Scotland (Day 2)

Date of event: Sunday 15th June 2014

PREVIOUS BLOG: 25/6/14
NEXT BLOG: 11/1/15

People mentioned in this post:
Aaron
Andy (Sharon's husband)
Dad
Emma
Jemma
Katherine (Lauren's mum)
Lauren
Mum
Zoe

Surprisingly I managed to wake up on my own which is strange for me as I'm generally not a morning person. However I did sleep in the car on the way and on the way back from the village where the event was taking place so I wasn't entirely invincible. When we got there we met up with Katherine and Lauren and the rest of their group before the former along with mum got on the bus to prepare for the event.

Lauren's mum was passing the baton to mine which was cool so my dad and I tagged along with their group to a local coffee shop where we practically camped out for the next two hours. I was glad Lauren was there because Emma and Zoe weren't coming up until later so it was nice to talk to someone my age whilst we waited for 10am. Despite having only met her twice before, after spending

time with her that day

I felt like I'd known her a

lot longer.

When finally the runners were dropped of at there places we'd decided that I would run up with Lauren alongside Katherine and then she would run with me alongside my mum. Katherine walked so although it was uphill it was just a jog to keep in front and take pictures but when my mum was running we had to keep sprinting ahead in order to take some decent shots which by the end was quite tiring. Sharon, Andy and the kids were there as well so they ran with us and it all got live streamed which was quite funny.

After we'd finished and gone back to the cafe for a drink we said goodbye to Katherine, Lauren and the rest of their group before heading back to the house. When we got back we played catch (which may sound lane but was pretty funny) before Zoe and I decided to walk into town. Kirkintilloch is hardly a town really but it has a few shops which I remembered being really nice the last time I'd been so we went. Emma was already there buying food for her silver DofE practice expedition so we stalked her and her friends for a bit for a laugh before going shopping. I bought sweets and a cute white crop top which I'd been wanting for ages.

We then then walked back via the park. We stayed there for ages, doing acrobatics, taking photos and messing around before we realised that we needed to head back before a VERY late lunch. After we'd eaten and attempted to play a game outside (there was an argument between rounders and football) it was time to pack and head off to the airport. The flight home was uneventful although I tried to update my blog posts and failed so ended up just reading the whole time.



That's the end of my Scotland blog guys, hope you enjoyed. I'm writing these posts quite a while after the trip so some details may have been left out but I'm sure it'll be accurate enough.

Scotland (Day 1)

Date of event: Saturday 14th June 2014

PREVIOUS BLOG: 21/6/14
NEXT BLOG: 26/6/14

People mentioned in this post:
Aaron
Andy (Sharon's husband)
Dad
Emma
Jemma
Mum
Zoe

First of all let me explain to you why I am going to Scotland for only two days. My mum helps out with a lot of charity events at her work and last year was voted as an ambassador for the Reading women of achievement. In result of this her name was put in a draw for potential baton bearers in the Queen's baton relay for the Commonwealth Games. As it so happens her name along with 9 others were drawn out. So that brings us round to this weekend in which the event was taking place in a small town near Edinburgh.

Dad and I met mum at the airport ready to catch our evening flight. It was delayed though so we bought some chocolate to eat whilst we waited. During the journey I procrastinated terribly, meaning to finish my 1D concert blog post and yet distracting myself constantly (that's what to blame for my late updates). When we got there we hoped in a hire car which my mum wasn't entirely sure how to drive (reassuring) and headed off to my mum's best friend from sixth form, Sharon's house where we were staying the night.

When we got there everything flew by in a blur as I caught up with Aaron and the girls; Emma and Zoe who I hadn't seen in forever and ate pizza and before I knew it I was crashed in there room after going to bed at about 1:30am. We had to get up at 6 on Sunday! It was going to be a long day.



Again super sorry it's late but I'm just going to have to upload when I'm in Germany which wasn't my initial plan but is going to be the only way I'll be able to keep on top of it all. I'll see you all soon hopefully, goodnight.

