Theaterfahrt London 2016

Hinzugefügt am 16. Juni 2016

Theaterfahrt London 2016 2

Rule, Britannia!

Theatre and Museum Trip to London

May 24th – 28th

 

Classified as a Theatre and Museum Trip, a group of around fifty people embarked on a brave journey to the heart of London – the capital of a country, which some people humbly call “Scotland’s appendix”. Courageously leading the group were four competent London guides by the names of Mrs Bähr aka former Ms Schupp, Mrs Dienst, Mr Wagner and Mr Emrich, who followed their calling to set sail with a group of inquisitive students and dauntlessly directed them through the maze of streets, even initiating their fellow followers to the underground enigma called tube.

May 24th (All Through The Night…)

The first faithful meeting of the tourist party. 9 pm. Parking lot at the ELG.

What a sensational place to trace back the origin of three suspenseful as well as eventful days. To give an accurate representation of the day’s or rather night’s events, let me sum it up as follows: Sleeping. Sleeping does indeed pretty much sum up all events during the first part of the bus ride.

May 25th(Circle of Life…)

What might be worth mentioning in the account of the almost infinite bus trip is the friendly reunion some could celebrate with Norman, the bus driver, who had already accompanied Mrs Dienst and everyone who had been in her English class in Year 8 to Wales.

Having weathered the route from Alzey to Calais (through Belgium), we went from the bus to the ferry, and from the ferry back to the bus to contemplate the beauty of Dover’s white cliffs. After the daily dose of caffeine on board of one of the P&O Ferries, both students and teachers were sufficiently awake to even perceive the aforementioned landscape. Only a couple of hours later, the bus stood ready to be relieved of the many suitcases (and many too big a suitcase) in Willesden Lane, while we assembled all necessities (such as food and umbrellas) to survive the first day in the wasteland of London. And then off we went to explore!

Frankly, we might have not seemed just as enthusiastic in the actual situation (but check-in was later, so, as I said, off we went!), and in self-defence, I have to say that there are more comfortable places to sleep than a bus and that caffeine might have its merits, yet is still a poor substitute for sleep. Does that sound like complaining? It does not! No individual would have ever complained – there were not even people complaining to be in London, while there was the Flonheimer Weinfest going on back home.

The first day saw a short introduction (and a longer tour) to some of London’s cliché tourist sights (after all, we only had three days) like Westminster Abbey or the National Gallery. After a classy luncheon in smaller groups, all went back to Palmer’s Lodge for check-in. It was with recovered energy from an hour of power-napping in the hostel that we went off again. This time the group split in two parties: Mr Emrich guided a large party into the realm of Simba aka the Lyceum Theatre to marvel at the performance of The Lion King, while Mrs Bähr and Mr Wagner guided a smaller party to the wonders of television: 221B Baker Street, Platform 9 ¾ and subsequently to Nando’s.

May 26th(Lord, what fools these mortals be!)

The second day made us leave the centre of the city (which sounds a lot easier as it was – for it took us two hours, which were mainly spent in the manner the first nightly bus ride was spent) to reach a mall in the outskirts of London, which was home to some shops, which are, surprisingly, also incorporated into the patchwork of Oxford Street, and to a huge Tesco. After having spent three hours browsing through stores and replenishing supplies at Tesco, we left the outskirts of London behind to return to the centre to travel on to Greenwich. On the tracks of Lisa, Terry and Barker, a Green Line 1-orientated tour took us along breath-taking sites like Mudchute Farm, the Greenwich Foot Tunnel or the Cutty Sark. Having enjoyed some leisure time by relaxing in the sunshine (yes, that was the actual situation of the weather), exploring narrow alleys with old shops or rejoicing the culinary delicatessen at the food market, the group met again at the Thames close to the famous Millennium Bridge for the evening’s last programme point: the performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Shakespeare’s Globe. Adapting to Elizabethan conditions, we were, naturally, all groundlings. The prospect of standing three hours evoked mixed emotions among the participants. To everyone’s great surprise, the production was a modern one with a male Helenus in a gay romance, a slightly drunk Oberon, tempestuous fairy dances with a pinch of insanity, and the display of vocal abilities apart from the astonishing acting skills (which might have surprised the ones who had already seen approximately 20 plays at the Globe all the more).

May 27th(Hakuna Matata)

The third (and sadly and suddenly also the last) day lived up to the expectations, which arise from the title of the trip (quick reminder: Theatre and Museum Trip) in so far as we hopped off the tube in South Kensington and formed three groups with specific main emphasis, which thus decided on the choice of which museum to visit: We either followed Mrs Bähr to the Victoria and Albert Museum, Mr Emrich to the Science Museum or Mr Wagner to the Natural History Museum. After a remarkable input of knowledge regarding a variety of themes, the last day was at our free disposal, and thus the activities also spanned a variety of themes: everything from a boat trip, the female workout called shopping, having all kinds of food in all kinds of restaurants, to attending the evensong at Westminster Abbey. No matter how, the evening was well spent for everyone. Hence we all fell into our beds tiredly and with the looming prospect of waking up at 4am to the comforting sounds of a shrill alarm clock.

May 28th (Farewell, sweet playfellow)

Day of Departure. 5am. Setting sail from Palmer’s Lodge all the way back, crossing the sea from Dover to Calais, through France and Belgium back to Germany, to be precise to the secret capital of Rhineland-Palatinate: Alzey – and right back to the beloved yellow brick building, which everyone was overly eager to return to on Monday.

A conclusion? Three days of intense experience, cultural insight, marvelling at performances, broadening one’s horizon. Yet let me conclude with this:

The course of a true school trip never did run smooth.

And can nevertheless be a total success.

Sarah Arnold (MSS 12)

Fotos: Hr. Wagner

Eingestellt von Sarah Arnold