Immediately after the May half term, 29 GCSE German students, accompanied by Ms Rashid, Mr Madarbukus and trip leader, Mr Hobbs, spent 5 wonderful days in the bustling port city of Hamburg, in Northern Germany. This was the first residential German language trip in around a  decade, so very much overdue, and everyone was extremely excited to finally get to try out their language skills in an authentic environment. The reason Mr Hobbs had chosen Hamburg was that the students had previously learned about the city in their German lessons, and also that there was so much for an intrepid visitor to see and experience, as well as having a very reliable public transport network, making it easy to get around the city.

During our trip we visited all of the major sights in the city:

• The Jungfernstieg, a rather upmarket district next to the city’s lake, the Alster, where the students were able to buy lunch and enjoy some retail therapy at Hamburg’s answer to Harrod’s, the Alsterhaus - well visual retail therapy at least!

• On Tuesday, we had a harbour cruise on the River Elbe, and were able to enjoy the city’s sights on the water. We were also shown around the enormous container port, with a number of very large ships docked and being loaded ready for their next trip across the globe. 

• On Tuesday afternoon, we visited the Internationales Maritimes Museum, a vast building, with its exhibits spread across 9 floors. Many of the students enjoyed learning about Hamburg and Germany’s seafaring past.

• On Wednesday, we headed to the Großneumarkt, a famous food market, with a wide range of different stalls offering many different international cuisines. Here again, the students had the chance to practise their German to order their lunch. The students tucked into anything from Currywurst mit Pommes, to Döner Kebap, to homemade Polish pierogi!

• We then headed out to the west of the city for a tour of Hamburger SV’s stadium, the Volksparkstadion. As our guide explained, with a capacity of 57,000, this was probably the finest second tier stadium anywhere in the world; HSV had that week been beaten in a promotion play off by Stuttgart, meaning they had yet another season in the 2. Bundesliga. The children certainly enjoyed taking photos of the huge ground, learning about players past and present, visiting the away dressing room, the Press Room and the club museum, as well as purchasing those all important souvenirs from the club shop!

• After that we headed to Hamburg’s botanical garden, Planten un Blomen, which was absolutely beautiful, and enabled us to relax for a while in a tranquil setting after a hectic and full on day. The students enjoyed watching the turtles that lived in the park’s lake, while the three teachers were extremely lucky to spot one of the local red squirrels foraging for his dinner.

• Thursday was, for many of us, the highlight of the week. In the morning, we visited the tropical aquarium at Hagenbeck Zoo. This was far more than many of us had expected, with a huge variety of animals to see, including a family of lemurs, a group of very large crocodiles, plus all sorts of marine wildlife. At the end of the visit, there was the most enormous tank where you could observe sharks, rays et al whilst sitting in theatre style seating. A few of us said we could have stayed there all day, as it was truly mesmerizing! 

• In the afternoon, we went to the magical Miniatur Wunderland. This is a huge building next to the river, which has been transformed into the world’s biggest miniature exhibition. Every room features a different country or city, recreated in miniature. The detail the designers have gone to really is extraordinary. They even have a working airport, with flights taking off and landing at regular intervals. Also, every 20 minutes or so, night falls, allowing a truly spectacular light show. Highly recommended!

• The final morning we visited Hamburg’s very own chocolate factory and museum, Chocoversum, where the kids were able to create their very own chocolate bar to take home. 

Every evening, we ate at authentic German restaurants, again giving the students a real “taste of Germany”. Overall the trip was a fantastic, albeit hectic experience; Mr Madarbukus’s watch told us that by the end of the week we had clocked up 33 miles of walking! Everyone enjoyed themselves hugely - the students were excellent all week and represented BGS superbly well. I hope this will give them a real boost of enthusiasm for their GCSE studies, to become enthused by Europe and European culture and encourage them to visit Germany again - maybe next time with their families?!

Alles Gute und bis bald!

Herr Hobbs