experience of a lifetime

L&E Teen Travel: UK Tour 6th – 20th August

7 August 2017

Days 1 – 3

Hello everyone, first of all we want to introduce ourselves. We are a group of 4, 3 girls and 1 boy (poor boy). Hello, my name is Emile and I live in South of France. I’m 15 and my hobbies are athletics and music. Hi, I am Emy and I am fifteen. I am from Toulon, this is in the south of France, my hobby is ballet. Hi, I’m Silvia and I’m fifteen, I’m from Milan, in Italy. My favourite hobby is volleyball. Hi there, my name is Jipke I’m sixteen years old and I’m from Munich, but I’m Dutch, my hobby is singing. 

The first day we met, we were all so excited and nervous to find out who we would be spending the next two weeks with. We met at Heathrow Airport and when we had all arrived Julie drove to our first place – L&E South Camp which is at Forres Sandle Manor school in Fordingbridge. The mood in the car was awkward, because everybody was shy to speak and we all we’re very tired. Julie helped the mood by singing loudly! We arrived at the school an hour and a half later and we met the others from summer camp. After a BBQ we planned our fist trip which was to Poole the next day.

The next day (Monday) we planned to take the bus to Poole to go kayaking, but it wasn’t that easy as we thought! We missed our first bus, and while we were waiting for the next bus we thought we could grab some coffees. One thing guys, never grab coffee while you are waiting for the bus, trust us its not funny if you miss two busses in a row! (Hahahaha). The kayaking was funny but so exhausting. When we arrived back from kayaking we made vegetable curry in one of the kitchens in the school, hmm so yummy.

We spent one more night at school so we could make some plans for the next few days. Right now we’re on the train to Cardiff and later on we are going to the trampoline park in Cardiff!

Days 4-6

n our last blog we said that we were going to go to the trampoline park and that we did! We booked 1 and a half hours but after 10 minutes we were all so exhausted!! We were taught how to ‘wall walk’ by one of the instructors which was very cool.

The next day we went to Cardiff castle and took a photo with the Welsh flag. As Jipi jumped onto Silvia’s back for the photo her phone fell out of her pocket and the screen cracked…..she learned a valuable lesson that day! We then went to walk back to the hostel to collect our bags as we had a train booked…unfortunately Julie suddenly remembered that the train was earlier than she thought so we had to run!!! Luckily we got there in the end and thought it was now time for us to properly take over all the planning!

The train to Liverpool took 4 hours so after dropping our bags off at the hostel we wanted to take a walk. Our hostel was right next to Albert Dock and luckily for us there was a theme park there. We all (apart from Julie who looked after our bags) went on some of the rides then we ate fish and chips and watched the amazing sunset.

The next day we went shopping in the city centre and bought some key items including a notebook to put our expenses in, a pen and most importantly, a toothbrush for Jipi! We then went to the amazing Beatles museum where we learned all about how the Beatles got together, their history and what happened to each of them after the band broke up. We also bought some presents for our families! It was a quick bus trip to Manchester where we ate dinner in an American style restaurant – lots of burgers and milkshakes!

We have named our group ‘Dudeacorns’, our name was going to be ‘Unicorns’ but we then we decided that ‘Dudeacorn’ was better – its like dudes and unicorns together.

Days 7-9

Here we are again. In our last Vlog we were in Manchester. Now we are writing the blog in the car, waiting for our laundry to be finished. Car? Yes we are sitting in a car. We rented the car in Manchester, we opted for a bigger car so we would all fit with our bags!

During the day we went on the “highest” building in Manchester which was in a hotel, we walked in even though we weren’t staying in the hotel just for fun to see the view of Manchester. After that we visited the science museum and then we went to a shopping centre to eat something before going to the pick up the rental car.

Julie drove us all the way to the Lake District, where there wasn’t signal and Wi-fi : the adventure ! In the morning, after a good sleep and a brunch in Windermere, we went to Treetop Trek where we had a good fun into the trees! No chill time: just after the Treetop, we had to go to Newcastle for a night in a hostel as we couldn’t find any other place to stay that night, and thanks to Silvia who spoke Italian with the receptionist we got a discount!

