A month before our journey to England we still had to convince some of our classmates' parents that a trip to England would not only be a normal trip but one we would never forget.

On Saturday morning at around 7 o'clock nobody was missing except for the bus and its driver but eventually he made it half an hour later. We quickly loaded our coach and off we went without big farewell ceremonies because we had no time to lose in order to catch the six o'clock ferry from Rotterdam to Kingston upon Hull. Mind you, we had to cover a distance of nearly 900 kilometres!!

Just outside Munich a car hit our bus. Both drivers stopped, had a look at the damage - which was minute - exchanged their names and addresses and continued the trip.

After we had arrived at the sea port of Rotterdam came the first shock: One of our classmates' passport had expired. Our two teachers decided to play dumb and the British border guards didn't really check our passports after all as they knew we were a school class.

The ferry was majestic, a huge ship with lots of shops, cafés, bars, amusement halls and even a cinema. After we'd had a few hours sleep because everything was too exciting, we were woken up by the announcement to get ready and soon sat in our bus again for the last lap to York.

Our youth hotel wasn't very big but tidy and comfortable. After everyone had found his room we soon set off again to explore the City of York.

The medieval little streets and half-timbered houses were so beautiful that we immediately were reminded of Germany's medieval cities.

The cathederal was very imposing and we could even see the original Roman walls inside the church.

After a long day's outing we were eager to find out what the English cuisine was like.

Our chef gave us plenty to eat and did everything to satisfy our needs and we could even get used to the meals.

Monday and Tuesday had daytrips to Scarborough and Whitby on the agenda. Those towns are beautiful seaside resorts with plenty of cafés, bars, fishing boats, beach promenades and not to forget the wonderful sea view.

On our trip to Whitby we paid a visit to an English comprehensive school in Saltburn-by-the-Sea. The sports teachers were welcoming us and invited us to join in their lessons and play football or basketball with them. It was really interesting to see what an English school looked like. We only read about them in our English books. How funny, they were all wearing school uniforms.

On Tuesday evening we went on the famous Ghost Walk. This was a guided tour by a theatre actress telling us where and when certain people were killed and what kind of ghosts hauted the houses in which the murders had happened. It all sounded so real that one couldn't help believing all the stories.

Yet the highlight was the Yorvik Museum. It showed us how the Vikings lived and you could even smell what it smelled like about one thousand years ago.

On Wednesday we were heading for London which was our second depot.

The youth hotel was so close to the city centre that we could even walk to the Tower Bridge. What a view at night time with all the illuminations!

On Thursday morning we took the London tube to the Embankment of the River Thames. Gosh! The tube system is a few times bigger than our Munich underground. There we went on a boat which took us down the river past all the interesting buildings like Houses of Paliament, Globe Theatre, London Eye, Tower of London etc.

Thursday was Mme Tussauds day. Wow! You could hardly tell if the figures we looked at were real or not. Such craftsmanship is sheer amazing.

In the evening we were allowed to go shopping at Oxford Street but I think most of us went only window shopping because the prices were hardly affordable for our limited budgets. No wonder that the articles in these shops mostly attract people like Victoria Beckham.

Friday came far too quickly. This was the day of our retuns trip via Dover and Calais.

No sooner had we reached the continent again when we were greated by massive clouds and rain which we did not have during our stay in Britain. (Who says that it always rains in Britain?)

At about two in the morning we reached home sweet home where our parents were already waiting for us.

We are very fortunate to have been on this trip because the promise that it would be an unforgettable experience came true!

All students from 10th grade (10 nr!)

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