DAY 3
London,here we go!
It’s the 5 of April 9:45 all the students meet in front of the train station in Cambridge. Some kids shout very nervously, the others buy some food at M&S. “Come in guys we have to hurry up a little bit, our teacher announced. 50 students jostle into the train to London.
After 45 minutes we arrived in the million city. Straight away we went to the first underground station called Kings Cross and arrived four minutes later at Camden Town. “We meet exactly here in four hours, that means at half past three”
Every one started to explore the surroundings. From Urban Outfits to some Souvenirs shops there was everything. You can find there many public stores like Vans but also some unique and vintage stores. Some students went to eat something, the others made a big shopping trip. Beside the special shops we saw many street artists. The whole Camden Market was very colourful (especially the houses) and full of different people.
But there are also sides of the city that scared us. The high crime rate and the people that were under drug influence showed us the bad sides of a million city.
But nevertheless we all were in a good mood. Punctually at half past three we all met at the Tube station Camden Tow. On the Northern Line we went to Old Street where we met Mick, a street artist guide that showed us all the famous Graffitis and paintings on the walls of different buildings. We learned a lot about, for example Banksy’s popular street art. “You’re never fully dressed without a smile.” is a quotation of a very famous painter called Smiler. In the streets where all exceptional paintings and everywhere typically old houses of London and the surrounding area.
At six o’clock we were finished with that impressive tour and went back to Cambridge again.
We can’t describe how much we all enjoyed this beautiful day in this popular city. But let’s say it like Jean Rhys
“A bad day in London is still better than a good day anywhere else.”
By Hannah Kirchebner and Gloria Posch 5b
FACES OF LONDON
Today we had to meet up at 9:30 in the morning, which was really nice, because it is not that early. We went to visit London. In the morning we visited Camden Market, where you can find really nice shops and very good food. I ate fish and chips and it was so good, it was probably the best thing I have eaten since we came here. Another really good aspect about the time we spent in Camden Market was the good weather, which was not that nice anymore during our tour through a special part of London called Shoreditch. This part of London is so special, because there is so much street art. We saw graffiti, sculptures and other cool things. Our tour guide, who was called Lily, explained everything to us, but we could hardly understand her, because she was so quiet. Miss Haider said that she had tried to talk to her, but she still did not speak up. In the end Lily seemed a bit annoyed with us, as if she was happy to get rid of us. While we were on the underground Miss Haider apologized to us, that Lily had not the best tour guide, but we saw some really nice and beautiful art and that was the main reason we weny there.
We travelled by train and underground today, and we had this special ticket with which we were able to travel with both, but some tickets just did not work properly. You could put the ticket into the machine but the automatic door would not open. And unfortunately an underground employee told us a little too late, that we should not have our tickets close to our phones, but guess what, I had already kept the ticket in my phone case. But I still got through, because I just showed the ticket to an employee every time, who then opened the automatic door for me.
​
Prandstetter Paula and Margreiter Jasmin 5a
Today was our first day in London.
We, Kathrin and I, got up at 06:30. After breakfast we met up with Natalie and Eva on the bus.
The weather was beautiful and very sunny. After an hour’s ride on the train we arrived in London. There were many people, especially on the underground.
London is a big city with many things to see. Our plan was to walk through Camden Market and discover its different parts and various types of food. I can definitely say that it pays off. The food there is brilliant.
The people there were also very friendly and nice.
Afterwards we had a guided tour of Shoreditch, a part of London in which many graffitis can be seen.
The art is really impressive and I like the ones with many colours and shapes. The tour was pretty long and we were all very tired afterwards. I think that the guide could have told us a bit more about the art but overall I liked it.
At 20:30 we arrived at our host family’s place and ate a delicious dinner.
By Karoline Berger 5a
Dear Diary!
Today was our second day in London, and because I didn't think it could be better than the first one, I got proven wrong once again. In the morning we took the bus to the rail station, and because we wanted to be on time, we took one of the earliest ones. So we had enough time to go to Cafè Nero, where all of us bought a Chai Latte. I'm sure I'll never forget that taste, the slight smell of cinnamon, milk, and other ingredients. On the train all of us did something for school or tried to relax, but in each tunnel we went through, I had such a terrible pressure in my ears. It was seriously kind of weird, because just us students seemed to notice that. Maybe the other passengers are already used to it.
Anyway, we went to Westminster by Tube, and visited the London Eye. It is even taller than I've always imagined. But we didn't go on there, we went straight to 'Black Friars Bridge'. Then we arrived at the Tate Modern, where we had about 1 hour‘s time to look at all the paintings, sculptures, and other kinds of art. Especially one caught my attention.
