Arcadia England

This past weekend we took our students to visit Stonehenge, an ancient site with so many unanswered questions. Who constructed Stonehenge? Why was it created? Was it a burial ground? Was it aliens? The world may never know! What makes Stonehenge so interesting, however, isn't just the unsolved mystery of its origin, but the fact that it's been there since 3000 BC. No wonder it attracts over a million visitors per year!

And, like all Stonehenge visitors, we gawked at the ancient stones, took loads of photos, and tried our best not to get blown away by the gale force winds (which we were able to successfully accomplish)!

From Stonehenge we made our way to the beautiful (although very rainy) city of Bath, where our students were free to explore the city as well as stroll through the Roman Baths exhibition and learn about the sites's fascinating history. 

Overall, it was a wonderfully enriching trip, even despite the torrential rain! 

Here's what our students have to say about the trip!

My favorite part of the trip was visiting the Roman Baths. It was incredible to see these structures that were a part of people's lives thousands of years ago, and then walk out and pass a modern-day shopping district on the way to a coffee shop. I think it's so cool to see history right in the middle of a modern city. We don't have much of that in America, and not nearly the depth of history as is here in the UK." - Lori Allen, University of Kentucky student, London Intern

 The most surprising thing to me about Stonehenge was the size of the stones. For some reason I had always imagined them taller, and while it was nothing like the Stonehenge featured in This Is Spinal Tap, I expected them to be upwards of 30 feet tall. What was so appealing about Bath was that it felt as though I was really in the Roman era. Between the architecture and the Roman Baths, I sometimes wondered if I had travelled back in time or stepped into an alternate universe." Jeremy Cohen, Brandeis University student, Queen Mary Direct Enrol

Even though the weather at Stonehenge wasn’t ideal, I’m still happy I toughed it out to see it. Bath is probably one of my favorite cities I’ve been to so far, and I’m definitely considering going back for a day trip!" - Colleen Brennan, Pennsylvania State University student, London Intern

 The Stonehenge and Bath trip was truly a remarkable experience. It was a day that allowed me to transcend time as the history nerd in me reveled in the opportunity to visit one of the seven wonders of the world and one of the most popular heritage attractions in the UK. In some oddly poetic sort of way, it was the torrential downpour of that morning that caused the real time appearance of Stonehenge to be much more bewildering than from photos I've seen before. Regardless of the weather (studying in England has allowed me to expect the unexpected in all cases concerning sunshine), the highlight of the trip was being able to witness the historical beauty that is The Roman Baths. I paused at one of the corners directly above one of the ends of the large outdoor bath and was whisked away by the architectural brilliance that has (surprisingly) been so well-preserved. The symmetry was mesmerizing and the faded hues of a kind of golden ochre and juniper green were far from lackluster. Every angle was the perfect angle. Needless to say, no picture taken that day would have done the attraction any justice." - Kathleen Baltazar, George Washington University student, University of Manchester Direct Enrol