travel

Teen Travel UK Tour Group #2

Sunday 6th August

8 teens. 5 nationalities. 1 Dream Team.

What a day it’s been uniting all of our travellers in London! From dashing between tubes in London to long haul flights from all over the world it’s safe to say our team have had a big day! Sam and Cam welcomed all the children to their new mission for the next two weeks: exploring as much of the UK as possible.

The group started off with a rendezvous at King’s Cross’s iconic ‘Platform 9 3/4’ and were soon chatting like they were old friends catching up after a few years. After an adventure on the underground and a quick Power Nap for some we all ended up at our luxurious hostel in Camden. With the team finally complete we headed off to see the sights of Chinatown and find somewhere we could have a well deserved feast – we definitely weren’t disappointed! With full belly’s and plenty of leftovers our travellers headed back for a much needed rest and recharge ready for the adventures that awaited them next…

Monday 7th August

Wonders of Windermere.

A fun-filled morning in London, we were filled with a full breakfast consisting of continental to an English feast.
Lucky we did as we started our adventure on some of the greatest sights of London! We headed over to a few shops for some essentials and then to Buckingham palace! We were thrilled that there was even a Royal Escort when we got there! So all of the horses and guards paraded back into the palace. We then moved over to Big Ben, watched the clock strike and walked on.
We headed back over to Euston for some lunch from many delicious places, but not before collecting some essentials for our days forward.
We were then on our way to get our train! Chop choo, all aboard the train to Windermere!
When we arrived we had some decadent kebabs all round, yum yum.
We took a scenic taxi journey to get to our destination, through all the country rodes, up and down hills; to finally reach our wonderful yurts! We couldn’t believe the beautiful scenery behind us.
In the evening we all made fires to keep us warm and headed to bed. Ready for the next morning.
Over and out.
Ps the grasshopper is called Jim, he is a friend.

The yurts are a dream that satisfies a part of me I never knew I needed.

Max 2023

Tuesday 8th August

Day Trip to Edinburgh

After a refreshing sleep in our new home at the yurts, intrepid explorers woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed. To start off the day we filled our boots with a delightful continental breakfast picked out by the campers consisting of everything from cornflakes through to chocolatines. After filling their boots with food and a refreshing shower our travellers felt ready to take on the day! Todays mission: A day trip to Edinburgh.

We packed our bags and got ready for the train journey up north to good old Scotland to see the sights. Before we even arrived at any attractions the team saw a truly Scottish site – a group of men in kilts. Upon our arrival at Waverley station we set out on our first priority: finding some good lunch! After we all refuelled after the journey we split into two groups. One group would take on the hike up to the worlds famous Arthur’s seat while the other group went to explore the beautiful Holyrood palace!

Our team of adventures were lucky enough to have the Sun on our side which made the hike up to Arthur’s seat very pleasant, if it wasn’t for the wind the weather would’ve been almost too perfect! With breathtakingly scenic views to be seen at the top we felt that our mission had been very successful and headed back to meet with the rest of our friends who had an incredible time in the palace, exploring the pristine palace gardens as well as Mary Queen of Scots chamber where many of our teens claim they saw the original blood stains of David Rizzio that are still left on the floor of her supper room from all the way back in 1566.

After a long and busy day we all headed back on the train to treat ourselves to one of the teams favourites – a Chinese takeaway! Laughs were shared and stories were told until our bellies were full and we were all ready to collapse into bed and rest up ready for what tomorrow would bring us…

Over and out!

Wednesday 9th & Thursday 10th August

Summer scrambles and kick back and relax

Morning morning from the Lake District.
We started our epic mornings in the best kinda way with a slap up breakfast, consisting of sausages, bacon and for some black pudding and a look into the beautiful countryside among us.
After this we set our sights ahead on a super scrambling session!! We hopped in our taxis, admired the scenery along the way until being led to the most magnificent ghyll and met our instructor for the mission ahead. We headed down into the river and were climbing across the great boulders, up the giant waterfalls and swimming in all the pools! We had an amazing afternoon and this made us incredibly tired, so we ended our day on an early dinner in the local pub! We had fish and chips galore, pies, pastas! You name it, we had it! We then headed back to out glorious yurts for an early night, ready for the next day.
We woke up the next morning to enjoy a very relaxing day, enjoying each others company, playing some games and having our last day in the yurts before moving on.