1D concert, Day in the Life (2)

Date of event: Sunday 8th June 2014

PREVIOUS BLOG: 13/6/14
NEXT BLOG: 25/6/14

People mentioned in this post:
Diane (Mum)
Emma (Emz)
Jemma

We picked Emz up around two and drove to Sainsbury's where we were going to catch a coach to Wembley. Our coach set off early and although we all got split up it was an enjoyable journey, I mostly read and listened to music. On arrival we were told the position of the coach before we set off in search of food.

The last time we'd all been to Wembley was when we watched the Dancing on Ice tour in the arena. When we came for that we had found a homemade burger restaurant at the back of the shopping centre which was near the venue. We decided to go there for tea and as we had expected it had a marginally smaller queue than the other restaurants.

After food we headed into the stadium to take our seats and wait for the support act (5SOS) to come on. When they did the screaming was deafening, I knew they were popular but it was almost as loud as the scream for one direction when they followed onto the stage just over an hour later.

The concert finished at about 10:30 but we didn't get home until 2 in the morning. I was really tired but had had fun.



I really enjoyed the concert and I know this is a weak post but I thought it would be nice to blog about evenings out as well as travels! Let me know if you agree. Also I'm so very sorry it's late I've been distracted with personal issues but I'll try and get back on track with my updating for you.

Oxford Uni, Day in the Life (1)

Date of event: Thursday 5th June 2014

PREVIOUS BLOG: 7/6/14
NEXT BLOG: 21/6/14

Denefield students - Red Brick club 2014:
Abby
Charley
Ewan
Jemma
Max
Miss Webber
Mr Phillips

I was happy when I woke up because it wasn't as early as I usually had to which was a good start to the day. I then put my hair up in a really awesome milkmaid braid up-do which was fun to do and I got loads of comments on it throughout the day. We then picked up Charley before everyone met at Tilehurst station. On the train we just messed around, took pictures and listened to New Politics so it was a pretty uneventful trip.

When we got to Oxford Mr Phillips directed us to St John's College before leaving us because he was only escorting us on the journey. The rest of us then registered (we were the orange group which Charley was happy about), had tea and biscuit and went to the briefing before heading off to our first activity on the future scholars program which was computer science.

It was a short walk and when we started the programming I got really into it so in the end Ewan and I had to help miss Webber out with hers when she got confused. Orange group then went back to St John's College for lunch where most of us had the pasty which was quite dry but came with really nice vegetable and the best frickin tasting potatoes in the world.

After lunch we got taken on a short College tour which was really interesting and informative. It inspired me to look more into college life at Cambridge which is where I aspire to go to University. We then went to the university natural history museum which was cool and also where Max and I held a cockroach.

There was a short Q&A when we got back to St John's College but we had to sneak out early to catch our train home. On the return journey we played the A-Z Band name game which was frustrating but entertaining and then the day was over.



Sorry this post is so late! I meant to upload on Tuesday but I hadn't gotten round to finishing up the post and now was the only time I could do it so here it is. My next post will be up ASAP and will be about the one direction concert I went to last Sunday with my friend Emz.

EuroDisney (Day 3)

Date of event: Monday 26th May 2014

PREVIOUS BLOG: 6/6/14
NEXT BLOG: 13/6/14

Theatretrain students - Class of Disney 2014:
Carlisha (lisha)
Chloe
Edward
Emily
Grace O
Grace S (Josh's sister)
Jamie C
Jamie R (little Jamie)
Jemma
Josh (Grace S's brother)
Laquesha
Sinead

On the Monday we all agreed to get up early so that we could get into the park at eight for the two private hours for people staying at the park accommodation. I met Chloe at reception and she said Emily wasn't awake yet so I decided to tag along with her family and Jamie for the first few hours.

The first thing we went on was the Buzz Lightyear laser quest which was a calm start to the day (basically I was terrible at it) before heading on to space mountain again (not for the last time). I enjoyed it a lot more the second time despite it being so early in the morning probably because I'd got used to it so could relax more. We then got texts from both grace S and Emily asking to meet up with us so we quickly went on a spinning rocket ride whilst waiting.

