German Christmas Markets

On December 1st, students from years 10 to 13 went on a trip to the Rhineland to experience the German Christmas markets first-hand and to experience some German culture.  Travelling by coach and ferry made for a long journey and even though the company was good, everyone was grateful when they finally arrived at the youth hostel in Bonn.

Everyone was delighted there was time to pop into the Haribo Outlet as they began their first outing on the 2nd December to the Haus der Geschichte history museum, where they learnt about the post-war era in Germany to the present day. They also chatted with some Extinction Rebellion protesters before going ice-skating at a pop-up rink and shopping for some presents as they explored the Christmas market in Bonn.

On the December 3rd, they went to Marksburg castle on the river Rhine where they were given a private guided tour. Some students thought it would be boring as we have so many castles here in Wales, but they were pleasantly surprised at how different the German castle was to what they were expecting.

After the tour they enjoyed a Rhine river cruise, where they had lunch before meeting the coach which then took them to the town of Rüdesheim.  Here they experienced a much smaller but cosier Christmas market and tasted some authentic German cuisine. Afterwards, they headed to Koblenz and took a cable car ride across the Rhine before walking down to the Deutsches Eck to see the giant statue of Kaiser Wilhelm.

On the last night students became very excited as it began to snow, this prompted an evening of snowball fights and playing in the snow, which was a lovely way to end to a very successful trip before the long coach journey home.

A big shout out to all staff who gave up their time to ensure it could happen.  Danke vielmals!