Tour Blog
Raising Voices in England
In June 2016, CCGD took 90 singers and 57 adults to England. You can read about our adventures below, and can follow the hashtag #CCGDraisingvoicesontour on Facebook and Instagram to see all of the photos.
Please note that you can view all of our photos on Facebook and Instagram – follow the links above.
Tour Update #1
Day One (Saturday, June 18 to Sunday, June 19)
CCGD is having a wonderful time Raising Voices across the pond! Our journey began on Saturday at DFW airport, where our singers arrived at 1:00 pm. It took us about one-and-a-half hours to get everyone checked in and through security. We waited until all of the other passengers boarded the aircraft before getting on ourselves – Ms. Nott and Ms. Henson were quite busy checking everyone off as they entered the airplane.
We quickly discovered that all of the adults were primarily in the front part of the coach section and all of the singers were in the back part of the coach, which they seemed to enjoy. Due to the timing of the flight, most of our passengers did not get much, if any, sleep on the flight. We landed at London’s Heathrow Airport at 6:55 am local time. We were greeted with rather long lines at immigration; it took our group about 1.5 hours to get through immigration and customs. We were fortunate to not have any lost luggage, thankfully!
Once we made it to the airport lobby, we divided into our four bus groups. All middle school girls are on one bus, our boys and high school girls make up two buses, and all of our “shadowers,” or as staff calls them, CCGD superfans, make up the final bus. Once we loaded the coaches (we learned not to call them buses, which is reserved for the double decker “tourist” buses in London), we were on our way to Windsor.
After a short 30-minute drive, we arrived at Windsor, where we met up with a large number of students and parents who had arrived in England earlier. Our first stop was Windsor Castle, where we had about 45 minutes to explore the Windsor Castle grounds (with audio listening devices). We came at a good time, as the queen was in residence. We were able to see the household guard, who entertained our singers with a stoic face and choreographed rifle movements. The chapel on the grounds had a church service that dismissed while we were on tour, which allowed our singers to see many English gentlemen dress in the traditional cavalry attire (make sure and check out our Facebook photos!). Many of our students snapped a picture of what they thought was the queen – you can see the photo on Facebook and decide if you think they are right.
After the tour of Windsor Castle, we were treated to a delicious traditional fish and chips lunch, complete with green peas (English peas!!!!) and tartar sauce. After lunch, we boarded the coaches and headed for London, where we were quickly greeted with the notoriously bad London traffic, which won’t seem to cut us a break! We were able to fit in a quick 45 minutes at the British Museum, where we were able to see the Rosetta Stone and mummies. We learned that one could spend an entire week at the British Museum, which boasts more than eight million artifacts!
After our quick time at the British Museum, we headed to the hotel to get checked in, which went surprisingly fast. Our singers took their belongings to their rooms and came to the hotel’s dining hall, where we ate dinner and then had a quick rehearsal before going to our rooms for the evening to unpack and get some much-needed sleep.
Day Two (Monday, June 20)
Our singers received wake-up calls at 6:00 am on Monday morning, which allowed them to get ready for a traditional English breakfast (complete with baked beans!), which was served from 6:30 – 7:30 am. We gathered in the lobby at 7:45 am, loaded our coaches and departed with Blue Badge Tourist Guides for St. Paul’s Cathedral. As soon as we stepped outside, we realized we were in for a rainy day!
We greatly enjoyed the tour of St. Paul’s Cathedral, where we were able to see the main cathedral space and the crypt, which features the graves of Christopher Wren, Horatio Nelson, Lord Wellington, John Donne, and Hubert Perry, who wrote the music for Jerusalem, which our singers are performing here in England.
After touring St. Paul’s Cathedral, we transferred to the Tower of London, where we were able to see the crown jewels and other artifacts of the royal family. After our brief tour of the Tower of London, we boarded our coaches and departed for Victoria Embankment Gardens, where we performed our first concert at the bandstand of the Gardens. Our performance coincided with many people’s lunchtime, so we had many locals who stopped and listened to the chorus for a couple of pieces before getting back to work. The covered stage came in handy, as it began to rain the last 10 minutes or so of the performance. Our singers sounded wonderful and represented Dallas well.
