walking downstairs to the buffet room. Then we had to pick up our extremely hot plates, and load them up with blood pudding and other traditional English breakfast items. It was a scrumptious start to the day. THe other school didn't meet up with us till the end of the day, so we waved at them as they left early this morning.

We jumped on the bus at 8:30 for an hour and a half bus-ride to Warwick. The students once again capitalized on the opportunity to sleep. Some did stay awake though and continued to battle on their game boys. We arrived at our first destination, Warwick Castle. Warwick was a unique experience because live actors were placed throughout all of the castle grounds to give a more realistic approach. Activities that were offered included: Watching the trebuchet launch a pebble, A falcon show which some individuals thought they were going to be carried away by a bird aka they know who they are, walking along the castle walls, touring the grand halls of the castle, archery lessons, Climbing spiral staircases designed for a child at the age of 5, ye olde fashione gifte shoppe, the King Maker wax museum, squeezing through small staircases, buying snacks and cold drinks, did we mention a small spiral staircase? Cody was also up to his usual Cody antics, and Mr. Dutton, his chaperone, is coming to a boiling point. But it's Cody, so it'll all work when the whole group starts laughing. The weather and wind were not favorable, but we all bore through it, and carried on, because we came for England weather, not tanning weather.

We ran to the bus and scooted over to the nearby Stratford upon Avon. This was the place where the bard himself was born, raised, cornbread fed, and died. We started off inside the birthplace, not the mom's inside, but the actual house. It was very realistic, small, cold, crooked, and Robbie is under the belief that people were all shorter than 6 feet in earlier centuries (doorways are always problems). The house was awesome though, and it was cool to be in the same house as Shakespeare. We were given 2 hours to roam the city and find some grub. Some ate at a pub, a pasty place, a local sandwich shop, some ate Italian. After that, we all roamed the city like tourists, snatching deals and shopping at Poundland (the British Dollar Store). At 4:30 we jumped on the bus and met up with the other school. We took a 3 and half our bus ride up to Wales. The hotel is nice and quaint, and was actually requested by Mr. K.

Dinner was at 8, and we actually had options. Starters were a choice of: melon and fruit, cream of mushroom soup, and a salad. The main courses were: Cottage Pie, Battered Fried Fish, and a Spinach and Ricatto Tortellini. All were delicious, and the option to choose made it even better.

After dinner we all got to chill around the hotel, and now a "blizzard" is hitting the hotel. The snow is actually sticking on the ground, and it looks pretty awesome outside. Maybe if it stays up at this pace, in the morning we can have a snowball fight.

Tomorrow we leave for Ireland, and we look forward to the ferry ride. Pray we stay warm and don't have to get our fingers chopped off from numbness...as that would make blogging difficult.

Day 5-Our Breakaway from the city

We were pampered again this morning with a departure time of 9. This time however we didn't hop on the tube, it was straight to our luxurious giant orange coach bus. It was nice. We took a two hour bus ride out of the city, and headed straight for the mysterious and scientific Stonehenge. Most students capitalized on the oppurtunity for an extra two hours of sleep, but our tour guide still attempted to do his job, and tell us info on the way there. He then repeated it once we arrived.

Stonehenge, the place that no one knows what they are talking about when they talk about it. To quote our tour guide, Eric, "If you walk away from Stonehenge with an idea about it, it is just as valid as any scholar, because no one actually knows." WE WERE greeted by the sight of sheep...and rain...and wind...and miserable'ness. But we still got out of the bus and opened our umbrellas as shields for the weather. They didn't work well, but in our minds they still helped. We were given an hour to walk around the monument, and gaze in it's glory, but after 35 minutes, all were back on the bus drinking coffee and eating cheese scones. Some did embrace the monument though, and Seth, Robbie, Ben, Brandon, and Drew decided to recreate stonehenge. So they put Robbie in the air above their heads, and went on posed for a photo. God did use his humor though, and as we all got on the bus, the sun came out and a rainbow appeared. Hurray for timing.

Then we had another hour bus ride to the AMAZING city of Bath. Once we arrived, we went on a bus tour of the city. This was unlike the other bus tour we had on this trip, cause everyone was awake..except for Seth he says. Eric took us to the front of the Roman Baths and showed us our meeting point. Then we all were given 2 hours and free roam of the city for food. No one died in the making of this lunch. The most popular option was a pasty. It's like "a hand held chicken pot pie" says Seth. They were yummy. Others had pizza or Burger King, once again embracing the local food. Megan Moore says she had a nasty onion quiche.

