Had A Trip To England

[Povuholo]

I just got back from a trip to England, organised by the school. I'm in a bilingual class, so we go to England every year. I live in Holland, so it's not that far away.

 

I went to:

• France, to take the boat to England there
  
• Stirry, to sleep at a host family every night
  
• Canterbury
  
• Canterbury Castle
  
• The White Cliffs of Dover
  
• Sandwich (I keep saying Hamburg, but that's in Germany :P)
  
• A bowling place. 110 points, weee!
  

We had all kind of assignments so i've learned a lot, although it wasn't always that fun. That was because it rained a lot. It's no fun walking on the walls of a castle when there is a lot of rain and wind. Luckily it was dry in the tunnels. :happy:

 

Stirry wasn't so nice because there was nothing to do. In front of the house there was a soccer field. Some English boys of 16-18 years old played there. We heared from our host families that we shouldn't talk with them. We shouldn't play soccer with them either, because they hate losing. They hate German people as well (some Germans came with us). A few weeks ago they had beat up a few German people. So we walked away after a while, for everytime someone joined us at a bench near the field, one of them came to us asking if we were germans. Creepy :wacko:

 

Note that I said THESE boys hated German people, not that every English boy hates German people. :ohmy:

 

I made some nice photo's and know a bit more about England now, so the trip was certainly worth it.

 

Has anyone here been to these places, or live there? What do you like/dislike about it?

[Dark0ne]

Ah, the great British summer! The weather has been absolutely crap recently. Sounds like you went to some pretty boring places as well...lol. Come down to Torquay next time :P

[Malchik]

You imagined the rain. We are having a drought! I cannot have got soaked coming home the other night!

 

I've been to Canterbury - the Cathedral's impressive but the castle is crap. Never heard of Stirry. Sounds dire.

 

I think, on the whole, the UK is less nationalistic than many other countries but we have an element of it. I did meet one Dutch family that was rabidly anti-German once.

[Switch]

Ironic thing is we've had blazing sunshine until mid last week or so, which is probably when you were here. :P Been pouring almost every day since.

 

As Malchik says, Stirry sounds a bit dire. Never been to Sandwich, either. I might've been to Canterbury but I'm really not sure... if I have it was probably on holiday like 10 years ago or something. Same with Dover. They didn't really show you very much did they? ^^;

 

Sorry to hear you had to put up with some of our infamous yob culture. To quite a few people over here football is more important than racial understanding. Fun. ;)

[VaanicOne]

Are you sure that you actually went to Sandwich, and didn't just eat *a* sandwich?

 

Nah, I'm just joking. And I have to agree, they didn't take you to the best of places in England, but oh well, I hope you had at least some fun here anyway.

[karkarinus]

I haven't seen much of Kent at all, but what I have was pretty boring (Ashford and somewhere else even more unmemorable.) I went to Hastings when I was about 2, and as far as I remeber it was quite quaint.

 

I was brought up in a town in Devon, where "student bashing" is rife. My mates and I were more into meeting foreign babes than kicking in the guys! Every year a mate of ours came over from Holland, and we had a really good laugh. That "yob culture" is probably the most disgusting aspect of England, and one of the reasons I am sometimes ashamed of my heritage.

 

Devon and Cornwall are lovely places to visit if you like countryside, but soooo bloody boring to live in.

 

One of my favourite places is Guildford - I was there studying to be a teacher, and the place is full of foreign students, but not once did I see any kind of violence or hostility towards them. One night there was a car full of yobs looking for trouble, but when we reported them to the Police, it turned out they were from some town about 20 miles away. Guildford is clean, cosmopolitan and quite upmarket. Is has all the advantages of being near London, without being right in the middle of the hustle and bustle.

 

Other places? Scotland, North Wales, certain parts of London, Wiltshire (Longleat, Beaulieu, Stonehenge - forgive any possible geographical anomalies!) Stirry sounds a bit - well - stirry! :unsure:

[loveme4whoiam]

I think, on the whole, the UK is less nationalistic than many other countries but we have an element of it.

 

Hahahahaha! I thought you lived in London Malchik, I'd have thought you'd be the last person to say that! Then again, perhaps I'm mistaking nationalism for racism, but then the two are the same thing in my mind. I imagine the whole "we hate Germans" thing probably stems from some bullpoo post-WWII feeling that the idiots have picked up after sitting in a single lesson of History :dry: Either that or they were the usual imbecilic youth that inhabits England. I sometimes think that the best thing to do would be kill off everyone under the age of 50 and repopulate the country.

 

ANYWAYS, next year Povuholo break away from the group and go up to the Uni on the hill overlooking Canterbury and we'll get hammered together :D That's my Uni as of September (and a smidgeon of luck from the examiners). I haven't been into the catherdral because the swine guard tried to charge me £4 to get in. Isn't that sacreligious or something??

 

Anyways, I haven't explored enough of Kent to say if its boring or not. Canterbury itself is reputed to have 300 pubs and bars, so as a student it has its upside :P

 

I've also grown up in Devon (Plymouth to be exact, chav centre of the South-West) and I'll advise anyone visiting the country to stay they hell away from the city. The countryside it picturesque and lovely (although some utter penis arsoned a section of it recently >:() but the townspeople are disgusting. Guildford sounds nice though :)

[Povuholo]

My parents came with the idea to go to scotland this summer holiday. I don't know exactly where we stay, but any suggestions of where to go?

[Malchik]

What do you enjoy doing on holidays - mountain rambling, cities, old ruins, clubbing - where to go really depends on what you want. Will you have a car?

[karkarinus]

The best thing about Scotland is the overall sense of everything having been there forever. The unspoilt, medieval, almost dark feeling of history - especially out in the countryside and in the unrenovated castles, like Needpath Castle in Peebles. Grey Mare's Tail waterfall, wild moorlands that look like the opening scene in "An American Werewolf in London", and jagged mountains abound. All this can be found not too far from Edinburgh, (in places like Peebleshire and Selkirk) which is also a must. Quite a large city which seems more like an old town in its quaintness - cobbled streets, market squares, ancient buildings like Edinburgh Castle and Traquair House (alledgedly haunted).

 

To get around, you really need a car, or you will be very limited as to what you can see and do in a short-ish holiday. Scottish people, as a rule, are extremely friendly. Those from Edinburgh are quiet and warm in nature, and the Glaswegians, athough quite a bit louder, have a cracking sense of humour. Of course, there are a-holes wherever you go in the world !!!

 

 

 

LoveMe: I've also grown up in Devon (Plymouth to be exact, chav centre of the South-West) and I'll advise anyone visiting the country to stay they hell away from the city. The countryside it picturesque and lovely (although some utter penis arsoned a section of it recently >:( ) but the townspeople are disgusting. Guildford sounds nice though :)

 

One of my fave places has always been - and always will be - Dartmoor. Is that the place that has been arsoned? That has happened a couple of times on Woodbury Common near Exmouth. People like that should be burnt at the stake, as should half the gits that swarm around Union Street of an evening. Plymouth was my "great adventure" when I was at college, and I genuinely loved the place. They also have some great clubs, but the last few times I went out there, (some 10 or 12 years ago) I witnessed such dire acts of violence that I decided never to go back (at least not at night). Guildford, on the other hand, is a place where you can genuinely feel safe walking down the street (or you could 9 or 10 years ago.)