Hello, again.
For the last three days we've been working in Grosvenor Hall.
We begin every morning with a hearty breakfast.
The Eighteen have had English lessons and many different types of activities: team exercises, climbing and abseiling, indoor and outdoor laser, swimming, buggie building and racing, obstacle course, etc. Not a dull moment.
We also have video:
Abseiling:
Pulling together:
Team work:
3G Swing:
Our travellers can also do very interesting works of art using only what's available to them in the immediate environment: Have a look below.
After lunch on Wednesday we went on a walk to Ashford, which is nearby.
We arrived early in Canterbury and were received by the Cathedral bells calling the faithful to mass. We arrived at the Cathedral and checked whether everything was alright for our visit later in the day, after which we went on a walking tour of the city walls, farmer's market and the centre of town. You can see a bit of all that in the following videos. The first two were taken with a three-hour difference. You can appreciate how many more people were out and about.
The next video shows the Farmers' Market:
Once we came back from our wanderings about town, we went into the Cathedral grounds, and the building proper.
Here's the video that goes with the photo above:
After visiting the Cathedral, the Eighteen had time to walk the centre of town in groups. We met after about an hour and a half and travelled back to Grosvenor Hall. Our students would have liked to stay longer in Canterbury, so would the teachers.
We hope that you have had a good week.
Saturday 23rd found us in London again. We did quite a bit of walking and saw many different attractions. We arrived next to the Tower of London, also known as The White Tower, and immediately proceeded to find our way to the nearest pier to board the boat/ship that would ferry us to Westminster (This is where Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament are located.).
The following are some images and video of that:
And then we got on the boat/ship:
We got off the boat at Westminster, which is where Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament can be found:
We crossed the bridge to get to The London Eye, also called The Millennium Wheel. We were met with music:
Waiting to get on the Eye:
The following video was taken once we boarded the Eye. This is our capsule:
More footage as we flew the Eye:
Waiting for some of our group who went into the Eye's gift shop:
We left the London Eye and walked past 10 Downing Street, the residence of the prime minister of Great Britain:
We carried on walking and arrived at Horse Guard's Parade. And, of course, there were horsemen on guard:
After having a brief lunch at Saint James's park, we got on The Mall and walked up to the queen's home in London, Buckingham Palace:
We left Buckingham Palace behind and walked to Trafalgar Square where we visited The National Gallery.
This is a view of the square as we exited the art museum. Can you see some of the calypso-wearing Bradford students?
As we left Trafalgar Square and The National Gallery, we headed towards Leicester Square. You can see how busy it is on a Saturday afternoon. People from all over the world visit this area of town.
We then walked to Covent Garden. Street artists are always present at Covent Garden, and this day was no exception:
And then it was time to go home to Grosvenor Hall in Ashford.
Boy, were we tired from all that walking!
Dear readers,
Monday and Tuesday were very exciting due to all the sights we could see and the places we could visit.
We returned to Grosvenor Hall for some sporting activities, English lessons and a little rest; the emphasis being on "little".
On Wednesday, the Eighteen had English lessons in the morning and sporting activities after lunch. We then had our evening evaluation session, when we discussed the many visits we'd had in London. Later, it was Pizza Night! Which meant that our pupils had to organise themselves to order what they wanted and coordinate payment, which went alright. We sent you an Instagram video showing them hard at work munching down on their choices of pizza and assorted extras.
On Thursday, the students once again had English lessons in the morning, but in the afternoon we went on a brief visit of Hastings.
Here is a short video of part of that visit.
Today is Friday already. It's the first day of Autumn in England, while it's the opposite in Chile, being the 22nd the first day of Spring.
These are some of the activities the Bradford students have carried out today:
Welcome back.
Tuesday was an even busier day than the previous. We woke up very early for a 7:00 o'clock English breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, baked beans, fried tomatoes, cereal, tea or coffee and milk. Big breakfast, yes, but we had a busy day ahead.
Before we left the hostel we got our pack lunches:
We then got on our coach and headed for Saint Paul's Cathedral, which was built by Sir Christopher Wren, one of the foremost architects in British history.
Later, we were driven to The Tate Modern Museum, a huge structure that used to be a coal-burning electricity-generating plant, in the Middle of London. London and Londoners used to burn a huge amount of coal to heat heir homes and to generate electricity at what is now The Tate. This had such an enormous environmental impact that in Winston Churchill's second period as prime minister, he had to deal with a huge health crisis as Londoners started to drop like flies due to terrible-quality air. So what used to be an electricity plant that burnt coal in the centre of the metropolis is now one of the most celebrated modern museums in the world.
Once we exited the museum, we walked towards The Tower of London. You can see Tower Bridge in the distance:
Once we were inside The Tower grounds, we set the meeting point so that our students could explore at their leisure:
After a while, some got tired and rallied around Miss Andrea for a little rest and recovery:
We saw the ubiquitous tower guards marching to post:
Others decided to sit down and watch Tower life as it unfolded. T'was fun.
