Around 9:15 am, we walked up to get our bus and packed lunches for our trip to Portsmouth. The bus ride was a little over an hour and depending on how you look at it, unfortunately or fortunately the wireless speaker died about half way through the trip so there was still singing but not as much or as loud. The bus driver encouraged the girls to keep the party going so they continued to sing acapella.
Upon arriving in Portsmouth, our group headed to take part in the historic dockyard tour. Unfortunately, the weather had changed drastically on our trip to the coast and the weather in Portsmouth was cold and cloudy but that didn't stop us. The first ship we toured was the HMS Warrior 1860. It was amazing to see all the different levels/areas of the ship from the Captain's quarters to where prisoners were held. We toured the ship for about 30 minutes or so then it was on to our next ship of the tour but first we made a stop to use the bathrooms and to get a snack.
We then made our way to the HMS Victory. HMS Victory is the Royal Navy's most famous warship and is best known for her role in the Battle of Trafalgar. There was a another large group in front of us so we had a little bit of a wait. Unfortunately, since our group was so large we didn't get the opporunity to the headsets that talked you through the tour of the ship but I still think the girls had a decent time. The girls toured the ship and at points the compartments were so small that we had to deck down really low in order to get through to the next part of the ship. Coach Dave said he felt a little uneasy when he had to go through the medical quarters because it was a really tight space.
As the group trickled out of the HMS Victory, the girls made it quite clear that they were ready to shop! The Gunwarf Quays Desinger Outlets is very similar to our Kittery Outlets but on a smaller scale. There was a larger variety of stores that can be found in America with some British based stores mixed in. The girls had about 2 1/2 hours to shop and eat lunch in groups. Angelina Meyer and Jill Mallett enjoyed a Mexican lunch while Peighton Winder purchased lots of chocolates to bring home to her family.
We met around 3:30 pm outside the Nike outlet and while we waited for remaining girls to return, Christine and I checked out everyone's purchases. It seems like the girls got some pretty good deals. A couple of the older girls decided to save their money because they thought that they could purchase similar things back home for cheaper (which I agree with although I did buy a few things for myself).
After everyone was back at the Nike, we headed to the bus for our ride back to Ardingly. The bus ride was surprisingly quiet with only a little bit of singing near the end of the trip. I think the girls were a little tired after the games yesterday and lots of walking around today.
Upon getting back to campus, the girls returned their purchases to their rooms and headed to dining hall for a carb loaded dinner. There was lots of pasta and garlic bread which will hopefully give them some fuel to make it through 2 training sessions tomorrow. The girls have been relaxing and watching television down in the common room this evening and will be heading off to bed in about an hour (so will I).
Another fantastic day done! Let's hope for great training weather for tomorrow!
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