Report from students in Mr. Thiel’s class (short version)
Monday
On Monday, the 11th of December, the three teachers, Mr. Thiel, Ms Blohm and Ms Halley, and us students met at the train station at 6:30 AM. With tired eyes and heavy suitcases, we walked to our train track. The train arrived on time at around 7 AM. Finally, we arrived in London. From there on, it was only a few more stops on the Tube until we reached Wembley where our hotel was located. After settling in the hotel, we went out in groups of at least three and looked for a place to eat. Later, in the hotel lobby we met and played a game to get to know each other better.
Tuesday
On Tuesday, we went to Camden Market. We took the Tube for a bit, but we walked for a long time through a beautiful park and next to a canal, which led us directly to Camden Market. When we arrived at the market, we walked through the many different food stalls in groups of at least three people. There were some cool shops with very unusual sweets and lots of souvenir shops. The food from the food stalls was very tasty, but relatively expensive for the size of the portions. After about two hours, we all met again and took a long walk through London and had a lot of free time. After our free time we met again and took the Tube back to the hotel.
Wednesday
On Wednesday, we visited the British History Museum where we got two hours to explore all the diverse exhibitions from all around the world. Then we had time to get food by ourselves and walk around the streets of London a little bit. Afterwards, we took one of the famous red busses to Big Ben and Westminster Abbey where we listened to presentations from our classmates. At the end of the day our group split in two: one group went back to the hotel and the other group walked across the Christmas market near London Eye. Everyone had dinner in their own little groups but were reunited when we had the daily evening meeting in the lobby to talk about the plans for the next day.
Thursday
Today's adventure in London was truly amazing! After a hearty breakfast at our hotel, we began our tour with a visit to the Tower. Our guide shared captivating stories about its history, from serving as a prison to its various other roles. Following the tour, we had free time to explore the different buildings within the Tower, and the highlight for many of us was seeing the amazing Crown Jewels – they were truly spectacular! After a quick break, our sightseeing journey continued with a visit to the majestic Buckingham Palace. Later, we strolled through Green Park to Piccadilly Circus, where we had time to explore and shop. Reuniting as a group, we then enjoyed dinner – delicious Mexican food – celebrating our last evening together in London. Afterwards, some decided to seize the opportunity to see the city one last time, walking over the Tower Bridge and enjoying London's amazing skyline silhouette.
Friday
After four great days of exploring London, we went back to Berlin on the 5th day, the 15th of December. The train left London at around 1 PM. Well rested and happy to be back home soon we made our way to the station. Arriving at about 1.30 AM, many students were picked up by their parents or friends.
Louisa, Clara, Lina and Noah (LK Mr. Thiel)
Report from students in Ms. Blohm’s class (short version)
Arrival day
We met on Monday the 11th of December at 6:30 o’clock in the morning at Berlin main station. When we arrived in Brussels we went to the gate of the Eurostar - the train that drives through the Eurotunnel to the British Islands. We were surprised to find that the expensive Eurostar was a fairly old train. After a long travel day, we finally arrived at Wembley Park where we only had to walk about ten minutes to our hotel.
First day
On the first day in London, we got up early in the morning and headed to Camden Market. Camden Market itself was on a small area right next to a little canal and on it were food trucks
side by side who served food from all over the world. For example, Belgian fries or American
brisket and even Mongolian beef sandwiches. After everybody was stuffed, we went over to St. Paul‘s Cathedral where one of our classmates gave a short presentation about the cathedral and its history. Luckily the famous Millennium Bridge was not that far and so we went over it to visit Shakespear ‘s Globe where another one of our classmates told us about its history and meaning. We ended the day with walking by ourselves through the Soho district and got to know a totally different side of London.
Second Day
On our second day in London, we went to the British Museum which had an array of different exhibitions about different countries and time periods. My personal favourite was the Enlightment Gallery, a long hallway which hosted many different old books about topics like Biology or Geography in beautiful wooden bookshelves as well as many different busts from fictional characters like Zeus and real and influential people like Voltaire and Isaac Newton. Another point of interest was the Japan exhibition in which you were able to learn about Japan‘s history as an empire as well as the traditions and clothing styles of the different time periods. After some free time in Bloomsbury, we hopped in the tube and drove to Westminster which houses the House of Commons and the House of Lords which together make up the legislative branch of government in the UK. And that wraps up a wonderful and educational second day in London.
Third Day
On our third and last day in London we saw a lot of places. We started the day by going to the Tower of London and had a guide who walked us around and told us a lot of interesting information. After lunch we then had the opportunity to either go to the Buckingham Palace or the Tate Gallery. Most of us went to the Buckingham Palace which was a great experience. After visiting the palace, we walked through Green Park and then along Picadilly Street to Picadilly Circus which was very crowded. To end the day, we went together as a group to a Mexican place called DFTacos. They had pretty good food but it also was quite expensive. In the end, we took the underground back to our hotel in Wembley.
Departure day
On Friday the 15th of December, we started our journey back home at 10 o’clock after breakfast. We took the metropolitan line back to King’s Cross St. Pancras where we had some time to get something to eat and exchange our remaining pounds into euros. Some even used the time to visit the Harry Potter exhibition and Hannes played the piano accessible for everyone in the foyer of the station. Then we needed to check in at the security for the Eurostar. We arrived late at Berlin main station at around 1:30 o’clock in the morning where our ways split.
Fritz, Victor, Franz and Otto (LK Ms. Blohm)