Our day in Brighton!

On Thursday, we went to Brighton for the whole day. In the morning we went from Mottingham to Charing Cross, there I got the chance to get a coffee because I was very tired. After this it took us an hour to get to Brighton by train. There I took a quick power nap and listened to Ed Sheeran. In Brighton arrived it was very cold and foggy. We went to Brighton Pier where I went down to the beach to take some fotos, there I lost my friends and so I had to walk alone to find them. After I found them again we decided to go to Sea Life, it was really cool to see all the fish and water creatures. We spent there an hour I think. After this we had free time to do whatever we want, we decided to go shopping because this never gets boring. It was a great day at Brighton!

Written by Lorena Fink

London Zoo

I would suggest London Zoo because I think it’s a good place where you can relax from the stress of the city and watch some animals you have never seen before. It’s a big area with 15 hectares and over 18.400 animals.

It would be very interesting to see all the 752 different species for example, lions, tigers or special events every day for example shows on Penguin Beach, or sometime you can feed Llamas. You can even get close to some big spiders, which I personally would not recommend.

Established in 1828 the zoological gardens London Zoo is one of the oldest in the world. It has been opened for the public since 1847.

It would be nice to spend a day off the zoo and the costs aren’t that high. I think London Zoo would be a nice change from our other sights we are visiting so think about it.

Written by Lorena Fink

Thursday morning in Brighton

We got up at 6:30 am, got ready and had a breakfast. One hour later our host parents took us to the meeting point at Mottingham station. From there we went by train to London Bridge station, where we changed to the Underground for Victoria station. Here we had to find a train which was not a Gatwick Express and went to Brighton. We had the same problem on our way from Gatwick Airport to Victoria station. But in the end, we found the correct train. The ride took us about 50 minutes and that was a great chance to take a nap, listen to music or what else. When we arrived at Brighton we had a little walk through the city first. We saw a few small shops in the lanes. It was a little bit cold and foggy.  When we arrived at the sea front we went on Brighton Pier. It is basically a long boardwalk on the water. There is a penny arcade and a little amusement park. But there were also a lot of common gulls. Two of them attacked Mr. Meier and Sarah and stole their sandwiches.


Written by Nina Streiter

Tuesday afternoon in London

At the beginning, we took the underground to get to Waterloo Station. That was our very first experience using a tube this week. It was a bit chaotic because nobody really knew where we had to go to get to the tube and out of the station again, so we just followed our teacher who knew exactly where we needed to go. Though there were so many busy people running in different directions, we did keep track of Mr. Meier and his bright, green blamie.

Right after we got out of the dark underground system, we started our little walk to London Eye Pier. In this area we were directly beneath the London Eye. But since no one of us were interested in taking a ride on the London Eye, we simply skipped that part by gazed and only at it from the pier.
Following this we took a boat ride to Tower Pier. It took us approximately 20min, enough time to relax our feet after the long walks. We crossed 6 bridges, including London and Millenium Bridge. And we had enough time to look at the skyline. 

Shortly after our arrival at the Tower Millenium Pier we walked over Tower Bridge towards Borough Market. Along the Queens Walk we passed Hayes Gallery and got a phone call from 3 of our classmates who had got lost on the other side of the Thames. We waited for them, as they were directed to our meeting point via whatsapp. Fortunately, Mr. Meier knew where we were.

At Borough Market, we could choose food from different cultures all around world and rest our hired yet again feet. After our break, we headed towards our next stop; Sky Garden. 

Most of us had never seen a building this high before. We had to undergo a security check. A Chinese guy doing the procedure tried to communicate with us, saying some Tirolian words like: “Grias di.”, “Pfiat di” and “Servus”. On top of sky garden, we had the best magnificent view over London. We got to get an all-around impression of the city. Some of us ordered some drinks (non-alcoholic drinks, of course).

Since that was the last stop of our second day, we decided to go home to our host families. We took the underground and the national rail to Mottingham station. Our host parents picked us up, we ate dinner and went to sleep.

