On Sunday, 28th August 2016, the students of the advanced courses of English (Mr. Gleumes) and German (Ms. Wahl) went on a trip to the British capital London. We met early in the morning in front of the school and after an enthusiastic speech by Mr. Gleumes our journey started.
While on the bus there were times when everyone was asleep to the delight of the bus driver (and perhaps to one of our teachers?). Sometimes, of course, we were quite noisy and cheerful.
After lunch we arrived at our hostel in the London district of Limehouse – and after our first discoveries in the hostel we got ready for our first adventure. The first stop was at Trafalgar Square from where we walked to Piccadilly Circus and there we had some free time to discover this area or have some dinner. At about 11 pm we were back in the hostel and could recover from our first exhausting day and recharge our batteries to be fit on the following day.
After our breakfast on Monday morning we set off for the Tower of London from where the scavenger hunt would start. After five hours of answering questions and discovering the city we met at Millennium Bridge to discuss further activities. From then on we had free time, which most of us used to go on sightseeing or shopping tour. At 7 pm the advanced course of English and a few students from the other advanced course met in front of the Apollo theatre to visit the musical “Wicked”. Unfortunately not all of us were lucky enough to find the right Apollo Theatre and so some students had to run across London to get to see the beginning of the musical. The musical was awesome to all of us and so a lot of us talked about it while heading back for the hostel.
On Tuesday we went on a daytrip to Brighton since the weather was forecasted to be warm and sunny. In Brighton the students could have a look around the city. Some went on a little sightseeing tour to the Royal Pavilion or the Brighton Pier. After lunch all of us gathered at the beach for a short break and an ice cream. As we students requested, we also did a short trip to a magical place on the Sussex coast called Beachy Head – a trip our teachers did not regret although they were rather sceptical at first. Back in London most of the students ended this day in our hostel´s lounge.
Wednesday was the day of the Street Art Tour in the East End. We split up in our courses and Mr. Gleumes´ course was joined by a young street artist who told us a lot about street art itself but also a lot about the history of this district of London. Doing this tour we also walked across the Curry Mile or Brick Lane, the most famous street of the Bangladeshi quarter. We also were shown artworks by the famous Brit Banksy. We found this tour very interesting and completely different from the usual sightseeing tours. Before heading to the Globe Theatre we stopped at Borough Market near London Bridge to get us something for lunch or just to stroll around and look at all the different booths. At the Globe Theatre we braced ourselves to watch Shakespeare´s “A Midsummer Night´s Dream” (which included 3 hours of standing).
After this very humorous and extraordinary performance we had some free time. Again all of us, regardless the pain in our legs, went to enjoy our last proper evening in London. Some students went to see some sights or to go shopping, others to have dinner.
The last day in London, Thursday, began quite early, since we had to go to Neasden by Tube. Having survived in the famous London rush hour, we visited the Hindu Temple and were openly received. In this Temple we were also given the chance to witness a prayer and we were also told about this religion and their lifestyle. After our visit to the Hindu Temple we had a few more hours of free time and a few students took this chance to go on a guided tour in the Wembley Stadium. For lunch we all met in a restaurant near the hostel and ended our journey to London all together. Then we rushed back to the hostel, grabbed our baggage and loaded them in record-breaking time onto the bus (Congratulations to us!).
On the trip back it was very fast very quiet inside the coach and everyone recognized how exhausting those days were. Our study trip ended on Friday, 2nd September 2016, at 05.30 am.
Eventually we have to say: THANK YOU! To everyone who contributed to this amazing trip that we will hold grateful in our memories. A very big Thank You to our teachers, Ms. Wahl, Mrs. Wans (German advanced course), Ms. Fischer and Mr. Gleumes (English advanced course) who planned this trip and made sure that it was as trouble-free and funny as it was. Also a big Thank You to our bus driver who made sure that every single one of us came back safely.
Lara Festerling & Alina Gerber, Q2