Love it
Thursday, 21 August 2008
Friday, 18 July 2008
First Blog
I have decided to do my first blog on Germany which I got back from 4 days ago now. It was basically amazing and Ellie and I are going to go back there someday. The trip didn't get off to the best start because the coach broke down somewhere near Manchester, after it set off from Wales (?) and so we left for Germany 1 hour and a half late and missed the last ferry from Dover (2:30 am). So the coach company set us up on the Euro Tunnel instead and I was pretty much the only person who managed to sleep through it because apparently it was noisy (I wouldn't know). I think I managed to get about 4-5 hours sleep in the end but I felt really sorry for Ellie because she only got 1 hour! Out of 10! The service station the next morning was really nice and I was glad to stop because the coach smelled and was cramped. (Unknown to us at that point, the smell was only going to get worse). We got to Germany actually earlier than was planned at about 10 am. We had a short walk to the centre of Bonn and we set off to buy our first German lunch which ended up being in Pizza Hut, however, we did order it in German! We then had a look round all of the shops in Bonn including H&M and the Gummy Bear Shop (!!!). OFC, we cannot forget Dunkin' Donuts which is basically legendary! It is actually worth going to Germany just to get one of their Strawberry Fruit Coolattas which are the most amazing things ever! I then bought post cards for some of my family and sent off my grandma's, she was the only one to receive hers while I was actually still in Germany! We then went to Haus Die Geschiste which was a museum about Germany since WW2 which was actually reasonably alright as we had a good tour guide who had a Italian accent. In the shop was the most amazing looking guy ever, haha anyway. We then got on the local bus and drove to the youth hostel which was so much better than I thought it would be! It was so clean and tidy AND modern! We got our keys and headed upstairs to our rooms and I was glad to be able to go on the top bunk (like at home) and we unpacked and then relaxed. We then had dinner which was basically a skank (some brown stew with lots of lumps, possibly containing lamb). After dinner I got depressed because everyone was in some rubbish mood but it was at that point that I decided I wouldn't cry while I was there (and I managed to stick to it!) But then I went upstairs (after playing cards) and everyone was in Fran and Vicky's room and we played truth or dare which was so funny. The main dare meant Casey dressing up as some strange kind of halfbreed and running downstairs to leave Mrs Raison a ransom note ( give us your carrots or the tortoise gets it), (however, when we were back at school we found out that she had been a bit grumpy on the trip because she had been suffering from a carrot deficiency as she had forgotten to bring some!). Mrs Raison proceeded to look thoroughly confused but at least Mrs Walters found it amusing! Other dares consisted of Tolu attempting to moon out of the window whilst wearing a t-shirt promoting Jesus and Emily running into Kasia's room and stealing her roommates game boys. We then had to go to bed and I slept VERY well after only sleeping for 5 hours the night before! The bed was so comfy and the shower was powerful haha
Day 2
Our first full day in Germany was probably my favourite day! We started at about 7:15 with Mrs Walters banging on the door screaming something along the lines of 'Get up girls, it is morning time, get up, get up, get up' and so we got up and the shower was still as good as the night before. We then went down to breakfast and I was pleased to discover that the breakfast, albeit basic was much nicer than the previous nights dinner and we then had to pack our lunches and be off to the centre of Bonn. On the coach, Ellie and I were extremely excited to finally have a full day in Bonn :) The morning wasn't amazing but the afternoon was SO good. In the morning we were given ten euro's between four of us and we had to troop around the market, trying to find things that were cheap, edible and suitable for a picnic. In the end we settled for bread, fleishwurst (some kind of sausage), johannesberries (possibly the most disgusting small red things ever, but Mrs Raison told us that they were her favourite food growing up), pretzels and two small apple flavoured cakes which we got from a cute little cafe. In this cute little cafe, we also ordered our first german snack (?), sharing a hot chocolate and some disgusting cake which was all gooey and the canteen could have done better. (the hot chocolate was nice though). We then left and headed towards a sweet little park, which was extremely sandy, however, the rain had meant that the sand was all damp and it all got stuck to my brand new white shoes! lovely! Our picnic was really nice though and none of us complained too much. We then headed off to