What a nice second day in London. 

Written by Eva Maria Haßlwanter, Nadine Schnitzler, Sara Underrain

Mamma Mia!

After dinner we went to Novello theater, where we were going to see a performance of the musical Mamma Mia at 19.45. Mamma Mia is about a girl who is looking for her biological father, but there are 3 potential candidates for selection. So she invites all of them to her wedding. It was really fun and the dancers were really good looking. After the musical we went to the Charing Cross station and waited for our trains back home. When everyone else had boarded their train, we and the teachers finally got on our train to Chislehurst station. From there it was only a 10-minutes walk to our host family.

Written by Celina Feischl

High, higher, London Eye!

The London Eye is the largest Ferris wheel in Europe. It is 135 meters tall. The construction began in 1998 and it was finished in 2000. It took the architects 7 years to design.

It has won over 85 awards for national and international tourism, outstanding architectural quality and engineering achievement. It has become the UK´s most popular visitor attraction.

From the top you can see things about 25 miles away. One revolution takes 30 minutes and it doesn´t have to stop when people step on and off. The London Eye carries every revolution 800 people. More than 3 and a half million people go on the London Eye every year. There are 32 capsules and each one can carry 25 passengers. One capsule weighs 10 tonnes without passengers. They are big enough that you can sit or walk around. The capsules are numbered from 1 to 33 because they omitted the number 13 for superstitious people.

In my opinion we should go there because you have the greatest view above London. You can never see the buildings in this unique way.

Written by Julia Sauerwein

Way to Camden Market

After Primrose Hill we went along a beautiful canal to the Camden Lock Market. The canal was called Regents Canal and it looked like little Amsterdam, people were even smoking pot there. The atmosphere at the canal was quiet good, some were sitting on the ground and ate some of the delicious food from the Camden Lock Market or they were just hanging around enjoying the good feelings and the sun. After 20 minutes we arrived on foot at Camden Lock Market and we chose a meeting point. So we had about 3 hours of free time for shopping and exploring the whole market. The market is a very diverse place, there you can find delicious food, clothes, shoes and much more. At half past five we met again at our meeting point and went to Charing Cross.

Written by Lisa Göbl

Wednesday – Tate Modern

The third day in London started with delicious wonderful coffee which we drank near the underground station “Canary Wharf”. We picked a meeting point and went for a coffee on our own. After about an hour we met again and started out to Tate Modern. We took the underground again but still had to walk for about 10 minutes from the station to get to Tate. Tate Modern was once a fuel power station, in the centre of London, which was rebuilt in the year 1993 and opened as an art gallery in 2000. It is part of a gallery network of four galleries in three different cities of the United Kingdom.

When we entered the Entrance Hall we were really impressed by how big it was but also by the huge number of children that were playing around in the hall, making an unbelievable noise. Obviously, they were a school group because they were all wearing school uniforms. After deciding where to meet again we parted and went through the museum on our own. In small groups, we ambled through the different exhibitions and took a lot of pictures. The building was so big we nearly got lost in it and another negative aspect was that even though Tate Modern had free entry, there were a few exhibitions that you are not able to enter without buying an extra ticket. From the free exhibitions only a few exhibits were interesting in our point of view. All in all, we must admit that we expected it to be a little bit more interesting than it actually was.

After our stay at Tate Modern we decided to go to Camden Market, but before we left we had some time by our own. First, we went to the little shop at Tate and looked for some interesting books. It seemed like there were a thousand books about artists, musicians or films. I wasn’t looking for something to read because I knew I couldn’t decide what book I wanted the most.

After our short time at the shop we went outside to get some sunshine. It was a very beautiful day so we sat down on the ground and had our packed lunch. While we were sitting there a musician with his guitar began to perform old songs and everything seemed quite perfect. We were looking at the famous “Harry Potter”-Millenium Bridge and crossed it after our break and went to the underground station.

