Galway2018

Today started at 3 a.m. Although I'm sure that some of us overslept (I won't tell any names) everyone managed to get to the bus stop on time.  After we put our luggage in the bus the drive to Dublin began. Most of the people could get some sleep during these three hours but nevertheless we were all pretty exhausted by the time we arrived at the airport. This feeling didn't disappear whilst the security check. We knew the procedure but we were pretty delighted when it was over.  The time we stayed at the airport was shorter than it was on Saturday so it didn't take too long when we finally took our places on the plane. No accidents did happen and the plane wasn't taken hostage so that was a point in favour for it but still it was more like a thing that could've been gladly skipped. The bus drive from Bratislava back to Judenburg was the worst thing of all. While the plane had a little space to relax, the opportunities to sleep in the b

Today was the last the way we spent in Galway. It was the only the day of the week we had enough time to explore the city on our own, go shopping, and experience real Irish food and even though we already stayed in the city for nearly a week, the feeling of fascination, and wonder for the city didn't go away, and we all were eager to learn more about the city and its wonderful history, the only problem with this was that we had to be home at 5 o'clock, and then go the Greyhound Race, or spend our evening whichever way we wanted, which for most of us consisted of packing our luggage and going to bed early, but some of us didn't take into account how exhausting the journey back to Austria would, be and so they hardly got any sleep. In the evening some of us went to the Greyhound Race, in the Galway Stadium, but most of us didn't want to go, because they either thought that it would be really boring, or that animal abuse was involved in the races. Sadly,

Today was fish day! At least it seemed like that because of the visit of the Galway Atlantaquarium where we saw some of the most common fish here in Ireland as well as other parts of the world like from the Amazon river. Among These were pikes and piranhas but also shellfish and other sea animals such as lobsters and anemones (also know as the Spongebob TV Programme ). Furthermore we had the chance of actually feeding and touching some of the animals like starfish and crabs.   After the visit of the Atlantaquarium we made a stop at the beach where the range of activities reached from collecting shells and mussels to go swimming in the sea or just enjoying the fantastic view across Galway’s coastline and the Atlantic Ocean. Later on we had our Irish-music evening where we listened to live-music in several pubs around shop street and Eyre-Square . But that wasn’t the only available source of music near this place. Most of the day you could hear lots of

On wednesday we went to the Cliffs of Moher. After a long informative bus ride through the Burren, a rocky landscape, we arrived at the Cliffs. The weather was cloudy, as always, but fortunately it didn't rain. The air was not as clear as we had hoped, but we could see far enough. Far enough to see how beautiful this amazing sight is. We have never seen anything like that and everyone found i stunning. After lots of pictures were taken, we returned to the bus and went back to Galway. Blog entry by Anna Moser  

The first thing we did in the morning of Tuesday, the 10th April, besides having breakfast, was going to school. We all went by bus ourselves (for the first time) and I’m not going to lie – it was a little bit stressful because we were scared of taking the wrong bus. In the end everyone arrived safely at the school and we could start our 4th day of our journey to Ireland. After language school had ended, we were divided in groups and took part in a treasure hunt. The groups had to go through several questions regarding Ireland. When the winners had taken their prize, which was sweets, we were allowed to return to our host families and have dinner. Around 8 o’clock we all met in town and started our Irish dance course. After only one hour of dancing we learned a lot of steps – and we didn’t mess up too bad. I’m sure that at the end of the day everyone fell asleep immediately. Nontheless: It was an exciting day. Blog entry by Magdalena Mang

The first day in Galway started with a delicious breakfast in the morning. Our host families made us some lunch bags and drove us with the car to our language school. It was cloudy and a little bit cold but fortunately, it didn‘t rain. Arrived at our school, we got splitted into 4 groups. Altogether we had 2 lessons. The first one from 9:30 a.m. to 11.00 a.m. and the second one from 11.30 to 01.00 p.m. The lessons were pretty good. With funny speaking games, the teachers taught us some new words and helped us to improve our english. After that we had freetime to get ourselves some food and to explore Galway on our own. At 02.00 p.m., we met again at the language school to start the walking tour with our guides around Galway. The man was really friendly and he showed us some of the most beautiful places of Ireland, including the Galway Ca thedral and the John F. Kennedy park. He also told us that the Irish people are really proud of their well placed location near the sea and

Our second day in Ireland came with a lot of new experiences. We started the day with a nice and energising breakfast, because we knew the day would be long. After filling our tummy, we walked to the Viking Splash depature. There we met the super cool and entertaining guide of the tour (secretly he was a true viking). After the safety introduction we all put helmets on to make us look like vikings. The special thing about our vehicle was, that it was able to drive on land and also on water. We had a lot of fun scaring the pedestrians with our viking screams. Besides having an amazing time, we learned a lot about Dublin. After a little break, where we could spend the time on our own, we went back to our hostel, packed our luggage and drove to Clonmacnoise. There we saw a film to get to know the history of the monument. The generous man, who welcomed us in a very friendly way, toured us around the monastery. It was founded in 544, we were amazed how old the buildings were

On Saturday at 0.15 we set off from Judenburg with the bus, excited for upcoming journey. Some of us were lucky enough to catch some sleep but over all we arrived at the airport in Bratislava at around 4:30 am. The check-in and security check went smoothly (except for a pair of scissors which had to be confiscated) and after witnessing a beautiful sunrise, we boarded the plane to Ireland. We arrived in Dublin and drove to the hostel we were going to be staying in for the night, where we left our luggage to be able to go explore the city. The first time we crossed a street, we were reminded that here, they drive on the other side of the road!  On our way to the inner city we saw a lot of shops, some familiar, some completely new and there we had time to look around and grab a bite to eat. There, we had our first face to face encounter with the irish accent.  A notable thing were the many pubs all around the town, additionally even specific tours about how i

On Saturday, the 7 th of April at 0:45 the 6 th forms of our school are starting their journey to Ireland. We already know a lot about the country due to the good preparation we did in class and   our individual research.   Every student gave a presentation and read a book by an Irish author. In our English lessons we additionally learned about the history and some traditions, so we feel well prepared for our trip. We are really looking forward to the green landscape, since it has been a long, cold winter for us here in Austria. We also can’t wait to meet our host families and to get an insight into the Irish way of life we’ve heard so much about. Although a few students are afraid of getting on the plane, most of us are excited about the flight. A lot of my classmates   are so stoked about the trip that they’ve already packed their suitcases with weatherproof, comfy and gorgeous clothes and adapters. We are already very excited, prepared and ready to take off.