Cragside and the Seahouses (March 19th)

 

On our last Wednesdays-trip, we went to Cragside and the Seahouses.
Some of us met up at the college at 8:45am, and then the rest were picked up at Durham bus station. Once again, it would be a 1+ hour ride, so I chose to continiue reading ‘The Alchemist’.

When we got to Cragside, I was stunned by the incredible nature and landscape. The reason why we came to Cragside in the first place was to visit Lady and Lord Armstrong’s house which was the first house in the world that was lit up by hydroelectricity. The house was very large and beautiful as well. In the house we had a guided tour for about 45 minutes and then we had about an hour and a half to just wander around and explore Cragside. I went into the woods alone, and I enjoyed it very much. After that, I went into the tea rooms and got me some food, and that was basically it for Cragside.

Then we went to Bamburgh Castle on the way to the Seahouses, and we had about 20 minutes there, so almost everyone just decided to stay with the bus. I had already been there before with Niklas and his family, except this time it was sunny and less cold. So I decided to go down to the beach, and it was most definitely worth it!

When we returned to the bus, we were told that we would get about an hour and a half at the Seahouses. When we arrived, we went into a restaurant, but I didn’t eat anything because I had already eaten in Cragside, so I just ordered a beer.
In fact it was a Danish beer, Carlsberg!

UK STUDY TRIP:
I’m very grateful to have been given this great opportunity. These 8 weeks have been an incredible experience for me. I’ve seen a ton of things and learned a lot, and I will carry these wonderful memories with me as long as I breathe.
Thank you!

Edinburgh Trip (March 12th)

We took the bus from the College at 8am, and we all knew that It was going to be the longest ride of all the trips that had been organized by the School. I was very excited that I was going to Scotland for the first time. Instead of sleeping the ride through like some of the others, I listened to music and continiued with ‘The Alchemist’, the book by Paulo Coelho.

We got off the bus in Edinburgh at 11am and the sun was shining bright without a single cloud in the clear blue sky. It made the city look even better.
Within a few moments after we started walking, we heard the poetic sound of the Scottish Bagpipes in the distance.
It immediately made me think: “Okay, now I am definitely in Scotland.”
The beautiful weather and the beautiful music with the birds flying free in the sky gave a truly wonderful feeling.

We went on top of Edinburgh to see the Castle. There was no guided tour for us.
We just kind of wandered around in the castle for about 45 minutes and then the lads and I went to get some Italian food at ‘Bella Italia’. Most of us had pizza.
When we were done eating, we went to different clothing stores for about 3 hours. We still had about 1 and a half hours left till we were going back, so we decided to grab some cold drinks and sit in the park of Edinburgh. I was sitting with them for about half an hour untill my Indiana Jones hat told me to go and explore Edinburgh, so I did. I went to the Calton Hill and I took many pictures there. The view was marvelous.

We got back on the bus at 4pm and I was home at 8:30pm.
Edinburgh was a wonderful experience to me.

York and Whitby (March 5th)

We took the bus from New College Durham at 8 AM. We all knew that it would be a 2+ hour ride, so some of us chose to sleep. Some chose to listen to music. Others just talked and then there was me- I read ‘The Alchemist’. I read about 60 pages and then I took a nap. When we arrived we entered the National Railway Museum, where we had a very short, guided tour for about 10-15 minutes, and then we got some free time to go into York City Centre. We went into the cathedral. We were wandering around in York for an hour and then we went back and waited for our bus.

When we got on the bus, I listened to music all the way to Whitby. When we arrived, we immediately went into a restaurant called ‘Trenchers’ and had us some good classic fish & chips. We didn’t get much free time in Whitby, but I still managed to explore the city. I had my Indiana Jones hat on…I had to explore. I went uphill to St. Mary’s Church, on top of the city. There was a graveyard, which looked like something out of a horror film. I wouldn’t want to go there at night. Well, maybe I would.

I was 5 minutes late for the bus, and when I entered, all of the students in the back of the bus started cheering and clapping for me. It’s sort of a joke we do whenever someone is late.