At 3:10 the group met outside the Roman Baths and headed for the inside. We were given two hours'ish to explore, and were told to meet out front at 4:45. The baths were warm looking, and after our entire group broke the rules, we all knew it actually was warm, because we all touched it. The water is indeed green, and according to Brandon Finke who tried some in the pump room, it tastes like drinking blood. Strange...but true. We were all given audio tour guides because Eric was not allowed to guide us as a group in the baths. They worked well, and Robbie personally enjoyed listening to the kids version of the tour.

Then we headed for our hotel, The Frances on The Square. It is a quaint, old looking hotel, where every floorboard creaks. Not too shabby of a hotel, and it will serve us well for the night. We pampered up and headed for dinner, which was FISH AND CHIPS! Ben Mason has been waiting all week for it, and he was not dissapointed. The meal was delicious, and it was followed up with a dessert of cheesecake topped with strawberries.

Then we headed back to the hotel, and all chilled in rooms and the lobbby for 3 hours playing cards and other things.. Curfew is in 50 minutes, and your writers are gonna go embrace those minutes. See you all tomorrow, thanks for reading.

pictures from day 3 and 4

Day 4-downtown London and drama

No parents, it's not high school drama, it's shakespeare...and Wicked. But we'll get to that later.

We awoke to breakfast and got straight on the tube to head for Westminster Abbey at 9 am. This was a special day because we got to meet Susannah, the leader of our tour guide company. She has taken pretty much every other group, and today we got to have her take half of us through Westminster Abbey. The Abbey itself was monstrous, and quite intimidating from the outside. The inside was no less daunting, but it was ornate and decorated, down to the last stone. We got to see an array of famous dead people, they didn't talk much, but it was nice to be in their company. Robbie dropped an axe kick on darwin's face. We also got to see Shakespeare's memorial, Jane Austen's grave, Sir Isaac Newton's grave, William Wilberforce, a bunch of royal dudes and dudets, and a nifty grave we saw was the tomb of the unknown soldier. It is dedicated to all soldiers who have died in wars defending the country, and have been unidentified thus far. It is the only non-royal grave that is not stepped on. Even the Queen doesn't step on it. Coronations also take place in the Abbey, but we didn't see one, the Queen is still on the throne, God save the Queen. Oh and if any of us ever complain about our uniforms, tell your child to remember the uniforms and knickers they saw exiting the Abbey.

We walked down to the Globe and had an array of options for a spot of lunch. Everything from an English equivalent to Chikfila, to pizza, and authentic Greek food.

The Globe started with a tour led by one of the actors and we got to sit inside the actual theatre. IT was epic, and it was literally a realistic replica of the original theatre. The biggest part was a workshop, where we learned and worked with an excerpt from Romeo and Juliet. Cody Gardner proved to be a handful for the actor. Everyone had a blast.

We then walked across the Millenium Bridge, and headed to St. Paul's Cathedral. We didn't get to go inside, but did get details on the construction process, and got to walk all the way around it. We hopped on the tube and headed to Buckingham Palace, in the rain. It was wet but fun, and we also got to see that the Queen was in. She didn't wave back to us from inside the building, but we can still imagine she knew we were there.

Dinner was a delicious chicken dish with potatoes. Seems they are trying to stuff us with protein while we are in England. But don't worry, we burn it off with all the walking. After dinner was Wicked. It can be described in one word...PHENOMENAL. The play was a blast, and even the non theatre appreciative enjoyed it, aka Andrew Lucas.

We almost got lost in the tube on the way home, and lots of yelling the right directions was involved. But our last ride on the underground was fun, and we will miss the underground passengers. But we did arrive home safely, and that is how we can deliver this to you. Hope you enjoy! See you tomorrow.

DAY 3- HURRAY CAPS LOCK

the morning started bright and early at 6:30 with a wake up call.

by the way, all of your children are officially pros when it comes to daylight savings time. cause we got to do it, again, last night. europe went forward an hour last night, so we all lost an hour. on top of our already sleep deprived bodies.

continental breakfast was brought to our rooms, via order. it was nothing short of awesome. the food was yummy too. we went downstairs and met at 8 for our bus ride out of london to canterbury. it was nifty, and is one of the largest fully walled cities in the world. we saw a few sights and were given touristy information, and were set free to roam the town, in groups no less than 3, don't worry parents. we are all alive, and healthy. some saw the awesome, and beautiful cathedral, others enjoyed street perfomers, some found an army surpluss store, and some relished in the local cuisine for 2 hours straight. at 1 we all met up after having lunch and buying souveniers.

