youth education
Teen Travel 4th – 17th August
6 August 2024
Sunday 4th August
Arrival to the Capital
The first day of Teen Travel started early in London collecting all the travellers from both King’s Cross and Heathrow Airport. After checking into our home for the night the group ventured out to Buckingham Palace. They learnt some cool facts and history about the building. They then walked towards 10 Downing Street, enjoying the culture and atmosphere along the way. After all this walking the group decided it was time to get on the bus, however it was a split decision whether to sit at the front or the back. They arrived at Trafalgar Square and saw many cool street performers and looked at all the shops before heading to dinner in Chinatown. The whole group were very thirsty after all this walking, and were grateful to sit down for a little in the restaurant. Everyone enjoyed chatting and getting to know each other. They then headed back for their beds ready for an exciting day to Brighton tomorrow.
Monday, 5th August
London to Bath
Travellers woke up this morning ready for a full day! In the morning they had a look round the British Museum learning about different places throughout time, including Egypt and Greece. They then hopped on a train down to Brighton, and immediately headed out to their pier. The group was desperate to meet TikTok celebrities @brightonshellfish. Everyone was so excited to meet them. One of our travellers even gave them a token koala from Australia. It was definitely a highlight of the day. They then went on to explore Brighton pier, play some of the arcade games and get some balloon animals. After this the group went to have a dip in the sea (even though it was very cold) and had some well deserved fish and chips to end a wonderful day.
Tuesday, 6th August
Beauty in Bath
We started our day with a quick brioche breakfast in our room and headed out for our adventures! We looked for the morning market and found a few stalls open so had a look around!
We then headed back to our room and packed up quickly to head to the train station. We popped to Greggs to grab some supplies for our journey to bath! We each had many pasties and were very full. On the train we played a lovely game of “pig”, which Mia unfortunately lost. We then relaxed until we reached our destination of Bath! As soon as we arrived we headed straight to our beautiful apartment located in the heart of the city. We dropped off our bags and went for some retail therapy, exploring some of the shops. After this it was time for our visit to the Roman baths! Another fantastic Golden Ticket choice!! The history was very interesting, we learnt a lot about how the people used the baths, all of the things that were found there, many gem stone carvings and how people used to throw in coins and messages and curses on people to come true!
We then popped by a place where Bridgerton was filmed! The seamstress shop!
After this we defiantly were in need of a meal, so Cam and Mia whipped us up a fantastic taco bar, with all the meat and accompaniments you could need!!
It was delicious!
We’ve ended our evening relaxing and having cake and popcorn supplied by Mia and Cam and sweets supplied by the teens!
That’s all for today.
Over and out.
Wednesday 7th August
On Our Way to Cardiff
Teen travellers woke up in bath this morning and were greeted with a lovely breakfast made by Cam, with lots of scrambled eggs, avocados and pastries. It went down a treat. They then headed out for a fun shopping trip in bath, enjoying the shops and lively atmosphere. The group then hopped on a train to Cardiff, excited by the idea that they were leaving the country. They had lunch and played many card games throughout the journey. It was a quick turnaround in Cardiff and they headed straight out to the famous Cardiff Castle. They enjoyed climbing all the way to the top to see all of the city. At the bottom the group played some rather large board games and had fun challenging each other to chess, jenga and connect four. After a long day the group were exhausted and excited by the idea of Indian for dinner and headed for bed.
Thursday 8th August
Journey Onward: Cardiff to Manchester Express
Our teens woke up in Cardiff with a very English breakfast of scones with cream and jam. This of course brought up the age old argument of what goes first the cream or the jam? After saying goodbye to Cardiff the group got on a long train ready for Manchester. They bought lunch at Greggs and played many games to keep the long train fun and enjoyable including Pig, Cheat and Kems. There was a lot of signalling going on between each team. The group arrived in Manchester and marvelled at the busy atmosphere. They headed to their flat and got ready for an exciting escape room that was wizard theme. The group had only an hour to unlock the door and complete their wizard tasks which they successfully completed (with many hints). They then headed to the shops to prepare as the travellers were in charge of cooking for Mia and Cam. They cooked a delicious meal with Croque Monsieur, Swedish meatballs and an Aussie potatoe bake. For dessert they had a delicious Italian Salame di Cioccolato. Everyone went to bed happy and full ready for a Manchester adventure.
