Thursday, London

Today we headed back into London to visit a couple of spots that we did not have time for before. First we went to Westminster Abbey. It was amazing!!!! Many important people from history have been buried there or have memorials place for them there. We took a tour here, each of us using our own audio guide box. We were not able to take pictures inside but here is one of us outside the front entrance.

After that we headed over to the wax museum and then shopped in some touristy shops nearby. We did not stay in London too long because we had a soccer game with a local club team. We lost again, I think the score was 0-7 but the girls had a lot of fun. We did come close to scoring a couple of times. Because we only have 8 players on our team, we had some guest players. Deena, the girls trainer played and she brought a friend. Also, Lisa, our tournament counselor and a girl from South Africa who is here with her brother's team. The other team also loaned us a couple of players too.

Now everyone is at the talent show in the dining hall tonight and out flirting with the boys. Then we all have to pack because we leave first thing in the morning to fly back home.

Once again, thank you to everyone for all of your support and help to get us here. We have had a great adventure and seen many amazing things here in Europe.

Love,

Chris, Diane and the Cali Girls

London

So, Tuesday the girls had a lot of fun at their training session and we all liked the new Harry Potter movie. The movie was especially cool because in the first scene it shows them flying on brooms through London and we saw many of the places that we had just visited the day before.
That night the girls were invited to participate in the flag ceremony. (The tournament here was canceled for all girls teams, but when we asked if we could still stay here they were very nice to our team. However, we are the only girls teamstaying at the tournament. Our girls are beginning to feel very out numbered around here.) After the flag ceremony we watched a ball handling skills competition. There were many talented players.

Flags from all the countries represented here.

Katelyn, the flag bearer

Sorry, this is as close as the professional photographers would let us go.

Our team is near the back, behind the scaffolding.

Wednesday we went back into London. First we went to Buckingham Palace to see the Changing of the Guard. There were a lot of people there and we could not see much because us our train had been delayed and we did not get there early enough to get a good spot.

We went to lunch and then the girls and I went to see the play, Wicked. Everyone loved it even the two that had seen it before. Many were asking to go see it again. After Wicked we decided to do a little shopping. First we went to Harrods, where the girls decided that everything cost too much. We made our way to a sporting goods store with much better prices and spent lots of money there and some other nearby shops. That evening we decided to ride on the London Eye, even me. We were able to get some great pictures just as night time was setting in. We finished our night with McDonald's for dinner and a 40 minuted train ride back to our dorm rooms.

Anjelica

Bailey

Andrea

Emily

Monday we went back into London and took a tour on a double decker bus. We also rode on a boat up the Thames River. We saw many interesting places on our tour and also on Sunday when we walked around. We plan to tour many of them on Wednesday when we go back. Here are a few pictures of the places we have seen so far.

Our tour bus

The London Eye
The girls really want to ride on that, I am not to sure if I will, it takes 1/2 hour to go around.

Big Ben

Buckingham Palace

Phone booths

Tower Bridge

London Tower

I think most of the girls are getting a little tired of sightseeing and are ready to be home. We are just having a slow day today. Right now they have a training session with Deanna, a soccer player from the Woman's English National Team. This afternoon, we are planning on seeing the new Harry Potter movie since we have not had time for that yet. Then later this evening we will participate in some of the games and activities planned here at the tournament. Tomorrow we will go back to London for more sight seeing and shopping. Thursday evening the girls have a game with a team here. Deanna and Lisa, our tournament counselor, are going to play on our team since we do not have quit enough players. The girls are very glad for the extra help, especially from Deanna! I will keep you posted on how it goes. Diane

We left Italy Saturday night and flew out a little before midnight because our flight was delayed by about an hour. It took us about 2 hours to get to England and we finally got to out hotel around 2:30 am. A bus picked us in the morning and took us to Royal Holloway University where we will be spending the rest of the week. This is where we are staying.

Everyone has their own dorm room and we are staying in the 4th floor. This school was built in the 1800's and was the first women's college in England. As we were given a tour around campus, we learned that parts of Harry Potter were filmed here.

Sunday afternoon we rode a train into London a had a little look around. It is about a 40 minute train ride from where we are staying into London. We walked and walked and walked then found the Hard Rock Cafe and ate dinner there. The London Hard Rock is the first one ever made. Everyone was very happy to have American food and we were very happy with the little thing like ice in our cups, free refills, ketcup and ranch dressing. After dinner we went next door into the Hard Rock Store to buy t-shirts. We also took a tour of the Vault where other rock memorabilia is stored.

Elvis' coat

Madonna's underware

John Lennon's jacket

Beatle's harp

We leave Venice this afternoon and head back to England. We are little bit sad to leave this beautiful place, but I think we will all be happy to be back in a country where everyone speaks English again.

Last night we did a little more exploring and took some beautiful sunset pictures.

Hope everyone is well back home, I think everyone is beginning to get home sick even though we are enjoying this amazing place. We have almost one week in England and then we fly back on August 31st.

Love, Diane

Today we went back to St. Mark's Square, we toured the Basilica. It was built between 1043 an 1071. People are not allowed to take pictures inside the church. After that, we walked around the square and surrounding area. Now we are back at the hotel eating sandwiches and ice cream to cool off and getting ready to go out for more sightseeing later.

St. Mark's Basilica

The Clock Tower

Venice Italy

After a taxi, a bus, an airplane, a taxi, a water taxi and short walk, we arrived at our hotel in Venice, Italy on Tuesday evening. We found a place for dinner, ate, went back to the hotel and slept. Wednesday was a slow day for us, everyone slept in and we made sure everyone was able to email home and then we went to a nearby laundry mat to do some laundry. Chris took the girls around for a little shopping and sightseeing while I stayed with the laundry. When that was done and everyone had clean clothes in their bags we went back out so they could show me around and then found a very welcoming place for dinner with friendly waiters. We all enjoy trying each others food when we are at dinner and everyone is willing to share their food and try new things.

Thursday we did a little sight seeing in the morning. We went to St. Marks’s Square to look around and then found our way to the Grand Canal and the Rialto Bridge, one of only 3 bridges that cross the Grand Canal.

That afternoon we went on a gondola ride. I think everyone had a fun time!!!! Our gondolier pointed out important landmarks and even sang to us as we rode through the canal.
We did a little more shopping (really, a whole lot of shopping with all of these girls). Then we came back the hotel and found some pizza to bring back here to eat for dinner. The weather is much warmer and humid here than any other place we have been so far. At least the hotel has air conditioning.

I am working on sending more pictures...... Diane