Aug 27 - London to Oxford

Up at 4:45am this morning. I couldn't sleep. having 2 other people in my room and knowing that I couldn't sleep in made me have a very rough sleep. So I got up and got ready to go. I was downstairs and ready for check in at 6:45. Got my bag weighed (which ended up about 14.8kg btw) and was on the bus ready to go at 7:30. Kim, our tour manager introduced herself and away we went. She (along with our bus driver David) gave us a bus tour of London. It was pretty quick but still nice to see everything for the first time.

We then headed out to Windsor where we stopped for 3 hours so we could tour Windsor castle and have some lunch. We were hoping to see the changing of the guards but it is every other day and we were the "off" day. Took lots of pics though and started to meet everyone on the tour.

Everyone seems really nice to far. There is one couple and about 3 groups of friends but everyone else is travelling by themselves just like me which makes it really easy to get to know everyone. The group was made up of mostly Australians, Canadians, a couple US, one German, one from New Zealand, and 2 from Taiwan. A very diverse group. 8 boys and 30 girls made up our group so the boys were sort of out numbered but I don't think they ever felt that way. ;)

A few of us stopped at "The Crooked House" for tea and lunch and then ran back to the bus so we could continue on. Yes, it really is a crooked house.

Back on the bus, Kim gave us the introduction speech which was long but needed and I like a few of her sayings. One was "It's not Wrong, its just Different" which pertained to the way of life in the Europe and the other was that she didn't like BMW's (Bitching, Moaning, Wining).

Arrived in Oxford and had a tour of the city from a local lady. She was so nice and very funny. In her mid 60's I would say and so full of life. She would tell us about one street or church or college and then turn to us and say, "Ok, now forget it...lets move on!" So enthusiastic, you can really tell she loves what she does.

Along the walk we walked past a stores called Bonnie. I had to take a picture of it. Really cool. We then had some free time and a few us of just walked around through the local market and then headed to the pub where we were meeting the others and had my first pint of English Beer.

Got to the hotel around 8:30 and headed down to the hotel lounge where we played cards (Kings and assholes) and just hung out getting to know each other for awhile. All in all, it was a great first day. My roommate is Emma, who I will be sharing a room with for the full 15 days. She seems very nice.