During the daytime, we hopped on the bus to meet the teachers and the rest of the students at a set location, ready to explore Valencia. Highlights included the Mestal- la, the home of Valencia football club; the modern and interesting City of Arts and Sciences (Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias); a breathtaking dolphin show at Ocean- ogràfic; a bike ride to the local beach, where we played some rather competitive volleyball; and the busy Mercado Central. We also had a masterclass on how to make the best paella (a dish originally from Valencia) in Taronja School, where we practised our Spanish even more, fol- lowed by a Paella Party in the Jardín del Turia later in the day. During the trip, we were also given lots of free time to wander about the city centre, especially in the Plaza de la Reina, where we tried the local horchata drink (although McDonald’s was also popular!). Overall, the trip was a massive success, and we all learnt so much about the city’s rich history and promising future. Not only did we improve our Spanish significantly, but we also had lots of fun and felt that it was time well spent. ◉ PHYSICS TRIP – CERN YASSIN ELSAYED (YEAR 12) • NOVEMBER 2023 We started off our perilous journey to Switzerland by waking up at the awful time of 3:45am on a November Sunday and dragging ourselves to Heathrow Airport for a 5:45 meet. All of us Year 12 physicists looked appalling: bad hair days, lacking deodorant or wearing mismatched socks. We barely managed to get through security and onto the plane. We arrived in Geneva to beautiful views and amazing weather. After settling into our hostel, we
headed for bowling. Little did we know we were all to be smashed by Bertie Poullis by at least 30 whole points. We then had more free time and went to dinner, which we rated an average of 8.5, which is wonderful. Day 2 started early for those who managed to wake up for the run with Mr Rowney. After this, we climbed through the gardens to the History of Science Museum, where we were given time to look at the wonders of Geneva science and utilise the fascinating interactive pieces of appara- tus. We were then given an overwhelming three hours of free time, during which Shreesh Mehrotra decided to indulge in a haircut. We roamed the town of Geneva until we came to a humble stand that did Afro-Caribbean hair. This – of course – wouldn’t stop Shreesh from getting his haircut. He confidently stepped in and was given the best haircut he had ever had the pleasure of owning. After this we paced it back to the meeting point and started our tour. We were all fascinated by the history and the over- flowing vastness of the tour guide’s knowledge. For dinner
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