Last day

It seemed to be very far away, but our last day in Dublin has arrived. They had a lot of good moments that they will always remember and the experiences they have lived here will be remembered too and I'm sure they have helped them to see life from a different perspective and they are now a little bit more open minded.
Apart from all the memories, they will go home with some new friends specially from Italy, Czech Republic and, Spain, although they have met over their stay here people from China, Turkey, Japan, Germany, or Russia, and the friendly Irish staff from ATC.
Good things come to an end, and this is all for this year.
See you next year!
P.S: although they don't think we had good weather in our stay, we actually had, the worst day was yesterday!

How much do you know about Dublin?

Yesterday it was our last full day in Dublin, and it is a tradition to end with a game to check how much they have learnt in these four weeks. The winner was Amaia who did more things in the time they had to take pictures and find out some information. Some of them got a little bit lost, but thankfully they found themselves, and although they didn't complete all the tasks they could recognize more things than they thought.  They all did a great job!

Belfast

Our last full day trip was on Saturday and it was to Belfast. The day was cold up there in the north of the island and in a two-hour trip we were in the UK.  First we had some free time to visit the surroundings of the city hall and in the afternoon we went to the Titanic museum. It's worth the visit, it's well organized and as the story it's familiar to them thanks to the film they enjoyed it.

Dundrum

On Friday came the Day that the girls we waiting for: we spent the afternoon in Dundrum, the big shopping centre!
After shopping some if them said that it was that big that they didn't go to some shops because they were tired of walking. They didn't buy a lot of things, but their hands weren't empty on the way back home.

Talent show

Thursday was a good day, not only because we had a trip, but also because in the evening there was a talent show where a lot of students took part. The group was going to sing a song, but finally they couldn't perform it in front of the others. People singing, dancing, playing instruments...there was a lot of talent!

Dalkey castle

On Thursday it was time to go to Dalkey Castle. Dalkey is a small village with a lot of History that we could learn thanks to the tour to its castle. It is a tour where people can partcipate because the actors make it really entertaining and ask questions to the visitors. Moreover that day it was sunny so we had a lovely afternoon!

Dublin castle

Yesterday we had the opportunity of visiting Dublin Castle. Located in the city centre is a very important place because all the history. Students didn't want to read the panels they had, but they listened to the explanations our activity leader gave us, so they could learn a bit.

Walk to Dun Laoghaire

Yesterday only a few people stayed for sports, as other groups and individuals had trips arranged for the afternoon, so the options we had were going to the swimming pool or going for a walk to Dun Laoghaire.
The afternoon was cloudy and grey but we were able to go walking along the pier until the lighthouse. We had a bit of rain, but as many times in this city, it stopped after a few minutes.
We also had the opportunity of eating the famous ice cream from Teddy's, something you can't miss if you go to this place!

Wax museum

Due to a change of plans, this last week we are having 3 trips, so if time here flies, this week is going to be very short!
Yesterday we started the week with a visit to the Wax museum, that is very close from Temple Bar. The visit was interesting as besides some world famous people, you can see Irish famous people and there is a part where some historical characters are represented

Dublin by Mikel

Hello my name is Mikel and I want to talk about my experience in Ireland .First of all it's not my first time in the country but every year it keeps surprising me .

The Irish people are not too different from us. A lot of people complain about classes but with them you can learn more about the language and also meet people of other countries and make a lot of friends too.The timetable  is balanced because you alternate the classes in the morning and in the afternoon each week.

Also the bad thing is that as we are here one month, so all our friends will leave before us .

Our trips are awesome because they are to interesring things or places of Ireland so you could learn more about the culture of the country . This trip is going to be incredible.

My experience in Ireland

When I go shopping there are a lot of people andin my country is so different because there are few people when you go shopping. A difference is that here there are a lot of shops and they are very big and in my country there are small. The price here is more expensive than in my country but there are sales, and they are the same price now.

Howth

Howth is a beautiful coastal village at the north of Dublin, and we can see it from Blackrock. Apart from the fish and chips you can eat there, it is a good place to go for a walk, because the scenery is very beautiful. It was a cloudy day, but it was also nice with a grey sky. After visiting this village we went back to the city centre because they wanted to do more shopping.  We went back home to have dinner and to get ready for another disco.

Japanese gardens - Irish National Stud - Kildare village

Saturday, full day trip to some beautiful places. Although the start of the trip wasn't very good, as we have to wait for an hour, because the coach company made a mistake with the meeting hour, we had a good day visiting these part of Ireland. And as Kildare village is an outlet, we could even do some shopping!

Bowling evening

On Friday evening after the afternoon lessons we did something special, we went bowling. We spent a good evening, although there was a small accident, one ball fell on the foot of one of the girls!
It was very painful, but thankfully nothing serious happened to her, she is a strong girl!

Maria's opinion

I like Ireland because is very pretty and I like my new friends,but in this week they will go to home, but new people will come,and another opportunity to make more new friends. I am very far from my family but I know that they love me.

