11 Photos That Will Make You Want to Study Abroad in England

photo essay by Ellie Poulin, Greenheart Travel high school student in the U.K.

Now, it’s impossible to tell you everything that happened while I was studying abroad in England. I do, however, have some photos I can share with you to show you some of the highlights of my experience, in no particular order. Enjoy!

Check out Ellie’s pictures from her study abroad program in England:

This one I took while walking around Oxford… I just thought it was cute. There were so many bikes in that town!

A (slightly blurry) picture of me in one of the Oxford doors. I don’t know why, but I just really liked the doors there- there were a lot of them, they were all old, and all different.

I went to London for a day with my host sister Maria, from Austria, and our friend Martina, from Italy. We had a blast at Madame Tussaud’s and walking around various parks. And Big Ben, of course.

Why go to England? Why is England the setting for fairytales (cough-Lord of the Rings was set in the midlands-cough)? Is all that “classic” rolling-hills-and-sheep countryside real? This picture should answer all those questions:

I told a girl in my class that America doesn’t have castles. Her response: “well, what do you call them, then?”
This is why I got really excited over even ruins of castles, like this one:

Throughout my stay, I kept a running count of how many dogs I saw. The reasons for this are twofold: I really like dogs, and there were too many sheep to count. My friend’s dog, Milo, gets extra fluffy dog points:

I visited Stratford Upon Avon on the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death. It was incredibly busy, but also a beautiful day in a beautiful town. Here’s a picture from the window of the house the bard was born in.

Remember how I said I got really excited about castles? Well, Warwick is a really big one, which has been kept up and is now fully touristy. Really awesome. (The only thing that stopped me from buying a wooden sword was the fact that it wouldn’t fit in my suitcase and TSA probably would frown upon me carrying it on the plane.) Here’s a view from one of the ramparts:

Of course, studying abroad isn’t all about the castles and the been-here-since-the-dawn-of-time towns. It’s also chilling with the cat, accidentally twinning with the host sister, and making homemade pizza with the host family.

Cheers!

Ellie

To see all of Ellie’s photos and read more of her posts during her program in the U.K., check out her blog at ellietakeskidderminster.tumblr.com.