Hey ihr lieben, ich muss bald eine art tagebuch in englisch abgeben und wüsste gern, ob ich hier richtig gearbeitet hab.. 
ich weiß, es ist ein bisschen viel, aber ich hoffe, dass sich jemand findet, der mal ein auge drüber werfen kann.. (=
danke.. ♥
My journey to Great Britain
Sunday, 10th June 2012 & Monday, 11th June 2012
After the last clothes and other things (that were obviously important) were packed into my big bag pack (I chose it because I thought it would be more comfortable, but in the end, I’d better took a proper suitcase…) my parents and I drove to Joachimsthal. There we waited for the bus to come, which would bring us to our hostel in Land’s End, St. Just, Cornwall in the west of Great Britain.
We all were very excited because of the journey. No one had a clue what would wait for us in the >>middle of nowhere<<, how we called it affectionately. So we jumped into the bus and took our seats. After everybody was present and all suitcases and bag packs were stowed away we started our >>road trip<<. This was a few minutes after 5 pm.
We were full of expectations and for almost everybody was it the first trip to GB at all, just as me. We’ve been driven trough half of Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France. In Belgium in the night the bus driver changed. (Peter and Jacob got off of the bus and Michael got in.) We all were very tired, because the tour was quite debilitating and so we were a bit unfriendly. Then we reached the ferry in Calais, North France and we had to wait for our tickets, because there were misunderstandings in whatever. But after we got our tickets, we were straight on the way to the ferry which would take over to Dover, GB at 7.30 am. And after around 90 minutes we arrived in front of the white cliff of Dover. From there we drove to the world cultural heritage >>Stonehenge<<. But what happened when we appeared there? It poured with rain…! So we just stand in front of the >>big stones<< and between was a fence. When we jumped into the bus again, we were quite drenched but we had still an 8-hour ride until we would come to Land’s End.
When we drove towards a little town near by the coast, I guess it was 7.30 pm, we couldn’t believe our eyes. We thought we were in an area near by the Mediterranean Sea and not in West-England! There were sunshine, white houses, palms, aloe vera plants and teal water. It was an amazing view and I never expected such a gorgeous landscape in Cornwall.
Although we had to walk with all our heavy bags through a kind of field path we were happy to be at the end of our long ride (after around 26 hours) – for now. The hostel in Land’s End was pretty small, but nice. And though it was a little bit rustic it was also comfortable. I slept together with Maxi, Lene and Patricia in one small, but nice room with a wonderful view to the coast of Land’s End.
In the late evening we cooked all together in the kitchen. We made spaghetti and it made great fun to do this together with the other girls.
Tired and exhausted we fell in our beds and slept, more or less, tide.
Tuesday, 12th June 2012
The next day we had breakfast at 8 am together and a lot of us ate a proper English breakfast. But I refused this, I preferred a >>normal<< breakfast.
Then we walked back to the bus and again trough the field. After we all hopped into the bus we set out for the Eden Project. The Eden Project shows the visitors different biomes and climates. At first we were introduced by a man named Brian what the Eden Project is about and what we can learn there.
Together with Hanna, Maxi, Franzi, Lene, Patricia and Anja I walked into the >>Rainforest Biome<< and what can I say… It was hot – very hot! It means the more you walk upwards the more the temperatures and the (air) humidity raises. It was heavy because almost everybody worn long jeans and so it felt like the dessert is just like the North- or South Pole. After we went out of the >>sauna<< we sauntered into the Mediterranean Biome. There it was cooler than in the Rainforest Biome. But in both biomes the plants were beautiful. Although I think that the Tropical greenhouse was more gorgeous and more colourful than the Mediterranean one.
After we visited the two biomes we had our project with Robbie. He told us how GB wants to protect the environment, which problems there are and what young people can do to support this project.
On our drive back home we passed a supermarket and there we bought some food for later.
When we arrived back at the hostel we visited the amazing coast by sunset. And just as we stand in front of the sea we first had to remember how to breathe. The view we had was totally breathtaking and we made lots of photos.
