Sprachreise England

Report on our journey from Schnepfenthal toTorquay

On Sunday evening we went by coach from Schnepfenthal to Calais. We arrived Monday morning and entered the ferry to Dover. On the ferry we changed some money and had a coffee. After arriving Dover it took us another two hours to get to Stonehenge which was amazing. Actually the stones were bigger than we had thought. After visiting Stonehenge we headed to Torquay. Finally we met our host families in the evening, had dinner together, went to bed and fell asleep instantly.

Joris Jakobitz, Joseph Emmrich

Tuesday, 28th April  
Today was our first day at the Riviera School in Torquay. The lesson started at 8:45 am. We had to pass an entrance test. After school we met Tom and he showed us around Torquay. He told us a lot of interesting things. Then we went on a little photo hunt which means we had to find places around the harbour and the seafront shown on photos. We walked a lot. After that we had some freetime. At 5 o'clock the bus took us to our host families.  
Leon Hummel & Christian Ortlepp

Wednesday, 29th April   Today most of us went to school by bus. But we were late because we were stuck in a traffic jam. At school we were divided into three groups, based on the test we had written the day before. After school at 1:30 pm the bus came and took us to Brixham. We learnt that Brixham, Torquay and Paignton are called Torbay. Brixham used to be a small fishing village but its population has grown over the years until now. It is also the place where William of Orange has landed with his fleet to conquer England.   In Brixham we visited the harbour. Many of us took photos of the 'Golden Hind', the ship of Francis Drake. Some of us visited the lighthouse too. Others went shopping in the town or just enjoyed the sunshine while watching the seagulls and the waves.  
Lydia Richter, Elisa Sommer, Laetitia Schier

Thursday, 30th April

Fish&Chips and Oddicombe/Babbacombe Beach

Like every morning our school bus took us to Riviera School.   When school was over we had a one - hour break. After that our school bus picked us up and took us to Hanbury's, a really famous fish & chips place in Torquay where almost all of us tried the typical English dish. And it was really yummy!   After that we went to Oddicombe and Babbacombe Beach where we stayed for one hour. The view over the sea was so beautiful and we enjoyed the sunshine. Some of us were brave enough to step into the cold water.   At the end of the day we went back to our host families.

Saskia Leipold, Lea-Chantal Langenhan, Alexandra Hellmann

Friday, 1st May  
Even though it was a holiday back home, we went to school in the morning and met afterwards at the pick-up point. After a one-hour journey we arrived at Exeter, walk to the city centre and saw the famous cathedral which really impressed us. Our teachers allowed us to organize our time in the city as we wanted. Some of us went inside the cathedral to look at its wonderful architecture. Some other kids of year 7 used their free time to go shopping in the various shops.   We just sat in the park in front of the cathedral and fed the seagulls and pigeons. The weather was cold and windy but we were still able to enjoy ourselves. At around 5 o´clock we went back to Torquay, and being back we headed towards our host families looking forward to dinner.  
Ida, Natalia, Nele, Sophie

Saturday, 2nd May  
No school today! We went to the Eden Project by bus which took two hours to get there. The first thing we saw were the two gigantic greenhouses called biomes – unbelievable. We thought they looked like beehives. Inside we found plants and flowers from different climate zones. Actually it was a little colder in the Mediterranean Biome than we had thought, but warm enough in the Rainforest Biome. Since there was a wedding in the Mediterranean Biome later in the afternoon we went there first and discovered lots of colourful flowers and sculptures made of metal. Then we walked on to the Rainforest Biome were it was warm and humid and we almost felt like being in a jungle with the huge plants around us. We could even watch little birds flying around. Finally it was time to leave. However, we still had to do some shopping before heading to the bus. And we also had some delicious ice cream which had some strange flavor like coconuts and “baoba”. Some of us liked the day and some of us not so much, but it was still nice despite of the rain since we didn´t get wet in the greenhouses ;-)
Paula, Lea Sophie, Josephine

Sunday, 3rd May  
At 9:30 we were picked up by the bus and went to Bath which took us 3 hours. After arriving we had 90 minutes free time to grab some food or do some shopping. After that we met at the Roman Baths where we got our tickets and our audio guides. Since it was very crowded inside we were allowed to walk around in small groups or pairs. Among many other things we also saw the baths of the Romans and a hot spring. At 5 pm we went back to Torquay where we arrived shortly before 8 pm.  
Cassidy, Laura, Johanna

Monday, 4th May  
Our trip to Dartmoor   In the morning we got up (a little too late) and walked to the bus. As every morning the students were collected and the coach took us to the “Haytor Rocks” in Dartmoor. After arriving, all of us walked up the hill and took photos. The brave ones, and there were a few, even climbed the rocks and were rewarded by a fantastic view over the amazing scenery of Dartmoor. We were given an hour on the hills and then we walked back to the parking lot where some of the famous Dartmoor Ponies were waiting for us. They were so cute.   After a couple of minutes we were counted for the 48th time (or so) on our trip ;-) Christian, the best coach driver we could ever imagine, took us to a small picturesque village called Widecombe and of cause we had to go on a hunt for more souvenirs to bring back to Germany.   On Monday it was not the teachers who rushed us back to the coach, but the rain……………………. Being back at Torquay we still had two hours of free time.   On the way home to our host families the rain surprised us again and we were soaking wet when we arrived at our house. After this amazing day we were very tired, went to bed and fell asleep immediately.  
Angelina Raddatz, Pauline Macholdt, Janina Klopfer

Tuesday, 5th May  
Today the coach was out of service since Christian, the driver, had a day off. We were lucky because our host mum drove us to school. Other students had to walk or took the public bus. In our first lesson we learned something about Haikus which are Japanese poems. In the second lesson we learned a lot about the Royal family. In the afternoon we had time off and could decide on our own what to do. We had a cup of hot chocolate others went shopping or walked along the beach.  
Elias und Jakob

Wednesday, 6th May      
Yesterday after school we went to the bus-pick-up point to travel to Plymouth which is about a one- hour drive from Torquay. Plymouth was awesome (lovely) ;) At first we visited the National Marine Aquarium (the biggest in the entire UK) where we saw a lot of big, small and amazing fish. At 3pm there was a shark show which was very interesting. After visiting the museum we had the chance to walk around the harbour and the marina. Unfortunately we didn`t have enough time to walk into the city. At 5pm the bus took us back to Torquay. Tomorrow we are going to go to Cockington.      
Bernd und Pepe

Thursday, 7th May  
Picturesque Cockington   After school we went to Cockington to have cream tea which is famous in the south of England. Cockington is a small village near Torquay where you find many cottages and a manor house located in a large park. Cream tea is very delicious and it´s served with a scone which is a kind of roll, clotted cream and strawberry jam. Many of us tried it and had to realize how filling it is. All of us liked it though. Later we walked around in the park where you can visit a forge and we could even watch some craftsmen doing their work. Many other students were just lying in the grass and enjoying the warm weather.

 Friday, 8th May        
At 8:15am the coach took us to Riviera English School. It was our last school day in England, so at the end of the lesson all of us received certificates. We are all very happy about them. Afterwards we had about 2 hours free time until we met at the harbour to visit “Living Coasts”. First a guard gave us a short introduction about the animals. Then we went in and looked at everything until 5 pm. First we watched the feeding of the penguins. We also watched other birds, otters, fish, crabs, sea lions and other animals. We had a great time there until we went back to our host families. All together it was a great day and all of us enjoyed it.      
Amelia Einhellinger & Julia Kahler