CBC Monkstown Park Dublin: Our Memories of Europe

On the trip to Caltanissetta, Sicily:

"We did our project on three Irish dishes, a starter, main course and dessert. We chose fish cakes to start, then irish stew and finally - bread and butter pudding for dessert. To make this, the three of us met up with Ms. Morgan in the Home Economics room to teach us how to do it. We then wrote up a slide-show about the meal to show everyone in Sicily"

"We went to the Vatican. In the Vatican, we went to see the Sistine Chapel and St.
Peters Basilica, while there was a mass being said in Latin...afterwards we went to
the Colosseum, Roman Forum and Spanish Steps. We also went to see a Holocaust
museum in the 'Monumento a Vittorio Emmanuele II"

"It was a great trip; I met a lot of nice people, ate a lot of lovely food, and had a great time. I'd like to thank Mr. Keating and Mr. Farrell for coming with us, and I'd like to thank Mr. Fay for organising to bring us"
- David Smith



On our trip to Jihlava, Czech Republic:

"The currency was one of the first culture shocks with each of us carrying wads of thousands in our wallets!"

"In Prague, we saw a performance of Vivaldi's Four Seasons in the Gallery. We watched the recital in a beautiful hall adorned with marble busts of Czech composers....all fears that Jihlava wouldn't match up to our time in Prague were dispelled as our friendships with the other students flourished"

- Hugh Guidera

"They showed me my room and gave me everything I needed. I spent the night talking to Jakub and I showed him videos of hurling on Youtube and he showed me videos of floorball"

"In conclusion, it was a great week that will not be easily forgotten. I learned about new cultures and I made new friends from around Europe. Hopefully I will get to do something like this again and I would definitely recommend such a thing to anyone"

- Darragh Casey


"That night I ate a traditional Czech meal which was goulash - which consists of pork, rice, potatoes and sauce"

"Prague was an amazing, beautiful city. It was rich in history and culture. We went to a Vivaldi concert on Friday night and a Czech puppet show on Saturday night"

"Plenty of times I have hosted people from different countries but this was the
first time I was on the other end of it!"

"I feel that I now know so much more about Czech traditions, customs and history as I ever will and I also came away with a load of new friends who I feel I will keep for life"


On the trip to Krosno, Poland:

"Krakow is a very old city and the most stunning part of the city would be the castle or the market square in the centre of the city. Krakow is very beautiful at night as it glows with all the lights and lamps, glowing brightly in the dark throughout the city"

"The next day some of us went to the concentration camp - Auschwitz. I found that trip very tough as you go in expecting things and then your expectations are wrong as it's just so much worse!"

"We were treated to a wonderful show in a beautiful modern theatre. They had a typical Polish wedding in English which I thought was very enjoyable. Also, it had some Polishsinging and dancing which was very interesting to watch"

"We headed off to the ancient Salt Mines which was very exciting. When you get there and go into the building, you have to walk down 56 cases of stairs and when you reach the bottom you are 160 meters below the ground. It's so unique as everything is sculpted from salt!"

- Michael Noonan

"We then met our hosts. My host was a 17 year old girl, Justyna. She was very nice and had good english so we got on well from the start. Justyna lived in a very small village called Dukla, about 20minutes outside Krosno, with her sister, her parents, her grandparents and her cat, Texas...they were so welcoming to me. I truly felt lucky to have such a nice host family and to have made such a nice new friend"

"It was sad to say our goodbyes but we all traded emails and facebooks and I'm glad to say I'm still in touch with Justyna and some of her friends. It was really a great trip and such a nice country"

- Erich Steyaert