As much as I love being in London, it was nice having a chance to leave and see the other beautiful sites that England has to offer.
My
programme booked us a field trip to see Salisbury, Stonehenge and the city of
Bath.
Our first stop was Salisbury where my
breath was taken away at the beautiful landscapes. It was amazing to see the
lush landscapes and the famous Salisbury Cathedral rising up in the distance.
We were given the chance to walk around a bit then we went on a tour of the gothic-style
Cathedral. I loved looking at the beautiful stained glass windows and hearing
the history of the Cathedral from the tour guide. We even had the chance to look
at a copy of the Magna Carta, which unfortunately, we were not allowed to take
pictures of. It was a great experience and I learned a lot.
Next, we stopped at the famous Stonehenge.
Before starting this trip, I knew what Stonehenge was, but I did not know what
made it so special. Stonehenge is believed to be built over 5000 years ago and it
still remains intact for people all over the world to see. The most interesting
part is that no one knows the actual history of it, there are many speculations
backed up by science. The most recent speculation was that it was used as an
ancient burial ground. Seeing one of the World Heritage Sites was something
that I will never forget.
We then finally
made it to Bath. Bath is somewhere I have wanted to go since first arriving in
London. The baths there date back to the Roman times where they named the city,
a spa with hot springs and beautiful architecture. We were privileged enough to
go on a tour of the Roman Baths where I had a personal listening device. I learned
that they have the only hot springs in England, originally formed with
rainwater. The baths were said to have healing powers that the Celtics used. At
the end of the tour, we were able to have a drink out of one of the springs;
the water did not taste great, in my opinion, because it was filled with many
minerals that gave it a metallic taste. We then walked around and explored the
great city. Bath has cute shops and great food that anyone would like. I really
enjoyed the night life with many pubs playing live music and happy people all
over.
Overall, this was a great field trip and I
am so glad I got to experience it. I learned so much about the history of these
cities and was able to see some amazing sites. These are places I definitely
need to try to get back to.
Written by Jennifer Roth. Jennifer is working as an intern at FOCUS this summer.
