At long last…here it is. Ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you my (decidedly) random thoughts about my overall (and exceedingly novice) experience leading a group of students on an overseas trip, courtesy of the planners at Explorica.
THINGS THAT PUT A SMILE ON MY FACE
(1) British Airways – I’ll never go charter again! Free liquor…excellent food…more leg room in economy…a state-of-the-art entertainment system with an excellent library…they even had Doctor Who on offer! What more could I possibly ask for?
(2) Breakfast and dinner already taken care of – THAT eased a major headache during the trip. Everyone was fed, and decently fed for the most part.
(3) The expression on the face of each & every student that accompanied me on this trip. Most of them had at least one part of England that they fell in love with…and many of them (as I expected) would have stayed behind in London, if given the chance.
(4) The rain confined itself to some free time and bus trips…for the most part, each and every one of our stops brought out the sun, blue skies & warm temperatures. No British fatalism about the weather on THIS trip…
(5) Warwick Castle – I actually got to go inside on this trip, and it made for a wonderful, 90 minute visit. The company behind Madame Tussauds’ Wax Museum have transformed a medieval castle into a thrilling historical environment, which left all of us extremely satisfied. The Ghost Tower was a particular experience I hope everyone gets to try…
(6) Our Blue-Badge guide at The Tower of London. She wore sunglasses because she was hungover… she stopped every once in a while to express her irritation at French tourists and overwhelmed teenage guides…and she expressed her love for 10th Doctor David Tennant…and his unspoken love for her (whether he was aware of it or not!). God, how I adored that woman!
(7) Our three coach drivers: champions, every one of them!
THINGS THAT LEFT ME…IRRITATED
(1) Our change of schedule at the last minute left us going to Salisbury and Stonehenge on our last full day in England…leaving us behind schedule, and unable to climb up the magnificent tower of Salisbury Cathedral! ARGH…!
(2) Our major free time in London was on a Sunday. Although most stores are open on Sunday, the one store that wasn’t open was The Who Shop! We had to make due with indulging our geeky desires at the equally impressive Forbidden Planet superstore…but missing the Who Shop was a major disappointment…
(3) Exhaustion! I wasn’t too happy that our tour started almost immediately upon our arrival at the hotel. Tired, smelly, in need of a shower and a nap…nevertheless, we were thrown out into the London afternoon for the first of many LONG (and I do mean LONG) walks. This really needs to be addressed on future trips…
(4) …as does the fact that our arrival at Heathrow Airport was a shambles that I won’t even BEGIN to get into. Suffice to say, our welcome to England was an experience I hope never to repeat!
(5) Not enough free time in London! We needed more…so much to see and do…and (echoing comment #3) we shouldn’t have had to do it on a Sunday!
(6) Our other two Blue-Badge tour guides were…let’s just say…nowhere near as entertaining as our Tower of London goddess. Words that come to mind: dull…droning…uninspiring…irritating…
(7) The OLD CRONE guarding the copy of Magna Carta, which resides at Salisbury Cathedral. She was the most irritating, shrieking harridan I have ever encountered…and for a brief moment, I had a Monty-Pythonish urge to scream “BURN THE WITCH” at the top of my lungs! I longed for a vat of boiling oil after encountering HER…
So…did I enjoy it? Yes!
Was it worthwhile? Most definitely!
Did the students in the group have a good time? Most assuredly!
Will I do it again? Not for a LONG time…
It was a little too much work on my part. I was determined to keep them all safe & bring them home in one piece. I succeeded…but not without many a harried moment, and not without losing my temper on a few occasions. It’s a great deal of responsibility to lead such a large group, and while I succeeded (and managed to share my love of England with virtually all of the students)…let’s just say that when I got home, I needed a vacation from my vacation.
That said….two years from now…who knows? It might be time to take another group of young apprentices to England, and share with them the enormous love I have for that nation. Never say never… 