Before we went to Camden Market we walked through a lovely quarter to Primrose Hill where we had a gorgeous view of the city. We stayed there for a while and enjoyed the sun. Then we walked down the hill along to Camden Market.

Written by Sara Gärtner, Valentina Gruber

Thursday afternoon was Brightoning!

After exploring Brighton Pier, some of us decided to enter Sea Life. Of course, me too! Some people may think that Sea Life is only for children but IT IS NOT! Adults like us can have so much fun getting to know the underwater world.

When we got into the entrance hall, we grabbed ourselves some of those marvellous diving goggles which were made of cardboard. Even our teacher Mr. Meier was enthusiastic about them! There were many points at which we could get stamps if we completed various tasks like touching a starfish or spotting shark’s and ray’s eggs. In the end, we got medals because of our achievements!

Afterwards I had a great idea. Fiona and I had lost Hannah and Carina so we decided to have a special lunch on that day: FISH’N’CHIPS! It was our first time, that’s why the waitress had to explain how to order that meal. We had absolutely no idea what we were expecting but fish’n’chips turned out to be very delicious. We loved it!

Written by Selina Ronacher

Friyay!

Hi people out there! Friday morning wasn’t that interesting except for the coffee break at Canary Wharf. But after a short ride Elephant and Castle to Oxford Circus we went shopping. Luzia and I went to TopShop but we did not understand what people like about that shop. Then we looked for new sneakers for Luzia at the Nike Store. Finally after one week of searching she found new sneakers.

Then we looked through some shops like, Mango, Zara and Bershka. But then finally we went to the Hollister store where we bought some really lovely things, like trousers, T-shirts and jackets.

After shopping Sarah and I went back to the meeting point by underground. Because we arrived there half an hour too early, we went into a café near the station and had some tea.

We gossiped a lot about the past week and much more – it was really indeed.

When everybody arrived at the meeting point we all went to a small pub together to have dinner. Dinner was really delicious and the waitress was very attentive. It was nice to sit all together at the last evening.

We both enjoyed this week in London very much – it was great :-)

Written by Luzia Krug, Sarah Seyer

Our first day in London

We started our London trip at 9 am at Innsbruck airport. Then we checked in and a few minutes later we went to the gate and boarded the plane. The flight itself was quite uneventful but the touchdown was very hard. At Gatwick Airport, we had to wait at the passport control for a while and there were automated controls so you had to put your passport on a scanner and the monitor checked your face.

When we had our luggage, we took the Shuttle to South Terminal. There Mr. Meier printed out 66 train tickets for the whole week.

It was not that easy to find the correct train to London Victoria. But a few minutes later we were sitting on the right train. At Victoria station, we deposited our luggage at the Left Luggage Office.

Then we had a walk to Buckingham Palace. We took a lot of photos there. After the “photo shooting” we visited Victoria Memorial, which is right in front of Buckingham Palace. As we walked on we saw some Calvary ride by.

Also, a green important-looking Bentley or Rolls Royce was driving in to Buckingham Palace. Unfortunately, none of the royals was inside. Then we walked up Constitution Hill and at the end we saw Wellington Arch. Afterwards we walked back to Victoria Station.

There we found the right train to Lewisham but had a short “detour” to Black Heath where four of us almost got lost.  

We had to carry all the luggage to the other side of station to get back to Lewisham, there we finally took the right train to Mottingham and were welcomed be the host families. Most of them had small cars and we had a lot of luggage so that led to some minor difficulties. A funny feeling was that they were driving on the wrong side of the road. We were positively surprised that we didn’t have any language problems and understood everything.

The two teachers went to the Pub Rambler’s Rest to watch a football game MANCHESTER UNITED vs CHELSEA. Everybody else had individual evenings with the families and that’s how our first day in London came to an end.

Written by Fiona Schafferer, Carina Hueber, Julia Sauerwein

What did we do on Tuesday morning?

