Jornal do Agrupamento

Meaningful London

I wanted to write a narrative essay about the most embarrassing moments I can still remember, from the trip our teachers organized to London. As the paragraphs formed, and although I know it would be a terrific article, I knew it wasn’t the right way to express how meaningful it all actually was.

The moment they announced the trip I knew I had to find a way to get on that plane, and I am glad I did. London overcame my expectations. It held many surprises and the city is now, by far, my favourite city. London offers us multicultural activities and a wide variety of entertainment to amuse even the most boring of people. It has many attractive places that keep us looking for more, which, I believe, was what kept us walking even if we didn’t sleep that much.

Although this trip was organized within the subjects of English and History of the Arts, I think it all became some sort of therapy and the whole group showed that, as soon as we got to Piccadilly Circus. The excitement as you look around and see crowds of people from all over the world really makes you think about how on earth it is possible to feel so fulfilled with such a simple thing, which even in our country is not uncommon. Everything looked attractive and it was fun to watch the whole group always together.

It was fascinating to see the Humanities’ students learn about Art, or see everyone attentively watching the group to see if no one was left behind, or the fact that, even after “hundreds” of kilometers and long and exhausting journeys, no one would stop walking. Every single member of the group would keep up. I don’t think it is by chance that London always makes the list as one of the world’s most visited cities.

Throughout those five days, I can’t pick any special moment or any favourite place. It was all meaningful and I was glad I had an amazing group because I don’t think it would have been half of what it was if it hadn’t been for this group. I also have to underline that the teachers who accompanied us over those days made it a lot easier for us to have a great time. I hadn’t really noticed that the relationship between a student and a teacher would be so easy to make and so fun to develop, not forgetting the fact that they put a lot of work into this for us, and even outside of school they had to put up with our mood in the morning.

At the end of the day we were all, dead tired, but always eager for more the next day. We should have stayed longer, should have made bigger friendships, should have walked harder, should have slept less, should have learned more and should definitely have taken more from the trip, not just a little bit of London.

To say that I love London is a slight understatement and definitely not a secret now.

Catarina Amaral, 11.ºI​