Twenty three students woke up at 5 a.m. and headed to the airport, expecting to catch their flight.

Everyone looked forward to returning home, only to find out they couldn’t board the plane.

Leaving on March 9, the students spent spring break in the British Isles, visiting Scotland, Ireland and London. The trip was part of Bellaire’s Study Abroad program, orchestrated by Elizabeth Chapman, geared toward helping students open their minds to new cultures/perspectives and learn leadership skills.

On the day of the planned return, the pilot fell ill, with no backup. The earliest flight back was scheduled for Tuesday, so the group had two more days in London.

“I was actually pretty happy staying in London for two more days,” sophomore Elena Matta said. “I loved being able to have extra days of break and spend more time in the city.”

Due to the announcement of staying longer, students were worried about how they would pay for meals and the subway with little pocket money left. The four chaperones who accompanied the students were luckily able to handle the situation fairly easily.

“They managed to arrange a hotel, taxies and food vouchers from the airline pretty smoothly.” Matta said.

Once arriving at the Renaissance Hotel, students like freshman Belsey Feguson, worried about their grades, had some time to check in and finish anything they needed to do. While it was an unexpected setback to arriving home, they decided to enjoy the most of the extra days of break.

“We decided just to sort of make the most of things and try to cross some things off our bucket list,” Chapman said. “We wanted to try and have a good time in spite of a little bit of a challenge.”

The group traveled to and from the city in a double-decker bus, something Feguson wanted to do on the trip originally.

“The double-decker bus was really cool,” Ferguson said. “I did hit my head on the ceiling, but overall it was a very enjoyable experience.”

On Monday, they visited the Tower of London, learning world history up close and personal while gaining an experience they couldn’t get from school.

“They got to see the crown jewels and hear from the Beefeaters, the guys in the big, puffy red-and-black uniforms, about some of the big historical events that happened there.” Chapman said

In the afternoon, they split into groups to go do activities they were interested in. Some went to the hotel, some did an escape room, some went on the merry-go-round, others went to attractions near the London Eye.

“I loved doing the London Dungeon,” Ferguson said. “It was like a haunted-house attraction that told all the dark history about London.”

The students managed to arrive back in Houston on March 21 with no other setbacks.

“Everybody had an excellent extra day in London,” Chapman said. “Everybody was a little bit disappointed initially, but that’s just part of traveling. Unexpected stuff happens, and you learn to make the most of it. You have to look on the bright side and find silver linings.”