In the morning we got up and got us ready for the day. For breakfast we had some cereals, bread, cakes or cookies, which was very tasty.

At 8 a.m. we met the rest of the class at Mottingham station and took the train to Charing cross. From there we walked along the Thames to the Houses of Parliament, where we saw the Big Ben. We walked on to Westminster Abbey and saw many statues of former prime Ministers and Nelson Mandela.

After taking photos of all the sights, we decided to take a class picture in Front of the Houses of Parliament. Then we took a walk around to discover the area around Westminster Abbey and there we found a house which looked almost like Harry Potter’s house.

A bit later we decided to have a break of 1 ½ hours in Oxford Street so we went there by double-decker bus. We did some shopping or went to a restaurant to have lunch. When we met after our break, we took a bus back to Trafalgar Square.

At Trafalgar Square there were many street artists. We saw for example two flying Jodas. We took some pictures with him and the poor teacher had to pay the guy. Then we went to National Gallery. There were paintings by Picasso, Van Gogh and Monet. We had our packed lunch in the spring sun. It was a nice first half-day in London. 

Written by Madeleine Kaiserer, Romana Larch, Valentina Spörr

Let's talk about food

After shopping at the Camden market, we took the tube from Camden to Charing Cross. From there it was only a 10 minutes’ walk to the Italian Restaurant “Strada” were we had dinner. The Restaurant was beautiful and the waiters were really attentive and good looking. They didn´t have a huge range of food and nobody was full because the portions were a little too small, but the food itself was excellent, everybody loved it.  Setting the bill with 22 persons was a bit of a mess. We had decided not to split the bill because we were in a hurry, so everybody put their part of the money on the table. In the end, however, we were 15 euros short. Thank God, Luzia paid the rent. After this financial disaster, we went to the musical Mamma Mia.


Written by Anna Berchtold

Tower of London

Hi guys!

A while ago I flew to London with my family and now I want to tell you something about the tower of London because I find the Tower is very interesting and great to visit.

The tower of London it is a big old beautiful castle which was built in the 11^th century, all around the castle there is a big garden and in this garden there are the guardians of the tower, they are called Yeoman Warders. The Yeoman Warders are really interesting and great because they have extraordinary outfits.

The Tower of London has been open for tourists since 600 years.

In the Tower of London you can visit the famous crown jewels, the legendary ravens and much more.

In my opinion if you have enough time you absolutely should take a self-guided tour, there you get a little phone with headphones. On every exhibit there is a number , you have to type this number into your guide phone and then the phone tells you about the history of the attraction. I think in this way you get to know the history of London completely.

I took the tour myself and it was incredible and very interesting, although I normally don’t really like history.

Written by Lisa Göbl

Houses of Parliament & Big Ben

The official name of the Houses of Parliament is Palace of Westminster and it is located in the city of westminster at the parliament-square.

This is because it was the royal palace before the king moved to Whitehall Palace in 1529. Now the palace is home to the United Kingdom Parliament.

On 5 November 1605, some radical Catholics wanted to blow up the Houses of Parliament. But they were not successful. Guards searched the cellars of the Palace and found 36 barrels of gunpowder. Every year on 5 November people commemorate Guy Fawkes Day (or Gunpowder Day) with fireworks and bonfires.

In 1834, a fire destroyed most of the palace. Between 1840 and 1888, Sir Charles Barry rebuilt the Palace of Westminster and also added the famous clocktower that everybody knows as Big Ben. Actually, it is only the name of the biggest bell in the clock tower, which rings the hour. Big Ben takes its name from Sir Benjamin Hall, who ordered the casting of the 16 ton bell in 1856. The tower called Elizabeth tower since  2012.

The oldest preserved parts of the palace are the Westminster Hall from 1097 and the Jewel Tower, who was built in 1365.

