On September, 16 at 9 pm a very uncommon meeting took place in front of our school. Two classes in their final year, class 10 c and 10 d, set out on a journey to England. After a long and exhausting bus ride of about 12 hours we arrived on the shore of the English Channel and travelled to Dover by ferry. The weather was sunny and it felt a bit like being on holiday. On the other side of the Channel the first change, that could be perceived, was that our bus now had to drive on the left. It felt a bit awkward at the beginning, not only for the bus driver. 😉 Now it was not long until we could check in at our hotel in Eastbourne a typical seaside town only a few metres away from the beach. Although everybody was very tired we went on a first stroll through the town accompanied by two very friendly guides who gave us an impression of the sights and the history of the town.
The next day our coach took us to Brighton and all the pupils were allowed to explore the town on their own after they had been informed about some major points of interest. So most of us walked along the pier and had a look at “The Lanes“ a medieval part of the town with cute little shops. At 2 pm we met again and went on a guided tour through the Royal Pavilion built by King George IV, which was built in Oriental and Chinese style. After a short walk through the gardens of the palace, we returned to Eastbourne.
The next day probably was the most exciting day of the whole trip, because we went to London. We started in Greenwich where we got on a boat that took us on a tour along the river Thames. We could see lots of famous sights from the river like the Globe Theater, Tower Bridge, St Paul´s Cathedral or the Tower of London. Finally we got off at Westminster Bridge where we had a look at the Houses of Parliament, London Eye (the famous Big Wheel) and Big Ben, which is being renovated at the moment. We continued to walk along the road and had a look at Westminster Abbey, the famous church, where most English kings and queens were married and also buried. We walked on and visited Downing Street (Home of the British Prime Minister), Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace and finished at Covent Garden where the pupils (and teachers) could relax a bit after all or do some shopping for their family or for themselves.
The next day our coach took us to Battle, a little picturesque place, where the famous Battle of Hastings took place in 1066. After some basic information on the battle between King Harold and William the Conqueror from Normandy, which changed English history fundamentally, we went for a walk on the battle field and visited the ruins of an abbey that had been built on the site of the battle, but which was destroyed in the 16th century under Henry VIII. Afterwards we went to Hastings for some shopping or just for some fish and chips.
Our last day, Friday only left room for a walk to Beachy Head, a wonderful place on the cliffs which gave us superb views of the sea, the lighthouse and the landscape along the coast. Even though the wind was extremely strong and quite chilly we continued our walk and enjoyed it quite a lot. A last time we returned to our hotel, got our suitcases and got on the coach which took us on our 16-hour journey back to Hersbruck.
Martina Hezel