Following the Equator

Focus On: Royal Observatory, Greenwich

Every once in a while, political leadership and science come together to advance man's transportation possibilities, and end up leaving some truly lasting marks.

Forty years ago today, efforts by scientists and astronauts at NASA, coupled with the inspiring will of the late President Kennedy, placed the first men on the moon. That day in 1969 left us with a quote for the ages, an enduring image and a lasting marker (OK, maybe not so lasting, but the sentiment surely is).

More than 300 years ago and across the ocean in England, King Charles II commissioned the Royal Observatory at Greenwich to better chart the night skies as a way to improve navigation. The lasting marks that Charles & Co. left behind: the Prime Meridian (i.e., 0° longitude, the arbitrary place chosen to divide the world vertically); and growing out of the Prime Meridan, Greenwich Mean Time ("GMT"), the world's "official" time, from which all the world's time zones are calculated (e.g., my time zone is GMT –5). 

Groups traveling on certain EF Educational Tours itineraries to the United Kingdom will visit the Royal Observatory at Greenwich.

Although EF offers no tours to the moon (yet), there are domestic itineraries that include the Kenendy Space Center. And, of course, EF offers tours all over the world, any of which are great for seeing the moon—and your world—from new angles!

Photo: neiljs via Flickr (CC license)

Focus On: Lake District

About halfway up Great Britain, in the upper reaches of England and just before the border with Scotland, lies the Lake District.

It is a stunningly beautiful landscape of lakes and "fells" (mountains), old stone walls and rolling green countryside. It's a rural paradise, like Switzerland with lower mountains and (charmingly) lower levels of perfectionism. 

William Wordsworth, one of the premier poets of the English language, is a product of the Lake District. This is one of his most famous poems. Wordsworth's residences—Dove Cottage in the village of Grasmere (his home from 1799 to 1808) and the nearby Rydal Mount (1813-1850)—are both open to visitors.

Photo of the Week: Stonehenge

The mysterious origins of Stonehenge give it an aura that has marveled visitors for millenniums. That aura gives nearly all photos of the legendary stone structure a magical, mystical quality.

This photo of Stonehenge—taken by Running_Machina, who submitted it to the EF Tours group on Flickr—is no different.

If you have your own travel photos, please add them to the EF Tours pool on Flickr. We select a new Photo of the Week every Thursday.

Photo: Running_Machina via Flickr (EF Tours pool)

Photo of the Week: London Eye

The London Eye—Europe's biggest Ferris wheel that rises nearly 450 feet over the city and opened in 2000—has been compared to a much older European icon.

"The Eye has done for London what the Eiffel Tower did for Paris," wrote noted British architect Sir Richard Rogers, "which
is to give it a symbol and to let people climb above the city and look back down on it. Not just specialists or rich people, but everybody. That's the beauty of it: it is public and accessible, and it is in a great position at the heart of London."

I love the perspective of this photo of the London Eye, which was submitted to the EF Tours group on Flickr by Skaines.

Do you have great travel destination photos? Submit them to the
EF Tours pool on Flickr. We select a new Photo of the Week every Thursday.

Photo: Skaines via Flickr (EF Tours pool)

Group Leader Spotlight: Linda Piccolo

From attending a Wiccan wedding at Stonehenge to bribing a housekeeper to let her see the suite where Agatha Christie wrote her novels, Linda Piccolo has had her fair share of adventures while traveling abroad with her students on EF tours.

The high school English and theater teacher from Montana has even been inspired by her travels to write a play, which was published and performed by one of her drama classes last year.

In this installment of the Group Leader Spotlight, Linda shares some of her experiences, describes how important travel is for students and hints at her next travel-inspired play.

Group Leader Spotlight: Chad Brannon

Traveling has always been an integral part of Chad Brannon's life. Now, as a middle-school science teacher in Alabama, Chad is making travel an important part of his students' lives, too.

And he has the stories to prove it.

