York, Day 2: Performances
Brooke Privett
Today was one of those days I’ll remember the rest of my life! It started off bright and early with breakfast in the cafeteria which was very good. I had a croissant with local honey, eggs, Canadian bacon, yogurt, and lots of juice! It was so nice to finally have something else to drink other than room temperature tap water (they do not believe in ice here and cold soda is expensive!) There was a section of the breakfast bar that had baked beans, seasoned tomato halves, and potatoes. Most peculiar!
Today was the day of our first performance; a parade in downtown York and a stand still performance in front of the Lord Mayor’s house. The jazz band had a quick rehearsal before we left, and yes, we were in our marching uniforms, so we got a few funny looks from those passing by! We then headed downtown for the parade. The townspeople were infatuated with us! Cameras were flashing and the fingers were pointing. I even heard a guy on the parade route say “Are they American or Canadian?” I was impressed that I understood him, because the accent here is much thicker than in London.
We ended the parade in front of the Lord Mayor’s residence and performed our show for him and the locals. They loved it! After we performed the Lord Mayor presented us with individual medals from the city of York, which was very neat and memorable (Pictures to come.)
After our performance we were let loose in the city. I ate at a nice Italian restaurant and had some amazing lasagna! After that, I and two others walked all over the city and visited many of the shops. We came back to the dorms for a dinner of Fried Cod Loin, which was horrible, so I filled up on a plate of broccoli. I ought to lose at least 10 pounds while I’m here! Tomorrow we leave at 6:00am for 5 hour bus ride to Edinburgh!!!! England I love ya, but Scotland here I come!!