Finally, after two years, we were off to London again with 4havo Business English. Not before the Christmas holidays this time, but in May. Weatherwise, a good decision. Also in an accommodation we had never used before, the Generator, a 1-star-hotel (formerly youth hostel) close to the British Museum.
The official start of this educational trip was the Financial Walk. This guided walk starts at the base of the Monument of the Great Fire in 1666. It is here that all the sky-high financial companies found the land and space to build their temples of capitalism, nicknamed by the common people as the Shard (see picture), the Gherkin, the Walkie-talkie, and such like.
Our next venue was the Museum of the Bank of England. Armed with another exciting assignment we wound our way past all the showcases full of monetary samples and information, with the absolute highlight of a gold bar that can actually be picked up but not taken away!
Dinner was served again for us, this time at the Minories, a restaurant close to the meeting point for the start of the Jack the Ripper walk. Jack the Ripper has captured the interest of many and the really serious ones are called Ripperologists, just in case you thought you were the only one!
This day we were off to the Tower of London, officially called Her Majesty’s Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London. It is a historic castle on the north bank of the river Thames. It was founded towards the end of 1066 as part of the Norman Conquest. No doubt the most interesting story/legend/myth about the Tower is the one about the black ravens. At least six ravens are kept at the Tower at all times, in accordance with the belief that if they are absent, the kingdom will fall. As some of our students’ concentration span is rather short, we found a bunch of them playing with bow and arrow in the middle of the grounds, supervised by some Beefeaters, who were extremely worried that they would either wound themselves or members of the public.
On our last day we set off for the Design Museum in Kensington. First off was a workshop on Materials and after that a final assignment had to be completed while roaming through the museum. As there was a little time before the actual visit started we used the opportunity to take a group picture:
And that concluded this year’s serious part of the BEC trip to London, were it not for the fact that we would still have to keep our fingers crossed for the border controls on the way back. But, on hearing the magic words ‘school group’ at about 1 o’clock at night, the civil servant in question decided he couldn’t be bothered and waved us straight through!
Thanks to all involved: the organisers, the accompanying teachers, the teachers who were left behind, the students and their parents. Can’t wait for the next trip!
We hebben vandaag volop gezongen, gedanst en gespeeld én weer twee nieuwe ‘Whoosh-boing-pow’ kampioenen die met de doorgeef bokaal naar huis gaan 
Dit begin belooft veel goeds voor de shows : op 8, 9, 10, 11, 16 en 17 juli zien jullie Mamma Mia in het Da Vinci Theater 
