Saturday morning I got in a good track workout before I started the day. Our group began at Hampton Court Palace in the southwest part of London along the River Thames. The palace was built by King Henry VIII and has beautiful, sprawling grounds. King Henry VIII built the palace in a distinct Tudor style of architecture but when King William III was in power in the next century, he destroyed much of the palace and rebuilt some of it in a Baroque style of architecture to rival the Palace of Versailles (before ceasing construction not too long after). As a result the palace is home to two different architectural styles, an accident of fate but a beautiful part of history. My group did the audio tour while we toured the kitchens, the "apartments" of each king, as well as the chapel. Later, we went to the gardens to explore (we ended up finding the world's largest vine at 246 feet long). It was a beautiful day to enjoy the palace and I think that it has been my favorite excursion on this trip so far.
Fountain Court
Backside of Hampton Court Palace
View of the palace from the gardens
We went straight to Guildford from the palace on our coach. Once we got there, we were given a few hours to explore the town. The city centre was a lot larger than I thought it would be with small high rises, several malls, and lots of shops to explore. Some of the boys and I explored together. We first when to a popular music store which was cool to check out. We also went to a sports and outdoors store that was three levels and the aisles were organized by a price range which I found interesting and helpful (though I didn't get anything). After a little but more walking, we found ourselves on Guildford's High Street. A lot of the buildings were old and had a lot of character. It was here that I also walked into my first British grocery store, a Sainsbury's. It looked pretty similar to a small downtown grocery store in the United States. We found Guildford Castle which was surrounded by beautiful gardens and then made our way down the ornate side streets and explored the malls. The main mall in Guildford's city centre looked a lot like the malls back home except it had a much smaller footprint and there were less department stores. I also tried bubble tea for the first time which I liked. Overall, I really enjoyed Guildford even though it was a "shopping trip" and all I bought was bubble tea. Exploring cities on foot is one activity I love to do because it is free and it gives you a better understanding of the local culture while appreciating the beauty of the city.
High Street in Guildford
Later that evening, we all went to Kingston upon Thames in London with our house parents to go bowling. This was part of our "house competition" and I did okay. I don't bowl that often anyways but I enjoy it when I do. The bowling alley was below street level but other than that, it looked like any other bowling alley in the United States. It provided a sense of familiarity on our night out. After bowling, we were allowed to explore the neighborhood. My group found a cool art display called "Out of Order" and the guys who were eighteen were tempted to walk into a pub. I ended up getting a bag of Wine Gums at the Tesco Express which are tangy fruit gummies (they might be my new favorite candy). It was a nice way to cap off the evening and a day that I think has been one of the best so far.
"Out of Order" by David Mach
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