The next morning we drove to Glasgow, where we bought somethings that we need for the camping such as sleeping bags and food, then we had some time to relax. In the morning we then had a amazing real Scottish breakfast which included black pudding…..some of us liked it…some of us didn’t. We then drove to Edinburgh to give back the car and to check in to our new accommodation – a campsite….lets hope it doesn’t rain tonight!

We are all very excited about the Edinburgh Fringe…lots to see and do!!!!

Days 10 – 12

So, we finished our laundry and drove to Edinburgh to leave our bags at the campsite then we went to give back the car in the city. In the month of August the Edinburgh festival is on which includes the Fringe which is the worlds leading arts festival, suffice to say Edinburgh is VERY busy during this time. In the afternoon we looked at what shows were on, there are hundreds to choose from so it is very hard to choose! We managed to watch 3 shows, the first one was about superheroes, wired but funny. The second show was a guy talking about funny things he sees & hears when he is travelling around the world, again weird but funny. The last show of the day was a magicshow! The guy was super funny, we absolutely loved it and we managed to get a picture with him after his show! It was raining very hard this night so when we got back to the campsite it was straight to bed.

The next day, we went to the city by bus and we walked up Arthur’s Seat which was very cool. Arthur’s Seat is an ancient volcano which looks over the whole city and beyond. We were very lucky as not only was the sun shining but there was a piper at the top of the mountain – there were lots of tourists taking photos with him as he played some traditional Scottish music. We then walked back down and headed into the town to have some time in Princes Street gardens in the sun. We then found another show to go to, it was really funny despite it wasn’t quite what we expected. In the evening we walked around the main street to find the bus stop and while we were waiting we saw the fireworks that came from the Castle where the Military Tattoo was happening – very cool! The next morning, we took the bus to the train station where we left to go to London!

After arriving at the English capital, we took the famous underground and stopped at Queensway station where our hostel was situated. After we unpacked our bags, we bought some food to make in the hostel, the one microwave in the hostel is going to be very busy for the next four days!

Days 13-14

We awoke after a very good nights sleep on Thursday morning – our beds were especially comfortable after our camping expedition! After some relaxation we made a plan for London to ensure we did everything we wanted to do over the next 3 days. First on our agenda was 221b Baker Street – Sherlock Holmes’ house. There is a very cool shop under the house which we went into and had a look around – we also managed to get a photograph with the ‘police officer’ who was standing outside (not sure if he was a real police officer!). It was then onto Camden Market to have a look around all the weird and wonderful stalls. After some tattoos (henna) and some Dutch pancakes we made the short walk to Amy Winhouse’s house were we sat in the little park across from where she used to live and chatted for a while. It was then back to our hostel where we watched a movie in the common room.

The next day we headed straight to the London Dungeon – this amazing experience takes you through the history of London where you meet such characters as Sweeney Todd, Jack the Ripper, Guy Fawkes and Mrs Lovett. There was a very big rain-storm just as we came out of the attraction but as always it cleared and we headed to the m&m store (not the Eminem store Julie!) to check it out. After this we then travelled back to go on the London Eye. The views were amazing and due to the storms the sky was very atmospheric. We were all very tired after our big day so we headed back to the hostel via Nando’s where we got some dinner.

On our last full day in London we decided to rent some bikes so we could cycle around some of the Royal parks of London. Our hostel is right beside Hyde Park so we saw Kensington Palace on our way to get our bikes. We cycled through Hyde Park in the sunshine and then down Constitution Hill all the way to Buckingham Palace. The Queen was in her residence that day….how do we know, because the Royal Standard was flying from the flagpole. We then took our bikes back and grabbed some lunch as we wanted to visit Oxford Street and Harrods before the day was over. Harrods was amazing, we headed straight for the Toy Store which did not disappoint. We played with electronic footballs, giant Frisbees, remote control cars, drum kits, pianos and fake snow…just goes to show, you’re never too old for toys!!!

We decided it would be a good idea to pack before we headed out for our last dinner. Our room is very small so we took turns in packing our bags. We agreed upon an Indian restaurant for our last meal and luckily there was a nice restaurant not far from our hostel. We ordered some mocktails and chatted about our trip – it seems that Liverpool and Edinburgh were the favourite cities. We ate tapas style so we could all try each of the curries, some were spicier than others but we loved them, especially the peshwari naan!

