Thursday, 8th June 2023:

 

We met at Luxembourg airport at 5.30 pm to get ready to fly to Dublin. For some of us, it was our first flight, so a bit nerve-wracking but we all managed the flight quite well, playing cards and doing board games. In Dublin, our taxi driver was waiting for us to take us to Trinity Hall, our accommodation for the next 4 days. The accommodation belongs to Trinity College, Ireland’s oldest university (founded in 1592).

We were amazed to see how students live at university: There are central buildings with a 24-hour reception, a little shop, a canteen where we had breakfast every morning, and the numerous blocks of apartments around the central buildings. Our teachers had booked 3 apartments with 6 rooms in each one and a shared kitchen and living-room. The rooms were simple but clean, each with their own bathroom. That night, we walked to Dartry, the quiet residential area around Trinity Hall. We got some quick fast food as most places were already closed and we got a first impression of the area we would be staying in (there were a few parks, one with a basketball court, with benches and lovely trees and flowers, and we would usually come there in the evenings for some basketball games).

Friday, 9th June 2023:

On Friday morning, we got up relatively early to have breakfast at 8.30 am. There were pastries (croissants and pains au chocolat), cereal, toast, coffee and fruit juice. Most of us were tired from our late night but ready to see the city centre, so after breakfast, we took Bus Number 140 to the city centre, where we were given a short tour of Stephen’s Green, Grafton Street (the main shopping street, with Bewleys and Brown Thomas), the Molly Malone Statue, Trinity College and its impressive buildings, and O’Connell Street/the Spire so that we would find our way round the city centre and got to know a bit of the history of different buildings.

We went on to visit the EPIC MUSEUM, an interactive museum where you explore Irish history and the achievements of Irish people (music, sport, culture…), and their many reasons for immigrating to other countries (the potato famine, economic problems, religious oppression, …).

Lunch was fun in the main part of the EPIC museum building, the CHQ, which is the former warehouse for tobacco and other foreign goods: There are numerous small take-away restaurants with a large choice of healthy dishes (salads, pasta, rice) that you can even compose yourself. We were delighted that our fundraising paid for this lunch 🙂

Then we had some time off where we could explore the centre of Dublin by ourselves and take crazy photos. We even interviewed some people to hear what it is like to live in a city like Dublin. Most people reacted in a very friendly way and were happy to answer our questions!

Between 3 and 5 pm, we met our teachers and classmates again at the pub for an Irish Dancing Workshop where we listened to some Irish music and learnt how to dance with the (beautiful:)) Irish dancers. The dancing was fun for those who took part and even for those who were simply watching! A few of us had the opportunity to try the popular and famous Irish Guinness, which tastes quite bitter but is very tasty. After all that fun, we had some free time again in the city centre. In the evening we all went back to Trinity Hall where everyone went to their living rooms to enjoy the rest of the night together as friends.

 

Our Friday highlight: to go out in the city and take funny pictures with our friends:)

 

Funniest moment on Friday:

when we took a picture with a very relaxed Irish man who was sunbathing in front of his house. We of course asked for permission first!

Saturday, 10th June 2023:

Saturday was our day for sports! In the morning, we did a workshop called Experience Irish Games where we were introduced to three different Irish sports: Hurling, Gaelic football and Gaelic handball. When our coaches Jack and Emily demonstrated each sport, it all seemed simple, but once we tried them out in teams of two, we realized that these take a lot of practising! At the same time, we were impressed by the many very young kids aged 4-5 who were playing on the field next to us: In fact, most Irish children take lessons in hurling and Gaelic football at the weekend because the Irish are very proud of this heritage and want to pass on this pride to their children! We learnt that all GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association) sports like hurling and Gaelic football are played by UNPAID athletes, even at top level! So every athlete plays because they are proud to represent their county but NOT for a financial advantage!

Especially hurling and Gaelic football are quite violent and fast and we were lucky to have softer plastic hurleys instead of the real wooden ones, because we even managed to get a few bruises while playing with ‘safety equipment’ during our hurling match!

Unfortunately we had to walk a long way to Croke Park Stadium after that (somebody had told us it was only a 15-minute walk, but that was probably approximate “IRISH” time! )

At Croke Park, our guide Martin, a real Dubliner with a very broad accent, gave us a tour on the roof of the stadium and explained the Dublin landmarks to us and at the very end we could look down into the beautiful stadium from 150 feet above the pitch! Needless to say some of us had some wobbly knees after that…

After that we got the bus into the city (in the only rain shower during our trip!) and we had fun eating out in the city (and celebrating somebody’s ‘fake’ birthday) or sitting outside in Dartry Park while chatting to some very extroverted Irish 12-year-olds!

Sunday, 11th June 2023:

We woke up too early (:() but enjoyed our breakfast (croissant, pain au chocolat, toast, cornflakes, coffee, juice) and walked to the DART (train) to get to Howth, a small semi-island on the coast, half an hour from the city centre. We were lucky that the Sunday was a beautiful, sunny day with the sun shining gloriously. Our group first walked down to the pier where we took some fun pictures and admired the Head of Howth, a small island close to the lighthouse. Some of us wanted to rent kayaks and a boat, but when we saw the prices, we preferred to walk:). While we were admiring the beautiful turquoise/blue colour of the sea, one of us noticed that 2 “stones” suddenly started moving: Two seals were poking their heads out of the water, staring at us curiously! After the initial fright, we enjoyed taking pictures of them and the 2 animals seemed to enjoy their moment of fame, too!

We were amazed by the lovely little harbour that had numerous small yachts and the palmtrees made us wonder wheteher we had landed in the south somewhere… Then we walked up the hill with quite a few other tourists out for the day, all the while staring down at the impressive cliffs and the beautiful blue-greenish sea… Two students (who prefer to remain unnamed:)) were so distracted by all this beauty that they started to wander up the wrong hill, but they quickly caught up with us, feeling relieved they had done their fair share of fitness and cardio for the day… On top of the hill, everyone started complaining of hunger, so we enjoyed the views for a bit and then wandered down the hill to the best Chipper in town, Beshoffs, the longish queue outside confirming this was definitely the best Fishn’Chip shop in Howth! After just a short wait, we were served very efficiently and sat down on the grass to have our first taste of Fish and Chips, all the time being eyed by the vicious nasty seagulls who also seemed very very hungry… One very cheeky seagull then dramatically jumped up on one student’s head, which made her drop her box and food- which was the moment the seagull’s partners in crime had been waiting for, so within one minute, a hord of 20 (30?) seagulls had thrown themselves on top of the student’s chips and fish and we all had to flee the place in a panic and eat further away…

 

After some free time in Howth to buy some souvenirs, we took the train back to the city centre to get some presents for our families (especially the mothers since it was mother’s day at home:)!).

Monday, 12th June 2023:

After breakfast, we handed in our keys and got on the local bus one final time to spend a last hour in the city centre, or having coffee at Powerscourt Centre.

The aircoach then took us to the airport from the GPO (the famous post office where the Irish fought for their independence against the English) and got through baggage control no problem, despite the many presents we had bought!…

Nearly everyone felt so exhausted on the plane that not many eyes stayed open….

At 6.30 pm we were happy to meet our parents at Luxembourg airport (with temperatures close to 30 degrees!) after a ‘mega cool’ school trip….

3GCMP2:

Lorenzo, Nicolas, Bryan, Leonel, Jamie, Launa, Luana, Sofia, Valérie, Lara, Nathan.

4 GMAN:

Sheila, Johan, Rafael, Dylan.

Teachers:

Aileen Santos, Michael Fernandes, Françoise Schintgen.

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