Written by Carina Hueber

Trafalgar Square

Trafalgar Square is a big place which is in the middle of London. It’s the biggest square and since the Middle Ages it’s a central meeting palace. There converge three streets: the Whitehall from Westminster, the Mall from Buckingham palace and the Pall Mall from St. James’s Palace. At Trafalgar Square are often festivals like the “London Film Festival”, “Comedy Festival” or on the 17th of March the St-b Patrick day Festival. But it is also famous for the National Gallery which is the biggest building on the square.

I think we should go there because there is the National Gallery which is nice to watch for sure and the famous Nelson pillar. And it’s also a place where you can recover after a hard sightseeing tour. 

Written by Celina Feischl

Westminster Abbey

Westminster Abbey is a large, mainly Gothic church and the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English or British monarchs. It is a place of worship owned by the royal family.
It is located in the city of Westminster next to the Houses of Parliament. The Abbey contains some of the most glorious medieval architecture in London. 
Originally Westminster Abbey was a monastery church.  It was built in the 11th century under king Edward the confessor. The two main towers were built in the 18th century.
Highlights are the coronation throne, the Poet's Corner with its memorials to William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, and other giants of literature. Also the tombs of Queen Elizabeth I, "Bloody" Queen Mary, explorer David Livingstone and naturalist Charles Darwin can be found there. There are also three gardens around the church.

There are many reasons why we have to see Westminster Abbey. It’s very stunning how the church looks from the outside but also from the inside because of its unique architecture and the two big towers. I also think that the part where the coronations are held is very interesting to visit.
For sure it will be great and interesting to visit Westminster Abbey.


Written by Fiona Schafferer

Our half day in London - Nina and Lorena

Hello guys,

a few weeks ago we presented our idea for our half day in London. At first, we would like to go to London Zoo. There are 18.499 animals with 752 species and a colony of 10.000 ants. The surface of the zoo is 15 hectares. Now we have a few areas and animals for you. There is a gorilla kingdom, an African bird safari, an aquarium, a butterfly paradise, blackburn pavilion, invertebrate animals, bats, komodo dragons, African animals, lemurs, land of the lions, meerkats, otters, penguin beach, hippos, a rainforest life area, a reptile house, a spiders area, a tiger territory, tortoises and monkeys.

The entry costs is about 9 pounds. From the London Bridge Station to London zoo we have to drive with the Northern Line. We have to get out Camden Town station. It takes us 15 minutes to get there.

An additional idea is the Sky Garden.

Sky Garden has free entry we just have to book it in advance. It’s a skyscraper where you can go to the top and have a 360 degrees view over London City.

We can reach Sky Garden by foot in 15 minutes from the Tower Bridge or by bus. But we think it possible to go by foot.


Written by Nina Streiter, Lorena Fink

Portobello Road - the world's largest antiques market

The market

Portobello Road Market is one of London’s most famous markets. The market is located in the district of Notting Hill. Today there are many pubs, restaurants and a range of communities. The market is nearly one kilometre long. You can buy everything there. From fresh food to old antiques, you will find almost anything you want.

History

In the past Portobello Road was known as Green’s Lane. The road got its name from Portobello farm which was built in Green’s Lane.
In the second half of the 19 century, more and more residential areas beagn spread around in Portobello Road. They were mostly for wealthy citizen and their servants, but for deliveres and marketeers too.
After the completion of these residential areas Portobello Road Market emerged. It was a market for fresh food only. Since 1960 antiques have been sold there too.

Why should you go to the Portobello Road Market?

Because it is one of the biggest markets in world. The road is very multicultural and full of energy and excitement. It iss et to continue as one of London’s ´must-see´ destinations.

Written by Nadine Schnitzler

Shakespeare's Globe

Background information

It is the reconstruction of the Globe Theatre which was associated with William Shakespeare. 

The Original (built 1599) was destroyed by fire in 1613. Rebuild in 1614, demolished in 1644,
Shakespeare’s Globe is based on available evidence of the 1599 & 1644 buildings. 
It was the idea of an American Actor, Sam Wanamaker. It was opened to the public in 1997. 