After the performances, we went to Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre for tours of the space – we will be seeing a production of Macbeth on Thursday. Singers had a bit of free time before we departed for Chinatown, where we ate a wonderful Chinese dinner, which was served family style. The menu included sliced pork and tomato soup, chicken wings, bean curd, steamed rice, bok choy in oyster sauce, and whole seabass. Our singers were rather adventurous with their eating, with each table having singers who at the eyeballs of the sea bass!
After dinner, we walked to the Theatre Royal for a performance of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which our singers loved! The sets were outstanding, and the quality of the acting, singing and dancing was very high! Many of our singers were fortunate enough to see the actor who portrayed Charlie exiting the theatre. After the show, we returned to the hotel after having a busy day in London!
Day Three (Tuesday, June 21)
Our third day began with a 6:00 wake up call – most singers report that they are beginning to get acclimated to the time change, which is great! We loaded the coaches at 7:45 am bound for Oxford. After stopping at a rest area for a bathroom break (complete with TWO Starbucks and a koi pond), we headed into Oxford for a tour of Christ Church College, which included a journey through the college’s main dining hall which was featured prominently in the Harry Potter films. While in the college’s cathedral, we were fortunate enough to hear a rehearsal for an organ recital that was occurring later in the day. After our tour of the college, our students had some free time to shop and have lunch.
We then boarded our coaches and headed for Stratford upon Avon, where we had our second tour performance at Holy Trinity Church. We had a very large crowd present, many of whom were mouthing along the words of some of the English pieces. The singers were wonderful and the acoustics were superb (make sure to listen to some of the performance videos on Facebook). After the performance, we had the opportunity to have a quick look at William Shakespeare’s grave, which is in Holy Trinity Church. After we left the church, we had the opportunity to visit the birthplace of Shakespeare and also Anne Hathaway’s Cottage. Following our tours, we met up at a restaurant that CCGD had to itself for a traditional English dinner of Bangers (Sausage) and Mash (potatoes). The star of the evening for many was the Millionaire’s Cheesecake, which was unbelievably delicious. We ended the evening with a coach ride through the English countryside on our way back to London.
Make sure to check back later in the week for our next blog entry!
Update #2
Day Four (Wednesday, June 22)
Today’s day began with CCGD departing the hotel at 7:45 am. Our plan was to go to Leed’s Castle this morning, which is located about 2 hours away from London. After about 30 minutes of departing the hotel, we had made it roughly 1.5 miles – traffic was horrible! It quickly became apparent that traffic was not going to allow us to make it to Leed’s Castle and make it back in time for our 3:30 pm performance, so we opted to remain in London and visit museum row, which is the home of the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum, and the Victoria Albert Museum. Our singers were able to choose which museum(s) they visited. Many singers listened to Ms. Nott’s suggestion of visiting the Victoria Albert Museum, which has a wide collection varying from art, furniture, fashion, and more. After a couple of hours, we departed museum row for Borough Market, where our singers were able to grab lunch from a wide variety of food vendors. Many singers were having competitions as to who could get the most food for 10 pounds; it turns out that you can have first and second lunch for 10 pounds at Borough Market!
After having time in the market, it was time for our final performance in England at Southwark Cathedral, which lies on the south bank of the River Thames. We were astonished to learn that the building had been a place of worship for more than 1,000 years. We were so excited to perform for such a large audience – well over 100 people were in attendance. The space was grand in every conceivable way; it proved to be a wonderful place for our culminating England performance! Our singers received a well-deserved standing ovation. Make sure to listen to our performance videos on Facebook!
After our performance, we took the coaches to the famous London Eye, which is a large Ferris wheel on the River Thames that offers wonderful views of the city. Following the London Eye, we boarded the Pride of London ship for our dinner and dancing river cruise, which was a huge hit with our singers. Even Ms. Nott got in on the dancing action – make sure to check our pictures on Facebook.
We are having an absolutely wonderful time – what a wonderful group on singers we have! Make sure to check back for our next entry!