After that we joined Emily's family in the queue for the Peter Pan ride and agreed with Grace that we'd meet her at ten over in the studios. The Peter Pan ride was awesome but I failed at trying to high five Emily and Chloe's dads whilst passing them which was embarrassing. Chloe and I then went on the Pinnichio ride which was hilarious because Chloe screamed twice and it wasn't scary at all. The others all decided to go on the carousel despite the fact there was a big queue and it was something you could do in England. I asked Jamie afterwards whether it was worth it and he said it was a mistake and he should've come with us.

The next ride we went on was the spinning tea cups and despite my hand injury Emily, Jamie and my cup was one of the fastest spinning. Space Mountain time then loomed again, luckily for the last time and even though we got a cool picture it was a lot more bumpy and less enjoyable than earlier that morning which was upsetting.

It was now almost ten so we waited outside thunder mountain so we would be quite close to the front of the line when the ride opened. It was a kind of train roller coaster thing which looked pretty slow but was actually quite fast, it was definitely in my top 5 favourite rides.

Next we went to meet up with Grace, Josh and Jamie's family in the studios where we went on the most awesome ride ever called Aerosmith. It was really fast and apparently when it started we screamed so loudly that everyone in the line behind us went quiet. We then bought fast passes for the tower of terror which we got a two o'clock slot for so we wondered around for a while trying to find a ride we could go on. Crush's coaster was closed and the back lot had a large queue so Chloe and her family went off to do their own thing whilst we waited for the back lot tour which was actually incredibly interesting. It was all about being behind the scenes of movies and we had a special effect trial as well which was cool.

It was then time for the dreaded tower of terror which was frickin scary and which I initially said afterwards that I hated but I eventually realised that it was my second favourite ride of the trip. Our group took up the whole of the back row and our faces in the picture were hilarious. We really didn't have any more time to do much else, however we watched this thing called the art of Disney and a small part of the parade before we headed back to the hotel quickly to pick up our stuff before we headed back to England

The way back was pretty much the same as the arrival except we went in the Eurostar instead of the ferry. We played it on the ferry which was fun but apart from that and cards it was an uneventful journey. I got an award for being the best hand holder for little Jamie which was cool and then when we were back in England I fell asleep for the rest of the journey.



So that's it for my Disney blog. Hope you enjoyed. See you soon for my Oxford blog!!!

I will edit pictures in at a later date.

EuroDisney (Day 2)

Date of event: Sunday 25th May 2014

PREVIOUS BLOG: 5/6/14
NEXT BLOG: 7/6/14

Theatretrain students - Class of Disney 2014:
Carlisha (lisha)
Chloe
Edward
Emily
Grace O
Grace S (Josh's sister)
Jamie C
Jamie R (little Jamie)
Jemma
Josh (Grace S's brother)
Laquesha
Sinead

We had to wake up early on Sunday because we had an earlier parade rehearsal (8 am) than some of the other centres. Grace O, Chloe, Jamie, Emily and I all ate breakfast together before entering the park for our rehearsal.

After it had finished we checked out our stage at videopolis and rehearsed for the stage performance for a while. I then had time to quickly go on Space Mountain with Jamie, Emily and Grace S and grab a crêpe and slush puppy before heading for a final practice of the parade.

We then performed our stage show where I hurt my hand cartwheeling awkwardly during 'Radio Gaga'. Our running order was:
I believe
Macklemore
Singing in the rain
Mirrors
Fosse
Radio Gaga
Matilda:Trunchball
Beat it
Matilda:Trunchball (reprise)
Matilda:Revolting Children

This injury meant I had to go to Disney hospital which was an experience but I was upset grad I was going to miss out on things. Later however when I joined the rest of Reading for the pre parade they said I'd only missed a bad Star Wars simulation which I was glad about.

For the parade we were expecting to repeat the routine 5 times en route but 2 1/2 repeats later we were finished and to be honest I think that was better overall. Tiffany then distributed everyone off to their parents to watch the main parade which was MAGICAL.