Where?

London Borough of Southwark – South Bank of river Themse

Contact

21 New Globe Walk, London SE1 9DT, UK 

shakespearesglobe.com

+44 20 7902 1400

What's On?

Globe Theatre Tours, Exhibitions, Theatre Productions

Plays during our visit:

• Othello: a Shakespeare play
• The White Devil: by Annie Ryan

Why it's worth visiting

Because it a historical place, and because it is associated with W. Shakespeare, who was one of the greatest writers in English language (poet and playwright), it kind of is a must-see. 

I’ve heard that Shakespeare’s plays are often complicated to understand and not very attractive to read. That’s because these plays were not made to be read but to be performed. And the way the actors perform it, you are able to understand the Middle-English because of body language and expression. Though, if we consider going, it is recommended looking up a summary in advance. 

Written by Sara Underrain

The green stamp of London

Hey, you! Hopefully, I have your attention now, so I can start telling you the most interesting facts about Hyde Park.

Basic facts

Type: Public park

Location: Westminster in London, England

Area: 625 acres (around 354 football pitches!)

Opened: 1637

Hyde Park is one of the largest parks in London and one of the Royal Parks. It contains a great number of memorials, events, statues, architectural wonders and Speakers Corner, where anybody can hold speeches about important issues.

King Henry took over the land in 1536 after forming the Church of England. He wasn’t known for his generosity, so he kept the park for himself and used it as a hunting ground. In 1637, King Charles I made the park accesible to the public. Thanks for doing that!

Speakers Corner

… was created to give the public a chance to express their views

Every Sunday, it is tradition to stand on a soapbox before starting their speeches. Members of the audience often challenge the speakers by turning the events into debates. Of course, violence is not allowed. Unfortunately, we won’t see any speech because we’re only in London until Saturday. However, a visit to London has to include a visit to Speakers Corner!

Written by Selina Ronacher

Buckingham Palace

Buckingham Palace is the home of the British kings and queens. Now Queen Elizabeth II lives there with her family. The palace has 775 rooms, a cinema, a post office of its own, a swimmingpool and a huge garden.

History

John Sheffield built Buckingham Palace in the 18th century. But all the time Buckingham Palace was a normal cityhouse and its name was “Buckingham House”. In 1761 “Buckingham House” changed its hands and was bought by King Georg III. After it was enlarged, it was called “Queen’s House”. The first queen who lived in the palace was Queen Victoria, this was in 1837. But she thought that the palace was still too small and so she also made it even bigger. It became a big palace and was called “Buckingham Palace”. Since August 1993 visitors are allowed to visit some rooms in the palace.

Why should we go there?

I think it would be nice to visit the Buckingham Palace but unfortunately we cannot, because the rooms are only opened from the end of July till the end of September. I’m not lucky with that. But we can still have a look from the outside and perhaps see the changing of the guards.


Written by Eva Maria Haßlwanter

Brighton tour

Brighton is a seaside resort in East Sussex in England.
Brighton offers many great sights which we could visit. Therefore, it wasn’t an easy task to decide which places to visit. We hope you enjoy our decision.

When we have arrived at Brighton Train Station we just need to take a bus (apprx. 11 min) to get to our very first location.

1. Sea Life

What’s it about?

It’s an aquarium near the Brighton Beach.

Built in 1872 it features 3,500 mesmerising creatures including lovely sea turtles and magnificent sharks.

From the rescued to the rare and the mysterious (enigmatic), we’ll be able to get closer to them than ever before.

Ocean Tunnel

It’s a glass tunnel where we can pass through the sea. Shoals of fish flutter along beside you just as many other sea animals like turtles and skates.

2. The Brighton Pier

Our next stop is the beautiful Brighton Pier. Everybody can allot their time so they can stroll around the pier, and grab something to eat at different markets or restaurants.

What’s it about?

The Brighton Pier is one of Britain’s most famous coastal landmarks.

