Our trip to London (E LK 12)

(Palace of Westminster and the Clock Tower / Big Ben)

Our trip to London: DAY ONE (30^th of May, 2013)

On 29^thMay, 2013 our trip to London started. First, we met in Cologne at a café at 10 pm, so we could spend some time together before the bus arrived. We drank some drinks and talked about our plans for London. At midnight, we sat in the bus and tried to sleep. After a six hours ride, we got on the ferry for two hours. You could not walk in the ferry because it made you feel drunk due to the light swinging. Thus, we went to the roofless top deck to enjoy the cold breeze. The view from there was pretty impressing. After two hours on the ferry, we had to spend another two hours in our bus to London. Our travel guide talked a lot about the peculiarities in London to make it more attractive for us. It was very good because we could plan what we wanted to do most and we were not forced to participate in the agency's activities.We got off the bus and passed the time until we could check in at our hotel. Thus, we walked through the city.

(Tower Bridge)

We saw the Big Ben, the Tower Bridge from distance and the London Eye and I am pretty sure it was good sport to walk all that way.

(The London Eye)

(Houses of Parliament)

We walked and walked till we got to the Tower of London. We ate something and when we finished, the bus was already there to take us to our hotel. Shortly after we checked in, we made ourselves comfortable in our rooms. Freshly showered and rested we explored Stratford, the place where our hotel was. It was a very pretty place, though the fire engines were really loud there which was sometimes annoying and appalling.

Later that day, we went to a pub in Stratford. It was really nice because it was typical British. The pub looked like the ones you can see in the British movies. Besides, there was a band and some solo singers who were very talented. We went home soon to be prepared for the next day.

written by Nina Subramaniam

SECOND DAY (31st of May, 2013)

Shakespeare, shopping and pubs !

During our trip to London we stayed at the IBIS hotel, in the heart of Stratford. A very multi-cultural part of London which is very nice and worth to see. We were a group of 15 students and two teachers- Ms Kommer and Mr Kabacinski.We had to get up early to be on time for the Shakespeare Theatre Tour (of course, some of us got up almost too late), but luckily the Stradford tube station was just a 7 minutes walk from the hotel. After everyone got a tube ticket for the day, our journey started. When we reached our destination we had to get off the tube. Unfortunately, not everyone got off and the doors closed. Bye bye Annika! She found her way back to the group by herself and we were finally ready to take a walk to the famous Shakespeare Theatre on the other side of the river Thames.

(Shakespeare's Globe)

Standing in front of it was weird because I expected it to be bigger than it actually was. But it was impressive.Outside the theatre we had to wait for a while until we could get inside. The weather was quite nice that day so we didn’t mind. Once we got inside we had the chance to walk around and explore the theatre and fill out some worksheets Ms Kommer gave us before. Thereafter, we met our tour guide Norma, a nice old lady with a good sense of humour. She showed us around and told us many facts about the theatre, historical facts, actual news about plays and other interesting aspects about Shakespeare and his life. We even had the chance to watch a rehearsal for one of Shakespeare’s famous works, Macbeth, witch was lovely. The tour was over at 2pm. From that moment on we had the opportunity to discover London on our own. Shopping! The part we girls have been waiting for the whole day. Our first stop was Primark at the long and very famous Oxford Street where we had to fight our way through the very crowded shops. In between freaking out because of some unfriendly Britain’s and nice clothes, we lost each other in the crowd more than once. It was madness!

Back at the hotel after the tiring shopping tour, we had to leave the souvenirs we bought at the hotel and get to the meeting point, Piccadilly Circus!

(pub tour)

We started a pub tour with the travel agency and the whole class. Walking through the streets full of pubs, bars, strip clubs and people was a fun. Hendrik, the tour guide, told us many funny and interesting stories and myths. The first pub we visited was a Danish pub called De Hems, where we tried a strawberry bear called “Fruly” which was very delicious. A quick stop in London’s China Town, a nice sight at night, and we arrived at the second and last pub for that night. Under aged people couldn’t get inside. We met interesting people and had a lot of fun there. The night was young and some of us where not ready to go to bed too early. Therefore, some of us decided to take a walk to the Tower Bridge which is beautiful at night. The last tube at 12pm took us back to Stradford and we walked back to the hotel. The official end of the 2nd day in London. The trip was almost over. There was only one day left which was not enough time to see all the great places in London. At least, we made the best of the time we had and had lots of fun. I think that we should do that again sometime next year!!! ;)

written by Fjorda Isaki

LAST DAY (1^st of June, 2013)

First, we had breakfast at 8.00 am and for most of us it was too early. We had to leave our rooms at 10 am. We went to the British Museum between Tottenham Court Road and Holborn. From the outside it looked very big and inside it seemed a bit smaller. Maybe it was because of all the people who were there. The British Museum was very informative and of course everyone of us read everything and took notes. It was very nice to see the statues (which were all naked) and to see books that were older than all of us together. After we all informed ourselves about the very old Britain and its history, we had time explore London in small groups. Some of us went shopping in Camden Town, did further sightseeing, enjoyed the last day in London or went to sleep. Some of us went to the Bloomsbury Square which was the best decision because there was free Wi-Fi :D

(St. Paul's Cathedral)

(Buckingham Palace)

(Westminster Abbey)

At 7 pm we all met again at the entrance of the British Museum and went eating in fish and chip shop. It was very small and the waitress was nice. The food wasn't the best but it was ok. After the "wonderful" dinner we went to see the London Bridge at night. Of course, everybody was excited to see it. The London Bridge at night was a bright and shining highlight and it was really beautiful. Some of us took about 637755789 pictures and the others had to wait which wasn't bad because we all were exhausted and everyone’s feet hurt. Then it was time to say goodbye. We went to our bus and everyone was sad. Some had tears in their eyes (well, maybe only I) and didn't want to leave. The bus ride was quiet because everyone was tired and fell asleep soon. All in all, it was a very nice trip to London, although it were just three days :)

written by Fatbjena Miftaraj