It's called "Atlantic Civilisation", and it was done by André Fougeron in 1953. It shows many people and every day situations of all kinds. I'd be able to interpret a lot into the painting. In the middle of it, there's a car, above it a soldier in the war, ready to shoot. A man in a tuxedo is crossing the street and attempts to get into the car, and he's holding up his hat. Behind him on the left, there is a mother with her child, dressed all in white, which probably stands for innocence. At the top, there are children dancing and holding hands, while the dark fog from the factories envelopes them. Right next to them is a torture chair, and the friendly looking apartments are covered by placards of war.A coffin is being pulled into heaven, and down on earth someone's crying for the person who has died. A woman with darker skin holds the dead body of a baby, children are alone in an old car, babies are starving, and in the middle of all that is a man sitting on a chair, reading a magazine and does not even care at all. He doesn't even notice all the things that are happening. I do not really know a lot about the time when the painting was drawn, but I think the man in the middle stands for the richer people with no problems, for ignorance, and the ones who don't want to see what is in front of their eyes.
For me this was the painting with the strongest statement, and it really impressed me. I was standing there in front of it for about 5 minutes to take in everything on there.
​
After visiting the Tate Modern we could decide if we'd rather go and see the Globe Theatre, or visit a famous war ship. I chose the Globe Theatre, because I love Shakespeare and I've also read many books of him. When we were on the tour, I really could imagine how the people felt back then while watching such amazing plays. Our tour guide was amazing and she really made us all listen attentively.
And then the best thing happened. We went to famous Baker Street, where Sherlock Holmes lived. We were only six people going there, and actually that was very funny. At first we went to the shop, and it was amazing there! Everything felt so real, the assistant called us all "Miss" and "Sir", and they even opened the door for us. Next to the shop, there was the museum, where a man was standing. He actually just checked the tickets, but when we took photos of him, he asked us if we wanted to take one with hin. It was such a great feeling being there!
Afterwards we went to Dunkin' Donuts.
Back at King's Cross,we had to wait for the others, and Miss Haider bought each of us something at Cafe Nero, which was really nice of her!
Then it sadly was time to go back to Cambridge, and we were all very happy to get a rest!
I'll see you tomorrow,
Yours Katharina Peer 5a
Today we went to London, to Camden Market to be exact.
We had to be at the train station in Cambridge at 09:45 and
we arrived at Camden Market at a quarter past eleven.
Then we had some free time in which we could do whatever
we wanted. At first I felt really overwhelmed because everything
was so huge but as soon as we started to walk around a bit
I got to know the directions a bit better. Down the road there was
an Urban Outfitters and as I had expected, almost everybody rushed into
it because it is so famous for its clothing. I was a little disappointed by
their clothes, but I really liked their books, so I bought two of them.
We spent about half an hour in that shop, which was probably not the
best idea in hindsight.
Then we went to the “typical” market stalls. Most of the time
I walked around with Paula, Nati, Eva and Kathi, but sometimes we
lost part of the group. Nati, Paula and I really liked the market
stalls with the vintage clothing so we spent a lot of time and money
there, which probably was a bit boring for Eva and Kathi and we
had a little disagreement but luckily we figured it all out.
After all of that drama we were all hungry. So we looked for some food,
which was not hard to find because there was a big square full of
stalls, from which you could get food from all over the world. It was very
unusual to all of us, because you had so many choices. It was really hard
to choose, because everything smelled so nice, but we decided to get
some typically British food and got some fish and chips. It definitely
was the right choice because it tasted so good and we even got garlic
mayo, which was a totally new thing to me, but I am glad I tried it, because it tastes really good. While we were eating we sat under a tree, talked, laughted and listened to all the noises around us – the different kinds of music, the people talking and the sizzling of barbecued food.
Then it was sadly time to get back to our meeting point. But before that we got some ice cream – and I think the blueberry cheesecake ice cream ist the best one I have ever eaten.
Then we went to Shoreditch by underground, which was not as crowded as I had expected it to be. The guided tour we got in Shoreditch was a bit boring because the tour guide was not very motivated , but the art we saw was still very beautiful and unique. I mostly walked around with Noah, Jakob, Paula and Samuel, who were joking around a lot, so it was very entertaining and funny.
After all, it was a really interesting and fun day with a lot of new impressions. I also noticed that there were many different kinds of people, something we just don’t see at home.
I feel like London is a city with a lot of diversity – different ethnicities, clothes and food.
​
By Jasmin Margreiter 5a
THE EAST END
STREET ART IN SHOREDITCH
BANKSY