Anecdotes from the A11 girls (I'm sorry! I don't remember our group number.):

Culture in the UK comes cheap. It almost seems that nothing complements a cup of afternoon tea and scones better than a piece of engaging theatrical work.Entire theatres dedicated to the showing of just one play or musical, and these theatres in no lack too! Tickets to shows are inexpensive and judging by the multitudes, there is certainly no lack of interest. We also enjoyed free entrance to the museums and were bowled over by the sheer mass of artefacts, leaving us highly discontented with our dear homeland's rather noticeable lack of such defining culture.

The strong sense of discontent and unease at viewing first-hand the massive losses of the war; witnessing with slight disgust the opulence and redundance of the Versailles; the exhilaration of standing at the top of the Eiffel, looking down at the rest of Paris - all of these were part and parcel of our experience in Europe. No culture is complete or perfect - under the gloss on the surface lies the displeasing and unsavoury part of the new society. But appreciation and tolerance is what brings the understanding of culture closer - both that of the foreign land, and of our own.