Molly O'Brien's Blog from England

June 4

We arrived in London on Thursday morning, June 2. We spent the day seeing Big Ben, the Tower Bridge, Westminster Abbey, and much more.
We had a lot of free time for sightseeing. The rest of Thursday afternoon and Friday, we were on our own to explore the city.
Many of us enjoyed shopping on Oxford Street and going to the markets in Camden Town.
We all experienced riding on the tube and maneuvering our way around London.
On Saturday we played Denham FC on the old Chelsea FC training field or "pitch" as they say here in England. We all had a great game and ended up winning 5-0. After the game, we went to the Denham Clubhouse to socialize with the other team and watch youth soccer games.
The English version of the "Cha Cha Slide" came on and many IWU players got out on the field to interact with the English players dancing along to the song.
Our last night we went out for pizza as a team. This has been a perfect trip and we can't believe that it is over - Thanks for following along with us!
CHEERS!

June 1

We are now in Watford, England. We just got back from a short run and dinner at the hotel.
Last night we played the Liverpool Ladies. They play in the women's super league here in England, which is equivalent to first division soccer in the U.S. The final score ended up being 4-1. However, we were happy with our effort and the chances we had on goal. The Liverpool Ladies were very quick and technical which made for a fun and challenging match.
After the game we returned our hotel in Leigh for pizza and chips, aka fries. Today we checked out of the hotel in Leigh and traveled two hours to Warwick. Some of us watched a medieval jousting match and even met King Henry VIII! Others enjoyed walking 540 steps to the top of the castle or walking around the town of Warwick.
Next, we traveled to Stratford-on-Avon, Shakespeare's hometown. We saw the house Shakespeare was born in and with the help of our tour guide, Mike, some found Shakespeare's grave in Trinity church.
We are now at our hotel in Watford, eager for our next few days in London and play our last game on Saturday afternoon. It's been a great trip so far. All of the players are bonding and making great memories. I will not be able to blog again until we are back in the U.S. on Sunday.

May 29

After arriving at London's Heathrow Airport, we were off to our first destination: Windsor. We toured the Windsor Castle-- the State Apartments were a must-see. Many of us were able to see the changing of the guards at the Castle. We ate our first English meal after the tour in the Windsor area.
We then traveled to see Stonehenge, before checking into our hotel in Bristol. After dinner at the hotel, we walked around Bristol and found a pub to watch the Champions League final game. The next day we ate breakfast at the hotel then traveled to the town of Bath, famous for their Roman Baths.
In the afternoon, we had our first friendly game against Keynsham Ladies FC. After a 2-0 victory, we were able to join the Keynsham Ladies and referees in their club house to eat and socialize.