Trip to Berlin
Trip to Berlin
In the first week of the Easter holidays, the V and LV visited Berlin on a German language trip.We had three hours of lessons each day, before setting off on afternoon excursions to explore different historical sites, which showed the many facets of German history. By the time the trip was over; we were not only experts in the language but also German public transport!
On the first day, we visited the East Side Gallery, which is the longest remaining stretch of the Berlin Wall, where artists now come together to display their artwork, to symbolise peace and unity. The next day was a personal favourite, where we visited the Reichstag. We climbed up the dome and while we were up there enjoying the impressive view, it even snowed! We then visited the Jewish Memorial, which was an important place of reflection to recognise those who suffered during the Holocaust. Later in the week, we visited the Jewish Quarter; while exploring the area we came by a Jewish girls’ school, which now serves as a restaurant and communal meeting place and learnt about its sad history during the Holocaust.
Our cultural education continued when we took a trip to the Pergamon Museum, where we saw the Market Gate of Miletus in the antiquity collection, as well as the Islamic Art and Middle East museums. The other half of the group visited the museum’s panorama of the ancient city of Pergamon. Frau Kindermann then guided us through the Berlin Wall Memorial, which gave us a real sense of the consequences the separation between East and West had on the German people.
We experienced a whirlwind of cultures through food. We visited two traditional German restaurants, one being called ‘Max and Moritz’, where we enjoyed Kase Spätzle (cheese pasta), curry, bread and apple strudel. We also went to an Italian pizzeria, an Indian restaurant and a popular German chain called ‘Peter Pane’, where we feasted on burgers. Frau Kindermann’s favourite restaurant was ‘Pratergarten’ where we had the biggest and most delicious Schnitzel in the whole of Berlin, or so she says… We all thoroughly enjoyed it and would like to thank all the teachers, especially Frau Kindermann, for organising such a great trip!
Tejaswini, Siya and Maya (V)
