October 3rd
The huge hiatus between my last post and these lines that you are now reading is due to what I’ve mentioned before, that British Telecom has been working to upgrade its internet services in the area around Bedgebury, Kent, where the Bell School is located. As a matter of fact, as you can see from the date above, I am writing this post in Chile. We have already returned from our three-week expedition to the far away lands of Shakespeare and Queen Elizabeth II.
Today’s entry is meant to wrap up our trip by showing you both photographs and video footage of the last days we spent in England in this month of September, in the year of our Lord 2011.
I hope that you have enjoyed reading our posts and will support our trip to England in 2012.
But before you go to the pictures, I would like to say that both the head of the English Department and the head of the Middle School, who accompanied the six girls and eleven boys as they made their way around England, found them to be delightful human beings who made us proud every day that we spent in their company. They left behind an extremely positive image of what it is to be a Redlander. Kudos to them, and praise to their families. A job well done.
Now to the images.
Here are some pictures. In the first one you will see some of the children listening on the devices we rented at the entrance of the temple. As you walk along the cathedral corridors the listening aparatus lets you know what you are looking at. This is referred to as an audio tour. The tour tells the history of the cathedral, and relates the martyrdom of the archbishop of Canterbury, Saint Thomas Becket, who was murdered by the king's men in his cathedral. We actually stood on the very same spot where the archbishop was slain.
This is the video I took of the children outside Canterbury Cathedral:
The following pictures show a few of the sights around the city.
The River Stour
Canterbury Castle
Wednesday, September 21st:
Last visit to London.
The first thing we did on arriving in London was to go looking for the London Eye. The following is a video I took as we approached the behemoth.
Then we boarded the capsule to fly the Eye. This is some video footage of that particular experience.
After leaving the Eye, we walked across one of the city bridges. We were treated to the sound of bagpipes. Listen:
We carried on walking and had the incredible good fortune of reaching Big Ben as it chimed noon. Big Ben was finished being built in 1858. As one walks the streets of London you can hear many languages from around the world being spoken, amongst them Chilean. Listen to the chimes. Do you recognize them?
Have a look at some pictures I took while we walked.
Big Ben with the London Eye in the background
How many Redland rugby players fit inside a red telephone box?
Answer: 5
Horse Guards Parade
Buckingham Palace
Canada House on Trafalgar Square
Vote for Pedro, in Covent Garden
Inside the British Museum
The British Museum
Crossing the street on our way to a chicken dinner
After dinner we went to see a musical: Billy Elliot
As I say, this was our last visit to London so we got as much out of it as was humanly possible. We were all dead tired as we rode the coach back to Kent. We reached the school at 00:30 in the morning. We had no problem putting everyone to bed quickly.
September 22nd
We spent all of this day in Bedgebury. The children had English lessons and there was also a ceremony where the Bell teachers awarded prizes for performance, good spirits and positive attitude.
In the evening, the Bell staff gave us a farewell bonfire. We roasted marshmallows, sang songs, and had a wonderful time, all in good cheer. Below are some pictures.
To summarize, it was a wonderful trip, filled with experiences that will last a lifetime.
Next year it should be even better.
All the best.
