Ain't No Rest for the Travelers

Hello, Hello Hello!

My name is Annaliesa Strohbach, but some people call me Liesa. And others call me Anna because they knew me way back when. But I'm Liesa for the most part, so, hello!

I am going to be a junior this next year at CSS, and I'm actually a carpenter for the Theater Department. I'm a native of Cedarburg, WI, which is a town just an hour north of Milwaukee. Excluding my travels to Canada as a toddler, this is my first trip abroad, and I'm so excited for the rest of our time here in London. Full disclosure, I am a person who is diagnosed with high-functioning PDD-NOS, which is like Autism. But that doesn't make me any different than my fellow travelers, so let's just move along with the blog... Rhyme unintended, but I'm still going to publish it.

Today was a day of firsts. This is the first day where we the students are allowed to explore London/England/Great Britain/Europe on our own. This was also the first time I traveled outside the city limits of London, and also the first time I rode the train here. Rachel Aiken, Cassandra and I all went to the Hampton Court, which was the home of England's monarchs, including Henry VII, William III and his wife Mary, the only co-rulers in England's history.

 First, we walked through the Base Court, then through the Clock Court and straight into the Gregorian Private Apartments. The three of us got distracted in the Drawing Room with some quick games of Brag and Game of Court. Brag is a card game played in three rounds. Game of Court is a roll-the-dice-and-pay-the-price game.

Then we walked for a bit in the Palace Gardens before tea time (lunch). The Privy Garden, featured here, is a Baroque-style garden that was originally completed by William III in 1702, then it was reconstructed by the Historic Royal Palaces in 1995.

Of to the side of the Privy Garden was a sight to behold. A greenhouse where the word's largest grape vine was THRIVING! To give you perspective, the picture I took is only one-third of the viewing window. The vine continues along the window, looking exactly like in the picture. The grapes on the vine are Black Hamburg, so they are sold for desserts and not for wine-making.

When lunchtime came around,  we sat down at the cafe and ordered the afternoon tea. Cassandra got her own pot of raspberry and cranberry tea, and Rachel and I shared a pot of Earl Grey. Our sandwiches were ham and mustard, smoked salmon, and egg and watercress. Dessert was fruit scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam, brownies, cappuccino Choux à la crème and strawberry shortcake parfaits. Very delicious!

After lunch, we toured the grounds some more before heading back to the station. We stopped at the hotel to meet with Rayne, who had invited us to go see Whispering House at The Other Palace Theatre. It's a new musical composed by the same Tony-award winner who composed Spring Awakening, and Whispering House is just as intense for all the right reasons. Enjoy the rest of the weekend, everyone!