Today it was pancake day on teen travel! We had stacks upon stacks, filled with honey and chocolate spread for breakfast. We then sat around together and enjoyed some card games! Tensions were high when it came to kemps, but the teams kept it together and gave signals so their member knew when to shout KEMPS! After the morning, we enjoyed some grilled cheese sandwiches all round! Cooked by the very own chef Cam, we devoured about 15 of them as a group, which filled us for an active afternoon. We got the football out and enjoyed some games of penalty shootout, whoop whoop! Followed by several more card games. By the time it was evening we set up our fabulous BBQ station, we had chef Sam on the steaks and chef Cam on the pasta section. We all chipped in to create some delicious food, which we all enjoyed together under the sun.

After we had cleared away we finished up with toasting some marshmallows around the fire and telling stories. BUT the evening was not over; on our yurt sight we had wonderful-wood fired hot tubs which we lit up and enjoyed under the stars, to end our spectacular time in our yurts.
We now move onto our next stop Manchester!
Over and out.

Friday 11th August

Journey to Manchester!

Getting up early can always be difficult, but knowing that we were awaking to clean and leave the yurts it was particularly hard. With heavy hearts we emptied out the ash from our fires and BBQs and by 10am we were on the road again back to Windermere train station for the last time. When we arrived we bought some hot lunch from the local shop to fill us up ready for the journey ahead. After a few bumps in the road with delayed trains and one of our connections being cancelled our travellers improvised, adapted and overcame to finally arrive at our next destination – Salford (Manchester)!

After a quick walk to our Air BnB, we all got settled in to our home for the next couple of days and then headed out to explore! A trip to Salford shopping centre saw many different shops that are only found in the UK. Once our travellers had finished exploring and buying souvenirs we headed over to the local supermarket to buy ingredients for our decadent dinner of steak and chicken stir fry! We all ate until we were ready to pop and surprisingly enough we managed to finish both massive bowls cooked by our master chefs Cam and Sam.

After we’d had time to recover from our food comas we ended the day with a brilliant game of sardines that seemed to get harder and harder each round with our teens finding more and more creative ways to hide themselves. With so much happening in one day it’s safe to say we were all ready for bed. I’m sure everyone can agree that after 3 wonderful days in our Yurts, staying in our new house will feel like sleeping in a palace!

Over and out!

Saturday 12th August

Salford lads & Peak District

Well, well, well… the success of Salford was unbelievable. We conquered many missions, visited as much as possible and had the best time.
We started our full day in Manchester with a wonderful breakfast, some hot bacon and eggs, also many bagels and cereal…the best! This energy was much needed as we travelled far and wide to find, the one, the only Salford Lads Club!!!! Home to The History of Manchester and Salford, facts about how people from the 1900s lived and worked and of course the music room with so much information about Morrissey and The Smiths, which our group loved. (one of Golden Tickets!) We learnt so much new information from our amazing tour guide Leslie, so thank you for showing us around this amazing place.
We then ventured to Manchester Piccadilly, for some much needed lunch. We were met with various cuisines and most settled on the iconic Burger King!
After this we hopped on a train to Edale (in the Peak District National Park) for some much needed outdoor time. We collected a map from the visitors centre and we were off! We searched long and far for our green hiking path. Luckily our Teens were there as they managed to find it for us! We hiked over bridges, through fields, through farms and many pathways.
When we returned to Salford, Cam and Sam were treated by the Teens to a homemade carbonara and garlic bread and it was delicious! We were amazed how well they cooked everything.
We ended our evening with full bellies and a movie. Next stop Cardiff.

Over and out.

Sunday 14th & Monday 15th August

Cardiff & Brighton (Written by Max)

As we awoke in our massive Airbnb to the smell of pancakes Max’s sleep schedule failed to account for, we sprinted out of the house to catch our train! Arriving at the train station with minimal massive catastrophes on the way, we boarded a train to Brighton and half of us promptly fell right back into unconsciousness.
At the behest of certain members of the group, our glorious leaders ordered an Uber to take us to our new accommodations, failing to find it along the way several times, until we eventually found it sitting above a pub.
Our transcendent tutors escorted us to the pier, specifically the “Brighton Palace Pier” where we indulged in glorious amounts of sugar in the form of churros and crepes, before heading into the Fairground… well our enlightened adults did something, probably!
Riding on the one scary ride which some found scary, some found humorous, and some stood outside holding bags, and nearly all of us revelling in the delights of bumper cars (or “Dogems” as the British seem to call them).
Meeting back up with our magnificent masters, we treated ourselves to incredible fish and chips, before, full of food and incredibly exhausted, we trudged back to our accommodations. Everyone was way too tired to heed Max’s advice to play poker with the chips provided by the room.

