Our Story to Tell

So, we’re back from England (so sad!! I’m already excited about visiting again!), and I can’t help but smile and laugh about our different adventures from the trip. As Mrs. Perry (aka Mama Bonnie) said, “When things go wrong, we always have a story to tell.” Well, we definitely have some stories to tell… Our first free afternoon, Katie, Jeff, Will, Chris, and I took the train from Oxford to London. Once we were in the city, we had to take the Tube from one side of London to the others. We managed to do this successfully all afternoon, but at the end of the night, we were late getting back to Paddington, the train station to send us back to Oxford. Needless to say, after literally running around the station for half an hour trying to decide which train was the right one for us, I got upset. We probably looked like the family from “Home Alone” running through the airport trying to make their flight. But the guys finally found the right train and we were on our way to Oxford. To top off the night’s excursion, the buses back to the Logan House were no longer running when we returned. Poor Valerie (who had gone to Basingstoke to visit a family friend) had been standing on the street corner for what seemed to her an eternity… especially after guys asked her why she was just hanging out on a street corner… waiting for us and a bus to the house. Well, after waiting with her for awhile, the girls and Chris decided to take a cab, which was thankfully only a few pounds, back to the house, and the other guys hiked the distance. I was never so excited to see the front door of our dorm.

And while that night ranks high among our adventures, it doesn’t compare to the girls’ hotel in London… our bus from Oxford to London (which departed Oxford at the bright and early time of 7:30 a.m.) dropped the boys off at their hotel first. They were excited to see a four-star hotel decorated with chandeliers, flat-screen TV’s, two double beds per room, etc. And we were happy for them for about… two minutes. That’s when the bus drove up to the girls’ hotel. From the outside, it didn’t look too bad. But when we walked in, we were directed down a flight of stairs about two feet wide (our suitcases barely fit) to store our luggage in a basement restaurant since our rooms weren’t ready. The restaurant was beautifully decorated with glitter paint on the walls and ripped, sheer “curtains” along one mirrored wall. After a long debate of whether or not it was safe to leave our luggage, we finally ventured out of the hotel and into London. A few hours later, I called my roommate, Valerie, to see if she had checked into our room. She had. Valerie was excited to tell me we had a super-king sized bed (a double and twin bed pushed together), a refrigerator (a step on the fire escape outside our window), a mini bar (the shelf in the window where we kept our water bottles), and tons of space for our luggage (about 16 sq ft since our room was only as wide as the length of the beds). Once our bags were opened, we had about 2 sq feet since Katie’s, Valerie’s and my bags all “threw up” our clothes everywhere. But, I can honestly say the accommodations didn’t spoil our fun. We made the most of it and had one of the best nights of our trip. After an evening full of London nightlife, yummy food, perfect fellowship, and millions of laughs, we settled down under our furry, yet threadbare blankets for a wonderful night of sleep. I only wish we thought to take pictures of this lovely establishment…

Written by: Leanne Brinson