Year 9 German Trip to the Christmas Markets

On the 6th December, 44 year 9 students got on a coach destined for Germany. We were all really excited and after not long in the coach we had reached the Channel Tunnel. It was really fun and we took lots of photos! Frau Kommer was trying to guess our middle names but we had to give her some clues! It took half an hour in the tunnel and soon we had arrived in France. We continued to travel for the rest of the day going through Belgium before arriving at our hotel in Germany. There were so many Christmas lights and lots of castles. We had some noodle soup for a started and then moved onto our main course and pudding. Then we went to bed because we were all quite tired and we had a packed week ahead of us.

The next day we got up and had breakfast before doing some work in our books. We left for Rudesheim Christmas Markets and as soon as we got there we went on the cable car in groups of four. I went with Frau Kommer, Herr Leppard and my best friend Jemma. It was really funny because Frau was really scared and Herr was pretending that we were going to break down! She was really scared – her face told it all!
Then when everyone had got off the cable car at the top of the hill, we visited a big monument where everyone took lots of group photos. Once we had finished admiring the statue we continued to walk back down the hill to the Christmas Markets. They looked stunning as there were loads of decorations everywhere and everyone was in a festive mood. There were all sorts of stalls and nearly everyone tried the chocolate covered fruit that was on offer! There were other stalls as well selling jewellery, candles, meat, sweets, biscuits and as many different types of sausage you could ever imagine! We drove back to the hotel and had dinner. We had to have our lights off quite quickly as we had to leave early the next day to get to Cologne in time!

On Monday, when we were climbing the cathedral, we didn't realise quite how high it was! We walked up the first part which was mostly big spiral staircases but then when we got to the place where the bells were they rung when we least expected it! Everyone jumped because it was so loud! Then we went up some even more spiral staircases but some of these were only just wide enough to walk up! We then reached a big room where there was a big flight of metal stairs going straight up the middle. Some people didn't want to go up but the view from the top was amazing! You could see everything for miles around. Once we had finished taking lots of photos, we descended the 509 steps back to solid ground where we quickly ate our packed lunch. We were still shaking – partly because we had just been a good 140m above the ground and also because it was quite cold!
Then, we walked to the Lindt Chocolate Museum and met our guide for our tour. We saw how the cocoa beans were grown and harvested and then separated into their different parts. We even got to try one of the edible parts – it smelt nice but tasted of nothing! Then we continued our tour to the chocolate fountain where we were given a wafer coated in liquid chocolate. It was lush! Our tour ended but we were allowed to look around the other exhibitions and then in the shop! There was chocolate in all varieties – even Pick 'n' Mix mini bars and truffles!
When everyone had finished buying tonnes of chocolate we walked towards the outdoor ice skating rink! It was also beginning to get dark and there were massive Christmas trees everywhere! We put on our ice skates and stepped out onto the ice. It took some getting use to (I hadn't been in ages!) but by the end I was quite good! I didn't fall over once! When our hour and a half was up we returned the skates and were allowed to walk around the rest of the markets. They even had chocolate covered chilli peppers which everyone dared Herr Price to eat. He ate it but he said part of the deal was to buy him a bottle of water for after! Everyone gave 10 cents so his mouth wasn't on fire for the 2 hour journey back to the hotel.

The next day we had to get up early yet again as we had to leave quickly to get to Marksburg Castle in time for our tour. It was really good except when we the saw the old toilet which was literally a balcony with a seat with a hole in! Then we travelled to Koblenz for the town quiz. We had to navigate our way round the town and answer questions and buy stuff to get points. We soon got very cold so we went back to the Christmas markets where we bought some food with our spare town quiz money. Then we went back to the hotel for an excellent meal of burgers and chips with yummy ice creams for pudding. Everyone was in a good mood so a lot of us stayed up longer than we should of done (after we had finished packing, of course)!

On our last day we were all very tired but after we had eaten breakfast the teachers presented the prizes for the tidiest bedrooms, the best diary entries or for being the best in your group! Jemma and I won the tidiest bedroom prize and I won the Best in Group prize for speaking the most German! Then, I had to present the cards that everyone had signed, along with some chocolates to the teachers. The journey home was quite long but everyone was too excited to notice how quick the time had gone! I thought that the trip was WUNDERBAR!