What a great start to my time in England. After a long 9-hour
flight, we finally arrived in London. We waited in a long line at customs, and
for the bus to arrive. Two hours after arriving, we were finally on our way to
Coventry. We will be staying in Coventry on and off for the next 3 weeks.
Once we got to the hotel, I decided to try and find the nearest
laundry mat to do my first load of laundry on the trip. This was a complete
failure. I asked 7 different people how to get there, and was pointed in a
different direction every time. At about 3pm, after giving up on doing laundry
for the day, I headed back to the hotel. It was only a matter of minutes until
I was passed out. Being awake for over 30 hours really took its toll. I was
able to sleep on and off all through the night. This really helped in adapting
to the new time zone.
The next morning I was up bright and early. I had a great
breakfast in the hotel, which was much needed after the long day of traveling.
After breakfast, all of the students went to Coventry University for their
first day of classes. Being a graduated senior, I do not have to take classes
and have more free time and freedom. When the students were in class, fellow
graduated seniors Kareem King, Chris Hahn and myself walked to the nearest
laundry mat. It was about a mile walk there and back. I don’t think people in
England realize the importance of a dryer. It only ran for 5 minutes, and after
a third cycle my clothes were only less damp.
When we returned I took a quick nap for the afternoon, still
making up for the lack of sleep from traveling. Later in the night a group of
about 15 of us went out to one of the pubs/clubs. It was great experiencing the
night life in Coventry on a Saturday night. I didn’t stay out too late because
we had to wake up early to go to the Henley Royal Regatta the next morning.
This morning, the whole group got up early and headed for the
train station. It was about a 3 hour train ride to Henley on Thames, England,
where the event has taken place since 1839. It was a beautiful train ride
through the rolling green hills and pastures of England. Having never been to
Europe before, I had a certain image of what it would look like in my head.
Usually places are not always how you envisioned them in your head. England however looks exactly how I
thought it would. After a long train ride, we finally arrived in Henley on
Thames for the final day of the Henley Royal Regetta.
The Henley Royal Regatta is one of the best known rowing
competitions in the world, and is a highlight of the summer sporting calendar
and social season in England. It is a 5 day event that attracts thousands of
visitors, and includes over 200 international races. I would compare the event
to the Kentucky Derby in the United States. Everyone was dressed up, with the
women wearing large hats and men wearing unique suits. You can get a better
idea of the event from its Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henley_Royal_Regatta.
I was absolutely blown away by the event. Our group had our own
private tent right on the river where we could watch the races. We were also
able to ride on a boat along side the races for an hour. We were served food
and drinks all day, and I was even able to get a free massage!! It was a great
first sporting event in England, and has set the bar very high for the rest of
the trip. For some reason I think going to Wimbledon, the British Open, Tour de
France and the Olympics might be able to match the Henley Royal Regatta. Have
an early morning yet again tomorrow. Get to see the Olympic torch come through
Coventry! Will be blogging again soon, thanks for reading and feel free to
leave a comment with any feedback or thoughts about the blog so far! As they
say here in England, Cheers!!!
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