LAST TRAVEL DAY!

Today is our last travel day....what a great time we had! We left early this morning, packed the bus and made our way to the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland. On our way to the Causeway we made a stop for incredible views of the northern Ireland coastline...we stopped by at Magheracross to view the ruins of Dunluce castle. Dunluce Castle is located dramatically close to the edge of a cliff, along the North Antrim coast. Surrounded by breathtaking coastal scenery, this medieval castle stands where an early Irish fort was once built and where its history can be traced back to early Christians and Vikings.

On to the Giant's Causeway - The Causeway is an area of over 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcanic eruption. It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986, and a National Nature Reserve in 1987 by the Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland. What an amazing site! We spent some time there and then onto Carlingford for lunch... A great little seaside village. After this visit, a trip back to Dublin and our last night before our trip back home. We all said goodbye to our amazing busdriver Dave Shanahan (#32)...He was great and got along amazingly well with the students.

After a week of great sightseeing, good food, lots of learning, fun and friendship, we are ready to come back home. We learned great irish sayings and traditions as well as seeing a country that we will not soon forget.

We learned -

-Dia duit!, pronounced djiah gwich which means good morning,

-'ta an ghrian ag taitneamh baby, 'ta an ghrian ag taitneamh - (ta an green ag tannif) The sun is shining baby the sun is shining (Which it did for 90% of the week!)

-Among other gaelic sayings!

We will truly miss our absolutely amazing tour guide, Siobhan McDonald. She left no stone unturned and was an incredible wealth of information, never leaving a question unanswered. Her personality is absolutely perfect for her profession, she loves her country with all her heart and is amazingly proud to tell anyone about it. Our students all have a new friend and look forward to a visit from her in West Haven someday!

Mrs. Maher and I had such an amazing time travelling with the students and adults alike. This was truly and incredible trip with many stories to tell!