Ask him about the effect that educational travel has on his students, and he'll tell you a story about the boy who once had no direction but now credits his tour for opening his eyes, or the boy who traveled to Costa Rica and now wants to major in Spanish education and help underprivileged kids speak English, or the girl who came out of her shell after braving the zip line through the Costa Rican rainforest.

Chad—pictured above on the right with his co-group leader, John DiPlacido—is preparing to lead his fourth tour with EF, taking his students back to Costa Rica in June. He took some time out of his busy spring break to share some of his favorite stories with us:

Photo of the Week: Changing of the Guard

The Changing of the Queen's Guard outside Buckingham Palace is one of the most popular (and most photographed) sights in London.

This photo was submitted to the EF Tours group on Flickr by ls1rks. If you have any good travel destination photos, please submit them to our pool on Flickr. We choose a new Photo of the Week every Thursday.

Photo: ls1rks via Flickr

Crossing Abbey Road

There are few more iconic street crossings than the one at Abbey Road in London.

Since the Beatles famously crossed the street on the cover of their legendary Abbey Road album 40 years ago, the street has become a hugely popular tourist attraction.

Now, another band depicts a day in the life of Abbey Road in a new music video.

Gadling tipped us off to this wonderful video by Brisbane-based Blame Ringo for its song "Garble Arch." Through time-lapse photography, the video captures tourists and other passers-by re-enacting the Beatles' cover, and it's quickly becoming a viral hit.

It's hilarious (and almost hypnotic) watching people dodge traffic to get their moment in the intersection. Plus, the song is really good, too.

What do you think of the video (and the song)? Have you posed for your own photos at Abbey Road? Please let us know with your comments below.

Focus On: Hadrian's Wall

In northern England, just about at the modern-day border between England and Scotland, lies the 1,900-year-old Hadrian's Wall.

It's a Roman wall, ordered built by the Roman Emperor Hadrian in A.D. 122. It spans the length of the island of Great Britain, which, at that narrow point in the island, is about 73 miles.

Hadrian's Wall sat on what was then the outer reaches of the Roman Empire; it kept out the riff-raff from the north (namely, bands of raiders from modern-day Scotland). Whether under the watchful eye of a raider-killing centurion or a weed-killing preservationist, the wall's structural integrity has remained a focus throughout.

The Romans built a number of forts along the wall. Groups traveling on certain EF Educational Tours itineraries will visit Housesteads, one of those forts.

Photo: andym8y via Flickr (CC license)

England, Great Britain or United Kingdom?

England, Great Britain, United Kingdom — it can get confusing. Sometimes, the names are interchangeable; most of the time, they're not. And then there's Wales, Scotland, Ireland and Northern Ireland.

So what's what? Here's a quick explanation to decipher which part of the British Isles you're talking about.

Group Leader Spotlight: Dan Ware

It can happen at any point in life, but once you’ve been bitten by the travel bug, it’s hard to sit still. And with four trips on the horizon, Dan Ware—a history and geography teacher at Rock Bridge High School in Columbia, Missouri—is doing anything but that.

Whether he’s traveling on an educational tour to Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam or exploring Austria, Germany and Switzerland, Dan understands the importance of the lessons that take place outside of the classroom. To integrate his tours into his classroom lessons, he takes advantage of the credit option EF offers and also makes sure to teach his students some of the life skills they’ll need for traveling abroad at his pre-tour meetings.

Over the years, Dan (pictured above on a school visit in Kenya) has learned a few tricks for holding a successful recruitment, too. He shares some of his secrets:

Focus On: Warwick Castle

About two hours northwest of London is Warwick—pronounced "WORR-ik"—home of Warwick Castle.

Warwick Castle was built by William the Conquerer in 1068 (just two years after his famous 1066 victory over the Anglo-Saxons at the Battle of Hastings) on a cliff overlooking the River Avon. Initially, the castle was a wooden structure of the motte-and-bailey design—a raised mound (the "motte") with a walled courtyard on top (the "bailey"). The wood was replaced with stone in the 1100s.