IES Abroad had three different field trips to amazing places. Here are my favorite parts from each trip.
First up was Kenilworth Castle and Stratford-Upon-Avon. Stratford-Upon-Avon was the home and birthplace of William Shakespeare. On the trip, we toured the town and Shakespeare's childhood home. The town was exactly what I would have imagined a town in England to be like: small with narrow streets and old buildings. Most of the buildings were left from Shakespeare's time or restored to look like they were. The actor's childhood home was small, but surprisingly roomy. I could imagine him and his family living there. They also had two actors performing scenes from some of Shakespeare's plays in the garden!
Kenilworth Castle, the part of the trip I was most excited about, came after Stratford-Upon-Avon. This castle was built in the Elizabethan era, but destroyed in battle. I was so excited to see the ruins! I wasn't disappointed either. Just see some of the pictures that I took from the site!
The next field trip we took was to Stonehenge and the Roman Baths. I was equally excited for this one because of the amount of history there. We went to Stonehenge first, which was a nice walk from the museum where they dropped us off. The rock formation was really cool to see as was the history behind it. Funny enough, my favorite part of Stonehenge was the herd of cows we walked through to get there. They were so cute!
On to the Roman Baths! We stayed overnight in the city of Bath, which had a long history of being a popular vacation spot: from the Roman Era to Jane Austin's time. The entire city was definitely influenced by the Romans. All the architecture made it feel like you were in Italy (I've never been, but this is what I imagined it'd look like). The Roman Baths were really cool, or should I say hot. The fresh water in the springs came from a hot water spring. One of my favorite parts was getting to drink some of the spring water. I don't really like warm water, but now I can say that I drank Bath water! *ba dum tss*
Finally, IES Abroad took a trip to Brighton. This is a beach city, which isn't too different for me coming from Florida, took over the title of Most Popular Vacation Spot after the Roman Baths were considered too main stream. The thing I wasn't expecting was the rocky beach. It had rocks from the size my palm to the size of a pencil eraser. They were still very comfortable to lay on though. My favorite part was probably the long pier. It had a carnival at the end of it and lots of different food places!
Also…apparently cotton candy is called candy floss here.
(To save space in the text, I decided to post most of my pictures below. They are in order of the fieldtrips.)
Rachel Wichlacz
<p>My name is Rachel Wichlacz and I am currently a sophomore (second year) college student interning abroad in London. I have previously traveled to Poland, Slovakia, Smokey Mountains in the US, Florida Keys in the US, Rocky Mountains in the US, and several other places where I have photographed scenery. This travel blog will focus on my day to day life in London for my internship so readers, like you, can see what it is like to live here for two months!</p>
