My impression of London

Immediately after our arrival on Sunday we went to Camden Lock, one of my favorite experiences in London. When we got there, crowds of people and thousands of stands bowled me over. Right behind the bridge were so many little stands with food and any kind of stuff you can imagine. I felt like I would be on a bazaar in another country than England because of all the smells of Asian and Indian food and chocolate-fruits. There was too less time to really enjoy this and to sort one’s impressions but our next stop in the Hyde Park was as good as Camden Lock.

As I said we went to Hyde Park to Speakers Corner. This experience was one of my craziest. Already from a far distance we heard excited voices and loud discussions. Then we saw some men standing on a sort of platform (chair etc.) with many people around them. At first we watched the different groups without participating but then we dared to discuss with a small group. The people were really funny and talked very strange and confusing. The man on the platform had a completely different opinion than ours so we had an argument. But we had so much fun in defending our opinion and we got more and more confident because we were able to express ourselves in English, which was very encouraging.

The last exciting event I want to talk about was the visit of the musical “The Phantom of the Opera”. First I had mixed feelings because I don’t like operas at all, but the mixture of musical and opera was great. The singers were so good and the stage set was constructed so detailed and above all beautiful.

All in all I can say that the trip to London was very enriching for me and I would do it again at anytime if I had the chance to.

Jana

What I liked most about our trip to London

I definitely did enjoy every day of our field excursion to London, but the most exciting day for me was Wednesday, September 23rd, when we went on our day trip to Oxford.

I visited London in 2005, but I had never been to Oxford before. So I was really looking forward to seeing this town, even before our field excursion had started. I had heard much about this beautiful university town and so I had built pictures in my mind of how it would look like etc. And I have to admit that my imaginations were not disappointed at all! I liked Oxford from the beginning when we got off the bus. I find this town really sympathetic because it is not as big as London and has a much more quiet and comfortable atmosphere. Our guided tour through Christ Church College and the quarter around it was also very interesting. Our guide was really nice and friendly and she knew how to make a guided tour both funny and informative at the same time. And I loved the way she spoke the typical Oxford English because it had some kind of a charming touch and I could understand every word she said! As I had been a huge Harry Potter fan when I was younger (and I still love the books!), it was of course a great experience to stand in the Great Hall and upon the stairs which lead to it. :-) Getting to know more about the University of Oxford and its history was absolutely enriching and I enjoyed our freetime in the afternoon by discovering this lovely town a bit more.

To sum it up, I would say that our day trip to Oxford has brought this town on my list of my favourite cities/ towns because with its beautiful architecture and its charming atmosphere it symbolizes all what is for me a British town.

All in all I am sure that every member of our field excursion had a great time and got unforgettable and inspiring impressions and moments. Thank you, Mrs. Koch (and Mr Ehlers) for offering us such a great trip! :-)