Like many times before, the students of the bilingual class (8y and 9a) went on a one-week trip to London, UK.
We were accompanied by Mr. Ritter, Mrs. Höfling-Koppenhöfer and Mr. Theobald. On Sunday evening we took the plane to Stansted Airport and from there we took the Stansted Express and lastly the underground train to our hostel.
We stayed at the YHA Earl's Court Hostel. When we finally arrived there, we were all exhausted and tired, so we went to our rooms and straight to bed. We all stayed in groups of 4-6. In the morning, we had breakfast in the cafeteria together. The hostel offered a breakfast buffet with croissants, toast, cereals and yogurt. We always had to get a refill on the croissants because they were so good.
After breakfast, we went to the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben. On the way to Buckingham Palace, we had a quick stop to take a look at the London Eye. At the Buckingham Palace, we watched the Changing of the Guards. Despite the fact that it was very crowded and loud, it was interesting to watch. For lunch, we walked to Trafalgar Square, which most of us didn't find that interesting. Lastly, that day, we visited Westminster Abbey, a big ‘royal’ church and joined the evening song which is a church service with readings and songs.
On the next day, we walked over Tower Bridge to a skyscraper to get an overview of London. From there you could see the Gherkin and the Cheesegrater as well as the Walkie Talkie and the Shard. After that we went to Tate Modern Art Gallery which we found very interesting. They had a huge collection of paintings, posters and sculptures. On our way back we walked over the Millennium's bridge which is also called the Wobbly Bridge. We then went to King's Cross Station, where you could find the famous Harry Potter platform 9 3/4. Since the line for taking photos was so long, we just looked at it and took pictures from the outside. From there, we took the underground train to Oxford Street, which is one of London's most popular shopping streets. They had many cool, unique shops.
Back at the hostel, we got some rest after the long day and had pizza together. The next morning we took the river bus to Greenwich, which was really fun. In Greenwich, we took cable cars also known as the Dangleway over the Thames. The drive lasted ten minutes and was very nice, and we all enjoyed it. Next off we walked to Greenwich Park where the Prime Meridian is located which separates the east side from the west side of the Earth. Afterwards we got something to eat and then met up at Cutty Sark. In the afternoon we went to Covent Garden where we could go shopping again. They had a lot of shops, including clothes shops, food shops and souvenir shops. Some of us went to the British Museum, while the others were at Covent Garden. The other students found the museum very interesting and even said it was the best museum they had visited. In the evening we walked to the theater where we watched the Back to the Future musical, which we all found very impressive - this was probably the highlight of the trip. We got back to the hostel late, so we just packed and went to bed.
Our last morning started off with breakfast, and right after that we left for our last stop at the Science Museum. They had many topics such as medicine, math, technology and also an area with aircraft. One of the most popular things there was the Apollo 11 command module.
After the museum visit, it was time for us to say goodbye to London. We took the Stansted Express back to the airport and flew back to Germany.
All in all, we had a great time in London with a full program. We think it is fair to say that the class trip brought many of us together and that we made new friends, and we all enjoyed the time.
Emely (9a), Laetitia (8y)