The Brighton Marine Palace and Pier is a pleasure pier in Brighton, which opened on May in 1899.
It’s a funfair with many attractions and a variety of thing to do. You can buy a wristband as an entry for different rides at the amusement park.

3. Brighton Museum & Art Gallery

It is located near the Pavilion Gardens, at the heart of the city’s cultural quarter.

Its diverse collections bring together the arts and history to tell stories about the city and the world we live in.

We would consider to look at the Spotlight Gallery “Experimental Motion” since we can relate to it, based on our school. As far as we figured it out, the entry is free, only guided tours would cost about £2.50 to £25.20. The gallery displays the story of experimental film-making in Brighton & Hove, from 1896 to the present day.

Written by Luzia Krug, Sarah Seyer, Sara Underrain

Natural History Museum

Basic facts

London’s Natural History Museum opened on the 18th of April 1881. It was built by the architect Alfred Waterhouse from Manchester and he planned it in the style of the Neoromanik.
In the museum, there are over 70 million different objects, beneath many dinosaur skeletons, fossils and some samples of flora and fauna. There are many different galleries, the Life Galleries, the Earth Galleries, the Darwin Centre and the Wildlife Garden. You will see the biggest meteorite collection of the world and in the Earth Galleries you can experience the history of the Earth.
The museum is always opened from 10am till 5:50pm, the entry is free and it’s located in the Cromwell road.

Why we absolutely have to go there!

We absolutely have to go there, because it is an exciting and interesting museum. You can discover something, learn something and try things out on your own. There are so many different objects, rooms and galleries, that there is something for everyone I think. I guess, that we would have a lot of fun.

Written by Romana Larch

British Museum

Basic facts and background information

The British Museum was founded in 1753, the first national public museum in the world. Visitor numbers have grown from around 5,000 a year in the eighteenth century to nearly 6 million today.

The eighteenth century: origins of the British Museum

The origins of the British Museum lie in the will of the physician, naturalist and collector, Sir Hans Sloane (1660–1753). Over his lifetime, Sloane collected more than 71,000 objects which he wanted to be preserved intact after his death. So he bequeathed the whole collection to King George II.

The gift was accepted and on 7 June 1753, an Act of Parliament established the British Museum.

The founding collections largely consisted of books, manuscripts and natural specimens with some antiquities (including coins, prints and drawings). In 1757 King George II donated the 'Old Royal Library' of the sovereigns of England and with it the privilege of copyright receipt.

The British Museum opened to the public on 15 January 1759 . It was first housed in a seventeenth-century mansion. Entry was free.

Why should we visit this place?

The British Museum in London is one of the world's largest and most important museums of human history and culture. It has more than seven million objects from all continents. They illustrate and document the story of human culture from its beginning to the present. As with all other national museums and art galleries in Britain, the Museum charges no admission fee. It was the first museum in the world to be open to everyone. The museum gradually grew over the next two hundred years. It has nearly six million visitors a year and is the third most popular art museum in the world.

Some of the museum's most popular and important exhibits include the Rosetta Stone (=a stone with writing carved into it. French soldiers found it in Egypt in 1799) and the Elgin Marbles (=are series of ancient Greek sculptures).

Written by Hannah Müller

London Demographics

Facts

• Inhabitants: 8,674 Million 
• 32 Boroughs 
• In London, it’s one hour later than in Innsbruck.
• There are a lot of surveillance cameras.
• Flight Innsbruck to London: 2 h 
• There are over 200 parks in the city.

Ethnicity 

ca. 60 % are White
ca. 18 % are Asian
ca. 13% are Black
ca. 5% are mixed for example White and Asian 

Languages

The most common main languages spoken in Greater London are English, Polish and Bengali. Bengali is an Indo-European language which is spoken in India.

Religion

Almost 4 million people are Christians, this is followed by 1.6 million people who have no religion, 1 million people are Muslims and the rest have other religions. 

