München Weihnachtsmarkt Klassenfahrt  

This week forty Year 8 and 10 students departed Great Baddow to fly to Munich. After landing we took the coach to drive to the Youth Hostel and after settling in and a German style dinner, we dressed warm to face the snow and headed off to explore the Winter Festival at the Theresienwiese where normally the Octoberfest takes place. The Tollwood festival is a spectacular display of lights and  21^st century German culture.  

On Wednesday, Mrs Fox organised her own special and very interesting sightseeing tour. We visited the Lady of Munich and saw the Devil’s footprint which showed a twist of divine intervention.  We loved the snow and even managed to build a few snowmen. Despite the cold temperature, Germans are mad enough to surf in the freezing waters of the river Eisbach (literally meaning freezing stream) but unfortunately none of us braved the dip. Then it was time to explore the traditional Christmas market. Lots of presents for family and friends were bought and typical German food was tried by all. A clear winner were the roasted nuts and Kartoffel Tornados. In the evening, we decided to revisit Tolwood for more street performances, music and celebrations.  

Luckily, we had planned on Thursday to visit BMW Welt as it was snowing heavily and we also got a glimpse of the Olympic Park. Students, and especially the staff, enjoyed testing their balancing abilities on traditional and modern BMW motorcycles. The Elvis car for 8 Million Euro was a real treat. In the afternoon we explored the Deutsche Museum which is a technological marvel – we could have spent all day there as it was so interactive. We ploughed through the snow and climbed 306 steps to get a bird’s eye view of the centre of Munich with snow topped roofs. With the choir from the townhall balcony, we chose our last dinner at the Christmas Market and heading back for our last night at the Youth Hostel.  

On our last day, Friday, we left our home away from home for the last time and took the bus to the Allianz Arena to see where the magic of Bayern Munich happens. 

A massive thank you to all members of staff Mr Shah, Mr Fox, Mr Jackson and Mrs Leinemann and our wonderful Year 8 and 10 students. They were amazing.