First day
- Start in Essen: 6.30 a. m. from the railway station
- Arrival in Dover at noon, crossing with the ferry to Dover
- Arrival in Kingsdown at about 3.oo p. m.
- We moved into the holiday apartments in Kingsdown and afterwards we had a walk along the beach. In the evening we discovered a little pub and spent a few hours there. We tried to talk together just in English.
Second day: Trip to Canterbury
- After the breakfast in the houses we drove to Canterbury.
- We visited Canterbury City and had a guided tour through the Canterbury Cathedral.
- The guide told us very interesting things about the history of Canterbury and stories about the first Archbishop St. Augustin, who cames from Italy in the sixth century and also a story about Thomas O‘ Becket, Archbishop and martyr, who was slain in his own cathedral in 1170.
- Nowadays the archbishop of Canterbury is the most senior bishop of the Church of England and the worldwide Anglican Communion. The worldly head of the Church of England is the Queen.
- Another interesting person of Canterbury was Geoffrey Chaucer, who wrote the Canterbury Tales (Canterbury Geschichten) about the pilgrims of Canterbury between 1387 and 1400 AD. It is the story of a group of thirty people who travel as pilgrims to Canterbury.
- The pilgrims, who come from all layers of society, tell stories to each other to kill time while they travel to Canterbury.
- In the afternoon we visited a little town called Broadstairs. In Broadstairs there lived the famous author Charles Dickens, who wrote „Oliver Twist“.
Third day: Trip to London
- We left Kingsdown at 9 a.m. and arrived at London about 12.00.
- Volker, our bus driver, parked in the North of the Hyde Park and we went to the subway together.
- We bought a day ticket for the subway, it costs 4.60 pounds. Then we visited
- Buckingham Palace and the House of Parliament. Afterwards the groups divided into smaller groups and we visited China Town, the famous department store of England, Harrods, the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge.
- The return trip started at about 8.3o p. m. and we arrived in Kingsdown shortly before our favourite pub closed.
Fourth day: Leeds Castle and Maidstone
- In the morning: Leeds Castle
Sightseeing of a very nice little castle called „Leeds Castle“ that was occupied until 1974 by a private person and nowadays is financial by a donations. - In the afternoon: Maidstone
Stay in Maidstone, a typical little English town. - The last evening in England we spent together in the Kingsdown pub.
Fifth day
- Start in Kingsdown at about 9.3o, sightseeing of the wartime tunnels of Dover Castle with a guide.
- After crossing the channel Dover-Calais return trip to Essen. Arrival in Essen at about 9.15 p. m.
All together the trip to England was very interesting and a good practice for our knowledge of English.
Ein Text von Lissie Höper