Update #3
Day Five (Thursday, June 23)
Our fifth day began with a wonderful sightseeing tour of such iconic London landmarks as Parliament, Westminster Abbey, and St. James Park, which culminated in seeing the Changing of the Guards Ceremony at Buckingham Palace. Our singers seemed to enjoy their time in the picturesque St. James Park the most, taking lots of time to snap pictures of the beautiful flora and fauna found within the park grounds. While we were on our tour, we couldn’t help but notice the large gathering of press crews in Parliament Square, undoubtedly covering the historic “Brexit” referendum that took place on Thursday.
Following the Changing of the Guards Ceremony, our singers enjoyed lunch at the original Hard Rock Cafe. Our staff chuckled at how quickly most singers downed their cheeseburger and fries! After a quick trip to the Hard Rock Cafe shop to purchase the iconic t-shirts, we headed for Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre for a performance of Macbeth. All of our singers were seated in various sections of the Globe Theatre. They were shocked to see hundreds of people standing in the pit section of the theatre for the entirety of the three-hour production; in fact, we noticed several people faint during the performance. It was incredible for our singers to have the opportunity to see a Shakespeare play in a setting similar to the Globe Theatre of 400 years ago. We were all blown away by the play’s production value - the costumes, sets, and special effects were all terrific, not to mention the wonderful actors! Our singers will always remember how during the second half of the play the heavens opened up with a torrential downpour, completely drenching the audience standing in the pit. The old adage “The Show Must Go On” was followed, with the actors not missing a beat. Make sure to see our Facebook page for a shot showing the theatre during the rainstorm – it is quite a sight to behold!
After Macbeth, our singers had a bit of time to explore the wonderful Tate Modern Museum, an experience many seemed to enjoy immensely. We then transferred to a pub for dinner, where we ate the traditional English fare Cottage Pie. Interestingly enough, dinner was served in a place different than what was on our itinerary due to the heavy rains – the original restaurant flooded! After our dinner, we headed back to the hotel after a busy day!
Day Six (Friday, June 24)
Our singers woke up to the historic news that the United Kingdom voted 52% to 48% to leave the European Union. Many of our students throughout the week learned about the referendum from our tour guides and from talking to local people while we were out and about. Some of the tour guides instructed the singers to make sure and buy a paper to take home with them, as it will remind them of being present for such a historic moment in the United Kingdom.
Our first stop of the day was a visit to Hampton Court Palace, which is a royal palace that has seen such royals in residence as King Henry VIII (along with many of his wives), King William III, and King George II, among others. We had roughly two hours to enjoy the palace, which featured lovely manicured gardens, a beautiful chapel, multiple royal apartments, grandiose art galleries, and a garden maze, which proved to be a huge hit with our singers. Many singers developed a friendly competition to see who could complete the maze in the fastest time. After our time at the Palace, we transferred back to London to Regent’s Park, where we were treated to an outdoor picnic lunch complete with, shall we say, unique chip flavors, including prawn cocktail and Worcester sauce.
After lunch, we were treated to a visit at the London Zoo, which is the world’s oldest scientific zoo. Our singers greatly enjoyed seeing the zoo’s 756 different species of animals; some even had their faces painted (see Facebook for photos). After our time at the Zoo, it was off to Camden Market by way of the Regent’s Canal for souvenir shopping. We ended the evening with a Medieval Banquet, which included a multi-course meal and entertainment, including a sword fight, singing, dancing, jugglers, contortionists, and more! Our singers even had the opportunity to treat the other guests in attendance with an impromptu performance of Goin’ Up a Yonder, which elicited a warm response. After a final group dance, it was time to return to the hotel to pack and catch a few hours of sleep before the long travel day.
Day Seven (Saturday, June 25)
Our last day in London began with a 6:00 am wake up call. After our final English breakfast, we loaded into the lobby with our belongings at 7:45 and were loaded onto the buses by 8:00. Our check-in at London Heathrow went well. Our flight departed at 12:50 pm, and ten hours later, we arrived safe and sound at DFW. The flight staff told Ms. Nott that they were initially apprehensive to see so many students on the long flight, but were very impressed by the students' behavior. Only three of our singers had their luggage not show up, which wasn’t too bad. To say that everyone was tired is an understatement, but we had a wonderful time Raising Voices on tour.
