Trip to the Port...and back again...

I can't put off writing again...
This past weekend, BCA had planned a trip for us to go to Stonehenge and Portsmouth. We left at around eight thirty on Saturday morning, and our first stop was Stonehenge.  We got there sometime between ten and eleven and then had a good forty-five minutes to see Stonehenge.  Forty-five minutes was way too long.  Stonehenge is literally a bunch of over-sized stones placed next to each other in the middle of a field that is in the middle of nowhere.  Sure it may have some historical significance, but no one really knows what it was used for...they just guess.  You can't even get close to the stones...everything is roped off and you have to walk around it...I don't think we came within a hundred yards of the stones.  It just was not very exciting...sure it's cool to be able to say that I've been to Stonehenge, but I will most likely not be going there again.  So after a rather long forty-five minutes we made our way back to the bus.  We made a quick stop in the town of Salisbury for lunch...but we had a good hour and a half to kill.  So Deanne, Bethany, and I wandered around town for a while just looking around.  We walked through a market, then made our way over to a cathedral...but none of us really felt like going inside...oh and we listened to a singer on the street.  He was actually pretty good, so we bought his CD.  By that time we were running out of time, so we went to Tesco and bought a baguette and cheese for our lunch and just ate it on the bus.  Then we were on our way to Portsmouth, so I ended up taking a nap.  When I woke up we were stopping and getting off the bus...we were going walking on the beach.  So I grabbed my camera and followed everyone off the bus.  It was really windy and chilly, so we didn't stay too long...but everyone took lots of pictures.  Then it was finally time to check in at our hotel. I was in a room with Deanne and Bethany.  We got to our room and instantly collapsed onto the beds.  It was so nice to stretch out on the bed after being in the bus for so long.  We were just chilling in our room when Suzie called and wanted to know if we wanted to go wander around town with her and Jess...we had been told that there were alot of shops around that area of town.  So we all went out.  We window shopped for a while which was fun...then eventually we found a place to get dinner.  We ate at Pizza express...which was delicious.  We were all very pleased with our restaurant decision.  On the way back to the hotel a few of us ended up making a quick stop at Tesco for some dessert.  I got chocolate brownie cheesecake.  So we bought our desserts and then went back to the hotel.  We decided to all gather in Me, Deanne, and Bethany's room to have a dessert eating party in our pajamas and watch the Olympics. It was great.  Everyone eventually left our room by about tenish and by ten thirty our lights were out.  We were all super tired...but none of us could figure out why because we hadn't really done a whole lot that day.  Oh well...we got a pretty good amount of sleep that night.  I got up the next morning at about eight thirty to shower and get ready for the day.  The three of us went to breakfast at around nine...and the breakfast was pretty good...they had a lot of different things you could choose from.  Afterward, we went back to the room to gather all our stuff and then went to meet up with everyone in the reception area.  Once we were all checked out of the hotel, it was back onto the bus...but not for very long...only a few minutes.  We were going to the oldest commissioned ship in the Royal Navy.  This was probably the coolest part of the trip.  The ship reminded me of Pirates of the Caribbean, cause that's what it looked like.  It was really pretty.  Once we were aboard, we were allowed to wander around at our own pace and take pictures.  It was really cool to see all the different levels and rooms...and the amount of ropes that were on the ship...it was slightly overwhelming and I was very glad to not be the person that would have to  deal with any of those ropes and have to know which rope goes to what. Well after we finished wandering around the ship, we went to see two museums.  I honestly was not all that thrilled at spending time at a museum when I could be doing other things, but oh well...it was paid for so I went.  The first museum was not at all interesting, so I just kind of wandered around.  We didn't stay at that museum for more than half and hour...it was really small.  Then we went to the Mary Rose Museum...that one was more interesting then the last one.  It was about a ship that had been found at the bottom of the ocean somewhere near Portsmouth and had been brought up.  It was from the era of King Henry VIII and there were a lot of cool artifacts that had been uncovered and were now on display.  The ship itself was in the process of restoration/preservation, so no one could see it.  We didn't really stay there too terribly long, because it was nearly lunch time and a bunch of us were hungry.  So we split into groups and wandered off to find somewhere to eat.  Me, Deanne, Bethany, and Jess ended up going to this cafe that was run by cute little old man and his wife...he was the waiter and she was the cook...the were absolutely adorable together!!! So we all very much enjoyed eating there...not only was the food delicious, but there was classical music playing in the background which was very nice.  After we ate it was time to go home...so it was back on the bus for a few hours...I managed to take a nap which was really nice.  We got back to Cheltenham around five so me and Deanne decided that we would still go to church since it didn't start until six.  Church was really good...we got back at around eight thirty and I was super tired.  I just chilled in my room until I decided to go to bed.  On Monday, I went to my English class and afterward I went to Tesco to get a baguette...of course...but I also got Gouda cheese to go with it...which turned out to be very delicious.  At around one thirty I suddenly got really really tired and literally couldn't keep my eyes open so I climbed into bed and instantly fell asleep...and slept until dinner which was at five.  Then at five thirty me, Deanne, and Jess walked to FCH for our BCA class...which was about health care...not the most exciting topic in the world...but oh well.  I actually went to bed at an early hour....like eleven...which was really nice.  I think my body needed some extra sleep because I had been sick lately and I was trying to recover.  Today I had my writing class...we discussed short stories and different types of short stories which was interesting.  On my way back home I stopped at the store to pick up a light bulb because I desperately needed one for my room. While I was there I discovered the art aisle...so I wandered down it and found some charcoal pencils and a sketch pad for like two pounds...so I got them.  Then I spend the rest of the day...and a good portion of the night...drawing.  I did take a short break for dinner and then another break for dessert...Jess, Suzie, Deanne, and I went to Weatherspoons for some of their delicious chocolate cake which was really exciting.  I came back from that and wanted to finish one of the sketches I was working on...which ended up taking four hours...but it looks pretty good.  Then I decided to catch up on my blog because it was something I had been neglecting and needed to get caught up with.  Now it's late...but that's okay because I don't have class tomorrow...and it's time to sleep.