Zu Schulbeginn reisten die Schülerinnen und Schüler der 5AHWIL nach Schottland.
- Day:
Tuesday was the first day of our journey. Our plane left at 11.30 from Vienna. When we arrived, we took a bus to the language school. We had three hours of English practise there. After the school we went to the Scot`s monument. The shear height and amazing view from the top turned this little trip into a real experience. At the end of the day a taxi took us to our host family. The host family was very friendly and spoke with us a lot, therefore we could improve our English skills. Our room was not as large as my room at home, but it was very cosy. The host family dogs name was Pony.
- Day:
On the second day the we had our English lessons in the morning. In the afternoon we visited an old coal mine. It was very interesting, and we learned a lot about the hard life of a coal miner. Our tour guide had a great sense of humour and told the stories about the coal mine in a funny and exiting way. The journey to the coal mine took us one hour, because of the public transport. But we saw a lot of the city.
- Day:
On the third day we, again, had English lessons in the morning. In the afternoon we made the three bridges tour. On this day it was very windy and cold, so I put two jackets on when we were on the ship. We also saw sea lions. This was the first time I saw seals outside of zoos. In the evening we took part in a so-called mystery tour. The tour had a lot of funny and thrilling moments, which made me laugh a lot.
- Day:
We started Friday of by visiting the royal gardens located next to the Holyrood palace, which we also toured through afterwards. The garden was simply stunning. Reason for this were the beautiful flowers combined with the perfect grass and the aesthetically pleasing surroundings. This is also the location the queen chooses for her famous garden party every year. The beforementioned Holyrood castle was less exiting, but still nice to take a look at. School was in the afternoon.
- Day:
On Saturday a bus took us to the Scottish Highlands, where we made a tour around multiple castles. Despite the long drive it wasn’t boring at all, as we were passing by an amazing scenery constantly. The castles we visited were all very interesting in their own way, making the day less stale than expected. One of them, the Blaire castle was a completely intact building, which is even used a few days a year, by a representative of the family. Despite all that, the whisky distillery afterwards was by far the best part of the day.
- Day:
Sunday also started with a little bus tour to the Aberdour castle, which gave a wonderful view onto the nearest fjord. The second stop was the St. Andrews Abbey. The better part of this old ruin of a cathedral was a tower, which gave an amazing view on the surroundings. We had luck because the weather was sunny and warm. Also in St. Andrews is the most famous golf course in the world, which was also the birthplace of said sport. After the little trip to the golf course we took the bus to Arbroath Abbey.
After the castle we made a little break at cliffs close to the castle, which gave a stunning view of the ocean. The last stop of the day was a museum about jute in Aberdeen.
- Day:
On Monday we had school for the last time. Afterwards our teacher was eager to show us the Edinburgh castle, where we also got to witness the cannon firing at 1pm.
This was the end of the guided part of that day. Afterwards we were on our own. The activities on the afternoon all the way to the pickup at 3am the next day were not very closely monitored, which gives room for imagination.