There I had to think about a song: >>and even the sun sets in paradise<<... ♪
Yeah, this was definitely paradise!
And after one hour (approximately) we left the coast with a heavy heart to prepare dinner together.
When we finished our dinner and made the dishes we sat outside to round off the day.
The whole day was almost perfect besides the occurrence in the middle of the night. Suddenly the fire alarm starts, but we hadn’t noticed it first, because we slept so tide and our room was (relative) far away from the others and we had a big fire door between. Everybody was very annoyed about waking up in the middle of the night. But the reason for the awakening was not as disastrous as we first thought. There was only somebody spraying too much deodorant in the room and so the tender went on. But after everything was cleared we all could go to bed again.
Wednesday, 13th June 2012
On Wednesday we had to wake up early, because we wanted to visit a school in Penzance, named Mounts Bay School. Penzance is a (little) Town in the near of Land’s End and it’s also near by the sea.
As we first arrived there we hadn’t a good impression of the building, because it looked like nobody would have renovated it for a long time. And as we entered the school we felt a little bit watched by the other students. It wasn’t a surprise for us, but it felt strange to be so observed.
As we all had our >>partner<< for this day, they took us by hand and we could see how a normal school day in a British School looks like. The girl whom I have been with names Alisha, a very friendly, but shy girl. So we haven’t talked much, unfortunately. We had two lessons French. And that was hard, because there takes one lesson about 100 minutes and we had TWO lessons French. Actually it isn’t a problem, but the teacher was very strict and she grumbled every time we tried to talk.
The students had to write both lessons and so Alisha and I couldn’t speak that much together.
We all were very excited when the students showed us their IPads. We found out that the school has got a treaty with Apple and that they have the most modern technique for ease the school life. And then was clear, why the school looks so old...
After the two lessons we had lunch together and as we had to go back to the bus I handed my little present over to Alisha. (A few of us had little presents from Germany for the students in Penzance.) It seemed like Alisha liked my little sweets and the postcard from Joachimsthal.
Then we hugged each other and we drove away. Everybody there was very, very friendly and nice, so it wasn’t funny to drive back again. But our day wasn’t finished yet.
We changed our clothes and got ready for dolphin watching. I felt very excited, because I love those animals since I’ve been a little girl and so it was my little, personal highlight. But the weather was bad and it rained again and so we were unenthusiastic to take only one foot into the boat. And the first group wasn’t as happy as we (the second group) met them in the near of the boat again as they came back from their tour. They told us, that they didn’t see any dolphin or robe, just sea gulls. So we were not very euphoric as we jumped into the boat. And we also didn’t see any dolphin, just sea gulls and lots of other birds which name I forgot. But as we wanted to drive back to the harbour we saw a little cute robe. And she/he seemed to be very curious about us. Maybe she/he waited for some fish...? The robe swum around our boat and sometimes it looked like she/he smiled at us, but this also could be imagination.
But we were very happy as we got back into the warm bus and after the third group finished we drove back >>home<<, finally. It was a long day and we were again very drenched. And so we were glad to relax for some hours, because we could foresee how hard the next two days should be.
Thursday, 14th June 2012
As all suitcases were packed again and our last breakfast in Land’s End was eaten we made our way back to bus to drive to the coast. There we made sea watching. We were guided by two friendly women. After they told us something about crabs and shells we could search for them or other animals or plants we could find between the rocks and stones. They told us also about special kinds of shells, who know exactly when tide is and how they behave and live. When we finished this (because the flood came) we moved on; straight to the top of a big hill. It was quite windy, you can say stormy actually. They told us not to go to the precipice, in case the heavy wind could blow us away! And we felt that; it was difficult to stand still.
There we had the chance to see whales and dolphins and other animals that live in the sea. I thought that I have seen such a big whale, but the other meant that it was only a rock. But as I looked later to the same area, the alleged rock was gone... So, and even if it’s just imagination, I have seen a big whale!!!
