Ireland
On 14 April 2012 Advanced English went to Ireland and Northern Ireland. We visited museums like National Gallery of Art, Dublin Castle, Dublinia, and Kilmainham Gaol. We also paid a visit to Belfast with its murals. Everyone liked the city and we had a wonderful time with the Black Cabs driving us around in West Belfast showing us the Protestant and Catholic parts of the town.
The Willow Park School welcomed us with open arms and we could take part in the three morning lessons. The three I attended were Irish, Latin, and English. The pupils seemed to know everything the teachers asked them about. We later learned from the headmaster Hugh McGuire that his school is considered among the best in Ireland, at least when it comes to the national tests. At noon we could visit the Blackrock College with two excellent guides taking good care of us. The week after we were given a tour of the campus of Trinity College, the university founded in 1592. Orla McCarthy and Darryl Jones went out of their way to help our pupils carry out their assignments. The latter talked to us about the university and the two langages of Ireland, which was very interesting. We were also able to visit the Book of Kells and the Long Room with its over 200,000 books in one big room. We also saw the first edition of Martin Luther's Bible from 1522. A knowledgeable guide helped us get our bearings right pointing out interesting things in the library. No pictures could, however, be taken due to library policy.
The star sight of our journey was of course Cliffs of Moher in western Ireland. The cliffs sloped well over 200 metres into the sea. Our bus later drove us close to the coast, past Galway Bay and then directly back to Dublin. The bus driver thanked us vikings from Sweden for not pillaging the bus.