London Trip (February 27th – March 3rd)

LONDON BABY!

February 27th

I woke up around 10am Thursday morning, knowing that today was the day I was going to London for the first time. We were supposed to meet up at the school’s Starbucks. 22 of us were going to London. The other 9 weren’t going.
At 1pm I went to James Powers’ English class with group B. We were there for about an hour, and then we left for Durham bus station. Each of us had bought our bus ticket a week earlier. The bus ticket cost about £36. We got on the National Express bus at 3pm and it took approximately 7 hours to get to London. I was listening to music mostly, but I also got to finish ‘The Old Man and The Sea‘ by Ernest Hemingway.

When we got to London, everyone in the bus was very excited and we were freaking out over all of the cool cars we saw. In Durham, we would rarely see a car where we go WOW!, but in London, we saw at least 1 luxury car every 5 minutes. Cars like Porsche, Lamborghini, Rolls Royce, Aston Martin, Maserati, Jaguar etc.

We were staying at a hostel called SafeStay, which was located in Elephant & Castle. It was the cheapest and best thing we could get and it was very close to most of the London attractions, so it was perfect for us.

The first night, about 10 of us went to a pizzeria just around the corner called DreamPizza, and we thought we had to try it. The pizzas were very good and we were the only people there, probably because it was like 11pm. After the delicious pizzas, we went back to the hostel and went into our rooms. We were split up into 3 rooms. 1 room with 8 boys, 1 room with 8 girls, and 1 room with 3 girls and 3 boys. I was in the men’s room. I was sharing room with Niklas, Emil, Tobias, Valentin, Martin, Nicolas and Marcus. Sharing room with them was hilarious. It was like something out of Cuckoo’s Nest. We were up all night talking and laughing and we barely got any sleep. We decided that we would wake up half past 7, so that we could go downstairs and get our free breakfast.

February 28th
7:30am
(Three Little Birds by Bob Marley playing..)

“Good morning, London!”
Marcus and I were the first ones to get out of bed. I was very excited and ready to experience London. The lads and I decided to go to a Ralph Lauren clothing store, and on the way we passed by Big Ben, London Eye and Chelsea’s football stadion Stamford Bridge. We also stopped by Subway to get something to eat. Then we continiued on to the Ralph Lauren store and then just wandered around. We got home around 6pm and we had reserved a table at tigertiger, since it was Pernille’s birthday. Wye had about 2 hours to shower and get ready. Valentin and Nicolas were wearing their new Ralph Lauren shirts. We were all ready to hit the town!
After we ate, we went on to party hard. It was a great night!

March 1st

The next morning, half of us woke up with a hangover. Fortunately, I didn’t. I was ready to see more of London. We went to Trafalgar Square and had breakfast at a place called Tortilla. The food was absolutely fantastic. We went on just wandering around in London, going into clothing stores and taking pictures of all the beautiful attractions and cars.
That night we decided to go to the Piccadilly Insitute night club. The place was absolutely packed. You couldn’t move, that’s how many people were there.
It was once again, a great day and a great night!

…March 3rd

On the last night, I went out on a sightseeing walk with William, Valentin, Maciej, Maria, Natcha and Simone. It was midnight and we were walking around in London for 3 hours on an early monday morning. There were very few people outside. It was quiet and enjoyable. I took a bunch of pictures of Big Ben, London Eye, Tower Bridge and The Shard.
We got home at around 3:30am and I was extremely tired. I woke up at 7:30am and suprisingly, I wasn’t as tired as I thought I would have been. Tobias was also awake, because he and William were taking an earlier bus at 11am. I was taking the bus with the rest of the students at 4pm. We needed to check out of the hostel at 10am, so I was not in a rush.
After I had my breakfast downstairs, I took a shower and then I started packing. When I was done packing it was 9:30am and the others had just woken up. They were really in a rush!