Over and out.

Tuesday 15th August

Old Sarum (Written by Pietro)

Happy Ferragosto to everybody!

At first the group woke up to a revitalizing british sea air in sunny old Brighton. While having breakfast they fiddled with the poker chips and ate some tasty english cereals.
After getting ready they briskly headed to the Brighton station . On the way they could admire the beauty of the stunning coastline that this land presents. It was so captivating that everybody decided to spend half an hour on the beach and some travellers also had the guts to proceed into the cold british waters.
Then we all got the train and after a few hours we found ourselves in Salisbury, a very cosy town with a majestic gothic cathedral which dominated the land.
After advancing between the narrow english roads we found shelter in a cosy hostel in the countryside near Stonehenge.
We got into one of the many rooms and had a very fun evening singing songs and playing stunning games.
Cam presented a top notch performance of “I will survive” and Pietro rapped Zingarello by Ghali. After that we were able to convince Yogev to sing the Israeli national anthem. When it started to get late we listened to the interesting story telling confered by Max. Then all the travellers fell asleep and some people say that I snored very loudly but I don’t want to believe them.

Over and out.

Wednesday 16th & Thursday 17th August

Stonehenge & Educating Oxford!

We woke up in the Stonehenge hostel and had a delicious breakfast on the floor. We then waited for a taxi to go to Stonehenge. We walked through the museum and took the bus that brought to one of the seven wonders of the world. We were able to enjoy our time thanks to the great weather and we spent much time touching the ground feeling the stonehenge energy. After a quick trip to the gift shop and ice cream for some, we headed back to the hostel to check out and waited for yet another taxi. We went to the train station vibing to Nicki Minaj and Taylor Swift, got lunch for the road and hopped in our train to Oxford !!!!! Travellers killed time with some intense chess games and intense naps. Arrived in Oxford, we were absolutely stunned by our mind-boggling house. Cam and Sam went to the shops to buy stuff for our world food night !!!!!Wooooo!! Every traveller made a traditional meal from their country. The italians fed us some delicious mini pizzas, James made the infamous american Burger, Sam and Cam made some great toad in the hole with gravy, Roan baked a fabulous egg tart and everyone was impressed with Yogev’s cooking skills: he made chicken shawarma with only one hand!!! But the best dish by far was Lily’s exquisite crepes that were unfortunately massacred by James who dipped them in gravy. After this legendary meal, we decided to watch a not so legendary movie but it was still fun. After this long eventful day the travellers were absolutely knackered and went sleep. The End.

PS: Cam is a Master chef we love and worship her and everything she cooks.

Friday 18th August

London & Churchill

Our day started with a delicious breakfast of everything we had including all the cereal one could need, loaded scrambled eggs with ham and cheese; a delicious way to start the day! We got our stuff together and headed to London, for our final last day as a whole group.
We made it to the train where we had many fun chats and lots of naps! When we got to London we quickly took a bus and checked in to our hotel rooms! After this we sped over to the Churchill War Rooms as a final stop before home time.
We saw lots of interesting things and learnt loads of new facts about the places where Churchill was based during the war. He had many of his own security living in his base, cooks and cleaners and he also loved his bath as a very specific 94F!
The group really enjoyed this final venture, as one.
After our lovely afternoon we headed back to our hotel, where Cam and Sam ordered us all a lovely curry which we all enjoyed together, before heading to bed for some much-needed sleep for the busy airport day ahead!
On a final note, Cam and Sam would like everyone, especially the group to know how much we appreciated them. They have been amazing throughout these 2 weeks, with the travel itself, the laughs and friendships that were made. These are things that make our trips authentic and the best they can be. We just want you to know we are happy to have met each and every one of you and maybe see you again some time.
For a final time.
Over and out.

Why a Multicultural Environment is Good for Young People?

What Does Culture Mean?