Thanks for following along on our journey!
Tour Update #1
Day One (Saturday, June 18 to Sunday, June 19)
CCGD is having a wonderful time Raising Voices across the pond! Our journey began on Saturday at DFW airport, where our singers arrived at 1:00 pm. It took us about one-and-a-half hours to get everyone checked in and through security. We waited until all of the other passengers boarded the aircraft before getting on ourselves – Ms. Nott and Ms. Henson were quite busy checking everyone off as they entered the airplane.
We quickly discovered that all of the adults were primarily in the front part of the coach section and all of the singers were in the back part of the coach, which they seemed to enjoy. Due to the timing of the flight, most of our passengers did not get much, if any, sleep on the flight. We landed at London’s Heathrow Airport at 6:55 am local time. We were greeted with rather long lines at immigration; it took our group about 1.5 hours to get through immigration and customs. We were fortunate to not have any lost luggage, thankfully!
Once we made it to the airport lobby, we divided into our four bus groups. All middle school girls are on one bus, our boys and high school girls make up two buses, and all of our “shadowers,” or as staff calls them, CCGD superfans, make up the final bus. Once we loaded the coaches (we learned not to call them buses, which is reserved for the double decker “tourist” buses in London), we were on our way to Windsor.
After a short 30-minute drive, we arrived at Windsor, where we met up with a large number of students and parents who had arrived in England earlier. Our first stop was Windsor Castle, where we had about 45 minutes to explore the Windsor Castle grounds (with audio listening devices). We came at a good time, as the queen was in residence. We were able to see the household guard, who entertained our singers with a stoic face and choreographed rifle movements. The chapel on the grounds had a church service that dismissed while we were on tour, which allowed our singers to see many English gentlemen dress in the traditional cavalry attire (make sure and check out our Facebook photos!). Many of our students snapped a picture of what they thought was the queen – you can see the photo on Facebook and decide if you think they are right.
After the tour of Windsor Castle, we were treated to a delicious traditional fish and chips lunch, complete with green peas (English peas!!!!) and tartar sauce. After lunch, we boarded the coaches and headed for London, where we were quickly greeted with the notoriously bad London traffic, which won’t seem to cut us a break! We were able to fit in a quick 45 minutes at the British Museum, where we were able to see the Rosetta Stone and mummies. We learned that one could spend an entire week at the British Museum, which boasts more than eight million artifacts!
After our quick time at the British Museum, we headed to the hotel to get checked in, which went surprisingly fast. Our singers took their belongings to their rooms and came to the hotel’s dining hall, where we ate dinner and then had a quick rehearsal before going to our rooms for the evening to unpack and get some much-needed sleep.
Day Two (Monday, June 20)
Our singers received wake-up calls at 6:00 am on Monday morning, which allowed them to get ready for a traditional English breakfast (complete with baked beans!), which was served from 6:30 – 7:30 am. We gathered in the lobby at 7:45 am, loaded our coaches and departed with Blue Badge Tourist Guides for St. Paul’s Cathedral. As soon as we stepped outside, we realized we were in for a rainy day!
We greatly enjoyed the tour of St. Paul’s Cathedral, where we were able to see the main cathedral space and the crypt, which features the graves of Christopher Wren, Horatio Nelson, Lord Wellington, John Donne, and Hubert Perry, who wrote the music for Jerusalem, which our singers are performing here in England.
After touring St. Paul’s Cathedral, we transferred to the Tower of London, where we were able to see the crown jewels and other artifacts of the royal family. After our brief tour of the Tower of London, we boarded our coaches and departed for Victoria Embankment Gardens, where we performed our first concert at the bandstand of the Gardens. Our performance coincided with many people’s lunchtime, so we had many locals who stopped and listened to the chorus for a couple of pieces before getting back to work. The covered stage came in handy, as it began to rain the last 10 minutes or so of the performance. Our singers sounded wonderful and represented Dallas well.
