Saturday, September 22nd, 6 o’clock in the morning: Everyone was still asleep… but not the participants of the “Petriner Scotland Trip”. We, 50 students of 6a and 6b and our four teachers (Mrs. Dehmer, Mrs. Siegl, Mr. Gruber and Mr Wiesmayr) were full of joy as we were looking forward to our flight from Vienna to Edinburgh. After some minor complications the plane was fully boarded and ready to take off. Approximately three hours later the plane touched down in Edinburgh and we were separately taken to our host families, where the majority was welcomed nicely (The luck of the draw!).
Sunday also started very early, as the oldest Whisky distillery at Glenturret was waiting for us. Unfortunately we weren’t allowed to taste any of the good stuff but the teachers were, and they seemed to enjoy The Famous Grouse a lot. Later that day our lovely busdriver David took us to Stirling Castle, which we explored on our own.
On Monday we started languageclasses at the Royal Scots Club which we attended every morning for the rest of the week. Some typical Scottish phrases like “Do yer can like, aye?” which means “Do you understand me?”or “Heast yer back!” meaning “See you soon!” amused all of us. Apart from tuition there was also a lot of time to explore Edinburgh. The ascent to Arthur`s Seat was quite a windy but an amazing experience. In the evening we were treated to a fabulous but terrifying Ghost Tour that took us through the dark parts of Edinburgh. Our guide introduced us to frightening characters of the city’s past.
The next day we were granted a free afternoon, which everyone enjoyed differently. Some of us went shopping others visited Edinburgh Dungeon and a few spent time in the Scottish National Museum. After these relaxing hours without our teachers we were ready to face the next day`s activities. Thursday afternoon was spent at Portobello beach but unfortunately the weather wasn’t appropriate for swimming. So instead we enjoyed a warm cup of coffee with a beautiful view, before we saw a controversial but very interesting film at the Vue Cinema. The concise tour through the Scottish Parliament the next day delighted all of us. In the afternoon and evening we had enough time to say goodbye to the beautiful city and to our mostly wonderful host families.
The day of departure started at 4 am and at 1:30 pm we were back at the Petrinum – tired but glad that everything had gone so well. It has been a life-enhancing trip for all of us and we are very grateful for the many beautiful moments we had. And last but not least we want to thank PetrA for sponsoring us and making our trip even better.
Moritz Clodi, Olga List, Amelie Hofbauer (text),
Jana Breuer (photos)
Artikel aus der PetrA-Ausgabe November 2018
