Day 9: Monday, December 23

Today we woke up at 8:00 a.m., and went down to have breakfast at the hotel. While we were eating we discussed all of the things we still wanted to before we left. We decided that one of the places we wanted to visit before we left was Hampton Court. We had all heard that it was a real nice place to spend the day and that visiting the gardens were a must do. We left the hotel 9:30 and headed to the train station to get to Hampton. The train picked us up at 10:05 and on our hour long trip we played on our phones and wrote about everything we had done so far in England to make the time go by faster.

When we arrived at Hampton Court we went to the Great Hall, a room with a  beautiful hammer- beam roof and walls that are hung with Henry VIII's best tapestries. After we finished viewing the amazing art in the Great Hall we wanted to do something that we did not get to do often so we decided to go to Hapton's world famous maze.

 The maze covers a third of an acre and contains half a mile paths. Before we went in we were told to try to stay together as much as possible so that one person does not get lost. We stayed together for about the first five minutes and then we turned it into a race to see who could get to the finish first. Of course we all went different ways trying to see which way was the fastest. After about thirty minutes I get completely lost and have no idea where I am and I get a call from Zoe saying that her, and Marybeth had already finished the maze and were waiting for us at the end. About an hour later I was still lost and had no idea where I was when I got another call from Zoe saying Rebecca had just finished and they were starting to get bored waiting for us. Then I tried really hard to find the finish and get there before Sydney. I finally found the end and was so relieved when Sydney dashed past me towards the finish. I chased after her as fast as I could but there was no way I could have caught up to her

By the time we all finished the maze it was about 1:00 and we were all starving. We decided to go to Tiltyard Cafe to have lunch. While we were there we talked about our experience in the maze and all laughed at how long it took Sydney and I to finish. After we all finished eating, we went to see the Hampton Gardens. The gardens are a total of sixty acres with pretty flowers, plants and wildlife. It was absolutely beautiful! There were a bunch of amazing fountains, and lime colored trees forming an arch to walk under. While we were walking we saw a family of deer all huddled close for protection and it made the garden even more amazing!

When we were done at the gardens we all decided that it was a good time to start heading home. We all slept on the train ride back because the whole day had been exhausting. When we finally got back to the hotel we went and had dinner and went to bed.

--Maya Meurling