A Midseptember Week’s trip

One year.

One year of palpable excitement, one year of apprehension, one year of wishing for one particular week to come: “The London Studienfahrt 2019”.

One year of hoping to see Big Ben – and yes, I know it’s called the Elizabeth Tower, but come on cut me some slack – just to see it wrapped up in scaffolding (by the way, whoever is responsible for that scaffolding, please teach my mother how to wrap Christmas presents as well as you wrapped up that 96 meters high tower)? One year of thinking about the national symbol that is Buckingham Palace, to end up standing in front of a big piece of stone even my niece could’ve built? Really, English people? Couldn’t do better than that? One year of looking forward to all the history filled museums of London, the British Museum, the Tate Modern! And what do we see the moment we arrive at Trafalgar Square to enter the National Portrait Gallery? A giant Pikachu just waiting for Tamara to run up to him. Talk about realizing our dreams.

One year of imagining all the incredible moments we would get to share as a group. One year of talking about all the things we would do together.

Want to know how that ended up?

Six wandering the streets of the metropole shopping, eight eating in every food related place they could find (I’m talking Camden Lock Market, Covent Garden and many, many more), one sleeping, two as lazy as they get trying to survive while walking the average 12 miles per day, two working out in the London Tube (Really Patrick? Really Thomas?) and one at the theatre. Talk about bonding.

And finally, one year of dreams about this week. Dreams that couldn’t possibly do justice to the unforgettable memories we made, together and on our own. So, thank you. Thanks to every single one of you. Thank you Mrs Luem for making every memory that more special. Thank you Mrs Baumgarten for being the best trip planner we could’ve asked for, and for always making us laugh! To my fellow companions this week, and to you dear readers, here are some (possibly) helpful quotes of my very good friend William Shakespeare: For the shopaholics: “I can get no remedy against this consumption of the purse: borrowing only lingers and lingers it out, but the disease is incurable.” – Henry the Fourth, Part Two For the teachers: “To business that we love we rise betime and go to’t with delight.” – Antony and Cleopatra For the sleepy ones: “the innocent sleep, sleep that knits up the raveled sleave of care, the death of each day’s life, sore labor’s bath, balm of hurt minds, great nature’s second course, chief nourisher in life’s feast.”

– Macbeth

And for all of you: “I shall miss thou greatly, for thou hast made my dreams come true.”

– A Midseptember Week’s trip, by me Irène Duhamel