The next morning some of us made it to breakfast and some were lucky enough to get breakfast in bed!! We had to get the underground to Heathrow but on the way we dropped Silvia off as she was staying in London to meet her parents. We waved goodbye to her on the platform…it was just like in the movies! The rest of us then went to the airport where we said our last goodbyes. What an amazing trip!

New Forest – Poole – Salisbury – Cardiff – Liverpool – Manchester – Lake District – Newcastle – Glasgow – Edinburgh – London.

The End.


UK Tour Diary: 9th – 23rd July

13 July 2017

DAY 1 & 2

We are the first group of Teen Travel 2017. We are a group of five including the travel mentor, Julie. We all have different nationalities, Luzia is Portuguese, Annalisa is Italian, Rose is French, Josephine is German and Julie (travel mentor) is Scottish.

We have the goal of going to London, Cardiff and Edinburgh but we also want to go to Belfast and Brighton. To achieve this goal we have a budget and we have to book and find everything by ourselves.

Planning our trip!

Planning our trip!

After arriving at Aysgarth School on Sunday we met the other Teen Travellers and spent one night at the school. The next day Julie gave us some information and then left us alone to decide what we would do. We all agreed that we would go to London that afternoon. We asked the Camp manager Sarah to give us a lift to Northallerton train station around 1pm so we could catch our train. We jumped on the train and after some naps we arrived in London at Kingscross Station. We had to get to our London accommodation so we bought oyster cards so we could go on the underground. We reached our accommodation we looked for somewhere to eat and found an Italian restaurant nearby. We were all very tired and after trying to watch a movie we all fell asleep.

On Tuesday we all woke up at half past eight and we got a very good breakfast made by Josephine and Annalisa. After that we all worked a little bit to find places to go and a bike tour for Wednesday afternoon. At 12pm we arrived at The London Dungeon which we all enjoyed a lot, after this amazing experience we had lunch and we went to the London Eye.

The London Eye

The London Eye

In the evening we went shopping and we finished our day with a really nice dinner in Chinatown with one of the tutors from two years ago. Izzy.

We spent some more time back at the accommodation researching things to do for the rest of our trip then we all went to bed as we were tired from the day!

Luzia (15 years old, Portugal)

For more photos click here

Days 3 & 4

On Wednesday morning after another lovely breakfast, we went to 221b Baker Street (Sherlock Holmes’s house) then we went to go to Madame Tussauds where we waited 2h30 to get in! We only stayed 20 minutes because we needed to get to Queensway’s tube station by 3.15pm to do a bike tour. The bike tour lasted 4 hours and we visited the Royal gardens of London. In the evening, we wanted a traditional meal so we went into a pub to get fish & chips where Mike (who also works for L&E) joined us.

Meeting the Royal family

Meeting the Royal family

4 Sherlocks!

4 Sherlocks!

Buckingham Palace

Buckingham Palace

Today was our last day in London, the hostel was booked until 10am but the train for Brighton was at 12:20 so during that time, we went to Poundland and visited the neighbourhood before leaving for the train station. Once we got there, we caught our train for Brighton which lasted an hour. Our accommodation is situated nearby the train station so it took us only five minutes to get there.

Teen Travellers

Teen Travellers

Once we were settled, we left to get lunch in a noodle place that was really good. All those journeys were really tiring so we rested for an hour before heading to the beach where rented a paddle board, we all swam and had a shot on the board. We all then went to Brighton Pier where Luzia and I went on roller coasters! Tonight, we might go to the beach for dinner and seeing the sunset.

Rose (15 years old, France).

For more photos click here

Paddle Boarding

Paddle Boarding

Brighton Pier

Brighton Pier

Days 5 & 6

Friday morning we had a real English breakfast with scrambled eggs and toast. After this good start we got the train to our next stop: Cardiff. After a good journey we arrived at Cardiff and went to our accommodation where we would sleep one night. After a short phase of planning we explored Cardiff. In the evening we went to a music and drink festival at Cardiff bay. There were many countries represented which offered their food. In addition to the food was there a live band and almost everyone danced. Before we went back to our accommodation we enjoyed the good weather and evening to took some pictures and had a great view at the bay. We went all quickly in our bed because we were all very tired.

