Will Cole
Yesterday we unfortunately had to leave Florence and headed to Venice which was just breathtaking. Venice and Florence were definitely 2 of the places I was looking forward to the most and they both lived up to expectation, Florence had absolutely stunning scenery and architecture, most of the building there are older than our country, and Venice had incredible buildings as well, but the best feature of Venice was the canals. The canals were unbelievable, it was like going into assassins creed. It was also amazing seeing all the gondolas and boats on the canals and that they are there main transport around the city.
We only stayed in Venice for about 6 hours but those hours have been some of the best on the trip so far. We first saw the Rialto bridge and San Marco square which were both incredible. The San Marco square was a massive uncovered area surrounded by large columns with shops around the outside and a magnificent church at one end so this was definitely one of the highlights of Venice.
We then went to see the Bridge of Sighs which was great and then took a ferry up the grand canal. The view from the ferry was absolutely stunning as you cold see all the large churches and domes on both sides of the shore so in summary Venice and Florence have probably been my two favourite places so far but Rome did amazing tourist sites.
We are in France on a train to Avignon at the moment. We are all knackered as the overnight train was not the best place to sleep as the rooms were seriously small but it's really exciting to be in France. So far the trip has been amazing so I'm looking forward to another incredible 2 weeks.
Friday, April 17
George Kirkwood
George Kirkwood
Yesterday the group visited the amazing city of Venice. Venice was definitely one of the places on the trip that I was looking forward to the most, and it didn't disappoint, with much of the day spent looking for buildings from Casino Royale and The Italian Job. The day started with Mr Buckingham sending us off in small groups to find the Rialto Bridge, which for my group was more difficult than we had imagined as Venice is the most confusing city I had ever been in. After many pictures had been taken at the Rialto Bridge, the group then left for San Marco square, or so we thought, in fact the rest of the group had gone to get some food from the supermarket, leaving eight of us lost in Venice, we even considered hiring our own gondola to cruise around but thought that Mr Buckingham may not have been impressed if he saw us on the canals after wondering where we had been for 2 hours.
We eventually found the rest of the group in time for a very long speech about the square from Stapleton, and preceded to enter the main Church of Venice, which was incredible, with over 4000 square metres of gold mosaic on the roof. After returning to the train station on a scenic ferry ride through the city, we met up with Mr Smith who had managed to get lost earlier in the day and hadn't seen us for several hours, we think he wasn't really lost and just wanted to explore the city all by himself. We had a couple of hours of free time in the afternoon to get dinner and found a steakhouse that did amazing burgers.
We left Venice in the evening on an overnight train with very cosy sleeping arrangements, and after being woken at 5:30 this morning to get off the train, I find myself being rather tired whilst writing this blog. I think all the boys are looking for a relaxing few days in Beaucaire after a busy week.
Yesterday the group visited the amazing city of Venice. Venice was definitely one of the places on the trip that I was looking forward to the most, and it didn't disappoint, with much of the day spent looking for buildings from Casino Royale and The Italian Job. The day started with Mr Buckingham sending us off in small groups to find the Rialto Bridge, which for my group was more difficult than we had imagined as Venice is the most confusing city I had ever been in. After many pictures had been taken at the Rialto Bridge, the group then left for San Marco square, or so we thought, in fact the rest of the group had gone to get some food from the supermarket, leaving eight of us lost in Venice, we even considered hiring our own gondola to cruise around but thought that Mr Buckingham may not have been impressed if he saw us on the canals after wondering where we had been for 2 hours.
We eventually found the rest of the group in time for a very long speech about the square from Stapleton, and preceded to enter the main Church of Venice, which was incredible, with over 4000 square metres of gold mosaic on the roof. After returning to the train station on a scenic ferry ride through the city, we met up with Mr Smith who had managed to get lost earlier in the day and hadn't seen us for several hours, we think he wasn't really lost and just wanted to explore the city all by himself. We had a couple of hours of free time in the afternoon to get dinner and found a steakhouse that did amazing burgers.
We left Venice in the evening on an overnight train with very cosy sleeping arrangements, and after being woken at 5:30 this morning to get off the train, I find myself being rather tired whilst writing this blog. I think all the boys are looking for a relaxing few days in Beaucaire after a busy week.
Charlie Hurring
Charlie Hurring
As we cruise along the Italian countryside on our way to Venice, I can reflect on the past few days in Florence. For me, Florence was definitely my favourite place of the trip to date, I loved the low key atmosphere of the streets and the natural beauty of the town, in contrast to the bustling streets of Athens and Rome.
For me the highlight of Florence was Pompeii. About an hour outside Florence, Pompeii is an ancient city that was destroyed by a volcanic eruption in 79AD, and has since been excavated to provide a popular tourist destination. What I found so interesting about Pompeii was how untouched the town has been by modern society; you can see exactly how the locals used to live, which is something that is very hard to find around the world. We roamed around Pompeii for about two hours, and really got a glimpse into the daily life of the Pompeians.
This experience will leave a lasting impression on me as I was able to see just how different, and in most circumstances difficult, life was for most people centuries ago.
Another memorable experience has been a new game that the boys have developed. In the game, the boy giving the speech on the certain historical landmark has been given a word that they must say in their speech several times. For example, Tommy Hayes had to say 'peasant' seven times during his speech on the Duomo, providing outstanding laughs among the boys. Other attempts were very unsuccessful, eg Sam Bassett, who's attempt to incorporate the word 'pingers' three times into his speech caused nothing but awkwardness and cringing among spectators.
As we cruise along the Italian countryside on our way to Venice, I can reflect on the past few days in Florence. For me, Florence was definitely my favourite place of the trip to date, I loved the low key atmosphere of the streets and the natural beauty of the town, in contrast to the bustling streets of Athens and Rome.
For me the highlight of Florence was Pompeii. About an hour outside Florence, Pompeii is an ancient city that was destroyed by a volcanic eruption in 79AD, and has since been excavated to provide a popular tourist destination. What I found so interesting about Pompeii was how untouched the town has been by modern society; you can see exactly how the locals used to live, which is something that is very hard to find around the world. We roamed around Pompeii for about two hours, and really got a glimpse into the daily life of the Pompeians.
This experience will leave a lasting impression on me as I was able to see just how different, and in most circumstances difficult, life was for most people centuries ago.
Another memorable experience has been a new game that the boys have developed. In the game, the boy giving the speech on the certain historical landmark has been given a word that they must say in their speech several times. For example, Tommy Hayes had to say 'peasant' seven times during his speech on the Duomo, providing outstanding laughs among the boys. Other attempts were very unsuccessful, eg Sam Bassett, who's attempt to incorporate the word 'pingers' three times into his speech caused nothing but awkwardness and cringing among spectators.
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