We are finally back in Oulu. The trip was splendid. The journey back went very well. We all thought we will lose our bags because we only had about 20 minutes in Copenhagen. We were all very happy to see that none of our bags got lost either at Copenhagen or Stockholm. We all enjoyed the trip and we feel very happy to have gotten such an opportunity, because many other schools only travel within Finland. We would like to thank all the parents and Satu for helping us create this opportunity for us!

18.05.2012
We began our day by visiting either the Natural History or the Science museum. Most of us went to the Natural History museum, but there were a few of us who preferred to visit the Science museum. Both of them were very educational and interactive, and we had lots of fun pressing buttons *<l:o). The museum shops sold many strange artefacts, such as elephant poop and feather quills.


Our class in frónt of the boys' lodging.



Science museum



After visiting the museums, we had a bit of a dilemma with the transportation to Oxford street. There wasn't a straight connection from the museums to Oxford street by the tube, so we decided to walk through Hyde park and take a bus at the end of the park. After the walk, we took the bus, but got off on the wrong stop. We then had to wait for the next one, before we were able to continue on our journey.

Natural History Museum

We split up into groups, which we were able to choose ourselves, and were given four hours of shopping time, during which most of us ate lunch. Tiia and Aurora have so far bought a total of twenty-four cd:s. The girls displayed quite extraordinary shopping skills.

After shopping we were all very tired and took the tube back to Greenwich instead of repeating our previous stroll through the park. The tubes were full to the brink and we were suffocating in agony (okay, a bit of an over-exaggeration, but it was awful nonetheless!). We had dinner at the same local pub we dined on Monday. After having a slightly-burnt meal (in some cases), most of us went to Tesco Express to buy some candy and other sweets as souvenirs to our beloved families.

Here are the links to all the museums we have visited during our expedition in the concrete jungles of the treacherous city some call London:

Sir John Soane's museum : http://www.soane.org/

Tate Modern: http://www.tate.org.uk/visit/tate-modern

Natural History museum: http://www.nhm.ac.uk/

Science museum: http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/

16.05.2012

Today we started the day off with a filling and delicious breakfast. We took the riverboat to the Tate Modern museum. It was interesting to see the city and financial areas from the Thames. In the Tate we checked out the Damien Hurst display and some other paintings and sculptures by other well known artists. The Damien Hurst display was interesting yet creepy and disgusting. For example, there were cows sliced in half and decapacitated.

After the daily dose of modern art we went to Pizza Express to enjoy a delightful lunch. We crossed the bridge that is destroyed in the last Harry Potter movie (otherwise known as the Millenium Bridge) and went to see St. Paul's cathedral. The building was intriguing and the details in the roof and walls were amazing. Most of us climbed up to the dome of the cathedral, which was altogether well over 500 steps. The view at the top was amazing, one could see most of  London from there. After that we each enjoyed a cup of Starbucks coffee.

Next we took the riverboat to a point near Big Ben and London Eye. We walked past the Houses of Parliament and via the Royal Parks to the Buckingham Palace, which was under renevation. From there we walked through one more park to the Piccadilly Circus. Nearby we found an Indian restaurant where we enjoyed dinner. Then it was time to take the tube back to the houses at the Arsenal and go to sleep.

Finally Here!

We're finally here! Sorry for the delay in updating our blog, but we faced some problems yesterday with the girl's accomodation and the girls had to spend last night at a hotel (Travel Lodge). However the girls are able to stay at the house tonight. Yesterday we spent the whole day settling in and having dinner at the local pub. Today the girls enjoyed the hotel breakfast and the boys enjoyed a delicious breakfast cooked by Jarmo and Roberto.

On the airplane from Stockholm to London

The boys started off the day by visiting the Sir John Soane Museum. The girls met up with them for a cup of coffee in Starbucks, and then took their turn visiting the museum. We found it very interesting to see what kind of a house Sir John Soane had lived in and how the original architecture had been preserved. While the girls were at the museum, the boys visited yet another interesting museum to pass the time. It was some sort of surgical museum with an exhibition with different body parts.

After the seperate museum visits, we took the DLR to see the St. Paul's cathedral, but to our dissapointment the museum wasn't open today. We will visit it another day if we have time. Then we continued our journey to Covent Garden with the DLR (which is very easy and quick!). We agreed to meet at a certain point in a couple of hours. So we split into groups and went off exploring the area. Some people managed to do some shopping today.

At the Bank DLR station

The weather was not completely in our favor, as we even faced a bit of a hail storm at one point. However it was only for a short time and then the sun even came out for a while! After Covent Garden we headed back to the accomodation on the DLR and the girls were able to unpack. The accomodation is very nice. We have a kitchen, TV, WLAN and nice bedrooms in both houses. We went to the nearby Tesco Express and bought supper and breakfast supplies. Now we are going to enjoy our evening watching some TV and enjoying some toast! :)

Note the rainbow ;)

London here we come!

We started our class trip project already in the 7th grade. From the start it was clear that we wanted to go abroad, so all of us were really determined to collect as much money as possible. We didn’t know where we were going yet but we started collecting money. We sold cookies and candy as well as toilet paper. We also organized numerous events like discos and bake sales. We even went to clean the surroundings of Rusko dump. Oulu city also gave us some money to support our trip, thanks OULU!

                             In 8th grade we started thinking about the destination of our trip and had many options such as Malaga, Barcelona and Portugal. We then had a parents evening and it was decided there that we would be going to London, since the parents thought it was the best option and it was also okay with us. Then we started looking for tickets and a place to stay. This was a long process as flights were often really expensive. Also, finding an affordable place to stay for this many people was extremely hard. However, we soon found two houses that were located quite close to the city centre. After some convincing, the owner let us book the houses for the week and we now had a place to stay. (http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p499118?uni_id=1150235#reviews)

                             Getting the flight tickets turned out to be a bit more complicated but in the end we got cheap tickets going via Stockholm on the way there and via Copenhagen on the way back. Next we started debating about the program in London, since everyone wanted to go somewhere different. We made many compromises and finally got a program which suited everyone.

Picture source: here