According to Oxford Dictionary culture is ‘the ideas, customs, and social behaviour of a particular people or society’ and in addition to that – ‘the attitudes and behaviour characteristic of a particular social group’.

Culture in Early Years

Jennie Lindon describes in her article ‘Cultural diversity in the early years’ that by young children developing a sense of their own identity through their family life they can then learn about other cultures out with the family unit. These experiences away from the family are of great importance and help broaden the understanding of other cultures.

https://www.communityplaythings.co.uk/learning-library/articles/cultural-diversity-in-the-early-years

Learning Languages

Learning a second language is easier for a child as their brains are designed to absorb new information unconsciously.  Check out this TED Talk where Patricia Kuhl explains how babies listen to the sounds around them. 

Multicultural Workplaces

Tim Cook, CEO of apple has been clear that he sees diversity as vital to the future of Apple. In 2013, he used an article in the Wall Street Journal to share his belief that “people are more willing to give of themselves when they feel that they selves are being fully recognised and embraced”. In 2015, he said that diversity “is the future of our company”.

https://www.apple.com/diversity/

What a Multicultural Environment Means to L&E

Learn & Experience have a very clear vision. Creating experiences to bring together young people from around the world while keeping to a simple principle: Happy Children Thrive!  L&E offer experiences for young people which include World Camps, Teen Travel and Open Minds and we have been bringing the world’s youth together since 2009.  We firmly believe that being exposed to people from all over the world and from many different backgrounds at a young age is hugely beneficial.  Each one of our programmes is designed to allow young people to have an amazing experience whilst being surrounded by a diverse group of people.  Want to join one of our programmes click HERE to read what we have in store for 2023!

L&E Parent Talks About the Importance of a Multicultural Program for her Children

Learn & Experience programmes include World Camps, Open Minds and Teen Travel

The Learn and Experience Podcast

Check out our Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play and all the other usual places. We put a spotlight on remarkable young people and explore the world they live in. Subscribe and get your weekly fix of youth related chit chat. 

Autumn update 2022

The Big Return

2022 has been a big year for L&E.  We hadn’t been able to offer any in-person programmes since 2019 and we were desperate to get back to doing what we do best.  It has been tough time for everyone but particularly young people.  Cultural and adventurous experiences have been few and far between these past couple of years and so it was incredibly important that we were able to operate.  This year certainly wasn’t without it’s challenges but with the energy and enthusiasm of both staff and students we were able to successfully navigate a wonderful year!

World Camp UK

World Camp UK at Aysgarth School returned this summer and was a huge success.  Lots of old and new faces connecting from all over the world.  We had over 20 different nationalities from 6 continents all embracing and learning from each other.  A lot of old activities returned as well as some exciting new ones including the Open Minds course and Wilderness experience.  Our older teens were challenged to investigate and interrogate the world around them, challenge themselves creatively and consider new perspectives.  They also experienced an incredible night under the stars on their Wilderness Experience.

All our International students embraced the British culture and improved their English and our local children learnt so much about other cultures.

Soccer Camp

L&E continued the tradition of working with professional football clubs and this summer we were delighted to work with Manchester City.  Tzeachten Under 16 Girls Football Club from British Columbia, Canada were lucky enough to be coached by ex-pro and Manchester City Academy coach Ian Fitzpatrick.  The girls had elite sessions every day plus 2 matches including the Manchester City Under 17 Educational Team at Manchester Regional Arena overlooked by the Etihad Stadium.  The girls enjoyed a tour of the stadium plus a unique opportunity to see the training facilities.

Teen Travel

Teen Travel UK was also back and our tours were a triumph.  We had teens from the US, Canada, France, Thailand, Italy, Spain and UK all gain invaluable life skills and gain a love for the history and beauty of Britain.  Our travellers learnt how to manage a budget, how to negotiate and how to adapt to different situations all whilst making sold friendships along the way.

It was also the first time students were able to combine the Teen Travel and World Camp experiences which made for a unique experience.

2023

Following a successful return we are delighted to announce our 2023 schedule. 

• 25th June – 8th July, 2023: Teen Travel UK Tour, England (14-17), Scotland & Wales
• 9th July – 22nd July, 2023: World Camp UK (8-15), Aysgarth School
• 23rd July – 5th August, 2023: World Camp UK (8-15), Aysgarth School
• 6th August – 19th August, 2023: Teen Travel UK Tour (14-17), England, Scotland & Wales

All experiences are in 2 weeks blocks and our 14 and 15 year olds can combine Teen Travel & World Camps.  All transfers are included between programmes.  

