#

11th February 2010 - En-Route to Berlin!

World Bear is currently off to visit Berlin with the History Department. He’s never been to Germany before so is looking forward to what he’s going to see and learn. Miss Hancock is looking after him so I’m sure he’ll have a good time!

---

Sight-Seeing around London - Day 2.

I was up early again, got to make the most of the day before going back to Wakefield.
We started by going back on the tube to go to the Victoria and Albert museum. The escalators were massive.

We had some fun on some of the displays where Mr. Campbell, Tyler, Oscar and I were laughing our heads off as we were taking the pictures of the displays!

Then onto the Science museum, well it was Mr. Campbell’s idea.

I made a quick phone call in a red telephone box (I haven’t seen one of those in ages) before going back to the tube and going home. Oscar and Tyler tried to scare me with their Halloween hats but I wasn’t fooled. All in all it was a very enjoyable weekend. Thank you Mr Campbell, Tyler and Oscar.

 

Off to London to see The Lion King - Day 1.

Up early to catch the train, brushed my teeth but not enough time to get breakfast so I had to get something on the train.

I was really excited as I was going to see the Lion King with Mr Campbell and his family. I got dropped off at Wakefield Westgate train station and on the train I had a ham and cheese croissant (very continental), before getting a little bored so Oscar lent me his Nintendo DS and I played on “Brain Training”.

I saw some snow passing through Newark, we all arrived at Kings Cross in London after about 2 and a half hours. We then caught the tube to go and get the tickets.

 

The Theatre was awesome, I read the program before the show to see if I knew anyone in the show, then sat down and thoroughly enjoyed the experience, it was spectacular!

---

Christmas Holidays in Scotland - Hogmanay

In Scotland, New Year's Eve is a big affair with many people seeing in the New Year at famous land marks across the country, the most famous being at Edinburgh Castle and Prince's Street. There were lots of outdoor concerts but some were cancelled due to the bad weather. It was -12/-15 some night's during my stay in Scotland, too cold for me to be outside for long. I really enjoyed my visit to Scotland but if I go again I need to make sure I take my thermals. I spent a day in Glasgow and a few hours in Edinburgh to go to Murrayfield to watch the rugby, I couldn't get to the highlands due to the heavy snow but I think it's worth a visit to test the skiing conditions out another time.

 

Christmas Holidays in Scotland - Wallace Monument

Sat on one of the canons on the gun battery I looked over to Wallace Monument. I learned that over 700 years ago tyranny and terror were the tools being used by England to rule Scotland. Occupied and oppressed, the Scottish nation sought a hero to challenge the cruelty of King Edward I. Someone to take the campaign for freedom into battle, and on to victory. When the two countries faced each other at the Battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297, Scotland was led to victory by a figure destined to become a national hero, William Wallace. You may have seen the film 'Braveheart' which is the story of William Wallace, I wanted to paint my face blue and white but it would have all got stuck in my fur. The Wallace Monument tower over looks the scene of Scotland's victory at The Battle of Stirling Bridge.

 

Christmas Holidays in Scotland - Stirling Castle (Part 3)

Walking around the top of the castle, one of the largest and most important castles in Scotland, I could see for miles in all directions; out to the Campsies, Trossachs and Ochils and follow The Forth all the way to the bridge in the distance. The castle sits atop Castle Hill, which is a volcanic crag. I looked over the edge to see a very big drop if I were to slip, lucky I had good grips on my boots. I could also see the old royal gardens at the foot of the castle, I was told that not only was Stirling Castle a defensive castle but it was also a royal residence. I think I would get lost in such a big building without a guide.

 

Christmas Holidays in Scotland - Stirling Castle (Part 2)

The great hall of the Castle is huge, it has 3 very large fireplaces to keep it warm. There was a lovely big decorated Christmas tree and some candles flickered. I took the opportunity to sit in the thrown in front of the long table at one end of the hall, I felt very important but because I was so small I really needed a cushion. After warming up in the great hall I decided to walk the ramparts and look at the views from the walls of the castle.

