Last July 2016, a group of 30 students from IES Nicolás Copérnico and IES Luis Vélez de Guevara went on a great school trip to Dublin (Ireland). They were accompanied by their two English teachers, Juan Jesús Aguilar and Inmaculada García, and also by David and Pedro Fernández, two young brothers in charge of Lis Education International Language School.
We left Écija on 19th July, and Toledo was our first stop. We were very lucky because the writer David Luna Lorenzo, one of the previous winners of El Mundo Esférico literary contest (11th edition), showed us his nice medieval city. He generously shared many of its secrets with us. We enjoyed that visit a lot, even if it was a really hot day!
Then we took a plane to Dublin at Madrid's airport and we got there late at night. The different families the students were staying with picked them up and took them home.
On the next day, everybody met at Malvern House School, in Dame Street. We had English classes there from 9 am to 12 pm every weekday.
This was our daily meeting point at Dame Street. We called it "The Ball".
This is Dame Street and this was our School from the outside.
On the different days, we visited many places in the city. We went to Temple Bar, a beautiful quarter full of typical Irish pubs.
We crossed over the River Liffey and went along O'Connell Street, where we saw The Spire.
There is a statue of James Joyce, the most famous Irish writer (author of Ulysses and Finnegan's Wake) next to O'Connell Street. Our teacher posed next to it, but there were some more hard-thinkers (and also ice-cream eaters), as you can see.
Saint Andrew's was a very nice Irish church, quite different from the ones we have in Écija.
The statue of the famous Molly Malone, one of Dublin's symbols, was at Suffolk Street, next to this church.
One day, we went on a boat trip to the fishing town of Howth. First, we took a train called DART...
and ate fish and chips at Howth.
Then we took a boat, saw Ireland's Eye and enjoyed the great landscape and sights of Dublin Bay.
One day in the afternoon, we visited the park at Merrion Square, where there is a statue of another Irish writer: Oscar Wilde.
That same afternoon we also visited a couple of museums: The National Museum of Ireland and The Natural History Museum.
This is Dundrum Mall, every student's favourite unofficial meeting point. It is one of the biggest malls in Europe and everybody loved it.
On Saturday, we didn't have school and we could make a longer trip. On that day, we visited Glendalough, Wicklow Mountains National Park. Having a look at these photos, everybody can understand the magnificence of these places. They were really great, but we wouldn't recommend you to stay at the graveyard alone once it gets dark!
On our way back to Dublin we stopped at Avoca and we saw ancient waving techniques at a weaving mill.
This is Trinity College. It was very close to our school.
And this is Dublin Castle, less than five minutes walk from our school, too.
Next to Dublin Castle (as you can see in the first picture) is Chester Beatty Library. Threre are some great books inside!
Finally, these are a couple of photos taken in Phoenix Park.
On 26th July, we got up really early for our way back home. However, before getting to Écija, we stopped in Madrid for a while.
This was our trip to Dublin. We are grateful to our teachers, Inma and Juan Jesús, because they made it possible, even if that meant sharing their summer holidays with us. We also want to thank David, Pedro and Manuel (their father) for their great management of Lis Education International Language School.
We had a wonderful time together, made new friends and became more mature people. We are sure we'll never forget this enriching and rewarding experience! THANKS!!!
El I.E.S. LUIS VÉLEZ DE GUEVARA participa en el Proyecto de Movilidad Erasmus+ denominado "ASTIGI IN EUROPE" y ofrece al alumnado de Formación Profesional Inicial de Grado Medio, la posibilidad de realizar prácticas profesionales en diferentes países europeos.
