On 23rd June, 13 excited German students –  and two equally excited teachers – set off for Berlin, the capital of Germany and a city full of history and landmarks which we explored throughout our trip. Whilst the first day was spent travelling, we enjoyed our evening in the Hard Rock Cafe and braving the Berlin weather. 

On Day 2, we explored the city’s history on a 4-hour walking tour accompanied by a tour guide, who shared the stories behind Berlin’s iconic landmarks. After lunch, we attended our first language lesson, where we were mistaken for A Level students! Our teacher was incredibly kind and had a great sense of humour, something we carried throughout the trip. The day came to an end with our favourite restaurant of the trip, which was a classic German restaurant complete with a photo booth!  It was very lively, filled with music and a friendly atmosphere.

On Day 3, we made our way to the Berlin Zoo. This was one of the highlights of the trip and we saw many adorable animals — with the pandas being a clear fan favourite – even for the teachers! Later, after visiting the Haribo store during lunch, we attended our second language lesson of the trip. In the evening, we took the tram to the TV tower for an extraordinary virtual reality experience about the history of Berlin, and then finally made our way up the tower at lightning speed (almost!). With an incredible view of Berlin from the top, the TV tower was a truly amazing experience. The day ended with a dinner of currywurst at the foot of the tower, followed by some much needed ice cream.

On Day 4, we had an early start to visit the famous Stasi Museum, all about the secret service of the time. We then visited the East Side gallery, decorated with both iconic and interesting paintings, serving as a tapestry for Berlin. This led us to our next stop of the day, which we had all been looking forward to – the Mall of Berlin! With new shops to explore and a selection of food to choose from, the Mall was a big success – especially the giant indoor slide. Our final stop, however, was by far the most exciting of the trip: the spy museum! From lasers to lie detectors, the museum made you feel like a real spy and was a great experience. Dinner was at a beautiful Indian restaurant, followed by a walk through the park for our final night, complete with card games and karaoke!

By the final day, we were all exhausted, but went to the GDR museum, which provided a cool retrospective on German life during the Cold War. With the trip coming to a close, we dashed for one more visit to the mall next to our hotel for last-minute shopping and lunch. With one last look through the city, we were ready to make our departure from Berlin, with shopping in hand and memories in heart.

Thank you so much to Mrs Romaniuk for organising such a memorable, wonderful trip, and thank you to Mr Wilkinson for joining us.

Rhea and Diya, Year 10

For more photos from Berlin please visit our Flickr page here