Friday 25 March 2016

Berlin trip Overview

Friday 25th March 2016

Good Morning,

I hope everyone got home safety last night. We had a smooth journey from Berlin.

The trip was brilliant and I can't wait to visit Berlin again. For me the highlight was seeing and experiencing the urban, cultural and historic city. I loved everything we did, but I especially liked the Jewish Museum because the architecture was inspirational and the museum was very moving.

I'd like to say a huge thank you to all the teachers who have supported us, given up their time and organised this amazing opportunity (Frau Wallace, Ms Dean, Frau Lusse, Mr Marriott and Frau RΓΌhmkorf) . Who without them this fantastic trip wouldn't have been possible.

To end our last blog post, I'll leave you with some highlights of the trip.

"I thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of the trip. From the historical side; the visit to the Jewish Museum, the Museum of Terror and especially the memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe which all provided a profound insight into Nazi Germany, to the cultural side; the differntiation between the west and east side of Berlin and the amazing art on the Berlin wall to address the issues they've overcome from its destruction. All in all, a fascinating trip." Mariella Green

"I absolutely loved the trip as it gave me the opportunity to see all the historical places in Berlin that I learnt about during my history GCSE course. One of my favourite parts was the visit to the Jewish Memorial, which I found extremely moving and incredible. The entire trip was amazing and I absolutely love Berlin! Helen Smithson

"I especially enjoyed the Berlin boogie, but the whole trip was AMAZING! Well done and thank you for giving us this wonderful opportunity." Charlotte Cummings

"I LOVE everything we did during the trip, even walking! However, without our teachers' full support we would not have had such a WONDERFUL trip, Thank you !!!" Fu Ge

"The best thing I enjoyed on this trip was seeing all the pretty buildings, despite all the walking we did. I definitely think it was worth it. This was such an incredible experience." Pow Jackson

"The thing I enjoyed the most was doing the tour around the Olympic Stadium and going around all of the rooms." Orla Drake


"I liked the U-Bahn, the architecture , the street art and the overall vibe of Berlin." Nimra Abbasi

"I enjoyed rushing to find a seat on the trains in rush hour." Simrun Sanghera

" I liked the U-Bahn and all the scenery in Berlin, as well as the atmosphere." Temi

"I really enjoyed visiting sights that we have learnt about in history in life." Mitra Karanjkar

"I would like to thank Frau Wallace's Gloucester rugby hat for making 'where's Wallace' possible, on the U- & S-Bahn." Pippa Chapple

"I enjoyed catching the U-Bahn to different sights, museums and shops.  I thought the sights were terrific and the museums were very touching and moving. The shops were good too and the weather wasn't great, but it's alreight :) " Grace Dobbs

" Everybody in the house do the Berlin boogie, we'd rather have Barbados, but we're not choosy, we've got our boots and our marching feet, the weather's not great but its o'reyt!" Connie Wragg

"I really enjoyed visiting the Olympia-Stadium, spending time with my friends and the late night conversations we had." Grace Perring

"I really enjoyed the Holocaust Memorial and Museum; it was a really good chance to take in Germany's history." Mubanga Kauseni

"I enjoyed the TV tower the most because it was a good way to see most of Berlin altogether and I liked viewing Berlin from a different angle." Smetlana Samanta

"My favourite thing about the trip was the Olympic Stadium as the history was interesting and the tour guide was good." Molly Bryan

"My favourite part was seeing the Berlin Wall; although only up for 28 years, it is unreal to think something like that could ever be allowed to be built. The art on the wall shows so much pain and emotion. Truly beautiful." Olivia Billard

"I love to travel because I get to see cultures and ways of life I've never even heard of before and this was especially prominent on the trip for me learning how deep and fathoming German history is and was, how one nation that had been battered and tortured had managed to become a thriving, wonderful hub of life." Amy Nortcliffe 

"I liked the Jewish Museum." Becca Kent

"I found that the Holocaust Museum was very moving by allowing us to see individual family stories." Aemelia Hyde

"I liked the tour around the Olympic Stadium as we were told the history of it; going from a horse racing course to the Olympic Stadium." Sarah Razlin

"I really enjoyed getting the U-Bahn everywhere and walking as we got to experience the city in a different way as we weren't on a coach the whole time." Becky Farris

"I enjoyed the TV tower and the East Side Gallery. I also enjoyed the chaos of the U-Bahn because finding a seat was like playing musical chairs." Dima Abdelhafiz

"The TV tower, Mr M's rap , The Holocaust Memorial. I had an amazing time, not just because of all the amazing places we visited but because the teachers were so fun and made it really enjoyable!" Carys Johnson 

Thank you so much for reading our blog and supporting us, it was really fun writing it!

See you on the next trip :)

Wednesday 23 March 2016

Wednesday 23rd March 2016

Guten Abend :)

We had a fantastic morning at the Jewish Museum. It was amazing. The exhibitions had lots of modern interactive activities and the museum was very stimulating and the architecture was beautiful and awe-inspiring.