Yet others decided to actively participate in the play-acting and recreation performed by Tower actors. Please watch and take a close look at their cheering. It's very funny!
Alas, we eventually had to leave The Tower, which had been such an interesting and fun visit. We headed for Oxford Street so that our travellers could walk one of the most important shopping streets in Europe. Quite a few of them bought presents and souvenirs for themselves but, mostly, and especially, for their loved ones. This is a view of Oxford Street as we prepared to board our coach for the trip back to Grosvenor Hall:
And so, out two-day trip to London came to an end. We are looking forward to our next visit, on Saturday 23rd.
Stay tuned.
Good morrow, kind readers.
September 18 feels different when you are away from Chile. It is more sentimental and there is a feeling of pride and a feeling of belonging which are even stronger when you are so far away. That is why we started the day by singing our national anthem before breakfast. A good way to feel the link with our roots. That's us, singing, in this video:
After breakfast, we got out things, stepped onto the coach and were driven to London. We were dropped off at the British Museum, our first stop. The following video shows a few of our merry group standing by the Moai from Easter Island. It was a donation to the museum by Queen Victoria. The question on everyone's mind was, How did she get it in the first place? We know the rapa nui want it back.
After the British Museum, we got on the coach which then let us off near The Globe Theatre, which is a reproduction of Shakespeare's original playhouse.
In the next video you can see the Bradford explorers lining up to go into the theatre:
Once inside, we were joined by a guide from the theatre who has been with the company since before building began, so he knew all about the modern version of Shakespeare's playhouse. Next, you can see our pupils paying rapt attention to his descriptions of Shakespeare, and the history and uses of the building:
After visiting The Globe, we were driven to the hostel where we would spend the night. We had an early dinner and set off for the Novello Theatre to see Mamma Mia, the Abba-based musical. Look at the Eighteen lining up to get inside:
After the play we took our coach and went back to the hostel. We had a good night's sleep. A good thing too, because that day we had walked over 6 kilometres, and the next day we would walk even more: 10 kilometres.
Hello, readers.
On Sunday we had an early breakfast and off we went to visit Windsor. Our main focus on that trip would be the Queen's castle at Windsor. Once we got to the castle we first had to go through Security where our backpacks were checked and we were given Windsor Castle bracelets to show on our way in.
We spent about two hours inside the castle and saw all the areas that are open to the public. No photography is allowed inside so that is why we are unable to show you what we actually saw. Suffice it to say that the interior is even more amazing than what you see as you approach the buildings on the outside. Every little detail is meant to awe the visitors, making sure they understand the power and influence of British history. Some of the rooms have so much to tell that even the ceilings are lined up with shields and regalia.
We also saw a guard on duty:
When we left the castle we wandered around town. We came across these street musicians who were very good:
Windsor said farewell to Bradford School by playing us a little music. Very decent of them.
Hello, again. It's now Sunday evening and we've been in England for all of 9 days now.
Saturday was a very special day for our merry group: it was Alfonso Torrens's 15th birthday. We had a cake baked for him and his friends and travelling companions sang for him at different times during the day.
After singing to Alfonso at breakfast, we got ready for our day trip to Brighton.
We visited the Royal Pavilion, which used to be the monarchy's summer home. In the following video you can see our students arriving at the Royal Pavilion.
After our visit to the Royal Pavilion we left for a bit of walking around town.
And we then visited the pier with its amusements.
https://youtu.be/2mIcJ_0kHC4
https://youtu.be/LBnyP4d91T4
After arriving back from Brighton many of our students had to skip dinner as they had eaten so much while visiting the seaside town.
In the evening we had a campfire with another school, a group of 11-year old students from Spain who have become very close with our Brads.
Dear all,
Almost three more days have come and gone and it seems that time is on the run. Tempus fugit, like the Romans used to say.
Since our last post, we have been to Leeds Castle and we also went on a quick run to Ashford, which is just five minutes away by motor vehicle. Would you like to see what Leeds Castle looks like? Well, then, here's a still of our eighteen trail blazers. Don't they look great?
They say that a picture is worth a thousand words. If so, then a video must be worth at least a million. Please have a look at the following recordings so that you can get a feel of the gardens and the castle grounds. Quite impressive.
These first two videos were taken inside the castle:
And we also watched a Falconry show. Wonderful birds. These next two videos show a bit of that:
And then it started to rain while some of the boys were feeding the birds:
The following was taken on our way out:
The last of the Leeds Castle filming took place inside its gift shop:
So that was on Wednesday.
The following day, Thursday, the expeditionary force took to the skies. The picture below shows part of them kitted up to start their climb heavenward.
Please look at the following footage to get a better idea of their gallantry as they climbed ever higher, and then zipped down a line until they touched ground again. All of them went back up and repeated the experience two more times. Some of them even went for a fourth climb. If any of them are afraid of heights, they didn't show it. We can already see a new-found confidence in them. Kudos to one and all.
