A week full of craic in Ireland!

From April 8th to 15th, our class embarked on the long-awaited language trip to Ireland! Among thrilling excursions, from historical monasteries to dramatic cliffs, we made unforgettable memories while improving our English.

After landing, the host families came to pick us up from a Lidl parking lot. At first, we were shy and the conversations felt awkward. We also got a small culture shock when we realised that we didn’t have to remove our shoes indoors…This felt so wrong! Regarding the food: It was better than expected but nothing beats the food back home. Still, we got to make many great memories which we will cherish forever.

During our four days at PACE Language Institute, we learned about Irish music and culture. On some days we even had the pleasure of singing some traditional songs ourselves. In addition, we also picked up some phrases from Gaeilge, the native Irish language, along with some Irish-English slang, such as “What’s the craic?“ which means “What’s up?“. One fun fact we learned is that there are more sheep in Ireland than people.

On our first full day in Ireland, we had an orientation tour in Bray and Dublin. The seaside town overall has a quiet and relaxed atmosphere, and having a beach nearby makes it a good place to have a walk in the evening. Near the train station, there was also a game arcade called „Bray Bowl,“ where a lot of students had fun playing games such as pool and air hockey. Not to forget the football stadium in Bray, where their own football team, the „Bray Wanderers,“ plays.

Later, we visited Dublin, where our guide Jennifer showed us famous sights like the Statue of Molly Malone and Merrion Square Park. As we were looking at the Statue of Molly Malone, we decided to sing the song dedicated to her. We also had free time to shop on Grafton Street, try local food, and visit Temple Bar and the Wall of Fame.

We also visited the EPIC Museum, where we learned about Irish history through interactive exhibits. There we received a passport in order be able to go through all 20 stations of the museum and get stamps. The exhibits were intriguing and we learned more about the suffering the Irish nation had gone through.

Another highlight was our trip to Powerscourt Gardens and Glendalough, and it was one of the most fascinating trips we’ve had. In the morning we went to Powerscourt gardens where we saw a variety of different garden styles with beautiful nature and grandiose statues. We walked around on our own, took pictures and enjoyed the healing atmosphere. Later on the same day, we went to Glendalough which felt completely different, but just as special. We had the chance to explore the old monastic ruins, the famous round tower and the old cemetery. What made the trip so special for us was the combination of beautiful flora, nature and history.

On Sunday, we explored Dalkey Castle with actors who brought the Middle Ages back to life. Some of us even had the chance to play along with them! The barber which also happened to be a doctor demonstrated how people used to draw blood and Ms. Dorn-Verlooy volunteered to receive a haircut. What she didn’t expect was to also get the opportunity to get a body part amputated! Unfortunately, she politely refused. At the end of the tour, we got the chance to make our own coins. Overall, we had a great experience and saw how people lived in the Middle Ages!

After that, we took the DART train to a small seaside town named Howth. There we had a cliffside walk planned. Beforehand, we stopped at the small harbour hoping to catch some seals (Ms. Valentini insisted). Luckily, we did see two seals and took some great photos of them. Suddenly it began raining heavily. At that point we had given up our hopes, but our amazing teachers cheered us up. We performed a spell, the sun came out and we did our cliffside walk. During a short break some of us even fed seagulls! Overall, we all had a wonderful time and enjoyed the picturesque views.

For our last activity of the language trip, we visited the Book of Kells and Trinity College. We also saw the Book of Kells, a very unique book written by Irish monks in the 8th century, which is filled with beautiful calligraphic work. At Trinity College, we were also amazed by the old books and the statues of famous philosophers and poets.