 

Christmas Holidays in Scotland - Stirling Castle (Part1)

It had snowed really heavy over night so in the fresh snow I decided I wanted to go sightseeing. After a steep journey up the cobbled street through the centre of Stirling and past the Old Jail I came to the Castle gates. The Castle staff were really friendly and watched me getting my photo taken. There weren't many visitors due to the weather so I was able to have a good look round the castle, I could see in the car park of the castle preparations were being made for the Hogmanay celebrations.

 

Christmas Holidays in Scotland - The Journey.

Wearing my Europe tie I embarked on my journey to Scotland on the first Sunday of the holidays. It took a long time to get to Scotland as it started snowing in the morning and by the time I got to the North West of England all the roads were really difficult to navigate, but the Cumbrian hills were really pretty draped in thick white snow. I had never seen snow, hail and lightening all at the same time before, luckily i had packed some supplies and a bar of chocoalte incase i had to stay the night in the car. After a journey which took twice as long as it should have done I eventually arrived in Scotland for my 2 week stay.

---

Beijing Airport - Day 6

Our groups itinerary involved an internal flight to Hangzhou in Zheijang province, where we stayed for a few days. When we got to Hangzhou Language School we were all given t-shirts and baseball caps to wear. We got to visit some local museums, go on shopping trips and boat trips and visited the West Lake. We also had lessons in the school to improve our Chinese language skills, Calligraphy and extend our knowledge of Chinese Culture. We had a go at traditional paper cutting and had special tuiton for Kung Fu moves. We had some very hot days of over 30 degrees but we also encountered another outbreak of Swine Flu so were kept on school campus for a couple of days and 2 of my friends had to go to hospital as a preventative measure. We did all get to see the eclipse which was the best place in the world to see it. The total solar eclipse only happens every few hundred years so we were really lucky to see it. Lucky it wasn't raining that day, when it rains in Hangzhou it pours down.

 

Opening Ceremony - Day 5

We were all invited to a big ceremony in Beijing with all the other 1,500 summer camp students from UK and USA. It got dark really quick and when the stage was lit up there were dancing dragons, kung fu displays, singing, poems and Chinese Opera. We were on TV in China! It was a good night and everyone got toy Lions and Pandas to represent the link between the UK and China.

 

Beijing - Day 5

Beijing was really good, we got to see lots of sights such as Beijing Zoo (Where i did get to see a giant panda, It wasn't as scarey as i thought it would be), The Great Wall, The Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Tiannanmen Square, The Olympic Park and lots of shopping trips. We also had some cultural classes such as traditional face painting, kite making, Fine Art, Calligraphy and Martial Arts. We did miss some of the planned activities due to an outbreak in Swine Flu on Campus but non of my friends were directly effected.

 

Landed in Dubai - Day 1

After an 8 hour flight we arrived safely in Dubai for our connecting flight to Beijing. We were all a bit tired but very excited that we were half way through our journey. It was really hot when we got off the plane, lucky it was night time otherwise i may have had to take off my fur coat. One of my friends lost their boarding pass so we had to do a lot of walking around the airport to get it sorted. We all had time to buy drinks and a few souvenirs, the drinks were really cheap in comparison to England. I was looking forward to getting some sleep on the next plane.

 

At Manchester Airport - Day 1

We all got to the airport in plenty of time, only a few minor incidents with getting the whole group through security checks but i made a few of the security people smile as a went through the scan machine. Mr Khan looked after me in the airport because it's a big place. I was just relaxing before the long flight.

 

Trip to the Airport - Day 1

My Trip to China on the bridge summer camp with 13 of my friends from Horbury school started with a journey to Manchester airport to catch the first of 2 planes to take me to Beijing. I was struggling to see out of the window so Miss Gibbs kindly sat me on a file, i was really excited and checked i had my pawsport to travel about 10 times.

 

14th July 2009 - En-Route to China!

World Bear is currently off to travel China, staying in Beijing with the Horbury Summer Camp students. He's a bit nervous about quarantine, but we think he'll get through it just fine. He's looking forward to meeting a panda...