Trip to England
As part of the project, and with partial assistance from project funds, we organised a trip to England for 45 students in April 2007. This allowed the students to experience British life and culture, use their English language in real life situations and tour the facilities at a regional Job Centre, gaining a valuable insight into the process of finding employment in England and the EU.
During our stay in England, we visited London, Oxford, Stonehenge and Avebury. Below is a brief description of our itinerary. To view pictures taken during the trip, please follow the links in the Photo gallery.
The journey
We travelled from Breclav to England by coach, and due to light traffic, managed to catch an earlier ferry and arrive at our accommodation six hours ahead of schedule.
Ridgeway
Our accommodation for the week was a Youth Hostel 15km south of Oxford, situated on the Ridgeway path, which is one of the oldest roads in England dating from prehistoric times. The hostel is well situated, in easy travelling distance of London (95km), Stonehenge (110km) and many other places of interest.
The hostel has 55 beds in 9 rooms, two kitchens, dining room, relaxing area & a television room. The grounds of the hostel include a central quad with lawn & stables, a large wooded area, BBQ facilities and camping.
As we arrived with time to spare, we visited Uffington, where there is a 3000 year old ‘White Horse’ calved into the hill side. From here, we walked 14km along the Ridgeway path, back to the hostel.
Oxford
Oxford is the oldest university city in the English speaking world, and has more than 100 universities and colleges. It is famous for its architecture and ‘dreaming spires’. Oxford and Oxford University have been used as locations for many films, including Harry Potter.
The Isis, which is actually part of the river Thames, flows through the centre of Oxford, and is a perfect location for competition rowing, as well as the more sedate pastime of ‘Punting’ which is popular amongst students and tourists alike.
Whilst in Oxford, we visited the Job Centre and were given a guided tour by one of the staff. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take any pictures due to newly introduced ‘privacy’ policies.
London
The capital city of Great Britain has a population of over 7.5 million people and is the biggest city in Europe. It is also one of Europe's oldest cities and was begun by the Romans in AD43, soon after they invaded Britain.
Many famous buildings and landmarks are visited by millions of tourist each year, the most popular being Buckingham Palace, Big Ben & Tower Bridge. London was the first city in the world to have an underground, which now runs for over 400 km.
We visited London twice, walking over 30km and seeing many of the famous places, including a memorable trip to the Natural History Museum.
Stonehenge
Stonehenge and Avebury are world famous for their Neolithic stone circles and henge. Approximately five thousand years old, they have been the source of many myths and legends over the years, including how stones weighing many tonnes were brought more than 400 km from the mountains of Wales.