DAY 9
LONDON MUSICAL DAY
We stepped out of the bus and already saw that it was going to be a very nice day.
It was ten to nine and we met up with our group. After 15 minutes of waiting we walked to our train, which was going to take us to London.
After one hour of riding, we arrived in London, which is 102 kilometres away from Cambridge. In London it was sunny as well. At Liverpool Street Station we got a rather difficult challenge. We had to find the way to the Green Park Tube Station by our own. We took the tube to Holborn and continued with the Piccadilly Line, which is the deepest tube line in London. Then we walked through Hydepark to the beautiful Buckingham Palace. This Palace was built in 1703 and serves as the workplace for the Queen and their family. There, we had 10 minutes spare time to take some photos. It was really difficult to take a nice picture, because it was very busy and people were always walking in front of our cameras.
Then we walked to Trafalgar Square where we took a class photo in front of Nelson’s Column.
Afterwards the teachers to us Covent Garden.
When we arrived there, Mrs Mair told us that we had 45 minutes of spare time. So we could get some food or go shopping. We went to the Lego Store, where we had to queue for around 15 minutes, because there were so many people in the store. In the there, we looked at the big Lego statues. The statues were amazing. Then we went to the Mall in Covent Garden. It is very busy there and there are many small shops. Then we visited the |Apple Store, which was really impressive.
After our stay in Covent Garden, we went to see a musical called “School of Rock”. The musical is about a poor guy who has no money and isn’t able to pay the rent. To get some money, he starts to teach at a very strict school. He and his students found a band and want to win the contest “Battle of the Bands”
When the musical was finished, we took the tube to Liverpool Street Station to get on the train back to Cambridge. Finally, we took the bus home to our host families.
I think the whole trip was very cool, especially the musical. The actors did a very good job and the stage was designed very well.
By David Giner and Killian Koeck 5b
Today was our last day in London and we saw a lot. The day started off really nicely because we had to take the tube on our own. It was really funny and we could experience ourselves how confusing the underground can be.
But finally we found the right station and all the others were already waiting for us. The station was Green Park and right next to it was Buckingham Palace. We could see the Grenadier Guards, who are the guards of the Queen. It was really interesting to see them move in exactly the same way all the time.
In the afternoon our teachers took us to a musical called ‘School of Rock‘. Some of my colleagues and me were in the dress circle and we had a wonderful view of the stage. The protagonist was, based on the hit movie School of Rock, Dewey Finn, a failed and absolutely crazy rock star who decides to earn some extra money by applying as a substitute teacher at a prestigious elite school. There he gets to teach a class full of swots, whose parents pay lots of money for the school. He turns them into guitarists, singers and drummers and they become a real rock band. But can he get them to the Battle of the Bands without their parents and the school’s headmistress getting in their way?
I really liked the musical with all its funny and well performed scenes and maybe I will come back some time and watch another gorgeous musical.
By Simon Maier 5a
Today was the last day we spent in London. As soon as we arrived in London we had a competition. Our teachers gave us tube maps and told us to find the fastest way from Liverpool Street Station to Green Park, and the fastest group, who would get there first would be the winner. We got there first and won some chocolate, which was a bit unfair, because not all the groups started at the same time.
From Green Park Station we had to walk just a little bit further through the park to get to Buckingham Palace. We all took some pictures there and then we headed towards Covent Garden. During our walk to Covent Garden we passed by Trafalgar Ssquare, where we took a group picture and Leicester Square. When we arrived at Covent Garden we had some free time in which we could browse the shops and get some food.
In the afternoon we went to see the musical “School of Rock”. It was really cool and I really liked it. I sat next to Hannah and Noah, which was funny, because Hannah was very excited about the musical, while Noah complained about the extremely loud music and did not really seem to enjoy it. But I think all my other classmates liked it, which means it was not a waste of money and that is very good.
After the musical we had to wait a bit longer for our train, so we spent some more time at Covent Garden. We had to walk a lot, and that is why I was very tired on the way home to our host families, but still it was a very nice day.
By Paula Prandstetter 5a
This morning we met at the train station to take the train to London again, and it was our third trip.
Unlike the other the other times, we didn't get off at King's Cross, but at Liverpool Street Station.
There we got the task to get to Green Park station on our own, luckily not totally alone, but in groups. The Tube might seem overwhelmingly complicated at first sight, but finding your way round is not that difficult once you've got used to the system. After everyone had managed to get there, we started walking and passed by Buckingham Palace (I thought I'd never see more tourists than at the London Eye, but I was proven wrong) and Trafalgar Square, where we all had to climb the lower part of the statue so that our teachers could take a group photo.
When we arrived at our destination, which was Covent Garden, we were given a bit of time to spend on whatever we wanted to do, but most of us used the opportunity to get something to eat.
Then we went on to a theatre to see the musical ‘School of Rock‘, which is, in my opinion, totally worth seeing!
After the play had ended, we again had a little bit of time at Covent Garden. Although it was barely enough to take a small lap, I found it good to spend a few minutes outside before we had to get on the underground again then to the train that took us back to Cambridge.
Since we arrived, I’ve always been surprised that I haven’t had any problems with the buses or with getting somewhere on time. Well, today the trouble I was expecting came to pass. The street, that the bus stop Luca and I normally got off on our way back, was closed, but even though the driver announced it, we thought it wouldn’t affect our bus ride, and were quite confused when we didn’t pass our stop. At first we just didn’t know what to do, and when the bus went farther and farther out of town and I didn’t know where we were anymore, I started panicking a little, but fortunately the driver informed us that he would be going back, so that we could get off near the station we originally wanted to get off at. I was really relieved, because I had already prepared myself for having to walk back from a very remote part of Cambridge!
By Miriam Redinger 5a
Today we were in London for the last time. We went there by train again, but this time the train was very slow and stopped so often that it took us nearly two hours.
At Liverpool Street underground station we split up into our groups and had to meet up at Green Park. We got a tube map, had to sort out the fastest way and go there as fast as we could. My group was first and we got a bar of chocolate as a prize. Then we went to see Buckingham Palace, which was nice but crowded and not very thrilling.
We went to Covent Garden and were there at lunchtime, so Miriam, Diana, Hanna, Hannah and I went to "Pizzahut" for lunch.
After that we met up in front of a shop and went to a theatre about ten minutes away. There we saw the musical, "School of Rock", which was incredibly cool! It is about a ’fallen rockstar’, who wants to teach in an elite/private school to get some money and he then founds a band with his students, who first don't trust him because he's so different to them. With this band he wants to beat his earlier band members in a battle.
The students were played by 12-year-old kids and they played and sang so well!
We went home again by train and I was so tired that I slept - like Diana - nearly 1,5 hours while going back by train. A classmate took photos of us, put one of mine on the main screen of his tablet as a joke and had problems to get it off afterwards. He was a bit nervous because his mother often takes a look at his tablet… .
Our bus ride back to our host family was quite long as well, because the street with our stop was closed, which we didn't know and so we had to stay on the bus until it returned to a stop near ours. We arrived at our host family's place at about 10 o'clock.
By Messner Luca 5a