{"id":13,"date":"2013-04-11T20:05:26","date_gmt":"2013-04-11T20:05:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gssunnytrails.com\/travel\/?page_id=13"},"modified":"2019-01-17T03:48:23","modified_gmt":"2019-01-17T03:48:23","slug":"visit-london","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/gssunnytrails.com\/travel\/visit-london\/","title":{"rendered":"Visit London"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"P1000741\"<\/a>In December 2012 I was lucky to be chosen to be a chaperone on a Destination trip to London sponsored by our council. We had 75 girls apply to the Destination and we were only allowed to take 14 of them. We read all the essays and references and then chose 50 girls to skype or phone for a follow up interview. Finally we looked at all the girls we liked on the map and made sure that we were only picking one from each geographic area. We ended up with a fantastic bunch of girls!<\/p>\n

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\"P1000676\"<\/a>From March till we took our trip in July we talked on a closed Facebook group to plan the trip and to get to know each other. We had some silly prompts like “what 3 Londoners would you invite to a dinner party?” to requests for photos of places to visit and things to do in London.  From this brainstorming we came up with an itinerary that worked around the 5 days that Pax Lodge was planning for us in their Journey Through London Program.<\/p>\n

Resources for planning a trip in Europe<\/h2>\n

Here is an inexpensive alternative to hotel rooms, stay in a university B & B! http:\/\/www.university-rooms.com\/about.aspx<\/a><\/p>\n

or stay in a church https:\/\/www.champing.co.uk\/<\/a>!<\/p>\n

Look for scout centers in the cities where you are visiting like Pax Lodge or other world centres: http:\/\/www.paxlodge.org<\/a> and hostels that cater to scouts: http:\/\/www.hostels.com\/hostels\/rome\/roma-scout-center\/51654<\/a><\/p>\n

WWOOF is an organization that pairs farms, that could use some manual labor, with people, who are looking for an inexpensive place to stay. This might be a cool way to give service and keep lodging expenses down while fully immersing yourself in the local culture: http:\/\/www.wwoof.it\/en\/<\/a><\/p>\n

I had read about “mudlarking” or mucking around in the Thames River at low tide to look for archaeological treasures. If you decide to try it this article shows some of the things you might look for: http:\/\/londonist.com\/2014\/05\/secrets-of-the-thames-foreshore.php?showpage=1#gallery-1<\/a><\/p>\n

Our Itinerary<\/h2>\n

Thursday July 18th<\/sup><\/b><\/p>\n

6:20am-2:46pm Delta 2452 Genevieve and I fly to NYC\/JFK airport (terminal 2)<\/p>\n

Take Air Train to Federal Circle (free) (station C) and pick up the Holiday Inn Express shuttle.
\nCheck in and drop bags in room (4pm check in).
\nGenevieve and I go into NYC for a fun night! Leave on the hour (see NYC itinerary ideas)  Catch hotel shuttle back to Federal Circle to catch subway (or call cab $15)<\/p>\n

Airtrain\u2019s Jamaica branch goes to Jamaica station, Queens or the E or J\/Z subway lines into Manhattan.<\/p>\n

Stay at the Airport Holiday Inn Express.<\/p>\n

Friday July 19th<\/sup><\/b><\/p>\n

\"P1000449\"<\/a>Breakfast at the hotel or get it to go, leave at 6am shuttle.<\/p>\n

Group meets at JFK International Airport 6:30am-2:45pm, check them off the list<\/p>\n