After the performances, we went to Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre for tours of the space – we will be seeing a production of Macbeth on Thursday. Singers had a bit of free time before we departed for Chinatown, where we ate a wonderful Chinese dinner, which was served family style. The menu included sliced pork and tomato soup, chicken wings, bean curd, steamed rice, bok choy in oyster sauce, and whole seabass. Our singers were rather adventurous with their eating, with each table having singers who at the eyeballs of the sea bass!
After dinner, we walked to the Theatre Royal for a performance of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which our singers loved! The sets were outstanding, and the quality of the acting, singing and dancing was very high! Many of our singers were fortunate enough to see the actor who portrayed Charlie exiting the theatre. After the show, we returned to the hotel after having a busy day in London!
Day Three (Tuesday, June 21)
Our third day began with a 6:00 wake up call – most singers report that they are beginning to get acclimated to the time change, which is great! We loaded the coaches at 7:45 am bound for Oxford. After stopping at a rest area for a bathroom break (complete with TWO Starbucks and a koi pond), we headed into Oxford for a tour of Christ Church College, which included a journey through the college’s main dining hall which was featured prominently in the Harry Potter films. While in the college’s cathedral, we were fortunate enough to hear a rehearsal for an organ recital that was occurring later in the day. After our tour of the college, our students had some free time to shop and have lunch.
We then boarded our coaches and headed for Stratford upon Avon, where we had our second tour performance at Holy Trinity Church. We had a very large crowd present, many of whom were mouthing along the words of some of the English pieces. The singers were wonderful and the acoustics were superb (make sure to listen to some of the performance videos on Facebook). After the performance, we had the opportunity to have a quick look at William Shakespeare’s grave, which is in Holy Trinity Church. After we left the church, we had the opportunity to visit the birthplace of Shakespeare and also Anne Hathaway’s Cottage. Following our tours, we met up at a restaurant that CCGD had to itself for a traditional English dinner of Bangers (Sausage) and Mash (potatoes). The star of the evening for many was the Millionaire’s Cheesecake, which was unbelievably delicious. We ended the evening with a coach ride through the English countryside on our way back to London.
Make sure to check back later in the week for our next blog entry!
Update #2
Day Four (Wednesday, June 22)
Today’s day began with CCGD departing the hotel at 7:45 am. Our plan was to go to Leed’s Castle this morning, which is located about 2 hours away from London. After about 30 minutes of departing the hotel, we had made it roughly 1.5 miles – traffic was horrible! It quickly became apparent that traffic was not going to allow us to make it to Leed’s Castle and make it back in time for our 3:30 pm performance, so we opted to remain in London and visit museum row, which is the home of the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum, and the Victoria Albert Museum. Our singers were able to choose which museum(s) they visited. Many singers listened to Ms. Nott’s suggestion of visiting the Victoria Albert Museum, which has a wide collection varying from art, furniture, fashion, and more. After a couple of hours, we departed museum row for Borough Market, where our singers were able to grab lunch from a wide variety of food vendors. Many singers were having competitions as to who could get the most food for 10 pounds; it turns out that you can have first and second lunch for 10 pounds at Borough Market!
After having time in the market, it was time for our final performance in England at Southwark Cathedral, which lies on the south bank of the River Thames. We were astonished to learn that the building had been a place of worship for more than 1,000 years. We were so excited to perform for such a large audience – well over 100 people were in attendance. The space was grand in every conceivable way; it proved to be a wonderful place for our culminating England performance! Our singers received a well-deserved standing ovation. Make sure to listen to our performance videos on Facebook!
After our performance, we took the coaches to the famous London Eye, which is a large Ferris wheel on the River Thames that offers wonderful views of the city. Following the London Eye, we boarded the Pride of London ship for our dinner and dancing river cruise, which was a huge hit with our singers. Even Ms. Nott got in on the dancing action – make sure to check our pictures on Facebook.
We are having an absolutely wonderful time – what a wonderful group on singers we have! Make sure to check back for our next entry!