Friday 9th August
A day in Manchester
Today our teens were sleepy and woke up a little later, ready for a long day in Manchester. They had a delicious home cooked breakfast made by Cam. There were eggs, bacon, sausages among many other things. They ventured out to meet the one and only Adventure Sam, ready to give us an amazing tour of the city. They first headed to the market store Afflecks, some girls got their torture told while the others shopped. They then headed to Piccadilly Gardens and looked round the space before hopping on a tram to Media City. This was an incredible experience and the teens engaged in a tense ping pong patch. Everyone headed to a late lunch at the food court feeling like they should be playing at the Paris Olympics. After this they sadly said goodbye to Sam and headed to some karaoke. There were some amazing performances including “Vampire” “I will survive” and “A Whole New World”. The group then had a quick dinner back at the house, played a small card tournament and then headed to bed, ready for the Lake District tomorrow.
Monday 12th August
Scotland Fringe
We started our day bright and early with sausages, eggs, mushrooms toast galore! Cooked by the famous Chef Cam!
After this we headed on the open top bus straight for our train. Along the way we said goodbye to Mia and thanked her for her time and helping us with our travels. After this the group headed to Edinburgh. As soon as we got off the train we were hit by all of the festivities of the fringe festival! Many new acts trying to secure new people to go to their gigs and lots of street performances. We headed straight to our accommodation, dropped off our bags and went straight to the Palace of Holyrood House. We were given our audio tour and looked around, we learnt many new things about the Royal Family who lived there among the years and visited the beautiful gardens.
After this we went in almost every tourist shop all looking for gifts for our families, some found mugs and magnets and even cow mugs!
After this we went back into the town to do our spooky ghost tour! We walked around learnt some facts about the Old Town in Edinburgh which was very cool.
To end our evening we enjoyed some authentic kebabs before getting the bus back!
We will now enjoy a big rest for our ongoing journey.
Over and out
Tuesday 13th August
Goodbye Edinburgh, Hello to Leeds
Today started with a sweet treat, and a visit from a kitty cat, before we started our journey from Edinburgh to Leeds.
The one and only Kenzie came to join us for the rest of Teen Travel, and we set off to our first mission of the day – a hike through the West Yorkshire countryside. After some beautiful views, we boarded a bus back to Leeds city centre to get some legendary Dixy Chicken for our dinner – delicious!
After a scenic picnic in the park. we headed back to the hotel for some competitive card games & well deserved rest.
Wednesday 14th August
Discovering Oxford
Our Wednesday began with a breakfast of brioche and our favorite – pain au chocolats! Then the travels began again! After a coach road-trip from Leeds to Oxford, we hit the bookshops. The girls treated themselves to some of the classics, before we headed to explore the sights of Oxford. Cam explained the historical significance of Oxford Graduation Hall, and we got a view of the great hall – an inspiration of the Harry Potter universe. Heading home, we had a hearty meal of homemade pasta bake and garlic bread, with a movie to top off the day!
Thursday 15th August
The Day We Met the Spud Man
Our Thursday started with a bus into Oxford and a train taking us to Tamsworth on a very special mission – to meet the Spud Man! As one of our travellers golden ticket, we feasted on jacket potatoes in the picturesque village square before heading to our next destination. This happened to be a traditional British sweet shop, and we went wild in Wyldes. Taking the recommendations of the lovely staff, our travellers treated themselves to some English candies. Our evening was then spent browsing the Oxford highstreet, and exploring the views it had to offer. With burgers for dinner, we went to bed with full bellies and happy memories.
Friday 16th August
London Looping
A sunny morning in Oxford began as we quickly boarded our train to London for a rollercoaster of a day – literally! Our group checked in the accommodation for the night before navigating our way to our next golden ticket destination… Thorpe Park!! We took on many sky-scraping coasters such as The Swarm, Rumba Rapids, and Nemesis. Fueled by churros galore, our travellers enjoyed the British heatwave in all its glory. After a long day of excitement, it was time to head back to the hostel for dinner and another movie night.