May 14, 2012

Update 1
Update 2

Wednesday was met with a special treat with a tour through Wembley stadium, one of the largest stadiums in the world, that has hosted the greatest players in the game. More importantly, it has the record for the most amount of bathrooms anywhere with 2,618 toilets. MIND BLOWING. We were lucky enough to view changing rooms, walk out on the field as the professionals would, sit in royal box seating and even lift the FA Cup. For the first time since we arrived in London, we had time for ourselves to do whatever we wanted before taking a boat tour. Some players chose to go to a museum, some players walked through beautiful Kensington Gardens in Hyde Park in the rain and illegally picked flowers, fed the squirrels and pigeons, despite signs warning them not to, and others opted to simply shop around locally. Tomorrow, we face our first European opponent and we hope to thoroughly hand them a beat down and show these English girls why Americans are just that much better. (Sorry Fell).

Until next time.... Holla!

-Etajha Gilmer

May 9
Today we were given the opportunity to tour the new Wembley Stadium. The tour guide took us through the stadium to see historical artifacts, a really close replica of the FA cup trophy, and allowed us to sit in the stadium seats and walk through the locker room. My favorite part of the tour was being able to walk out of the locker room area onto the field like how the professional players do. The stadium reminded me a lot of going to the stadium at Soccer City in South Africa. It was huge, colorful, and many of my soccer idols have played the glorious game on the field. Apart from the typical tourist sight seeing we've done, this was my favorite part of the trip so far. Later, we were all given about 3 hours of free time. Of course, I really wanted to go shopping on Oxford Street, but no one else was really on the same page. Luckily my roommate, Brittany Jagger, had my same plans and we hit the shops - not too hard though! We went to stores like River Island and H&M. We wanted to check out Harrods, known for its 6-levels of high tea, expensive shopping and much more. However, we ran out of time. After the free time, we took our bus to the Thames River for a short cruise. We saw many more beautiful London buildings and structures, as well as many we had seen before. By dinner time, we were all pretty tired from all of our walking around during the day and wet from all the rain. Overall, it was a good day filled with lots of adventure.

May 10
Everyday seems to be getting better and better!Our first adventure was visiting Windsor Castle on the outskirts of London. And guess who was there - the Queen! We all got to meet her and try on her crown...just kidding! But she was there. At the castle, we walked though St.Georges Chapel and many rooms of the castle. The Castle is adorned with so much detail, its so gorgeous. I wish I was allowed to take pictures, like outside, were permitted. My favorite sections were the dollhouse replica of the castle and the 60 photographs for 60 years to honor the Queen's diamond jubilee. Finally we were able to meet Rachel Fell's family at her house! Her parents and grandparents re so sweet and were great hosts. I especially enjoyed talking (but mostly listening) with her grandmother! Even though it was a short visit, we had a great time and filled our bellies to prepare for our game against Charlton Ladies.

-Deprise Brazel

-GO LIONS-