Day Trip to Schwerin
Andrew Rose
We were five days into our exchange
visit with the Heinrich-Heine Gymnasium when the UCS
group of twelve and Mr Underwood, set off to Hamburg's
Hauptbahnhof in order to catch the train to Schwerin.
It was a crisp October's morning, so the urge to get out
of Hamburg and explore a different city was an exciting
prospect. We had a whole train carriage to ourselves,
which was just as well, because most of us had acquired a
slight gambling obsession during our stay and if we
wanted to lose our money to each other, we at least
wanted to do it in the privacy of our group!
An eventful hour later, we arrived in Schwerin. You could
see almost immediately that is was a beautiful and
charming city with a very interesting history. We was
easy to spot the developments in the city since the fall
of the wall and the contrasts were very surprising.
There were some old, yet perfectly preserved historical
landmarks that we toured, like the Cathedral, which we
went right to the top of to get a splendid view of the
city. If you have a strong phobia of heights, it's
strongly recommended that you don't go to the top
(especially with Mr Underwood!).
After visiting the former grand ducal palace and many
other places, our stomach's were making noises, so we
decided to take refuge in the massive new shopping centre
that had sprung up since 1989. This meant more cards and
the biggest ice-creams any of us had ever seen!
Having eaten and bought a few gifts, it was time to look
round Schwerin for one last time before making the
journey back. It was a fun day out and a thoroughly
enjoyable German exchange. The whole group had a
wonderful time. We learned lots of German and gained an
insight into their culture and how they live.
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