The two women said goodbye to us as we wanted to go back to our bus to drive to London. That was about 11:45 am. Everybody looked forward to see London and some of us were in Great Britain’s capital city before, but not me.
We’ve been driven about 7.5 hours as we passed the city boarder of London. And we thought we would be in just a few minutes in our hostel in the Hide Park, but we were wrong. It took, believe it or not, almost one hour to get to our hostel, but this wasn’t really bad, because there was a lot of to see.
And as we finally stand in front of the >>Smart Hyde Park Inn<< we had to wait again for our keys. But as we wanted to enter our room, we had to realize that is was already reserved and taken. We felt annoyed, but we were so lucky when we saw our second room, because we were the only one (from our group) that had an own bathroom. The others had to share the toilets and the showers with each other visitor of the hostel. And also our room was the best; we had no mould in the room, no broken windows and beds that were ok.
After we all were in our rooms, our teachers allowed us to go out until midnight. We all were very happy about that, because we never thought that we would have the chance to see London by night.
At first, Maxi, Lene, Hanna, Patricia, Franzi, Anja and I went into the Hyde Park to see the Albert Memorial and the Kensington Palace. We walked through the park and afterwards we saw the Royal Albert Hall. It was great for us to see, because Adele had a legendary concert there. And it all looks so good in the night, when it’s illuminated.
Then we felt hungry and we wanted to eat the originally >>fish & chips<<. We found a nice and small restaurant and ate there. After we paid for dinner we went back to the hostel, but we lost our way and so we landed in a private street, which was guarded by the police. They wanted to let us through the gate, but their colleagues hadn’t led us pass. After all we found our way back to the hostel and then the police men (who didn’t want to let us through the gate) found us and made big apologizes. They said: >> We are so sorry girls, but now you can pass. << We thanked them for it and walked the last 300 meters back to the Smart Hyde Park Inn. And as we arrived in our rooms again we were on time.
Together with Lene, Maxi, Patricia and Anja I slept in one small room, but it was just for one night, and so it was okay to share this one little room with the loud noises in the middle of the night, which came from the machines around us.
Friday, 15th June 2012
Approximately I slept 4.5 hours but this was okay, because I slowly got used to sleep just a few hours per day. So we ate breakfast all together but I ate just one toast, because I hate sweet breakfast and so I decided to drink a proper coffee anywhere in the streets of London.
So, after we checked out and went back to the bus to stow away our suitcases we had time to explore the metropolis on our own.
When we bought some tickets for the public transport we drove to the department store >>Harrods<<, but we had no chance to see it from the inside, because it opens not until 10 am and we were there at 9.30 am, but we haven’t had the time to wait. But vis-à-vis was a Starbucks Coffee Shop and there we made a little break.
We walked on to the Buckingham Palace and to get there we walked through a pretty nice park. As we arrived at the royal residence we took some pictures and also one with a friendly police man. On the way to Westminster Abbey we walked the >>Diana Princess Of Whales Memorial Walk<< and next to the pavement there was a kind of parade and we saw lots of the royal guardians with their red suits and bear-skin-caps.
Before we arrived at the Westminster Abbey we saw the George-Canning-Memorial, the Abraham-Lincoln-Memorial and walked the >>Jubilee Walking<< (the walking on the occasion of the diamond jubilee of the Queen). Afterwards we had our tickets Maxi, Lene and I went into the Abbey. It was wonderful and more magnificent (for a protestant church) than I first expected. Although the alleys were a bit closely on the right and left side there were lots of caskets and memorials and so on. But it wasn’t too tight to go through, and somehow it was cosy. We three spend almost one hour in this beautiful silent abbey until we emblazed a candle and went out again.
The next sight was the Big Ben and the House of Parliament (together it is the >>Palace of Westminster<<), before we went on the London Eye, also called >>Millennium Wheel<<. And therefore we had to go over the Westminster Bridge.
Only Anja, Maxi and I got on into the gondolas made of glass, which brought us 135 meters high above the ground. Approximately it was 12:30 pm.
