Our journey started at 01:45 at the Matkakeskus Travel Centre and we went by Onnibus straight to Helsinki-Vantaa airport and then we checked in. The first flight was from Helsinki to Oslo and from there we flew to Dublin. Unfortunately, we had to wait at Oslo airport for about 6 hours. They were long hours…

Arrived in Dublin we went for a small walk through the city and oriented to the restaurant whose name was The Celt. The food was superb, and all the group left from the restaurant with a happy face. It was time to sleep❤️

Day 2, Tuesday 7th May 2019

Day two started at 7:05 when an irritating wake-up call yelled. The day’s program was going to Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin Castle, and a tour around the city. After an abundant tasty breakfast at 8:30 we all gathered to the hotel’s lobby and we heard the first presentations about Ireland and Dublin.

The first sight was Christ Church Cathedral where we had time to move around the cathedral on our own. After the cathedral, we went to the second sight which was Dublin Caste. There we had a pleasant, talkative and fantastic guide who told us the history of the place. The tour was awesome and we learned many things about the history of Ireland and Dublin Castle. It was time to go eat and do some shopping. We also did our tasks and interviewed people in the street and asked Irish people e.g. what they thought about Finland and if they believed Brexit would actually take place. The Irish people were approachable and chatty, which was nice.

The days last activity was a city tour with our magnificent guide. He told us stories about Dublin city and we walked around the city for two hours. With tired legs, we said thanks to our guide and went to Dublin evening life with pleasing vibes. The days last food and shopping, and then it was again time to sleep.

Day 3, Wednesday 8th May 2019

So, on Wednesday we went to Glendalough. It is this beautiful natural park, and even though it was raining, we enjoyed the beautiful views. We went to this big lake and took some pictures. After that our journey continued by bus to this small adorable town, Kilkenny. In Kilkenny, we took a little walk and went to a restaurant/bar and ate some lunch. For this whole journey we had the funniest guide, Jennifer, who told us about Glendalough, Kilkenny and all of Ireland and their history.

When we came back to Dublin city, we went to this restaurant where we had dinner and enjoyed the Irish show. There was a band and dancers and we had so much fun. We got back to the hotel at about 22:30, and we were so tired but happy.

Day 4, Thursday 9th May 2019

On Thursday morning we went to Trinity College which is a very beautiful university and the design was very old, but it was still gorgeous. We had a tour on the campus with a guide who showed and told us about the history of the college. We also visited the university’s old library and it was a large room which was filled with books.

After Trinity College, we had two different options where we could go visit. You had to choose between Kilmainham Gaol museum and Guinness Storehouse. I chose the prison and it was a very good choice. In the prison, we had a guided tour around it and we heard about the history and a little about the prisoners. The rest of the evening we were free to do whatever we wanted to do but we had to make sure we had packed before Friday because we had to leave very early.

Day 5, Friday 10th May 2019

Friday morning started at 6:30 and it was time for homecoming. We packed all our belongings, ate breakfast and moved by taxi to Dublin airport. There we took our leave as it was time to start the journey towards Finland. Even though the mood was crestfallen, we all came from Ireland with a bunch of experiences and happy faces.

by Hilma Huisman, Janni Korhonen and Saara Kangassalmi