After we had arrived at the airport in Edinburgh in the evening we went straight to our host families. On the next morning our first English lesson in one of the buildings of Edinburgh University started and we met our two teachers, Bruce and Paul. They were really kind and welcomed us with a big smile.
At lunchtime we were allowed to get something to eat on ourselves in groups. The variety of restaurants and shops in the centre of Edinburgh was huge and so time went by really quickly. In the afternoon we went on a sightseeing tour through Edinburgh with Bruce and Paul. They told us about some famous people from Edinburgh, historic buildings and they cheered us up with some funny, sad and also scary stories, for example about “Greyfriar´s Bobby”.
On Saturday we went on a day-trip to the Highlands, where we got the chance to stroke some Highland Cows in Trossachs. Fortunately, the weather was great and so we could enjoy the lovely landscapes and the hiking tour at Loch Katrine. When we visited the medieval castle of Stirling we learned a lot about the battle between the English and Scottish army at Sterling Bridge in the 13th century. We got familiar with historic figures like William Wallace, Robert the Bruce and of course Mary Queen of Scots.
On Sunday we visited another impressive castle - “Edinburgh Castle” on top of this magnificent city. That morning it was really cold, but luckily the sun was shining brightly throughout the whole day, the perfect weather for sightseeing. When visiting the castle we learned about “Mons Meg”, a six-ton gun that could fire a 150kg gunstone for up to 3.2km, and about the “One O`Clock Gun”, which is still fired every day at 1pm, except on Sundays, Good Fridays and Christmas Day. Another interesting place at the site was “St Margaret´s Chapel”, which is in fact the oldest building in Edinburgh. One thing that also caught our attention was the dogs´ cemetery.
Later we went to see the “National Museum” where we had the chance to explore the floors all by ourselves. So we could see the things that really we were really interested in, like the clone sheep Dolly or the Egyptian department.
At the end of the day, we took a walk through the lovely “Dean Village” along a river.
On Monday, our English lessons with Bruce and Paul were again a lot of fun. In the afternoon we visited the Scottish parliament and learned about the Scottish political system. Something interesting that we noticed was that inside the parliament there weren't any Scottish flags at all.
Tuesday began again with English lessons at school. But in the afternoon, we had a day off, so we could do whatever we wanted, like going shopping or visiting other places that were interesting to us.
In the evening, we attended a Scottish dancing lesson, the so-called “Ceilidh Dance”, where we learned how to dance in a Scottish way, which was extremely funny but also exhausting.
After the school lessons in the morning and lunchtime we went on a “Scavenger Hunt” through the inner city of Edinburgh on Wednesday. We had to find specific places and take pictures of ourselves at the spot we had to look for. The fastest and most precise team won (well, there were some slight differences in perspective as far as the first place was concerned ;_).
We spent our final morning at school and the winners of the scavenger hunt were rewarded. Then we had to say goodbye to Paul and Bruce, our amazing teachers. After a really, really long journey home due to a delay at the airport in Edinburgh we arrived at home, happily but very tired as well.
This journey was fantastic, and we all want to thank the people who made it possible and the two wonderful teachers.
(Francesca Himmelbauer, 6A)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=logo}
){kind=logo}
){kind=logo}
){kind=logo}