One rotation took about one hour and afterwards we had the chance to explore the London Eye with a little 4D-movie. It was nice, very nice; fog, soap bubbles, wind and a sea gull made some great special effects. While Maxi, Anja and I had great fun the other girls, Patricia, Franzi, Hanna and Lene sat in Mc Donald’s and waited for us. When we finished lunch we moved on the Tower Bridge. From there we had a good view of the Gherkin (a very big and huge office building). We thought that it would be a great event to be on top of the bridge and so we got our tickets and the elevator took us on onto the suspension bridge. But the outlook was very disappointing, because everything we could have seen was disguised by posters and plates full of information about bridges from all over the world. And there were little videos which shown how the bridge was build up and why it’s designed this way. But we >>only<< wanted to have a great view and we didn’t want to know why the bridge is (half) blue... So, we could have saved our money for other things.
Our last planed sight in London was the St. Pauls Cathedral. The cathedral looks also great from the outside, but when you enter the entrance and take a look into it, the inside is truly breathtaking. It is big, huge and so well build up. It is amazing how the architects could design and set up such an amazing cathedral. Lene took us into the middle of the cathedral and told us to look up. When we raised our heads Maxi and I didn’t know what to say and Lene was happy that we were speechless for a little while.
Everywhere was gold, either to decorate things or to call someone’s attention to some special memorials or whatever you should see. When Lene and I walked down into the >>tomb<< of the St. Pauls I saw the memorial-grave of King Arthur, also known as Arturius Castus. This time in history is the time that fascinates me the most and so it was a little highlight in this impressive cathedral for me.
As we walked out of the church we finished our sightseeing about 4 pm.
Then we made our way to the Oxford Street. It was time for a little bit shopping.
I bought some presents for my parents and grandparents and a little bit for me.
Then, as we all found together again, we thought, that we need something to drink and food for the long way back home. And so we searched a Mark & Spencer’s Shop, to buy all these things. But until we found such supermarket (or any other store) and bought everything we needed, the time fades away. And it’s not so easy to find a supermarket in the middle of a shopping street/quarter... And then the bus drove by and ignored us. So we had to find a new bus station with the bus, which would take us to the point where we wanted to meet us with the other people from our trip. We phoned with our teacher, that we would come too late and that we were really sorry about that.
With about a half hour delay we reached the bus and fell exhausted into our seats, because we were running and rushing through the streets of London with our heavy bags.
But then everything was okay and we could drive back home.
Friday (night), 15th June 2012 & Saturday, 16th June 2012
We all were very tired and knackered, but sleeping was not a good idea, I thought, because we had only two hours to drive to the ferry in Dover and there we had to get off of the bus. So I preferred to stay (wide) awake and talk or listen to music or whatever.
As we entered the ferry nobody wanted to get out of the bus, but we had to. I almost fell asleep and the 90 minutes went too slowly for us. Then the ferry arrived in Calais and from then on we had the opportunity to sleep. But I couldn’t. I was awake and it felt like 100 trillion thoughts flew through my mind. I remembered of the day we arrived in Cornwall, the amazing coast and cliffs, the funny things we did and how much we laughed. I remembered of the school in Mounts Bay and the nice students who showed us their all-day-life. I thought about the whole week and I wondered why the time had run that fast. I think that everybody enjoyed the time in GB and that everyone would like to come back, because I cannot see any reason against it.
But to be honest, I looked forward to be home again, to sleep in my own bed and show my family all the 716 pictures I made.
As our bus drove back to Joachimsthal and stopped at the school we all were very excited, but also tired and the only thing I wanted is to drive straight back home.
Then I caught my bags and bag packs and all these shopping bags and threw them into the boot of our car and said >>goodbye<< to my friends.
While sitting in the back of the car I realized that a wonderful and eventful week was gone.
And all I can do is to keep all the impressions and memories in my mind (and also in all these 716 photos)...
danke, nochmal.. ♥
