It seems as though having an all-expenses paid for extra week’s holiday in Washington is something you can only dream about, here in grey England... but not for some very lucky students and teachers from Gumley House! A total of 41 members of Gumley House Convent School each spent a considerable amount paying for a very activity ridden 6 days in the reputable Washington DC, consisting of visits from places like the White House to the infamous Spy Museum. By the end of the planned 6 days, the students had experienced satisfying retail therapy, and taken strolls around the town themselves. So when the time came to leave, everyone was upset to be leaving this new wonderful city that had become “home”, but glad to be seeing those faces in England they had missed.

Suddenly, reports of an Icelandic Volcano erupting flooded onto every hotel room television, and the night before the estimated departure from America, crowds of Gumley girls were standing in the hallways waiting for the teachers instructions , half in tears, half in a complete daze.

“One more night!’ they told us! Little did we know then, but we would be flying out the following week and would have officially stayed in The Hilton and The Crown Plaza, free of charge!” Charlotte Patterson exclaims. Lucy Geer mentions how she “really loved the next week” as “it was a more relaxed take on Washington DC”.

“A trip of a lifetime” they all agreed.