A 15% Deposit is due to confirm the reservation. Payment plans are available.

Limited places

To ensure the highest quality of experience we will be strict on limiting the amount of children from any one non-English speaking country so please be aware that countries such as France, Spain, Germany and Italy will sell out very quickly.

Early Booking Discount

If families make the reservation before 1st December, 2022 they will receive a 10% discount.

UK, Canadian & U.S. Schools

During the past year we have helped many families find a suitable school for an international educational experience.  We have a thorough knowledge of UK Schools and have placed dozens of students since 2009.  Now we have an office in Vancouver we have developed relationships with a few select schools, not just in Canada but also the U.S.  

This is a free service to families who have attended an L&E programme.  We are able to offer a unique service with our personal experience of both student and school which is invaluable and beneficial to all concerned.  Consultancy can be extended to friends and family so please feel free to make referrals.

L&E back on the road

Now that we are able to travel a little more freely again we will be returning to making a few trips throughout the year visiting countries to talk to families about our programmes and services.

• Berlin: 30th October – 1st November
• London: 2nd November
• Dubai: 13th – 16th February
• New York: 15th-16th April

If your children have attended and enjoyed an L&E experience please “Spread the Word”.

Sharing this email, website link, instagram etc all helps.

We are also always happy to add locations and dates to our “Road Trip” so if you have friends and family interested in meeting with us then let us know!

Why is travel good for teenagers?

Our teen travel expert, Julie explains 5 different factors why travel is so good for teens and how L&E Teen Travel trips give young people the life skills for future journeys…

Experiencing other cultures

In this day in age it is vastly important for young adults to be in touch with a global world and they can do this by discovering other cultures and customs.  Learning about other cultures helps foster understanding and helps us recognise and respect that there is more than one way of ‘being’.  Travel is the best way to experience a different perspective and to also recognise how much we all have in common.

Understanding how to budget money…

By giving teenagers financial responsibility they will learn the true cost of things and not be so frivolous with their spending.  They may make some mistakes, but it is better to learn the hard way when the amounts are small and the repercussions are light.  By creating things like spreadsheets the teens will be able to track incomings and outgoings which will help them manage their spending to make sure they have enough money for the whole trip!

The ability to communicate effectively in a group…

The art of verbal communication is such a vital skill, from asking for directions to job interviews. Teenagers will need to learn to speak for themselves and have the confidence to do so.  When thrust into a group of strangers it is sometimes difficult to get your point across, but when there is a common goal that is fun, teenagers are more inclined to try and exercise their creative muscles.

The importance of good time management…

Learning how to manage your time effectively whilst still being a teenager will set you up for adult life where being late or delaying deadlines are not acceptable. Whilst travelling, time management is key as turning up to a large train station with 5 minutes to spare will not give you enough time to find your platform, go to the toilet and get much needed snacks for the journey!  This skill is also a sure way to keep stress levels down.

Understand the process of building an itinerary…

This is one of the most difficult tasks as it will require all the other skills we have mentioned.  Not only will the teenager have to communicate effectively they will also have to have a good grasp of the financial aspects of the trip and most importantly how to best schedule everything.  This is no easy task!  Even in small groups there will be differences in opinion about where to go, how to get there and how much it should cost.  The teens who are able to learn how to compromise, problem solve and manage conflict will have more success in planning a trip.

Want to know more?

We can offer advice to you and your teen.  So please get in touch with us if you have any questions about Teen Travel.  You can schedule a call with one of our experts who can talk you through the trip or email teentravel@learnandexperience.com with any questions you may have.

Teen Travel really is an adventure of a lifetime – take the first step, get in touch!  

L&E receives prestigious Award

We have been named as Winners of the Go Overseas Community Choice Award 2020…named by the people who matter most — the community (the children and families).