After lunch at the museum we took the U-Bahn to the East Side Gallery. It is a 1km stretch of the Berlin wall with amazing street art decorating the concrete. We had a walk along the wall and took lots of photos.

We had a relaxing river cruise along the river Spree, which went past lots of historic buildings.

We went to see the Sunken Library memorial in Bebelplatz (50 sq. metres of underground library with empty book shelves designed by Mischa Ullmann).

Mr Marriott told us about the burning of the books by the Nazis in 1933. The memorial shows us that, even if hard copy knowledge and ideas are destroyed, our ideas, beliefs and knowledge still burn strongly in our hearts and minds!

After our thought-provoking talk we went to the famous Berlin chocolaterie, Fassbender & Rausch, It was out of this world. There was lots and lots of tasty chocolate in many different forms e.g. bars, bunny rabbits, eggs, boxes of chocolates and even metre-high chocolate monuments!

To end our super day we went shopping at the Galeria Kaufhaus department store. We then walked back to the hotel and had a couple of hours to chill. We had a lovely dinner then did a quiz and had prize giving.

The winners of the quiz were Sarah, Amy, Becca, Becky and Aemelia.

"I cannot believe that the workers in the parliament buildings have their own private nursery for their kids!" Amy

Bis Bald!

Pictures from Wednesday 23rd March 2016

 On our way to the Jewish museum
Inside the Jewish Museum
 Shalechet (Fallen Leaves) by Menashe Kadishmann
Selection of artwork from the East Side Gallery



The Sunken Library Memorial
Humboldt University
 Fassbender & Rausch Chocolate Shop
Chocolate sculpture! (Reichstag)
Giant Easter Egg!
Mr Marriott , Grace and Connie at the East Side Gallery


Tuesday 22 March 2016

Pictures from 22nd March 2016

Olympic Stadium

Olympic Stadium
Chapel in the stadium (gold leaf walls!)
Conference Room in the Stadium
On tour in stadium (in one of the changing rooms)
On tour in stadium (in one of the changing rooms)
Group photo at stadium
Group photo with Berlin bears
TV Tower

Tuesday 22nd March 2016

Today we started our day by catching the U-Bahn to the Holocaust Memorial. We went to the moving and very absorbing museum under the Memorial. I found myself absorbed into all the moving and emotional stories. I especially found the area with diary extracts, letters to loved ones and posts cards very emotional because it showed you what millions of individuals were going through and their emotions. The exhibition emphasised individual and families and it really made me stop and think deeply and reflect. 

We then took the U-Bahn to the Olympic Stadium; there we had lunch and had a fantastic tour. We got to see and sit in the VIP seats at the grounds. We also got to go into lots of special rooms, for example the press conference room, changing rooms and a chapel with walls covered in gold leaf. 

After our super cool tour  we took the train to the Ka-De-We (a huge shopping area, a bit like Harrods) where we got some free time to look round the many shops.  After our shopping trip we went up the TV tower and saw the amazing panoramic view of the city. To end our jam-packed day we had another shopping opportunity. Back at the hotel we had dinner, then had a really good reflection session and a good 'sing song' together. 

"I liked seeing the whole of Berlin from the top of the TV tower and it was interesting to see where we'd been and how far we'd walked" Sarah Razlin.

"I enjoyed sitting in the luxury chairs at the olympic stadium where only authority figures get to sit" Connie Wragg

"I really enjoyed touring around the Olympic Stadium and especially the conference room where I, along with three others, sat and answered questions as if we were the managers or players after a match." Grace Dobbs

Monday 21 March 2016

Pictures from 21st March 2016









21st March 2016

Guten Abend!  Sorry for the delay in starting the blog. We had some technical difficulties.

Our journey to Liverpool John Lennon Airport went smoothly, unfortunately our flight was delayed, but we're here now!

Today, we had a busy day with lots of walking, starting with a pleasant walk in the city and along the Spree river to the Reichstag building. Mr Marriott gave us a very interesting talk on the history of the Reichstag building.

We then proceeded to the Brandenburg Gate . There we had a short refreshment break and then continued to the Holocaust Memorial. We walked through and around the memorial and I found it really thought-provoking.  The unusual layout, with its undulations and different sized granite blocks was very disorientating. The further we ventured into the middle of the memorial, the taller the blocks became. This added to a sense of apprehension. This led us to consider how the Jews must have felt when they were stripped of their citizenship, their identities and, ultimately, their lives.

We had lunch at the Potsdamer Platz , then visited the 'Topography of Terror' museum. At the museum there was an exhibition showing photographs of different racial and social groups in the Ghettos. "It was really interesting that they chose to murder more children than adults from the ghettos" Becca Kent.

 After the museum , we walked to Checkpoint Charlie. We had lots of photo opportunities and Connie and Grace had a photo a charming Checkpoint 'guard'. To round off our fantastic day, we did a spot of shopping in Potzdamer Platz Arkaden.

In the evening we had a lovely meal and we had some discussions and reflections about the days activities. We designed our own Holocaust Memorial.  I think we're all ready to get some sleep after our fun packed day.

See you in the next blog post!

Gute Nacht :)