European Classroom - A Visit to Ireland!

From September 28-30th, 2012 our European Classroom students from Canada had the first of their three trips across Europe. After living with a German host family for two months, attending a German high school and learning everything about the Irish culture that they could, the students finally had the chance to get to know and visit a famous European city - Dublin, Ireland.

On Friday afternoon the students headed towards the Frankfurt Hahn airport to catch the flight to Dublin, accompanied by two members of DFSR, one student from the USA and one German girl. After a smooth journey everyone was looking forward to arriving at the rented apartments to grab some food and relax.

  Finally arriving an the apartment...

...waiting for the pizzas...

...chilling and making plans for the next day.

Day 1

On Saturday everyone got up early as it was a bright and sunny morning and everyone wanted to make the most of the day. Following a hearty "not so Irish" breakfast, the students left the apartment for a tour around the town centre to get a good first impression of all the important sights. The friendly and enthusiastic tour guide of the company "Sandemans New Europe", which offers free tours through many cities in Europe, was already waiting at the Town Hall of Dublin and began to sing a "Happy Birthday" song for Celina (one if the Canadian students) when the group arrived. After introducing herself and finding out where all the participants had come from, she was very surprised to see how many "German-Canadians" were joining her tour.

Beautiful sunset at the O'Connell Bridge

Group photo before going on the guided tour

Impressive Town Hall of Dublin

The tour guide introducing herself..

...students are listening attentively

In addition to visiting all important sights and places like Dublin Castle, Christchurch, Temple Bar, Trinity College and St. Stephen's Green, the students got to know everything about the history of Dublin from the medieval times until the beginning of independence. Our DFSR inbound student, Quinn from the USA, was especially interested in the history and culture as his ancestors lived in Ireland.

First stop of the tour - Dublin Castle

Students in front of the Bedford Tower...

...listening to the guide...

...and being astonished

Of course everyone was well prepared to take lots of photos

Exploring the Castle Park

Our DFSR inbound student Quinn from the USA has ancestors from Ireland.

Next stop - Christchurch Cathedral

In front of the famous Christchurch Cathedral, which was the next stop on the tour, the DFSR students had to demonstrate how the Vikings invented "spooning". When the first Vikings came to Ireland, many people had to live in very small houses, so they had to find a way to efficiently share a bed. Obviously, the students really learnt essential things during that tour.

Demonstrating how the Vikings invented "spooning"

Back on their feet, the students made a surprising discovery....

...There are still Vikings in Dublin!

After all these nerve-racking incidents, a coffee break was absolutely necessary. Fortunately the Temple Bar quarter with all its cute little pubs and cafes was just around the corner.

Colourful houses at the Temple Bar quarter

Delicious cupcakes...

...and a hearty coffee!

Refreshed and motivated the students were ready to visit the last important sight of the tour - The Trinity College. On the campus you can find the famous "Book of Kells", the huge library and many, many bicycles surrounded by the ancient college buildings.

The group on the Trinity College Campus

Bicycles as far as the eye can see

Beside the statue of the Irish rebel Wolfe Tones and next to the park of St. Stephan's Green, the tour guide bid the group farewell and thanked everyone for being so attentive for 3.5 hours. As the tour was for free, the participants could pay a tip to the guide if they enjoyed it.

"Yaaay, we survived the tour!" =)

Now it was time for shopping, eating Fish n' Chips and having another look around in the town center before the whole DFSR group met again for the next activity which you also might not miss while being in Dublin: going to a typical Irish pub. The meeting point was the statue of Molly Malone which the people in Dublin fondly call "the tart with the cart".

Strolling through Stephen's Green Shopping Centre

Posing with Molly Malone

Picture for the newspaper in the home town in Canada

Typical for Dublin: Pub Music

Students enjoying food and Irish folk music at a pub

Dublin at night

The Old Post Office at O'Connell Street

Day 2

As the students went to bed early on Saturday night (of course), everyone was well prepared for another exciting day in Ireland. During breakfast the group decided what they wanted to do on their second and unfortunately last day in Ireland. They decided that after a busy Saturday in the town centre, they now would like to see a little bit of Ireland's stunning landscape. The harbour village of Howth, which is placed on a small peninsula a few kilometres away from Dublin, was the perfect destination for this day trip. The group hurried up with packing their backpacks and cleaning the apartments so that they could leave on time.

Breakfast at the apartment

On the way to the Connolly Train Station in Dublin

After only 30 minutes the train arrived in the heart of the beautiful harbour village Howth. Here you can find lots of fishing boats, seals and shops and restaurants where you can buy and eat freshly caught fish and seafood.

Beautiful harbour village Howth

Fresh fish and seafood as far as the eye can see

A seal is waiting at the harbour to catch a bite

Group photo at the harbour

The highlight of this place is the steep cliff wall where you have breathtaking views over the sea. The wet and stormy whether could not rain on the students' parade and they started climbing up the cliffs bundled up with rain coats.

A last quick smile in the camera...

...then they go uphill!

Can you find our students in that picture?

After the storm comes the calm

Time for a short break and a snack...

...and another group photo.

Only a few metres...

...then they arrived at the destination - The Baily Lighthouse on Howth Head

"Yes, we made it!"

After this exhausting but worthwhile tour, the students had a well-deserved lunch at a local pub. Unfortunately time passed so fast and it was already time to go back to Dublin to catch the bus to the airport and take the flight back to Frankfurt Hahn. Our European Classroom students are already looking forward to the second of their three trips across Europe. In November they will travel to Paris where they visit all important sights, try French cuisine and enjoy the pre-Christmas atmosphere. Of course you can read and see everything about that trip here on our DFSR Outbound Blog! To find out more about our European Classroom program, visit our website: http://www.dfsr.org/european_classroom