One of our former students, Moritz from Germany, writes about his positive experience of a Hilderstone course and stay during the winter months.
Before I applied for the language course at Hilderstone College, I had never heard of the town of Broadstairs. Since the town is located in England and my stay was going to be in February, I expected only rainy and cold weather. Combined with early sunsets I imagined three weeks of confinement to the classroom and the homestay. However, I was proved wrong – except for the weather and the hours of ‘sunshine’.
Broadstairs offers, despite the bad weather, a variety of opportunities to enjoy the time with the lessons with colleagues or local people. Since the pubs in Broadstairs are worth their own blog, they are mentioned here only for the sake of completeness. Nevertheless, most events in the evening included a meeting in public places like cafes, a spa or just at the beach.
Due to the location of Broadstairs, towns like Margate or Ramsgate can be included for planning activities in the evening. Depending on the chosen way, the walk to these cities is already an experience. One has to keep in mind that the area around Broadstairs is a touristic region during the summer period. Thus there are the same opportunities with fewer tourists to share when you visit in the winter period.
A last point to mention is the ‘Blues Bash’ festival in February. Annually, most pubs invite bands for the whole weekend resulting in limitless live music. An event worth experiencing.
Obviously there are also reasons for visiting Broadstairs during the summer. The town won’t be as empty as in February and the weather will be warmer. In my opinion, neither overcrowded towns nor scorching temperatures are the key to an appealing stay, but the opportunity to experience the town without crowds of tourists filling the streets.