That took place on Thursday morning. We then had lunch, after which we went to Ashford, which is very close by. The boys and girls were itching to visit Poundland, which is a shop that we had told them about, where everything is a pound. They bought some "essential supplies" and then took a short tour of the town. We left Ashford in time to eat our six o'clock dinner at Grosvenor Hall.
After dinner, we asked the group to get changed into their bathing costumes and then we had our usual evening meeting where we discussed the day's events and the following day's activities. Once finished with our conversation, we headed for the swimming pool. Here is a recording of last night's water sport.
Today, which is Friday already (!!!), one of the groups had fencing. Laura, our lead instructor, taught the group some fencing techniques that they then put into practice. See them in action here:
We then waited a few minutes for the next activity that would take place. This is how The Eighteen wait. They show great style.
The next activity turned out to be Nightline. This is a game of trust, but it's also about using other senses rather than just your eyes. They had to wear a blindfold so as to play. This is what Nightline looks like:
We hope you have enjoyed sharing in our adventures as we make our way about England. Please stay tuned for further reports. Tomorrow we travel to the coast, Brighton to be more precise.
Be well.
Monday and Tuesday have gone by in a flash here at Grosvenor Hall. Lots to do, too little time for anything else. From our account on Instagram you have been able to see much of what the boys and girls have been doing, and how well they have taken to Grosvenor Hall and their new life in England. I should start by explaining that when we arrived at Grosvenor Hall, the staff asked the children to break up into two groups of nine students each. This is for purposes of working more effectively with smaller groups, which makes a lot of sense. On Monday morning, the Bradford expeditionary force put their minds and bodies to problem-solving (You'll see some of them on the videos below). They also did quite a bit of climbing on "Jacob's Ladder". That's the name of the log ladder which you climb in pairs but that can be very difficult to climb - unless you work together with your climbing partner. The cute thing about this is that as we were walking towards the area where they have these ladders set up, and which was crowded with instructors, I overheard one of the boys looking at all the instructors and seriously asking: "Which one is Jacob?" Anyway. They climbed for about an hour and a half, and then we went for an orienteering session. During that session they were taught to find certain points around the school and orienting themselves with very little. After lunch, the Eighteen were given assessment tests to gauge their level of English. Based on their results they have been put into groups and have started working on improving their language skills. So here we have some videos of our Monday activities. Enjoy.
On Tuesday, Group 1 did fencing for a bit over an hour, while Group 2 played field games with an instructor. The games were a frisbee match and, then, rounders - which is a bit similar to baseball, but with a smaller bat. And then off they went to do more climbing, but this time up a pole with a platform on top, where the pupils had to stand before jumping off and grabbing onto a trapeze! You should have seen them! Impressive. Even the students who are afraid of heights did their bit and were clapped by their fellows. It was a great activity. They are now eagles all, meant to soar high. After lunch, it was back to their English lessons; then dinner and our day's evaluation session, after which we played a variation of Bingo - which included a series of competitions that the students came up with in order to get the numbers for Bingo. Fun was had all around. Tomorrow we take a half-day trip to Leeds Castle, which is in Kent and not in Leeds. Go figure. Today's vids:
Hello, Bradford!
After a long, arduous, trip we made it to the land of Queen Elizabeth II. We arrived in Heathrow yesterday, Saturday, September 9 and immediately travelled to Grosvenor Hall in Ashford, Kent.
Today is the next day, Sunday. This day was made very special because we took a whole-day trip to Cambridge, which is a two-hour coach ride away. The children are still recovering from the flight, so quite a few of them dozed on the way.
We visited King's College, and its Chapel, which is the second biggest chapel in the world, the biggest being the Sistine Chapel, in Vatican City. You can see some of that in the following video. Please click on the link below.
The next thing we did was take a walk around the centre of Cambridge ending at the Market, where the children bought their first souvenirs. This is a market that's been on the same site for the past 1,000 years.
Time is measured differently in Cambridge. Many of the buildings we saw today have been standing since before Christopher Columbus bumped into America.
And then we went punting on the river Cam. Our boatman was a former English teacher and he knew all sorts of stories about the city and, especially, the university. He was very good. Here's a video of our punting experience where you can listen to a bit of our punter's description of the university:
After our punting experience, it was time to go back to Grosvenor Hall, dinner and evening games. And then it was bedtime.
Tomorrow we stay at Grosvenor Hall all day. The schedule involves morning sporting activities and afternoon English lessons.
Every day a new adventure!
Until tomorrow.
Hello.
This is our first post on our road to England. We hope to have a good number of parents and pupils interested in this experience and, hopefully, following us as we make our way to the shores of Great Britain.
Join us in this adventure and follow us daily once we arrive in Albion*!
*Albion is the oldest known name for the island of Great Britain.
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