Going to Scotland 2024

  (by Katharina and Marie) When we woke up today at six o’clock in the morning, we wouldn’t have thought that our meticulously planned journey was nearly to be doomed.  We all met at 6:30 (more or less punctually) in the reception hall. The first cab was on time and took the first group to the train station. But then, the long wait began, and we slowly started to get nervous. When Ms. Ruf called the cab company it turned out that they in fact did not have enough cabs to take all of us to the train station, which was very inconvenient, as we all very eagerly wanted to catch the same train to London.  Long story short – in the end we all managed, to the great relief of our teachers, to catch a cab and hop on the train, though not a minute too early… In London we had the pleasure to go once again through the crowded and hectical check point. We are definitely not going to miss frantically taking of luggage and jackets!  When we arrived in Paris, the whole class started ...

(by Léan, Hannah & Delia) It is already Friday, and our trip is coming to an end. Before meeting up at 10:45 am, many of us used the time as usual: getting ready, eating breakfast, working on our portfolio or “hurkle-durkling” (Scottish for:  sleeping in). When everyone, even though with some delay, found their way to the common room, it was time to reveal the winners (and losers) of the quiz. Luckily even the losers were granted a small consolation gift. The winning group, Marie, Rebecca and Katharina, won some Scotland-inspired key chains.  Then we yet again walked (today at a slightly slower pace) into the city to a bagpiping workshop. After we got a little introduction about the bagpipes and their history, we all got handed out a practice chanter. (A practice chanter is the front part of the bagpipe and looks and works similarly to a flute. We soon noticed that a lot of air is needed to produce a clean sound but after some time we were all able to manage this.) Our ins...

 (by Kate & Lena) Our mornings were starting at different points in time today, some were sleeping until the last possible moment while others were already productive and working. After our rich breakfast we met up in the Lobby at 9:15 am. Our class had significantly shrunk, the reason being the cold going around.(We are snivelling and coughing while writing this.)We then went into town in Ms Hänggi’s quite rapid speed to meet the charming Liz, our tour guide. In educated company, we could admire various street art all around Glasgow. We learned about different artists: for example “Smug” who created a few of the artworks we spotted. What amazed us in particular was the way these artists hid their signatures in their own paintings. We also learned about the tradition Glaswegian taxi drivers have in summer, when they take children with special needs to the seaside in their taxis decorated with helium balloons. Some artworks weren’t in such good condition anymore because several ...

(by Tugba and Rebecca) We woke up in a new hostel; and for some of us it was challenging to cope with the new environment. As people were climbing out of their beds, they started to notice strange things in the room: bizarre and unidentifiable objects were discovered under beds. Other people had to deal with a shower which had a very free will because it turned from boiling hot water to ice cold water within seconds. A few faced the challenge of finding the hostel’s kitchen in the maze of floors, lounges and rooms to prepare their breakfast.  The class assembled at the lobby at 9:30 am and, with a rather long walk, we arrived at the Necropolis where Joel and Mila had their guided tour an hour later. We gathered at the end of the so-called Bridge of Sighs, and were told that this site is the biggest and oldest graveyard of Scotland. After a short overview, Mila and Joel guided us through the cemetery and stopped every now and then to dive into their topic more deeply. We learned tha...

 (by Amelia & Sofia) This morning started with packing, again.. but at least in a more organized fashion (for most of us). We had the luxury of being picked up right at our doorstep by two friendly Scotsmen driving busses. The idea was that the class would be evenly divided into the two vehicles, but we ended up with one being absolutely packed and the other giving each person their own double seat. We got to choose our own travel playlist, each person writing down their favourite songs. Shoutout to “Discover Scotland Tours” On our tour we took a bit of a detour, which added five hours to our travel time, but we used that time to look at fascinating landscapes and saw a surprisingly large amount of Harry Potter film locations.  The first stretch of road led us to a pretty but very cold beach, where Rebecca had to retrieve a tennis ball out of sea for a not so water loving dog. We quickly moved on to other locations. Some of them only two minutes further down the road than ...

 (b y Christoph & Mio) After a nice long sleep, we visited the Oban Distillery today. In two groups we had a tour of the Oban Distillery which was founded in 1794. Two of us even paid extra to taste the various whiskies throughout our tour. All the others weren’t allowed or didn’t want to pay for the tasting. We learned how whisky is made and learned about the History of this small but famous Distillery. At the end, our tour guide proudly presented their Whiskies, but no one of us was willing to pay up to 200 pounds for one bottle of Whisky. Nevertheless, we bought some souvenirs like a Whisky glass or Whisky flavoured popcorn in the little shop at the end. We also learned the difference between Scotch and Irish Whisky - Quote by our Tour guide Campbell:” Ours is just better.”  If the amount of Whisky in the tasting (a small shot) was too much for you, you could take it with you in a small bottle. Ms Ruf was successfully the only one to not us these silly bottles and downe...