Thank you to all those involved in, what was a very difficult year but one that also had a lot of very special moments. We may not have had camp or travel but we had a lot of fun in other ways…

Highlights:

• Online Language & Life Skill Courses
• Virtual Camp
• L&E Home Launched
• 24 Hours Campfire across 6 continents
• 30 Day Challenge for Save the Children
• New Website
• Global Teen Chats
• Online Dance Classes
• Online Circus Skills
• Online Guitar Classes
• New Podcast

Go Overseas wrote: “We’re thrilled to recognize Learn & Experience as one of the best travel organizations in 2020 through this merit-based award, especially after such a difficult year for our industry.”

Happy International Women’s Day Greta. We Salute You!

Seldom does it happen that one name can conjure up such strong sentiment.  Greta was named Time magazines person of year (2019) and her name will go down in history along side Nelson Mandela, Jimmy Carter and Mikhail Gorbachev to name a few.  Climate Strike was the Collins Dictionary word of year (2019) and on the 20th September 2019 the largest climate strike in world history saw 4 million ‘Fridays for Future’ protesters strike across the world.  This is a stark contrast to just one year previous to this when a 15 year old Greta, a solitary protester, skipped school to sit outside the Swedish parliament, protesting for more action against climate change.

What does Greta want?  Well, we know what she doesn’t want.  She doesn’t want praise, she doesn’t want to be invited to meetings and she doesn’t want to become a politician.  She wants everyone to unite behind the science and to take action.

Due to air travel having a heavy carbon footprint she travels mostly by train across Europe to visit and support climate strikes.  This meant that when she decided to attend the UN Climate Action Summit in New York she had to enlist the help of Captain Boris Herrmann and his schooner.  Boris’ schooner runs on solar power and underwater turbines, therefore emitting no carbon.  The journey took 13 days and Greta, along with her father and a Swedish film maker shared the small space which had no shower, no kitchen and no toilet!

Greta has talked openly about her Aspergers as being her “superpower” and admits that she did try to conceal it, not in order to hide it, but because “ignorant people still see it as an illness or something negative”.  She also tweeted “when haters go after your looks and differences it means they have nowhere left to go.  And then you know you’re winning!”

Greta recently met her ‘role model’ Malala Yousafzai in Oxford where she is studying.  Malala is a campaigner for girls’ education from Pakistan. She was shot by the Taliban in 2012, when she was just 14 years old, but continued her work and became the youngest person ever to win the world-famous Nobel Pease Price in 2014.  After the meeting, Malala commented on twitter saying “She’s the only friend I’d skip school for”.

Happy International Women’s day folks – never underestimate the power of one young girl!

On the 2nd Youth Project Podcast Sam, Julie and Mike talked about the rise of Greta, what she stands for and what small things we are personally doing to help combat climate change. Follow the link below to listen.

Learn & Experience are a youth leadership company based in the UK and they are celebrating their 10th anniversary this year!  Our website is BRAND NEW so enjoy having a look around.

You can find the podcast on our website, Spotify, iTunes, Google Play and all the other usual places.  Subscribe and get your weekly fix of youth related chit chat. 

https://learnandexperience.com/the-youth-project-podcast/

Teen Travel UK Tour Blog

Saturday -Tuesday

We are eleven  people from all around Europe:

Lukas – 15, from Sweden.

Emily – 16, from Holland.

Paul – 16, from Germany.

Serafina – 15, from Germany.

Beatrice – 16, from Germany.

Maria – 16, from Spain.

Marianne – 15, from France.

Gaia – 16, from Italy.

Sam – 15, from England.

Connie – Travel Mentor, England

Julie – Travel Mentor, Scotland

Apart from Sam we all arrived in Manchester airport at various times on Saturday. From there we drove to L&E North camp to plan our trip and get to know each other better. We decided to depart the next day but before we left we all watched the final match for the World Cup and ate at he barbecue with the rest of the camp. After the barbecue big Sam drove us to our first stop in Grassmere where we stayed for one night in a hostel and we all went to the park in the town and we unanimously agreed that we all slept better there than at the camp.

The next day we had breakfast in the self serve kitchen of the hostel and Sam and Lukas made dough balls in the oven. We then took a bus to Brokehole where we went on a treetop trek which ended in a triple zip wire that was 200 meters long! “It was exciting!” – Gaia. Connie had to have her shoe taped onto her foot because it kept almost falling off.

