Our First English Adventure

Our guide Barry met us at the airport and had a plan for us on the way to St. Ives. We rode to a town about 40 minutes from the airport to stop for breakfast and let the boys "stretch their legs." We enjoyed a short walk to our first McDonald's in England which used to be a local pub, imagine that. While there were no visible liabations the boys were excited to have Mickey D's breakfast with a slight twist.

Following a relaxing few minutes with breakfast while each of us tried to decide whether a nap, shower, nap, or a good tooth brushing was in order-we instead did what any good tourist does...shop.

We went to to a store called Sports direct.com. It was like watching young girls shop for prom dresses only in our case it was young men and soccer jerseys and boots. The store clerks are very patient and pleasant with 14 boys that can't make up their mind on which side to support or which boots in which wild colors were the best deal. We used the iPhone converter application to help with the conversions.

Fair warning, I did see at least two cards run through the machine and leave a small amount of smoke. I had to talk two other boys off the ledge of buying 3 pairs of new boots on the first day reminding them that we have 7 shopping days left until they must go home to the card holder. Seriously though, they had a blast and nobody went crazy and the bargains in most cases were substantial. For example I picked up a England Team jersey at 90% off or just over 4 pounds. We could have sold tickets to watch these guys go from one rack to the next and call someone over to see the next big find. The good news is that there is another in Cambridge for them to rummage through in a couple of days time.

The balance of the day (1:30 local now) is for relaxing and perhaps a walk around the town of St.Ives. We have dinner planned at the hotel at 7 after which PH and Barry will be walking us to a local tavern as a group to watch a live EPL game on the telly. Warning: this will no doubt lead to the consumption of a "wee pint" or two by the adult chaperones.

You will also be pleased to know that PH gathered the boys following check in and set the ground rules about behavior, courtesy, traveling in small groups as opposed to all 14 at once and leaving St. Ives as they found it-including their hotel rooms.