Exchange Trip to Halle

Once again we’ve visited the town of Halle to complete our exchange programme. These days have been full of enthusiasm and fantastic memories that will live with us for a long time. Here’s a little summary of the things we’ve done and seen.

DAY 1, April 4th:

We arrived in Berlin, Tegel Airport, in the evening and had to wait there longer than expected. We didn’t get to Halle until 23;00, really late for our hosting families, who were looking forward to seeing us.

DAY 2, April 5th:

We spent the day with our German friends at their school, this year with a new name: Hans Dietrich Genscher Gymnasium. After a famous politician who studied there. We had breakfast together, joined some of their classes and then went for a short walk around the town of Halle, nice and lively.

DAY 3, April 6th:

Our first trip was to the beautiful city of Dresden, the capital of Saxony in East Germany. We visited the Opera House and enjoyed the beautiful monuments: Zwinger Palace, the Church of the Women… The reconstruction of the city after WWII is an absolutely remarkable work. We also visited and loved the Inner New City, a neighbourhood associated with counter-culture and anti-authoritarianism.

DAY 4 & 5:

We all spent the weekend with our hosting Germans!

DAY 6, April 9th:

The plan of this day was a detailed tour around the town of Halle. Our special guides this time were enthusiastic kids from 1st ESO. They had done research on their town were proud to share its history and its beauty with us.

DAY 7, April 10th:

In Leipzig we learned how the peaceful demonstrations that took place there in 1989 led to the taking down of the Berlin Wall. We also learned about Goethe and his Faust and saw a memorial to Bach outside St Thomas Church. Finally, we just loved the Power Station Art and its spectacular exhibition of some of the most valuable treasures of the Uffizi Gallery from a very different perspective.

DAY 8 & 9, April 11th & 12h

The last two days of our trip were dedicated to Berlin, first with our German hosts and then on our own. We saw the East Side Gallery and enjoyed the remains of the Wall, learned a lot of amazing stories about the Wall in the Palace of Tears and walked to the Brandenburg Gate, where we also shed tears when we said good bye to our German friends.

This is just a brief summary of our visits. To understand our emotions and learning from this trip you have to live these experiences yourself!!