We then took the same bus with a different bus driver who wasn’t as nice to Windermere where we had lunch which was pleasurable. After that we booked the accommodation for Glasgow the night after, furthermore we found a train connection from Kendal to Glasgow that was also affordable for the next day. We then took the bus to Kendal where it then started to rain on our walk to the hostel we were next staying in. After a break we went to Booths to buy food for tonight and the next morning. Sam and Gaia cooked a delicious meal for dinner – pasta with cheese sauce.  Lukas told some ghost stories (not that scary) and we all sat and chatted until bed time. 

Tuesday – Thursday

After a lovely breakfast in Kendal we took the train to Glasgow. It was a long journey and we had to stop and change the train – at the intermediate station Julie had to pretend to be a dog because of a dare!

Since this morning a fun game had started ,where everyone has to “kill” someone else in a specific place and way, two people were already killed.

We arrived at the hostel around 5 o’clock and we ate at Wetherspoon. The evening was full of talks and bonding and we also started to see Shrek

Deaths of the day:

1. Connie – singing the national anthem on a train, in the morning.
2. Marianne – smelling something in a shop, in the morning.

Wednesday 18th

The next day started slowly. We woke up at around 10 am and after a good breakfast we took the bus to Glasgow centre. After a short trip to the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and the park everybody was allowed to go of in groups of at least and discover Glasgow on their own. Most of us went to a burger and than make a short shopping trip.

Back (in at) the hostel Marianne started making crêpes – Sam as chef in training. We than went to bed “in time” because the next day would start very early.

Deaths of the day:

1)  Paul – reading a book on a playground, at midday

2)  Beatrice – singing the national anthem (german) in the bathroom, at lunchtime

Thursday 19th

To day we had to get up at 6.30 am to get the bus to Loch Ness at 7 am. Because of the early time we didn’t eat breakfast, so we had packed (a lot of) (many) snacks for the bus. The bus trip to loch ness took us about four hours but we had a few stops at beautiful places to make pictures and get a pass from the sitting.

When we arrived at Loch Ness we had two options. We could either go and see the castle and than make a cruise on the Loch or only do the cruise. 

• Spent the day in Glasgow (shopping, eating, a pigeon poop on Lukas…)
• Tastes good
• Take bus (discover scottland)
• loch ness
• Take the bus back (strange songs)

Friday…

In the morning we arrived in Edinburgh. Making our way through the streets in the rain, we found a bus to take us to the hostel, not far from the city centre. Sam was in charge of directions and we followed him (cautiously) down several side streets off the main road. Despite a slightly scary looking front door,

we walked through into a travellers paradise; a ping-pong table, PlayStation, comfy sofas and relaxed, friendly staff awaited. The hostel was made up of converted shipping containers, neatly arranged with every amenity. We felt at home right away. 

No time to relax though; we dropped our bags and went straight into town to explore. We picked up some lunch on-the-go, and made a beeline for the Royal Mile. It was hard to miss the incredible architecture as we wound through the streets; the National Gallery of Scotland and the Castle were particularly impressive. Reaching ‘Camera Obscura’ – a museum of oddities, illusions and mind games – we were were happy to get out of the drizzle. It full of bizarre, interactive activities and we emerged later on, giggling on to the streets. Straight on to a restaurant for food, we then just had time for a quick walk up to Calton Hill for the sunset. It did not take much persuading to get everyone to sleep back at the hostel after such a jam-packed day.

We awoke to a sunny day ~ yes, the sun does shine in Scotland! We all headed to the motorbike and music festival we had booked a few days ago, it was on the same side of the city as us which was good. It was very cool – lots of different styles of motorbikes, we even got to sit on some of them!!  We also had a shot on a theme park ride – Sam has been on so many his facial expression didn’t change at all but all of the girls hair was going round and round and round!  

After we got back to the hostel we collected our bags and headed back into town to try and get some onesies for the bus journey. Unfortunately we couldn’t find any we liked so we bought some blankets and some neck pillows which turned out to be invaluable. We went to a restaurant to get some food and to also make a plan for the next part of our trip. Our big map came in handy – it’s good to have a visual of the UK to see how far away each place is from the other. We all worked very hard to plan the next part of our trip – we were getting very tired which was good as we knew we were about to spend the next 9hours on the overnight bus to London. 

The bus station wasn’t far from the restaurant which was great as we were all quite tired and ready to try and sleep. Although the bus was a little cold we did manage to get some sleep. Next stop – LONDON!!!!!!!