Studienreise nach London
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Westmister Abbey
Our hostel
During our trip we stayed in a hostel near Tower Bridge. Wombat’s City Hostel is perfect for a group of students. Because the hostel is located in central London and near Tower Hill Underground station, we had a lot of opportunities to explore London on our own. Our breakfast, which was served in the basement, was really tasty and the buffet had a lot to offer. Our rooms were clean and tidy. Everyday someone came to vacuum the room and empty the bins. All rooms came en-suite and the rainfall shower was something we all quite enjoyed. There was a big kitchen in the basement of the hostel where we were able to cook our own food.
The common room in the basement offered a lot, for example a bar and even TVs. We could play table tennis, billiard, Mario Cart on PlayStation, Cards against Humanity and so on. What’s more, the hostel had fun evening activities. One night there was a karaoke night and even the teachers sang a song. Everyone really enjoyed themselves and had a great time. The hostel also had a little garden where you could kick your feet up in one of the hammocks. We’d definitely recommend Wombats City Hostel.
Tara & Maudi, Marvin & Richard
Cooking in our hostel
Our class decided to create cooking groups for each evening in London, so we could save some money and get together every evening. Since we arrived on a Monday evening and left on Friday we only had to make three groups of five or six students. Therefore, the first cooking group was responsible for Tuesday evening. They cooked rice with a vegetable curry sauce. On Wednesday we had baked potatoes and on Thursday another group served pasta with tomato sauce.
Luckily, our hostel had a huge kitchen fitted out with all the essentials we needed. Looking back on the week we could see that it was a good decision to cook in groups because we had a lot of fun cooking together and all of the meals were delicious.
Victoria and Lina
Shakespeare Globe Theatre
On our first day we went to the Shakespeare Globe Theatre and had a tour of the building. The Shakespeare Globe is an open-air theatre in London next to the river Thames. It is a reconstruction based on the original Elizabethan playhouse architecture. The open-air theatre especially features plays written by Shakespeare. This was his ‘stomping ground’ when he was still alive, and many of his plays are still performed there nowadays.
The tour was very interesting, and we learnt a lot about the theatre and William Shakespeare himself. Our guide was also very friendly, and he was able to answer all of our questions.
After the tour we saw ‘Othello’, a play written by William Shakespeare, which is believed to have been published in the 17th century. It was a new experience for us to watch a play outside at night whilst standing. The story seemed interesting, the acting was passionate and the costumes were beautiful. It was difficult to concentrate on the play the whole way through, not only because of the language Shakespeare used and the speed the actors spoke at, but also because it was incredibly cold, and we had to stand the whole time. We were also quite tired because it was our first day in London. But we are glad we got to experience this British example of tradition, history and culture.
Marie and Nicole
So far I’d only heard about Shakespeare’s plays but never actually seen one myself, neither in German nor in English, and I was surprised that we managed to understand the basic plot of ‘Othello’ quite well. The actors were really good, incredibly convincing, and it was clear to see that they completely submerged themselves in their roles. Like so many of Shakespeare’s plays, the story ends in a tragedy, so explaining this does not give away much of the plot. Even though this ending is foreseeable it doesn’t ruin the rest of the play for the audience, especially because it is performed so well by the actors. I found myself emotionally attached to some of the characters even though I couldn't understand every single word and had to guess the lines on occasions. But this wasn’t much of a barrier and I ended up really enjoying the play we watched.
Steven
Shopping
New York, Milan, London… All cities have one thing in common; they are known as fashion metropolises. Whether the focus is on London Fashion Week or the Royal Wedding, London is celebrated for its diverse fashion sense. Of course, we were very excited that we had the chance to explore London’s most famous sights, but we could also venture through Oxford Street, Covent Garden and Notting Hill.
London has a wide variety of shops to offer, so if you like shopping then you’ve come to the right place. To get the ultimate shopping experience, you cannot miss walking down Oxford Street. There are hundreds of different shops and you will definitely find what you are looking for. But make sure you have coffee breaks- We speak from experience! After a while our feet started to hurt because the street seemed to go on forever. We walked a long way, but it was worth it to find all the shops we wanted to see.
Kaja and Svenja
Notting Hill
Notting Hill is not only known for its charm and colourful architecture, but also for its little independent shops and boutiques. It differs greatly from Oxford Street. As well as having most of the mainstream brands, Notting Hill has the opportunity for you to find unique items, such as a small book or an item of clothing in a charity shop.
Whatever you’re looking for, London has it.
One thing to keep in mind, however: London might be well-known for its fashion sense, but unfortunately, it’s also well-known for being very expensive! So make sure you don’t spend all your money on the first thing you see, you’re bound to find an even better treasure!
Kaja and Svenja
Hampton Court Palace
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Hampton Court 1 -
Hampton Court 3 -
Hampton Court 4
During our trip to London, we spent a day touring Hampton Court Palace with the aid of audio guides. The palace was built directly next to the Thames, and during the 16th to 18th century this was the preferred home of the monarch. Nowadays it plays an important role regarding the cultural history of England. Each monarch would change the interiors of the building depending on their preferences and the styles of their time, and the influence each monarch had on the architecture on the building is still clearly visible today.
Hampton Court and its garden is a diverse and colourful property, and all together is roughly the size of a small village. Therefore, you need to plan ahead, so you have enough time to learn about the rich history that is displayed here.
Jannik
China Town
On the last day of our London trip a small group of students visited China town. We went after the dinner and were all excited to see this well-known neighbourhood. Unfortunately, China town wasn’t as cool as we had hoped. The reason for this was probably that it was quite early, and a lot of people were inside having their dinner, so the streets weren’t very busy. However, we still enjoyed ourselves and looked through a lot of interesting looking shops and restaurants that were clearly all inspired by the Asian culture. We also took a lot of pictures to remember this trip. We definitely really recommend visiting China town at least once in your life, but perhaps choose a busier time to go so you experience the atmosphere a bit better.
Anna and Mawonto
Sky Garden
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Sky Garden 4 -
Sky Garden 5 -
Sky Garden 6
The Sky Garden is a botanical garden on the top floor (35th floor) of a skyscraper in London. It is on 20 Fenchurch Street and is one of the highest skyscrapers in London.
Other than being able to enjoy the fantastic view, there is also a Café one can visit, a bar and a restaurant all situated in the Sky Garden.
What we liked most was the feeling of excitement we had when we got to the top. Not only were we able to admire the view over London but were also able to enjoy the authentic concept of having a garden on a roof in the middle of such a big, busy and grey city. Seeing this mix of nature and man-made architecture was very interesting and definitely a worthy experience when visiting London.
Celina and Leah
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Sky Garden 1 -
Trafalgar Square -
Westmister Abbey