THE CHOCOLATE MUSEUM (the only chocolate museum in the world shaped like a boat lol) where people readily gave out free chocolate. We also watched the whole process of the chocolate being made in the factory which was really interesting AND a kind lady gave me a chocolate wafer (mm, yummy-ish). We then got to go to CHOCOLAT (the ultra amazing shop at the chocolate museum) which just looked too amazing. I bought A LOT of food in there, mainly presents which broke on the way home inc. lollies for my cousins, gum balls, chocolate for my mother and father and orange and lemon slices for myself. I gave away way too many gum balls! lol, but at least I still have quite a few left. We then hopped on a German train and had a tour around Cologne/Koln where we had the pleasure of listening to Mrs Raison's flirting with the driver but also her interesting commentary. e.g. there is the one of the oldest families in Germany, that is where they used to live, they make cigarettes. We then waved to almost everybody in Cologne which was hilarious as some of the people there are so strange but also very friendly! We got off the train outside Cologne Cathedral and I went and tried to hug an angel who then proceeded to yell 'GIVE ME GELD, GELD, GELD' and some other things in a foreign language before I realised that you had to pay to have a picture taken with him/her. I wasn't going to have a picture after that rudeness anyway, haha. We then climbed up Cologne Cathedral! The view was so amazing from the top! I loved being up there but I HATED going up (and) down, I was so slow on the stairs, it was a wonder no one yelled at me or pushed me down the stairs/ past me. Someone had written Felix Z and then a mobile number which gave everyone except Katie a laugh who was pissed off because everybody knew about Felix! (her German boyfriend for anybody out there who still doesn't know! lol) When we got down, we went shopping in Cologne's main shopping district which was so fun (their equivalent of our Oxford Street). It started off with about 12 of us there but the numbers gradually went down until it was only Me (Harriet), Ellie, Vicky and Fran. I loved that couple of hours, I tried on some hideous waist coat in a shop called Pimkie which was actually a very sweet little shop which Fran seemed to find hilarious. Ellie and I spent most of the time trying on other daft things which was extremely amusing. We all then went to dunkin' donuts again (WOW) and got the legendary strawberry fruit coolatta. There was a woman in there with a baby (and another child). We waved at the baby and his mum was going, 'wave, wave, go on, wave' but then when he actually/finally did she yelled 'good boy' but then slapped him hard around the head which doesn't sound very funny but actually was! lol. Fran went to the men's room to pee. We then slowly headed back (reluctantly) as it was getting near to the time where we were supposed to meet. We then took the pretty much best picture from the trip of Fran, Me and Ellie hugging one of the statues outside of Cologne Cathedral (not the angel!), a man dressed as something similar to the tin man from the Wizard Of Oz! There was also a pirate there and a man pretending/dressed up as the boy from the Sword and the Stone. We then headed back on the coach and had dinner at the youth hostel which was pasta and slightly more edible than the night before. We then went out to the EIS CAFE. I ordered an apple and cinnamon ice cream which was ok. We were allowed to order anything up to 8 euro's in price, but nothing was that much and some people actually ordered two ice creams! lol
The whole evening was so funny though, with Fiona and Jenny entertaining us with their stories about strange men! On the coach back, Ellie and I got a bit excited pretending to be animals, oh dear. I slept EXTREMELY well again that night but did scare Ellie when getting up in the night!
Day 3
This was the day of the Rhein Cruise and Rudesheim. The morning was alright, the usual breakfast, made our packed lunch (THEY GAVE US HARIBO FOR LUNCH MM YUMMY :))
We spent about an hour on the coach but it passed really quickly as Ellie and I were singing along to S Club 7 and The Spice Girls etc. We got to the town and asked people lots of questions about the environment. I was bursting for the loo and had to squat in the most disgusting thing I think you will find on this planet! no joke, poo and flies everywhere! aghhhh! We then went and bought doughnuts and drinks from a sweet little bakery and went to sit down in a cafe which we were then shooed from for not ordering food. Unfair I think. We then went and asked the German people about the environment in their town which was alright. We then got on the boat after first of all getting on the wrong one and Ellie and I recreated a lot of the different parts of Titanic. The videos of this can now be viewed on Youtube. I shall carry on this blog tomorrow as I am now tired and want to go to bed!
