On Sunday 8 September, 28 enthusiastic students from 2E, two V5 mentors and two members of staff departed from Schiphol for Dublin on a five day cultural trip as part of the TTO programme. Some of the highlights included a whole day of Gaelic sports – hurling, Gaelic football and Irish handball, none of which are for the faint-hearted as traditionally they were used to train warriors for battle!; a tour of Croke Park – the national Gaelic football stadium with a capacity of 82 300 making it the third largest stadium in Europe; a traditional Irish dancing and music playing evening; a visit to Howth peninsula and a tour of the city’s top sights. A particularly interesting exhibit in the National Museum of Archeology were the Peat Bodies. These were several prehistoric bodies pulled from Ireland’s peat bogs in remarkable condition due to the unique properties in the water. It was an unforgettable experience to see the quality and detail of fingerprints on a 4000 year old hand!
Students stayed with host families which allowed them the opportunity to speak English and to enjoy Irish hospitality. This was a fun and new way to practice what has been learned in school.
The group returned to The Netherlands happy and suitably exhausted on Thursday evening, pleased to know that on Friday morning they could all have a nice long lie in their own comfy beds!
