UK Tour Day 1 (...and 2)

By: Casey Accardi, Premier Choir
Casey has been in BCC for six years. She is 18 years old. 
(Apologies for the lateness of this post, we had some technical difficulties. But everyone is alive and well!) 


Good Morning! Casey Accardi, BCC Blog founder, here! It is my pleasure to give you the scoop on the first day of our UK tour, and I am even more pleased to share that a different BCC singer will be writing a blog post each day while we're here. I hope you enjoy this series of posts -- feel free to use the comment box to say hello, we'll respond!

On June 27th, after plenty of last minute packing, I arrived at Logan Airport in the late afternoon ready to depart on a flight to London with BCC! While I was expecting to see my fellow singers, I was not expecting to see Xana, Liz, and Rabiah, alumnae of the chorus, who came bearing UK themed posters and a lot of BCC spirit. It was so great to see them and have them there to send us off on our trip! 

Liz, Xana, and Rabiah! Best alumni ever!

After saying our goodbyes to friends and family, check in, security, and finding our gate went smoothly. After a bit of a wait we boarded our 7pm flight: a six hour flight to London Heathrow Airport. For the first few hours the flight went wonderfully for me -- I read, socialized with other members of the chorus, flipped through my options on the TV screen implanted in the seat in front of me, etc. However, when the third hour of the flight (10pm Boston time, 3am UK time) rolled around I attempted to get some rest, things stopped going so smoothly! Sleeping on planes is not my forte, and when we landed in London I found that most of my peers were also unsuccessful!

Fettes College!

We had a quick layover in London and were soon on our way to Edinburgh -- this time a much shorter, 50 minute  flight. After landing began part two of what I'd call the longest day ever, meaning it was officially June 28th in Edinburgh, but I hadn't slept the night of the 27th! We boarded our tour bus -- a double decker bus!!! -- and headed off for some sight seeing with our courier David, tour guide, Kirstie, and bus driver, Frank. Kirstie told us everything about everywhere, including Fettes College, an elite private high school in Edinburgh that follows the English schooling system, therefore preparing students to apply to English schools like Oxford and St. Andrews. Fettes College is the school that J. K. Rowling based Hogwarts on, and I must say it looked pretty similar! 

My view from a bench at Edinburgh Castle... yes I took a quick nap.

After getting Lunch independently (many of my fellow chorus members ate at The Elephant Cafe, the coffee shop in which J.K. Rowling began writing the novel) we proceeded to Edinburgh Castle for our last sight-seeing stop of the day. Although I am pretty sure I fell asleep standing up more than once, it was an awesome sight to see! We then headed to the Travelodge and checked into our rooms, only to leave less than an hour later for dinner and rehearsal. At this point I'd been awake for nearly 30 hours so I apologize for the lack of detail! We ate dinner at the Three Sisters (a three course meal!) and our first rehearsal in the UK, although we were quite tired, sounded pretty good! I'm hoping our performance on the 29th at St. Giles goes wonderfully. 

P.S. I caught up with my friend and fellow chorus member, Gabi, about our trip here, because it was her first time on an airplane! She says, "It was like a roller coaster! I had fun! The food was good!" -- I'd say that's a pretty good review! Lets hope our trip home is just as lovely.