bye xo
Day 2
Our first full day in Germany was probably my favourite day! We started at about 7:15 with Mrs Walters banging on the door screaming something along the lines of 'Get up girls, it is morning time, get up, get up, get up' and so we got up and the shower was still as good as the night before. We then went down to breakfast and I was pleased to discover that the breakfast, albeit basic was much nicer than the previous nights dinner and we then had to pack our lunches and be off to the centre of Bonn. On the coach, Ellie and I were extremely excited to finally have a full day in Bonn :) The morning wasn't amazing but the afternoon was SO good. In the morning we were given ten euro's between four of us and we had to troop around the market, trying to find things that were cheap, edible and suitable for a picnic. In the end we settled for bread, fleishwurst (some kind of sausage), johannesberries (possibly the most disgusting small red things ever, but Mrs Raison told us that they were her favourite food growing up), pretzels and two small apple flavoured cakes which we got from a cute little cafe. In this cute little cafe, we also ordered our first german snack (?), sharing a hot chocolate and some disgusting cake which was all gooey and the canteen could have done better. (the hot chocolate was nice though). We then left and headed towards a sweet little park, which was extremely sandy, however, the rain had meant that the sand was all damp and it all got stuck to my brand new white shoes! lovely! Our picnic was really nice though and none of us complained too much. We then headed off to THE CHOCOLATE MUSEUM (the only chocolate museum in the world shaped like a boat lol) where people readily gave out free chocolate. We also watched the whole process of the chocolate being made in the factory which was really interesting AND a kind lady gave me a chocolate wafer (mm, yummy-ish). We then got to go to CHOCOLAT (the ultra amazing shop at the chocolate museum) which just looked too amazing. I bought A LOT of food in there, mainly presents which broke on the way home inc. lollies for my cousins, gum balls, chocolate for my mother and father and orange and lemon slices for myself. I gave away way too many gum balls! lol, but at least I still have quite a few left. We then hopped on a German train and had a tour around Cologne/Koln where we had the pleasure of listening to Mrs Raison's flirting with the driver but also her interesting commentary. e.g. there is the one of the oldest families in Germany, that is where they used to live, they make cigarettes. We then waved to almost everybody in Cologne which was hilarious as some of the people there are so strange but also very friendly! We got off the train outside Cologne Cathedral and I went and tried to hug an angel who then proceeded to yell 'GIVE ME GELD, GELD, GELD' and some other things in a foreign language before I realised that you had to pay to have a picture taken with him/her. I wasn't going to have a picture after that rudeness anyway, haha. We then climbed up Cologne Cathedral! The view was so amazing from the top! I loved being up there but I HATED going up (and) down, I was so slow on the stairs, it was a wonder no one yelled at me or pushed me down the stairs/ past me. Someone had written Felix Z and then a mobile number which gave everyone except Katie a laugh who was pissed off because everybody knew about Felix! (her German boyfriend for anybody out there who still doesn't know! lol) When we got down, we went shopping in Cologne's main shopping district which was so fun (their equivalent of our Oxford Street). It started off with about 12 of us there but the numbers gradually went down until it was only Me (Harriet), Ellie, Vicky and Fran. I loved that couple of hours, I tried on some hideous waist coat in a shop called Pimkie which was actually a very sweet little shop which Fran seemed to find hilarious. Ellie and I spent most of the time trying on other daft things which was extremely amusing. We all then went to dunkin' donuts again (WOW) and got the legendary strawberry fruit coolatta. There was a woman in there with a baby (and another child). We waved at the baby and his mum was going, 'wave, wave, go on, wave' but then when he actually/finally did she yelled 'good boy' but then slapped him hard around the head which doesn't sound very funny but actually was! lol. Fran went to the men's room to pee. We then slowly headed back (reluctantly) as it was getting near to the time where we were supposed to meet. We then took the pretty much best picture from the trip of Fran, Me and Ellie hugging one of the statues outside of Cologne Cathedral (not the angel!), a man dressed as something similar to the tin man from the Wizard Of Oz! There was also a pirate there and a man pretending/dressed up as the boy from the Sword and the Stone. We then headed back on the coach and had dinner at the youth hostel which was pasta and slightly more edible than the night before. We then went out to the EIS CAFE. I ordered an apple and cinnamon ice cream which was ok. We were allowed to order anything up to 8 euro's in price, but nothing was that much and some people actually ordered two ice creams! lol
The whole evening was so funny though, with Fiona and Jenny entertaining us with their stories about strange men! On the coach back, Ellie and I got a bit excited pretending to be animals, oh dear. I slept EXTREMELY well again that night but did scare Ellie when getting up in the night!
Day 3
This was the day of the Rhein Cruise and Rudesheim. The morning was alright, the usual breakfast, made our packed lunch (THEY GAVE US HARIBO FOR LUNCH MM YUMMY :))
We spent about an hour on the coach but it passed really quickly as Ellie and I were singing along to S Club 7 and The Spice Girls etc. We got to the town and asked people lots of questions about the environment. I was bursting for the loo and had to squat in the most disgusting thing I think you will find on this planet! no joke, poo and flies everywhere! aghhhh! We then went and bought doughnuts and drinks from a sweet little bakery and went to sit down in a cafe which we were then shooed from for not ordering food. Unfair I think. We then went and asked the German people about the environment in their town which was alright. We then got on the boat after first of all getting on the wrong one and Ellie and I recreated a lot of the different parts of Titanic. The videos of this can now be viewed on Youtube. I shall carry on this blog tomorrow as I am now tired and want to go to bed!
bye xo
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