26 Future’s students and 3 staff went for 4 days to the Bavarian capital Munich. Famous for Oktoberfest Munich is a cultural and scientific center with churches, markets, museums and exciting architecture.
As Max recorded in his travel journal it was an early start on Sunday with a 4:30 departure from school. The coach ride to Heathrow was smooth “We arrived at the airport around 6:00am, went through security and hopped on the plane.” On the coach from the airport we had sites pointed out including the Allianz Arena – our destination for the next day. The Augustin Hotel provided smart accommodation with open plaza to the transport museum and the festival fields. A quick trip to Mcdonald’s got energy levels up then we all set off to discover the old town. Our first underground journey went smoothly and set the tone for a very organised group. The squares were busy with groups in fancy dress celebrating “The parade of the daft knights “ the start of Bavarian carnival. All were amazed by the bejeweled saints and gold inside St Peter’s church.
Dinner was at a Pasta restaurant then we returned to the hotel for a well earned rest.
Day 2 started with an excellent breakfast and we set off on the underground to tour the Allianz stadium. All were impressed with the architecture and there was a reverent atmosphere in the Bayern Munich changing rooms.
We stopped in the old town on the way south and the students were free to explore the Viktualmarket. Many bought traditional curry wurst for lunch. We then set off to the Deutches Museum with its 20,000 square metres of displays.
Dinner was at the Hard Rock Cafe with its genuine displays of rock history.
Day 3 started with a foraging trip to Aldi and a good lesson in the relative prices in tourist shops and supermarkets. Well stocked with supplies we headed off by coach to the mountains to see the stunning Schloss Neuschwanstein (Neuschwanstein castle). A steep walk up to the castle and many spiral staircases revealed a running Wagner inspired construction – was the king mad to make it or did it drive him mad – we will never know. A stunning sunset on the way back to a late dinner in the hotel.
Our last day, we trooped across the festival field and used the underground again to get to Olympic park and the impressive BMW welt. Sea life centre in the park and lunch in Cooper’s garden completed our itinerary.
“BMW museum was a brilliant experience” Oliver.
You can read more about our trip in the Banbury Guardian report.