Cardiff Station

Cardiff Station

Cardiff!

Cardiff!

This morning we had our free breakfast and after Julie got the car which we booked to come from Cardiff to Edinburgh we started our long journey (± 7h). During this Julie noticed that we had made a mistake: Edinburgh is not Edinburg. The mistake we made was booking a hostel in Edinburg which is in Texas and not in Scotland were we actually wanted to go. So we called booking.com and talked to a customer service adviser – the woman cancelled our booking and we didn’t need to pay anything! We then had to find somewhere to stay for tonight and we found it in Glasgow. After we arrived in Glasgow we decided to cook this evening. Annalisa cooked for us very good spaghetti carbonara, which we all enjoyed.

Josephine (16 years old, Germany)

For more photos click here

Jumping Teen Travellers

Jumping Teen Travellers

Glasgow!

Glasgow!

Day 7 & 8

We left our accommodation in Glasgow by 12:00, then we visited George square to listen to a Scottish live band. Then we took the car and drove to Tesco to buy sleeping bags and roll mats for our Scottish camping adventure. We then drove to Edinburgh. Once we got to our hostel, we left our bags and we went to Arthur’s seat and walked along the Royal Mile before having dinner. Then we went back to the hostel and we did laundry (finally!).

Royal Mile - Edinburgh

Royal Mile – Edinburgh

In the morning we had free time, so we went shopping on Princes Street, then we had a picnic in Princes Street Garden’s where we chilled for about 3 hours in the Scottish sun. Once we were all really relaxed after that, we went to Edinburgh castle and had a little more of free time before going to Calton Hill and getting back to Prince’s garden to end our last night in this wonderful city.

Annalisa (aged 16, Italy)

For more photos click here

Scottish Dancing?

Scottish Dancing?

Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Days 9 & 10

Every member of the team takes a turn to write the blog….including the Travel Mentor! After another good night sleep in Edinburgh we woke up very excited about the next part of our adventure. This adventure started with a train ride to a small town called Alloa where my father picked us up and took us all back to my house in Dollar. We then ate some lunch and started to plan our journey. After Annalisa saw a picture of the Isle of Skye last week she, and all the other travellers, have been very keen to make the journey up north to travel around the island. I dug out my old tent and left the Teen Travellers to it! It’s always good to practice putting up a tent before you reach a campsite, it is very embarrassing if you realise you don’t have everything you need with an audience of campers watching you. The Teen Travellers struck a great deal with my parents to rent the family car and kindly asked me if I would drive them, I agreed, but only on the understanding they would buy me coffee whenever I wanted! We packed the (large) car and hit the road with the sun still shining. We headed straight for the Isle of Skye and the 5-hour drive was simply stunning. We stopped occasionally to take some pictures of the beautiful lochs and to stretch our legs. It was getting near dinner-time so we got some supplies in Fort William and found a lovely spot to eat next to some grazing horses with the amazing Ben Nevis as our backdrop, it was very picturesque. We hit the road again after calling a campsite to book in for that night, it wasn’t quite on the Isle of Skye but it was soon to get dark and although the Teen’s had practiced putting up the tent, it is somewhat more tricky in the dark. We arrived just before sunset and the tent was up in a matter of minutes’ – this left us with just enough time to climb a small hill to watch the sun go down.

 

After a dry, yet windy night the Teens were excited to get to The Isle of Skye. We had breakfast and took down the tent before it blew away and hit the road again. The girls wanted to visit the famous Fairy Pools, which are in the west of Skye so we headed straight there. The Fairy Pools did not disappoint – they comprise of a natural waterfall where the water flows down creating pools in which the water is crystal clear. The girls ate lunch perched on a rock and then explored the pools. The pools are a popular place to go swimming and although it was a warm day, ‘Scottish’ warm isn’t the same as normal warm! We hit the road again, this time to Dunvegan where we would camp for the last time. The girls were very tired after all the driving so they set up camp and rested for a while before dinner. We then headed to the local supermarket where we bought a very random, yet lovely selection of food for a picnic. Our campsite is right on the Dunvegan Loch so we sat outside and filled our bellies next to the water. The girls played Uno in their tent not worrying about the rain that was moving in…it’s going to be a very wet night!

Julie (Travel Mentor, Scotland)