Being welcome with excitement by our classmates and with a friendly smile from Mrs. Grubits- Fitz, we started our language week to Ireland. Fortunately, our plane took off at 10 o’clock, which gave us plenty of time to stroll around the airport before boarding. The perks of flying with your friends are that time literally ‚flies by‘.
We landed in Ireland in the early afternoon, got our bags (all of them, luckily) and headed to the bus which was supposed to give us a tour and a first glance at the capital city, Dublin. Sadly we were told that the bus couldn’t give us the tour due to technical problems. Yet we didn’t mind and were happy to meet our host-families earlier that day.
After enjoying breakfast with our host families the next day, most of us headed to the bus stops to get to Bray center- our meeting point. During the week we had some trouble with the bus and its irregular schedule but apparently that is what makes life in Ireland so laid back.
Mrs. Grubits- Fitz and Mr. Sugar had a tight schedule very well planned for us. On Saturday, a walk to the coast of Bray was followed by a DART- ride to Dublin. We visited the famous “Trinity College” and the intriguing “Book of Kells” before taking the DART again to get to “Howth”. Howth is an upper-class fishing village with a beautiful market and the best fish and chips in town.
The weather meant well because during the whole trip we had sunshine and only a few showers. The Irish drizzle hit us a few times but we didn’t bother because we could not await the rainbow afterwards.
Our second day gave us some more time to explore Dublin and lead us to “Malahide Castle”, which is said to be haunted, and to the coat town Dun Laoghaire and James Joyce’s Martello Tower.
The following days we visited Dublin Castle and its chapel made of wood, the Guinness Storehouse with its mesmerizing view from the top of “Gravity Bar” and “The Little Museum of Dublin”. We enjoyed our social evening at Bray Leisure Centre on Wednesday, playing billards, fun games and laser tagging.
On Thursday, the last day of our trip, we had some time for ourselves and walked Dublin with friends. Temple Bar District with the “Hard Rock Café” offered us some great possibilities for a spot of lunch and made us emotional about the previous days.
Our host families were generally kind and authentically Irish. We got served some traditional food and were thankful that they shared their homes with us. Lessons at Pace Language School taught us about Irish culture and dialect.
Leaving Ireland at 4 o’clock in the morning on Friday, we did not have much time to be nostalgic. Photos were taken and memories made. We had a great time bonding with classmates and travelling to a foreign country.
We thank Mrs. Grubits-Fitz and Mr. Sugar for the organization and the heart they put into this little adventure.
Sophie Schöpf, Sophie Werner, 6a