History

London has a history going back over 2,000 years. In the main time, it has grown to one of the most significant and cultural capitals on Earth. The year 43 AD is regarded by most historians as the founding year of London.

Written by Valentina Spörr

Camden Market

Camden Market, also called Camden Lock, which is located in the Borough Camden is one of London’s best attractions. The market is famous for its extraordinary looking shops and for its great variety of products. Camden Market has been ranked as London’s fourth-largest attraction because there are 100.000 people visiting the stalls and shops each weekend. An interesting fact is that the market actually consists of six markets. Camden Lock market, which was founded in 1974, Stables Market, which is the biggest one, Camden Canal Market, which was destroyed by a fire in 2008, Buck Street Market, Electric Ballroom, where concerts take place and Inverness Street, which is famous for its pubs and bars.
Camden Lock isn’t only popular among tourists, even media companies like MTV or AP have their studios located in this area. Even the German TV channel RTL owns a studio there.

But what can you do in this area of London? The products sold are crafts, clothing, bric-a-brac and fast food. So you don’t have to be interested in fashion to have a nice day there. If you like to try food from around the world you’re definitely right in this area of London. In my opinion the market is definitely unusual and most people from other European countries aren’t used to markets like that but I guess that’s exactly the reason why the market is that popular. My final thought is that Camden Market is an amazing sight, which everyone who visits London should have seen.

Written by Madeleine Kaiserer

HMS Belfast

The HMS Belfast is an old maritime warship from the 2nd world war.
The ship is 187 m long, 19,3 m wide and has a total weight of 10.480 tons. The ship has space for 750 to 850 man.
The engine power is 80.000 PS/HP and gets a speed limit of 32 knots which were 59 km/h.
The warship is the biggest „light Cruiser“ from the Royal Navy. It was build from 1936 and was then launched in early August 1938.

Only one year later a mine from Germany hit the ship and it took them more than two years to built it up again. But than it came back even stronger. They improved the firepower, radar equipment and armour.

This warship later played an important role in the battle of North Cape and after World War two, the Belfast took place in combat during the Korean War from 1950-1952. 

Now the battleship lies secured in the River Themse and is part of the Imperial War Museum. You can go on board and have a look at how things used to be during war. Everything is replaced, so you can see the kitchen, the restrooms, the machine room and many other interesting stuff from the maritime life.

I visited the HMS Belfast once and i really liked it. So if you are a fan of Navy and stuff like this, you totally should go and see it.

Written by Sarah Seyer

Tower Bridge

Tower Bridge is a bridge which crosses the River Thames close to the Tower of London.
The construction started in 1886 and took eight years, so the Bridge was opened on 30 June 1894 by the Prince of Wales and his wife the princess of Wales. The bridge was designed by Horace Jones. It needed 70,000 tons of concrete and 11,000 tons of steel.
It is a moveable bridge and it opens when a big ship drives through. It opens as far as it is required.
The main street A100 leads over the bridge to the other side of the river.

Some facts

Total length: 801 feet
Height: 213 feet
Longest span: 270 feet
There is a reproduction in China.


Written by Nina Streiter

Cutty Sark

I would like to present you the “Cutty Sark”.

The Cutty Sark is a British clipper ship.

She was finished in 1869 and was one of the fastest sailing ships of her time.
The construction cost amounted to 20.223 pounds.
This ship was the last clipper which was built for sea trade.
In 1954 she was put on in a special dry dock in Greenwich, London, as a museum ship.
In May 2007 the ship burned down almost completely.
After the renovation the Cutty Sark was reopened on the 25th of April 2012.

I absolutely recommend visiting this ship museum, because in the ship museum you can discover what life was like on board the real Cutty Sark.

On board you can enjoy special family weekends, events and activities.

Opening times:          10.00 – 17.00 daily
Ticket for adults:       13.50 Pounds
Tickets for children:   07.00 Pounds


Written by Luzia Krug