we rode straight to leeds castle, and found out that dreams do come true...when we saw the army of live peacocks. including a solid white one. the majesticness of the castle made us all feel like we were little boys and girls playing knights and princesses. eric told us what spots we should visit, and gave us 2 hours to explore...once again, in groups of no less than 3. some headed straight for the maze, and after the british armed services rescued them, they decided not to go back in. just kidding, but some did get lost for a few minutes. the aviary hosted a large array of exotic birds that made lots of funny noises and looked "ravishing" in seth's words. the castle was nice too. we all had a blast and some even played the eye spy game while going through the castle. it was beautiful, and for those who have read jane austen or those other sweet sounding books, it looked just like that. and don't forget to ask allie klaubert about the jumping picture. at 4:15 we jumped on the bus to covent gardens.

covent gardens was filled with lots of shops and markets and a wide variety of street performers. some of you had gifts bought for you. surprise! we then went to dinner which was bangers and mash. aka sausage and mashed potatoes. most people ate it all, and mariah has a funny story when she found out what sausage actually was.

the evening ended with another tube ride and an intense jack the ripper tour. we went to multiple spots where he killed victims. it was somewhat terrifying, and one member of our group screamed. guess who?

but time to try to post pictures so we will give you more text tomorrow!

adios (that's for our dominican friends)


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hey bloggers- day 1 and 2

howdy our blog readers!

seth and robbie here. sorry first off for last night, lots of technical difficulties getting on the internet. so we mangled a computer tonight, but just a head's up, the shift key doesn't work. so there won't be capital letters....we apologize.

but now for your moment of truth! england!!!

day 1, the plane

not much to it, but it was a fun two plane rides. the plane on the way to newark was like the moped of airplanes. it was three seats wide, and i, robbie, could touch each side of the plane simultaneously. cody gardner says it was a smart car with wings. it was nothing short of tiny. we were delayed 30 minutes so we ran across the airport and boarded our connecting flight properly. as well as met up with the other group in a funny manner. the flight began and everyone thoroughly enjoyed the touch screens. seth says, the touch screens made him feel bad because he kept tapping hard and shaking the seat in front of him, while she tried to sleep. sleep however was the last thing on any students mind. some managed to get to sleep though, and that was about it for day 1.

moving quickly, 10 minutes left on time. ;-p

day 2-first day in london

mr. k didn't lie when he said it would be the hardest day. sleep was now the first thing on anyone's mind. we met up with our guide, eric, and ran to the charter bus to get a view of london, from the bus. about 99% of the people slept as soon as they hit the bus, but that's ok we got another view today. anyways! we stormed the tower of london. we learned about the beef eater guards, the ginormous ravens, and saw some...funny armor? it was a blast, but most people, dragged their feet for most of it. your sons and daughters may be a bit shaky on the details...like we said, long day.

next was lunch at the tower, and we could go anywhere in the area. some stayed with the classics like subway and kfc, but others actually embraced the local cuisine with fish and chips meals.

swung by our postmodern hotel to "freshen" up. our hour to relax was greatly appreciated. no rest for the weary though and we jumped on the tube or "choob" as the english call it. it was nifty, and just like americans, no one talks, so naturally, as normal crazies would do, we got them to talk to us. it was spiffy. the eye was ginormous, even though it was raining we got great views of the magnificent city of london, including parliament and westminster abbey. we then went on a 4-d adventure that was...bubbly.

dinner that night was beef, gravy, peas, carrots, and potatoes. it was delicious. next our group split and half went to the hard rock cafe, for the music devout, and half went home to collapse in the relaxing beds. the hard rock cafe was packed as expected, but we got to see rock history icon's instruments blessed from heaven. such as jimi hendrix's flying v, and the beatles' harpsichord. we all came home and collapse.

so that was day 1 and 2, lotsa fun, and we will relog in to post day 3 and hopefully pictures!

toodlooo for 2 minutes

Test post from the dudes

Howdy, it's Robbie and Seth, sitting in Journalism class testing out the blog.

It's two days before the trip and we are both pretty stoked for the trip. School seems futile but we will persist through it and survive the next two days before our fun and oversea adventures begin.

have a nice day readers...hopefully this post works

Trip Blog

This is the senior trip blog for all of our fans. Feel free to check up on us as we travel England and Ireland!