4:58 PM
Harishini's edited reflectionCiao people!
Firstly I would like to thank Mdm Koh, Mr Gavin and Ms Sazryna for organizing this Europe trip. We have definitely learnt a lot of things about the history of four main countries, Qatar, Germany, Austria and Italy.
Qatar
As we had around six hours of transit in Qatar, the teachers arranged a Doha city tour for us. I have gained a lot of knowledge about Doha through this city tour. The weather in Doha is real good! It’s like the sun is out but there’s cool wind as well! We went to see how camels were sold. Camels were bought for their meat and milk. We took loads of pictures of the camels. We also went to the place where horses were trained for racing. However, placing bets on horses was strictly prohibited. This is against the Muslim religion. We got a chance to see the horses swimming in a pool. This was to make them stronger to race. Next we visited the falcon market. Falcons were a symbol of high status. Only the rich could own falcons. The people who lived in Doha receive free education, free water supply and free land. However this is paid for by their heavy tax payment.
Horses
Camels
Falcon market
Germany
In Germany we visited the swan castle, Dachau concentration camp and had our school exchange programme. The swan castle was very beautiful. Sadly, we could not take pictures as everything in it was original. Next up, the Dachau concentration camp. It was built by Hitler. He mistreated the Jews and some Germans there. We got the opportunity to see how they were tortured by Hitler and his followers. It was truly an eye opener for most of us. My group did the presentation on Singapore. The students in Gymnesium Bad Aibling were very hospitable. Although they did not have a strong command of the English language, they tried their best to explain to us about their school.
Swan Castle
Dachau Concentration Camp
Rachel, Ain & I at the German school
Austria
On the way from Germany to Venice, we stopped over at the Salzburg Salt Mine. We went there to get a first hand experience on how the miners mine salt. We got all geared up in miners clothing and went down many slides till we reached the deepest part underground. It was extremely fun and exciting.
Salt mine tour guide
Salt miner
Venice
We headed towards Venice in a water taxi as there are no roads in Venice at all! It is surrounded by water and there were only two means of transportations, water taxies or gondolas. Venice is a really beautiful place, it also attracts many tourists. The main highlight I believe for many of us was the delicious gelato!
Gelato!(:However, due to global warming, the sea level in Venice is rising and thus, there is a high possibility that the whole of Venice might be underwater in years to come. Hence, I feel that every single one of us should play our part to save the environment by, Reducing, Reusing and Recycling.
Venice
Gondolas
Rome
As for Rome, it is a rather busy city. The place is rather unorganized. We visited Vatican City. At Vatican City, we visited St Peter’s Basilica, a Roman catholic church. We also saw where the pope lived but did not get to go in. We also visited the Sistine Chapel and Raphael Rooms. We learnt more about Michael Angelo, who was the one who built the Sistine Chapel. We were allowed to take photographs but without flash as they were all original and if taken with flash, would fade. Next we went to the Colosseum
ColosseumWe also learnt that gladiators were actually slaves who had to battle against wild animals and only if they won, could be freed. Following that, we went on to Pompeii. Pompeii no longer exists as it was totally demolished and wiped out by the volcanic eruption of Mt Vesuvius. It was a horrible site, seeing the people in the positions they were when they were killed.
Position before dying
We headed on to Mt Vesuvius where we climbed up to see the crater. Although it was a tiring climb up, we managed to do it as we co-operated with one another. We are all proud of ourselves for our achievement. It was a magnificent sight. We took lots of pictures of the active volcano.
Crater of Mt. Vesuvius
Last but not least, i would like to thank Mr Dan for explaining to us in detail about the places we were about to visit along the way. The most important person we would have to thank would be Mr Jani, without him, we would not have been able to travel to one place to another!
Signing off,
Harishini (:
Europhiles :)