The final ride we (Jamie, Josh, Emily, Grace S, Grace O, Chloe and I) managed to go on that day was the Haunted Mansion which was actually quite freaky and realistic.

Later everyone in that group except from Grace O ended up eating at Billy Bob's where we took part in the line dancing and danced around the Disney store across the street. We then all went into the park to watch the Disney dream show which I have to admit was frickin awesome.

The day then ended there but there was yet another day to come, the fun wasn't over yet but for now goodbye. X

EuroDisney (Day 1)

Date of event: Saturday 24th May 2014

PREVIOUS BLOG: 5/5/14
NEXT BLOG: 6/6/14

Theatretrain students - Class of Disney 2014:
Carlisha (lisha)
Chloe
Edward
Emily
Grace O
Grace S (Josh's sister)
Jamie C
Jamie R (little Jamie)
Jemma
Josh (Grace S's brother)
Laquesha
Sinead

This was travelling day so we had to get up really early and head to the Hill School in Caversham to get on the coach we were sharing with Theatretrain Aylesbury. Most of our group was already there but Jamie still hadn't arrived so I sat behind Chloe and Emily in the seats they'd saved for us. When Jamie got there we set off and had an entertaining journey of beating each other's high scores on flappy bird and happy jump whilst taking multiple selfies.

Eventually we got to the ferry port in Dover. When we got on the ferry we met Edward's sister Lucy who seemed really cool so her, Edward and little Jamie joined Chloe, Emily, Jamie and I in several games of cards. Towards the end of the ferry journey we all gathered for a quick marked run through of our stage show in the lounge bar.

Nothing much really happened until we got to our accommodation which was a cowboy and western themed hotel called hotel Cheyenne! We then checked in and went to our room quickly before we met to go to our welcome buffet meal for all theatretrain centres which took place at hotel New York. Emily, Grace S, Jamie, little Jamie and I sat on a table together with Grace O and Chloe behind us. The meal was nice, especially the potato salad and chicken wings. There was a chance to meet some Disney characters that night but the que was huge so we didn't bother in the end.

Later on in the evening they were playing loads of Disney songs so Dave (Emily's dad), Grace S and I started dancing whilst waiting to get our drinks. A guy from travelbound then came up to us called Jeremy who then asked of we wanted to be interviewed about our stage show which we of course said yes to. We all ended up getting really hyped up on coke and dancing crazily at the front with Minnie and Micky mouse (we weren't the only centres).

At the end of the night Chloe, Jamie and I went back to Emily's room for a mini party before we went to bed. We were there for a couple of hours and by the end we were practically falling asleep on each other.



Anyway that's the end of the first day at Disney. Hope you enjoyed it! X

Introducing my blog and plans so far

Hi I'm Jemma and this is my first ever blog post where I'm going to tell you more about my blog and what my inspiration was to start it.

Basically I watched a youtuber called Joe Sugg aka ThatcherJoe do a few videos about a trip he took roughly two years ago with a couple of his friends across six countries:
Thailand
Singapore
Australia
New Zealand
Fiji
LA (USA)

After watching these I decided to read his blog which he had started up whilst travelling. The blog was awesome because it documented all the cool things he got up to whilst he was in the different countries and I kid you not, I stayed up until about three in the morning reading every single one of the blog posts. That was when I first thought it would be cool to start a travel blog because I love writing and I get to go to some really cool places.

Up until the end of August I will be doing lots of cool trips because I will be performing in Disneyland Paris, climbing mount snowdon in wales, visiting my German exchange in Augsburg, watching the baton bearing for the common wealth games in Scotland, visiting Scotland again with my friend's family, going on guide camp and travelling over to my family's holiday home in Italy with my best friend emma. I will also be going on several day trips and evenings out. I will try and blog about all of those and I hope they will be interesting.


Check out Joe's blog - http://travelwithjoe.blogspot.co.uk/?m=1
Go subscribe to him or check out his videos on YouTube: ThatcherJoe