We were checking out and then I went to Baker Street with Pernille, Mads, Maciej, Valentin, Marcus, Niklas and WIlliam. We were looking for a place to eat and once again, I had me one of those extremely delicious tortilla’s. After we ate, we went to visit the famous street where the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes used to live. 221B Baker Street.
Afterwards I decided to go to Hyde Park alone, because I hadn’t been there. It was wonderful and very soothing to walk alone through the park. I passed by the Kensington Gardens and the Royal Albert Hall. Then I took the train to King’s Cross and saw the Harry Potter location. Then I took the train to Victoria, where we were supposed to meet up. It was 3:30pm and we followed each other to Victoria’s Coach Station. We got on the bus at 4pm and said goodbye to London. Niklas and I got home at 11:30pm and I was feeling very tired. I immediately brushed my teeth and jumped into bed. After a weekend full of new experiences, fun parties and seeing hundreds of Porches and Maseratis, all I could think was:
London was freaking AWESOME!

Bowes Museum and Hartlepool Marina (February 26th)

First we went to the Bowes Museum which was in a place called Barnard Castle and then we went to Hartlepool Marina.

We took the bus from the college at 8:00. I was quite tired that morning so I chose to sleep in the bus. When we arrived at the gates of the Bowes Museum, the bus driver wanted to enter the gates. We thought that it was impossible for a bus of that size to squeeze through such a narrow opening. However, he did it and we all cheered and clapped for him. We got free time in the museum, so the lads and I had a look around for about half an hour, and then we went into town and got us something to eat. I had spaghetti Bolognese while the others had burgers.

When we had finished eating, we went back to the bus and went on to Hartlepool Marina. When we got there we went straight into the Museum of Hartlepool, also known as Hartlepool’s Maritime Experience. We basically got free time there as well and we were just kind of fooling around, really. We climbed on top of the ships and played pirates, did the titanic pose and such. After the museum, we went to Burger King and got us some food. I only wanted a chocolate smoothie, but they didn’t have any at the time so I chose not to eat anything. After the others had eaten, we went back on the bus, which then took us home.

Kala Sangam and Bradford (February 19th)

This was a very interesting day because we learned a bit about Indian culture and their music.

We met up at New College Durham at 8:00 and jumped on the bus, that took us to Kala Sangam which is an Indian arts centre in Bradford.
When we got there, we were lead into a big dancing room. We were asked to take off our shoes and socks by the two Indian instructors. That surprised many of us, and some of us chose not to take them off. I immediately took mine off and was ready. Once the others had gotten ready, they put on the Indian music and that’s when the first Indian instructor taught us the dancing choreography. It wasn’t as hard as I thought it would have been. I think I did pretty well. After we finished with the dancing, we all sat down on the floor and listened to the second Indian instructor play his flute, with an Indian instrument going on in the background. I closed my eyes and felt the music. I got goosebumps from his playing. It was very relaxing and peaceful. After that, we were asked if we played any instruments and I was one of the few who did.
I play guitar, I said. However there were no guitars, but I wasn’t so bad at playing the Congo drums. They asked me to grab a drum and start a rhythm. I started banging on the drums, and then he started playing his flute along to the beat. Everyone started singing the little Indian song that they had taught us. At first, I was the only one who played the drums. Later on, 3 more students were asked to pick up a drum. Four girls were asked to pick up a tambourine. So once again, I started the beat and the boys followed along. Then the girls came in with the tambourines and then the flute came in and everyone was singing. It was great fun.
When we finished in that room, we went upstairs for some Indian food. It was different than anything I’ve ever had in a restaurant. It was spicy and good.

When we had finished eating, we hopped back on the bus and went to the National Media Museum. When we got there, we were asked to make a short video commercial about the museum. However, it didn’t turn out as I expected. Everybody started forming groups and no one had any idea that I was a very skilled moviemaker. They didn’t seem to believe me when I told them I was very good with film making, so I just decided to hang back. They were very excited about this small project. I was randomly put into a group and I just followed my group around, thinking about how I would have done the commercial. I gave them some tips and tricks with camera work. It was interesting to see my group working together.

