Packed Up!

We're all packed up and ready to go! It is sad that we are leaving, but we've all missed our loved ones at home. Although our cases are bulging and full, Mrs Edwards says.... Please check all the clothes in your child's case. Any random items that you do not recognise, please return to school on Monday morning and we'll do some swaps!

As we exit the Euro tunnel and enter England our Wifi will become more reliable and so we will upload a photo album of random images taken throughout the week. We hope you have enjoyed reading the blog and we thank you for all your supportive and thoughtful comments. 

We have been up since 6, an early start, but we aim to be with you around 7pm. This is obviously a rough estimate but we will keep you posted on our progress throughout the day. Xx

An unbelievable last night....

Last night was the perfect end to our incredible trip. We had a final surprise from Paul Alzer who, together with Kai, Andreas, Tim and Uwe, took us out for an Italian meal at the Labrynth restaurant in Aachen! After using our new German phrases to order our food, we ate a range of entrees before our pizza and pasta arrived. As a token thank you for all their efforts in making our trip so memorable, We gave the guys some hoodies which matched ours and they are promising to wear them with pride next week at their big Citizens Rail meeting!! 

The evening was fabulous, we all chatted whilst eating and drinking with each other, laughing and remembering all the highlights of our trip. Everyone looked beautiful with their hair and nails done. The night ended all too quickly however, as we were leaving we were presented with more gifts!!!! One of those gifts was a huge Aachen printed biscuit which we saw on a statue during our Aachen tour on Tuesday. Alicia posed with the biscuit just as the little girl on the statue did :)

Gaia Zoo

What an amazing day at the Gaia zoo. It was nothing like the zoo's we have seen in England! First of all there were Dutch houses with the animals in and an amazing Dinodome which was the biggest indoor fun place we've ever seen. There were boats to play in with water to cross, fossils to find in the sans and 5 floors of climbing ropes! We had a lovely meal in the cafe and ate traditional Dutch sausage with chips and a drink. After lunch we saw such a range of animals and played I'm a celebrity get me out of here on the Jungle Tour Wooden Playzone!

Just before we left Paul surprised us one again,....with a cuddly monkey each!! He has been a super tour guide and a very generous man. Thank you so much!

Guess where we've been....?

 

Today the children enjoyed a train journey to Heerlan in Holland courtesy of Paul Alzer from Parkstadt Limburg. We caught the 9:32 train and enjoyed many of the wonderful sights along the way. On arrival, Paul met us and talked about the refurbishment planned for the station and the wonderfully designed bus station. 

Paul very kindly brought each of us a baseball hat with 'iba parkstad' written on. We wore them with pride all day. In return we gave Paul a gift...a hoodie matching our own but with the Dutch flag on, and Padiham to Heerlan on the back!

Paul showed us around his home town for over an hour. We saw some 2000 year old Roman thermal baths where hot water would naturally heat the pools from under the ground. We took a trip into a Dutch library and saw many illustrations from the famous Pippi Longstocking books. After spotting a variety of fabulous and creative sculptures around the city, we headed off on our next treat....a trip to the Gaia zoo!!

We are famous in Aachen!

Today we received this email from Stadt Aachen, the local newspaper. They featured us and sent the link...we have no idea what it says but the pictures are great! I'm sure we can google translate it when we get home....it's worked for all of Mr Dixon's speeches so far ;)

Bezirksbürgermeisterin Marianne Conradt empfängt englische Schüler

 

Rund 30 Schulkinder aus Burnley, Lancashire, im Nordwesten Englands wurden heute im Rathaus von Bezirksbürgermeisterin Marianne Conradt empfangen. Sie haben im Unterricht ein Plakat entwickelt, das für das Bahnfahren in Lancashire werben soll, sie befinden sich nun auf Klassenfahrt in Aachen und Heerlen. Die Aktion ist Teil der europäischen Citizens‘ Rail-Initiative, die Bürger an der Planung der Umgestaltung von Bahnhöfen beteiligt. „Es ist ein lebendiges Beispiel dafür, wie Europa im 21. Jahrhundert funktioniert. Gebt dieses Gefühl weiter an eure Freunde. Ihr habt viel getan für die europäische Idee“, sagte Marianne Conradt auf dem Empfang im Weißen Saal.

 

In Aachen werden die vorbereitenden Arbeiten zu einer möglichen Um- bzw. Neugestaltung der Bahn-Haltepunkte Eilendorf, Richterich und Aachen-West ebenfalls im Rahmen von „Citizens´ Rail“ gefördert. 

 

Neben der Stadt Aachen und dem Lancashire County Council sind die University of Plymouth und die Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership Partner des Projektes, aus Frankreich die Region Pays de la Loire, aus den Niederlanden die Parkstad Limburg. In Deutschland arbeitet die Stadt Aachen zusammen mit dem Geographischen Institut der RWTH Aachen und dem Aachener Verkehrsverbund. 

Citizens‘ Rail wird zur Hälfte aus dem Interreg IVB-Programm der Europäischen Union finanziert.

 

Weitere Informationen unter

www.aachen.de/bahnhof

www.citizensrail.org/burnley-school-children-welcome-european-partners-in-style/

und 

http://aachen2014.blogspot.co.uk

 

Hinweis für die Redaktionen

Die beiden Fotos im Anhang können Sie honorarfrei im Rahmen Ihrer Berichterstattung verwenden. Sie zeigen Marianne Conradt, Bürgermeisterin des Bezirks Aachen-Mitte, mit den Schulkindern und Betreuern der Padiham Green Primary School, auf dem Bild mit der Nr. 8706 mit Schulleiter Marc Dixon.

Birthday Surprise!!

Ellie had a very loud rendition of Happy Birthday last night from all her friends. Cake, candles and 3 big cheers. The cake was delicious, big thanks to everyone who ate it and Mrs Ennis who brought it! X

We stole the iPad and took a Selfie!