Other important landmarks

Instead of sports  Wednesday morning we went to visit other important landmarks in Dublin that they didn't have the chance to know yet.
First we went to see from outside the Guinness Storehouse and we took the typical picture in front of one of its doors.
After we went to see St. Patrick's cathedral and as it was sunny again, we enjoyed the good weather in the park beside it, and we ate there too, to be back at the college for the afternoon lessons

Malahide castle

Yesterday we went to Malahide, a place close to Dublin to visit its famous castle.

The day was lovely and we could enjoy some time before and after to visit the gardens or just to sit down and enjoy the sunshine for a little bit. The sun doesn't shine like these last days in Ireland, so we try to make the most of it

Activities

Depending on the week, apart from the lessons, there are activities in the morning and in the afternoon at the college. They can choose from different things to do, several sports, arts and crafts, swimming, go for a walk, dance. Here are some pictures of them doing something.

Sunny Sunday

Yesterday was a wonderful day, even it was too hot, but the sunshine we had was great. It is a pity that the students only wanted to stay in bed and go shopping to the city centre, because it was a perfect day to go to the seaside, we don't get days like this in Dublin that often, but when you are a teenager you don't realise how lucky you are to have a some days as good as the ones we are having. Unfortunately this good weather won't last, but we'll try to enjoy them as much as we possibly can, although with lessons in the afternoon it is a bit difficult.

Friends in Ireland

I think this experience is the best way to meet and know new people. You can learn about his/her personality and what character he/she has. At first everyone is very shy and confused, but then, you get used to them and you enjoy, you can be yourself and have great moments. Friends are these type of people that make a moment become special. Travelling with them has been very funny.

Dublin zoo

On Saturday we had a trip to Dublin Zoo, the day was fantastic, it was warm and sunny what made our visit even better. We couldn't see all the animals as some of them like hiding, or because they were difficult to see, as their colours were similar to the place they were, but there were a lot we could see. We had great fun watching the elephants having a swim, we saw giraffes, zebras and many other animals and even we had time to relax and lie down before we went back to the college.

How to spend a sunny afternoon in Blackrock

After going swimming, this is the way the group is spending the rest of the sunny afternoon

Butlers experience

Yesterday, again, we had another visit, this time to a chocolate factory and as all of us love chocolate we enjoyed a lot!
We learnt about the history of chocolate and about the company in the museum, we could see how the famous chocolates are done in the factory and we went to the laboratory to create our own chocolate figure, a chocolate elephant that we could decorate with white chocolate and chocolate chips. Of course along the visit we tried different chocolates and products they make
It was a delicious and fun experience and the time went by really, really fast.

Dublinia and Christchurch cathedral

After two days of lessons in the morning and sports in the afternoon, yesterday we went to two landmarks in Dublin, Dublinia and Christchurch Cathedral. They were happy because they didn't have to do sports and they enjoyed the visits although there was a change in the weather and we had some rain before returning to the college.

Evening activity

On Tuesday we met after dinner to go to a park and play a game. We went to Herbert Park, that is a bit far from Blackrock but it is also very nice. There each member of the group had to do different things in order to get points and be the winner of the game. They had different tasks to do written on pieces of paper and depending on what they chose, they had to draw a word, mime a sentence, do an action, say a tongue twister or define a word in English. They had fun, and Mikel was the winner, with Amalia in second position.

Weekend

At the weekend we always have trips one of the days to see different landmarks around Ireland. On Saturday we went to Glendalough and Wicklow gaol, and although when we got up the weather was rainy when we arrived to Glendalough the rain stopped, which made our visit to this national par much more enjoyable as we walked to the upper lake. The visit to the gaol was interesting too and we had some funny and scary moments inside it. When we finished the visit, we ''fought" to take the last seats on the bus to go back to the college.
On Sunday we could sleep a bit more as we went to the city centre, we went to Merrion square to see the Laya Spectacular festival, but we went to soon and nothing was going on at that time. They could also do some shopping in the two principal areas in the city, Grafton Street and Henry Street. And while we went to those places we visited other parts of the city. At 8 we had to be back at the college, it was the final match Portugal vs. France and the students could watch it together in the residence with the rest of their friends.

Weekend

At the weekend we always have trips one of the days to see different landmarks around Ireland. On Saturday people staying in UCD went to the Cliffs of Moher a beautiful place on the west coast. The place is beautiful when it's sunny and when it's cloudy or rainy as this place has something that makes it impressive whatever the weather is like.
On Sunday as free day with activity leaders the city centre was the place to go, so some monuments could be seen and some shopping could be done.

First visit

Yesterday we went to the GAA Museum in Croke Park, as the group is still adjusting to the place, people and timetables, they thought it was interesting, but they were tired and wanted to sit down every time they had the occasion.

First day

A complete first day! Sports and dance in the morning, level test and first lesson in the afternoon and disco in the evening. A lot of days like this one to come!

Waiting for the flight

One step closer to our destination, this is the plane that is taking us to Dublin 

And the group waiting to board the plane