What really happened

After a hearty and really yummy breakfast at the hotel, we set off (on foot!!!) to a German highschool. We were greeted by the principal himself who told us about the school, the students and himself. As it turns out, school principals in Germany still teach classes. Our principal was an English teacher. Lucky for us.

Ms. Klimm, the school's kind secretary then gave us a short tour of the school building(s) - there are FOUR of them. We saw the gymnasium, the cafeteria, the auditorium (where a written test was being written at the time).

Afterwards, we split up into groups and joined four English classes for half an hour. It was interesting to meet German students (who by the way were of a lot of different nationalities) and get to talk to them for a while. Some people even found it hard to tear themselves away from their newly found friends.

Then it was time for short refreshments and the tour of the school continued. We saw the biology and chemistry room and the stadium with soccer field where a soccer tournament between students and teachers was going on. We cheered them on for a while and then went to ransack (no exaggeration) a nearby supermarket. Laden with goodies (mostly of the candy and vitamin variety), we struggled on to the underground to meet our tour guide at Checkpoint Charlie.

Waiting for our bus to arrive, we got a taste of gypsies begging for money, and once we'd made it clear we had given enough, they asked for candy.

The tour took us around the whole of Berlin. We saw everything important to see in Berlin - to name all the sights would turn this into a travel guide. Back at Checkpoint Charlie, we went into the Wall Museum and learnt about the wall that separated West and East Berlin for over 25 years. And about how people resisted it. Very interesting.

Then it was shopping time. And that thought alone got some of the girls to move faster than they had moved all day. :-) And judging from the number of shopping bags they came back with, it was definitely an hour well spent.

Dinner was a German speciality - Wiener Schnitzel! Complete with French fries and chocolate pudding. With our bellies duly filled, we went up to the Berlin TV Tower. Luckily, it has an elevator. Which moves- interesting tidbit - at a speed of 6 metres a second. The trip up to the platform section took only about 40 seconds - so fast that our ears popped.

The view from up there was spectacular. After having seen Berlin from the bus, we now got a view from above. The sights looked so different from there. Ms. Alexander however did spot the statues of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels and so that's where we went next. After all, those two figured prominently in the video we were always watching in class. Naturally, we had to go and see them for ourselves. Or climb onto Karl Marx' lap. And shoulder. Great fun.

We took a tram back to the hotel and were all sad that our visit to Berlin was coming to an end already.