When we had all finished recording and editing our commercials, we sat down and watched each of them. We had some good laughs.

…And so we got back on the bus and went home.

Beamish Museum and Metro Centre (February 12th)

We took the bus from the College at 9:30, and half an hour later we arrived at the Beamish Museum. Director Frank Atkinson founded the Museum in 1970.

It was very cool because everything looked so old fashion, but stylish at the same time.
We were taken from one side of the museum to the other side by one of their small trains. When we got off, all of us immediately rushed into the candy shop. The candy store was very classy and remains better looking than most candy stores today. A lot of things in general were just cooler back then.
We then went into the bank building and upstairs we were given a presentation about the museum. After the presentation, we were given free time to look around in the museum.
Most of us lads went straight to the bar…and stayed there.

When we finished with the Beamish, we went back on the bus and went on to the Intu Metro Centre. When we got there, a Metro Centre employee lead us into a room where we were given a presentation about the Intu Metro Centre. After that, we had about 2 and a half hours of free time in the Metro Centre. Niklas and I decided to go to the Odeon Theatre and watch Matthew McConaughey’s Oscar winning performance in “Dallas Buyers Club”.
Let me just say – What an incredible performance. Not just by Matthew McConaughey, but Jared Leto, who also won the Oscar for best supporting actor. When the film was finished, Niklas and I decided to go home instead of going out to eat with the others. Good dinner was waiting for us at home.

Newcastle Trip (February 5th)

On this trip, we went to see two museums and Britain’s largest sculpture-
The Angel of the North.

First, we met up at the college, and then we stepped onto a bus that took us to the first museum, which was the Discovery Museum. We got to see the Turbinia, which was the first turbine-powered steamship. It was launched in 1897 and it was one of the fastest ships at the time. After the Discovery Museum, we went back to the bus and got to our second destination, which was the Baltic Museum. Too bad we didn’t get much time to look around at the museum, but what we got to see was pretty good.
Instead, we got some free time to go into Newcastle.

I then alone, went to a bookstore called “Waterstones”, and got me a book called
“The Little Prince”. I then came back to the Baltic, soaking wet from the rain, and sat down in the café and started reading.

An hour later, we started gathering again. And so we went back to the bus, on the way to our final destination of the day- The Angel of the North. I continiued reading my book in the bus. The rain made it hard to see anything through the windows. As we stopped 100 meters away from the Angel sculpture, nobody dared to go out in the heavy rain…except for me and my fellow student, Niklas. There was another boy who came out with us, but he didn’t go all the way to the sculpture. He took a picture or two from a distance. Niklas and I went all the way.
5 minutes later we came back in the bus, and just as I had gotten dry from Newcastle-
I once again, was soaking wet. It was totally worth it. The Angel of the North was fantastic!

Durham Trip (January 29th)

First, we all met up at the marketplace, where our tour guides were waiting for us.
Then we went inside the town hall to meet the mayer and her assisants. They told us a bit of history on the weapons and clothes, that they were wearing. In the main room, they told us a few stories of the town hall and the pictures that were hanging on the walls. I got to hold some of the weapons, one of them which was a 100+ year old sword. I also got to sit in the mayers chair, as the only one. After that, we went into a room where we got free drinks and cookies. We signed the townhall guestbook and took pictures with the mayer and her assistants.

Once we finished with the mayer, we went to the Durham Cathedral.
It looked fantastic from the outside, and the inside was just as good.
I was amazed by the brilliance of the architecture.
Our guides then showed us around while sharing some history of the cathedral.
Then we got to the exciting part – the Harry Potter filming location!
I took loads of pictures and stayed there for about 10 minutes after all the others had left.
It was quite an experience. Personally, I think that the Durham Cathedral is a masterpiece.

Then I went outside and searched for my group, and once I found them, we we’re given free time to explore Durham City for ourselves. Me and Niklas then went to the Oriental Museum. We were there for about an hour and a half. We took some photos as well.
Then we got us some donuts on the way home, and that was it for the day.
It was a great day!