Another day of sitting

This morning at the breakfast, Coventry style, we consumed at least 20 hash browns while Cassidy pulled a Courtney/Julia and didn't arrive until the bus was due to load. Then we spent the first of many hours on the bus before we stopped for the first time in Warwickshire where we saw a quaint little town with Tudor style housing. After our first failure at team photos in this town, we looked around a large cathedral complete with Latin script that only Julia could properly translate, soaring buttresses, and 500-year-old dead bodies.

Then we headed over to the castle where we divided and conquered. We climbed the towers and strolled across the ramparts--well all except Ian who ended up crawling. Inside the castle we encountered wax figures so realistic that Julia bumped into one and promptly apologized before realizing it was a lifeless figure. Then we watched an extremely animated bowman's demonstration in which we learned that the English longbow actually originated in Wales, while Courtney and Cassidy went off to look at the peacocks and birds of prey. Then we all reconvened at the trebuchet, which is basically a human sized hamster wheel connected to a very large catapult, and watched it throw a flaming rock. We then hastened back to the coach where we had another lovely drive to our lunch stop in Oxford.

By this time the girl's were beyond cranky due to near starvation, only made worse by the hour long wait in the Subway line. After lunch, we loaded back onto the bus where the extremely satisfied Courtney and Julia settled in for a hibernation as we finished our drive into London.

In London, we met our tour guide who spent about three hours with us showing us all around the city. Let it be known that our previously gentle bus driver suddenly turned extremely aggressive, which made it impossible for any further sleeping to take place. We saw many of the iconic features of London including Big Ben, the London Eye, and the Westminster Abbey. Then we off-loaded at the hotel and settled in before strolling down to a pub and devouring a delicious assortment of food. Then we frolicked in the rain in a park next to the hotel and were sadly denied the use of a playground and merry-go-round.

Quote of the day: "Are we walking on dead people?" --Cassidy