Although this incredible trip was all the way back in the summer term, when the sun was still shining, I felt as if it was important to express what a fantastic opportunity it was.
After begrudgingly tumbling out of bed in the early hours of the Monday morning (it’s safe to say, I am not a morning person) and finally arriving at school for 5am, I waved goodbye to my parents, got onto the coach and tried my hardest to fall back asleep – knowing it would be a long week. Once we made it to the ferry at Dover, we explored the big boat; bypassing all the expensive chocolate that ferries are prone to selling, until we made it to the deck. It was very windy, so pictures were out of the question (unless you wanted a picture of your hair whipped across your face or waving around your head), so we decided to go back inside where it was warmer; we played some card games -cheating being a game that seemed to keep being played.
When we finally got to Germany, after driving through Belgium and reaching the beautiful town of Boppard, we were all tired but very excited for the next day. However, it was not an easy feat to fall asleep as, unfortunately, our bedroom was right at the top of the four-floored hotel and the window did little to cool us down. In other words, we were boiling.
However, the next day we went to Marksburg castle and although the day started off with what seemed like dreary weather with dull skies, it brightened up and was considerably warmer by the time we had climbed the many steps to get to the entrance. We had a tour of the castle, and learnt that it was one of the only castles that Napoleon hadn’t destroyed along the River Rhine. The views were something else entirely. From where the cannons were fired from to the pathway with lots of flowers along the top of the castle, you had a phenomenal view of the Rhine as well as the beautiful German landscape. Then, we all had lunch sitting in the sun, with the view of the river still beneath us.
The beautiful day was continued by visiting a vineyard, or as they would call it in Germany ‘Weinberg’. We were talked through the process of making wine, and then got to try some. Well… we tasted different juices. Although I’m not a massive fan of juice, the ones that we tried were very nice, and many people bought some to take home. When we finally got back to the hotel, we went on a walk along the river, where we almost succeeded at losing the ball we were using for a game.
The third day, possibly my favourite day overall, included our trip to Rudesheim and Rhein, where we started off by visiting the Museum of Mechanical Musical Instruments, which was so unique, followed by a cable car ride, which gave a picturesque view of the River Rhine and became even more phenomenal once we reached the top where we arrived at the monument and ate lunch. We then came back down in the cable car, as it was just after midday and the sun was beating down on our backs. We then got the chance to look around the town, where we sighted a Christmas shop (I insisted we had to go in and as a result, dragged my friends inside), before embarking upon a boat tour of the Rhine. It was on this boat trip that I made the mistake of sitting in the sun and got badly sunburnt. However, this didn’t take away from the amazing experience that the boat trip gave us: counting the number of castles to go into our booklets along the way.
We finished off the day by being able to look around the town of Boppard, although the only thing that I ended up buying was some postcards, although others indulged in buying some necklaces that were very pretty. We then had another delicious meal at the hotel, before playing some more card games and being told that we were being too loud – perhaps yelling ‘snap’ wasn’t the best plan.
On the fourth day, we visited the city of Cologne, and were lucky enough to get a tour around its colossal cathedral, before launching ourselves towards the masses of shops that were found to the side of the cathedral. The shops were both very similar and different to England, although there were many shops that we went in that we didn’t recognise, which was interesting to see the differences. It was a very enjoyable shopping trip. We then went to eat lunch by the river.
Next, we walked the distance to the next place we were going to: The Lindt Chocolate Museum. This was the highlight of the day, and for many, the highlight of the trip. We were allowed to wander through the museum, which had lots of different exhibits that we could see and learn about how chocolate was made; there were free tasters too. The golden design of the chocolate fountain attracted everyone but we ended up in the shop, where we all seemed to spend a lot of money. Finally, we got back on the coach where we journeyed back to Boppard. We went for another walk that evening, after we all got ice creams.
The final day of the trip was spent travelling back to England, which although it seemed like a very long way, it was definitely worth it. To those who are currently taking German, I would wholeheartedly recommend it, and would also like to thank the teachers that came on it to make it such a success and so enjoyable!
Written by Gemma Bridges, Year 10
Soham Village College News 