Update #3
Day Five (Thursday, June 23)
Our fifth day began with a wonderful sightseeing tour of such iconic London landmarks as Parliament, Westminster Abbey, and St. James Park, which culminated in seeing the Changing of the Guards Ceremony at Buckingham Palace. Our singers seemed to enjoy their time in the picturesque St. James Park the most, taking lots of time to snap pictures of the beautiful flora and fauna found within the park grounds. While we were on our tour, we couldn’t help but notice the large gathering of press crews in Parliament Square, undoubtedly covering the historic “Brexit” referendum that took place on Thursday.
Following the Changing of the Guards Ceremony, our singers enjoyed lunch at the original Hard Rock Cafe. Our staff chuckled at how quickly most singers downed their cheeseburger and fries! After a quick trip to the Hard Rock Cafe shop to purchase the iconic t-shirts, we headed for Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre for a performance of Macbeth. All of our singers were seated in various sections of the Globe Theatre. They were shocked to see hundreds of people standing in the pit section of the theatre for the entirety of the three-hour production; in fact, we noticed several people faint during the performance. It was incredible for our singers to have the opportunity to see a Shakespeare play in a setting similar to the Globe Theatre of 400 years ago. We were all blown away by the play’s production value - the costumes, sets, and special effects were all terrific, not to mention the wonderful actors! Our singers will always remember how during the second half of the play the heavens opened up with a torrential downpour, completely drenching the audience standing in the pit. The old adage “The Show Must Go On” was followed, with the actors not missing a beat. Make sure to see our Facebook page for a shot showing the theatre during the rainstorm – it is quite a sight to behold!
After Macbeth, our singers had a bit of time to explore the wonderful Tate Modern Museum, an experience many seemed to enjoy immensely. We then transferred to a pub for dinner, where we ate the traditional English fare Cottage Pie. Interestingly enough, dinner was served in a place different than what was on our itinerary due to the heavy rains – the original restaurant flooded! After our dinner, we headed back to the hotel after a busy day!
Day Six (Friday, June 24)
Our singers woke up to the historic news that the United Kingdom voted 52% to 48% to leave the European Union. Many of our students throughout the week learned about the referendum from our tour guides and from talking to local people while we were out and about. Some of the tour guides instructed the singers to make sure and buy a paper to take home with them, as it will remind them of being present for such a historic moment in the United Kingdom.
Our first stop of the day was a visit to Hampton Court Palace, which is a royal palace that has seen such royals in residence as King Henry VIII (along with many of his wives), King William III, and King George II, among others. We had roughly two hours to enjoy the palace, which featured lovely manicured gardens, a beautiful chapel, multiple royal apartments, grandiose art galleries, and a garden maze, which proved to be a huge hit with our singers. Many singers developed a friendly competition to see who could complete the maze in the fastest time. After our time at the Palace, we transferred back to London to Regent’s Park, where we were treated to an outdoor picnic lunch complete with, shall we say, unique chip flavors, including prawn cocktail and Worcester sauce.
After lunch, we were treated to a visit at the London Zoo, which is the world’s oldest scientific zoo. Our singers greatly enjoyed seeing the zoo’s 756 different species of animals; some even had their faces painted (see Facebook for photos). After our time at the Zoo, it was off to Camden Market by way of the Regent’s Canal for souvenir shopping. We ended the evening with a Medieval Banquet, which included a multi-course meal and entertainment, including a sword fight, singing, dancing, jugglers, contortionists, and more! Our singers even had the opportunity to treat the other guests in attendance with an impromptu performance of Goin’ Up a Yonder, which elicited a warm response. After a final group dance, it was time to return to the hotel to pack and catch a few hours of sleep before the long travel day.
Day Seven (Saturday, June 25)
Our last day in London began with a 6:00 am wake up call. After our final English breakfast, we loaded into the lobby with our belongings at 7:45 and were loaded onto the buses by 8:00. Our check-in at London Heathrow went well. Our flight departed at 12:50 pm, and ten hours later, we arrived safe and sound at DFW. The flight staff told Ms. Nott that they were initially apprehensive to see so many students on the long flight, but were very impressed by the students' behavior. Only three of our singers had their luggage not show up, which wasn’t too bad. To say that everyone was tired is an understatement, but we had a wonderful time Raising Voices on tour.
Thanks for following along on our journey!