GRG23 Sprachreise

Sunday, October 1st:

Our travel began at Vienna airport. We took off at 8.37 (Vienna time) and landed at 10.42 (London time). Then we took a bus to Eton, where a famous private school for rich boys is located. Later we went to Windsor Castle. There we saw an exhibition about the castle, some royal belongings and dolls of Queen Elisabeth 1. We also saw the guards there and we all took photos with this "tin-soldier" (I call him that because he didn't smile or react in any way).

Our group at Eton

After our tour through the Castle the bus took us to the meeting point with our host families.

Monday, October 2nd:

The day began with our First visit to the "Eurocentre" (our school). There we took part in lessons from 9 o'clock until half past twelve. After school we took public transport to London. In this big city our first stop was at Madame Tussaud's. There we saw the wax-figures of famous film stars like Harrison Ford, or music stars like Frank Sinatra and many persons of interest from politics, film, music, sport and social life. At the end of the tour at Madame Tussaud's we visited the Chamber of Horror and had a "taxi-drive" through the history of London. After Madame Tussaud's we went to Piccadilly Circus. In the early evening we met at a Pub called "The New Tiger's Head" and talked about our programme for the following days.

Tuesday, October 3rd:

Our day began with three and a half hours at school. Then we drove to the Apollo-Victory-Theatre in London. There we saw the musical "Starlight Express". After this lovely musical we went to Westminster Abbey, but we couldn't get inside as it was closed. So we went to the Houses of Parliament and "Big Ben". We took some photos and then we went to the London Eye. This is a gigantic wheel like our "Riesenrad". Some of our group took a ride and the rest stayed down. This was our last action for that day.

Wednesday, October 4th:

After our lessons we went to London and took an open double-decker bus for a sightseeing tour. We saw Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace and St. Paul's Cathedral. Then we went an to Tower Bridge and stopped at the Tower of London. We got off and took a tour through the Tower, where we saw the crown jewels. Being tired, we took the next train home.

Thursday, October 5th:

That day we went to the Shakespeare Globe Theatre. It is a replica of the original one that burnt down in 1613. There was an exhibition about the old theatre and it took us half an hour to have a look at it. Then we went back to the train station, went home and in the evening we met at the Pub "The Old Tiger's Head".

Friday, October 6th:

This was our last school day in London, so we were very sad (*ggg*). After the lessons Mrs. Schmid and Mrs. Müller took us to Greenwich where our group was separated into two, because some of us wanted to see the Observatory and the others wanted to visit the Millennium Dome. I was in the group which went to the Dome. It was a huge building and it looked like a big circular tent. Inside we saw a big show and many exhibitions showing items of the past, the present and the future. But we didn't have enough time to see all the attractions. At the end of the day we went to a Pub again.

Saturday, October 7th:

We walked back to Westminster Abbey and had a look inside this time. We found it a very impressive and beautiful church. Then we went to Buckingham Palace, because we wanted to see the Changing of the Guards. But there wasn't anything like that, because it rained the whole day. After our visit at Buckingham Palace we had an afternoon off. In the evening we went to a place where a karaoke-event was scheduled. Only two of us took part, so we went home rather early because the following day we were to fly back to Vienna.

Sunday, October 8th:

We visited a beach near Dover to see the white cliffs and the sea. Then our coach took us to Canterbury, where we saw the church. After that visit we stayed in the centre of Canterbury for another hour and then we went to London-Heathrow. We took off at 19.56 hours (London time) and could watch the lights of many cities on our flight back home. On the plane we took a drink in remembrance of this week, because we felt so good and we had enjoyed this trip very much. At 22.35 (Vienna time) we landed at Vienna-Airport where our parents were already waiting to take us home.

This was a SUPER week and I hope that all the other pupils who will fly to London in the future will have a week as good as ours.

Patrick Freistetter