Finishing the term early in December leaves a window of opportunity for enthusiastic travellers to squeeze in a pre-Christmas trip. One of those included seventeen Sixth Form Germanists spending a week visiting historical and cultural sites in former East Germany with explorations of Berlin, Dresden and Leipzig.
Lower Sixth student Benedict describes their experiences.
“Following a very early wake up for our outbound flight, we arrived at Berlin Brandenburg airport, before quickly heading off towards the famous East Side Gallery, the longest continuous section of the Berlin Wall still standing, greatly covered in political and social artwork.
A brief pause here allowed us to get our first taste of German market cuisine, with most getting their hands on a Döner Kebab, Bratwurst im Brötchen, or in my case a bowl of delicious Grünkohl, a traditional, hearty German stew, made of kale, cabbage, and potatoes, topped with a tasty Wurst!
Another highlight from our time in Berlin included a visit to the former Stasi prison of Hohenschöhnhausen, in which we were toured by a former inmate, whose graphic stories made the traumatic history all too real.
After that, we moved on to Dresden, where we had a great time exploring the beautiful old town, as well as the hip and lively Neustadt! It was during our time in Dresden that we went on a hike in the mountains on the Czech border, which many of us assumed would be a boring long walk, but actually became an enjoyable adventure! It was safe to say we all really bonded as a group, although the addition of a music loudspeaker perhaps destroyed the Waldeinsamkeit of the forest (although we didn’t have many fellow hikers on a cold December weekday!)
I really enjoyed how tight-knit we all became over the course of the trip and during our group meals, especially being with people in the Upper Sixth, who I was less familiar with but came to get along with really well.
Many thanks to Marthe and Herr McIntosh for leading such a fantastic trip to Germany!”
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