Lucas Montoro

Hey guys, How are you? I'm Lucas, a member of the Group 10, and I'm so excited to start this amazing trip to Ireland, exactly to Moate, a small village located 150 km west of Dublin. I'm going to an irish family with two friends, Oriol & Riki. 

In 2016 I have been for 4 months in Ireland, living in a host family. I was in a city nearly to Dublin, at 15 minutes with the car. The city was in a peninsula to the est of the capital. I went with some spanish friends. That was one of the best experiences of my entire life.

Ireland for me:
This trip has been one of the best experiences for me. Ireland is very important in my life because i have stayed 4 months of my life there. The best thing of this trip for me is the time that we spent in the bus. 

The family was nice but they didnt let us to connect to their wifi so we had to spen our own data to see instagram and this type of things. 

Day 1: Flight to Dublin - EI563

Today I woke up at 6:20 to arrive to Thau Sant Cugat school because the bus was leaving at 7:30 approximately. Just before arriving to the Airport of Barcelona Terminal 2, the driver took the wrong way to go to the airport so we did some detours before arriving. 

When we arrived everybody was so excited. We went to the check-in counters to check in the bags. That was optional but I think everybody did it. We were flying with the Irish airline company named “Aer Lingus” and we were taking the flight EI563 taking of at 10:55 a.m. 

After passing the security controls of the airport we arrived to the documentation checkpoint where we have to show our dni/passport. Then we arrived to the gate Y63 and we had some time to have breakfast and buy some presents for the Irish family. 

After entering the flight 20 minutes late, we had to wait for 50 minutes more until the plane take off. Before taking off everybody was impaciente because we didn’t know what was happening. 

I was seated at the 18F (window) next to Ramon and Martina. During the flight Martina went with Vika and Oriol came with us. We were in a little plane, an Airbus 320. 

While arriving, I saw my ancient home at Howth, a city near to Dublin, I was excited to see what was my home for 4 months. However, I was not 100% sure if it was. The pilot didn’t have any problem to land in Dublin.  

When we landed we had to show our documents to the police and then we went to take our bags. After we took the bus to go to Moate, a small village 1h30min of Dublin. During the journey we stopped 45 minutes in a petrol station to have dinner. Some people had it from home and others like me we bought it at Burger King. 

40 minutes after we arrived with the buses to Moate where we met the families we were going to be living with during 7 days. My family is very nice and I am with Oriol and Riki. They have 2 boys and 2 girls from different ages. The mum took us for a fast tour of the village with the car and then we went to our house. We talked with every member of the family and then we went for a walk to the village and the supermarket. 

We had some potatoes and meatloaf for dinner, we talked with one of the boys, John for 30 minutes.  

This is my first day in Moate, Ireland. 

Day 2: First visit to Dublin 

Today is the first complete day that we stay in Ireland. I woke up at 6:30, 20 minutes before my bedroom friends. I had a glass of orange juice for breakfast and then we went to the meeting point to meet the other students. 

We took the bus for one hour until we arrived to Dublin. We were divided in 3 groups depending on your work groups. My group and me went firstly to the ship of Jeannie Johnston. A very interesting boat that was used to transport Irish people to the United States at the 18th Century. 

After visiting the ship, we went for a tour until we arrived to the Google Offices of Dublin. We took some pictures and we came back to the meeting point to have dinner with the entire group. 

At 13:45 we divided in groups again to visit the Epic museum. It was so interesting that I made a little bit of research in the app. We had a “passport” and every time we go to a new room, we had to put a stamp on it. 

We had another 30 minutes until we took the bus home. In the night we saw a not very interesting Irish film of an important character of the Irish rebellion. 

We came back home and I worked for 45 minutes in this blog and then I saw an episode of Suits, a Netflix series. 

I think the first visit was very interesting and I was curious of his history but I didn’t find anything interesting at the Epic Museum. 

Day 3: County Clare

I woke up like everyday at 7:35 because we had the meeting at 9:15. My friends and me are starting to be a little bit tired because we enjoy a lot the activities but the work we have to do is a little bit boring and heavy. 

We took the bus for 1h30min to go the Bunratty Castle and the Folk Park. The entire group visited the castle, we had a short explanation of the castle and then we had 1h15min to visit the rest and to have lunch. I was curious about the price of the cazaste. It was sold a few years ago for only 1000€. 

After having lunch we have been another 1h to go the Cliffs of Moher where we went for a short walk and then we visited a little museum of the history of the cliffs. 

In my opinion the cliffs were spectacular and beautiful but I already saw some similar cliffs in other parts of Ireland and in Normandie, France. 

Day 4: Work morning - Gaelic Sports - Clonmacnoise 

Today was a very relaxed day. I had more time to sleep so I woke up at 8:00 because the meeting was at 9:15. In the morning we didn’t do anything special because we had 2 hours to work on our project and on the blog but it was a little bit difficult due to the non existence of the WiFi so we couldn’t search any information. However this fact, it was a nice morning with my friends although we didn’t work too much. 

We had 1 hour for lunch and then we started the Gaelic sports. Before starting we saw a 17 minute video that was about this sport. While we were practicing them it started to rising and we had a 20 minutes pause until the rain stopped. I find it a very curious sport because it combines soccer, basketball, volleyball or rugby. It’s not very famous around the world although in Ireland it’s very popular. 

In the afternoon we went to a non very interesting place named the monastery of Clonmacnoise. One of the curiosities of this place is that is located in the center point of Ireland because it was a passage area between Dublin and Galway. 

In the night we went to a special event in a local neat to Moate. So we went walking there. The objective was to listen and see Irish songs. I find it good but a little bit long because we were tired of the day. 

Day 5: Dublin

I think today was one of the best days of the trip because we had time to spend with our friends and to go around the city and shopping. 

I’m not going to explain the rest of the days my morning routine and at what time we are taking the bus and all this things. 

When we arrived to Dublin we visited the GPO Museum with the work groups. I liked the guide because it was very easy to understand it and she knowledge how to explain. I usually don’t like museums but this was quite good. 

The best part is yet to come. We regrouped all the students at the Trinity College because it was going to be our meeting point for the days that we would go to Dublin. We went to Grafton Street without any teachers because it was our free time to have lunch. A good part of the class went to Victoria’s Secet because there were sales. Also I went to McDonals to have lunch. 

When the free time was finished we redivided in groups to visit Dublin with a guide. It was boring because I was in Dublin 1 year ago so I knew most of the information the guide said. However, it has been a nice time walking. 

Day 6: Galway

Today we spent the entire day in the city of Galway, at the left of Moate and Dublin. 

When we arrived, the teachers told us that we were going to have time to answer the questions by asking the residents of Galway. My group and me answered all questions fast and then we went to have brunch to a restaurant. I ordered some muffins and a cappuccino with a lot of sugar. There we met other friends and we went for a walk with only one destination, the meeting point. We had time for lunch and we went to a small shopping center. Firstly, we went to Primary, a very popular shop in Ireland between teenagers. After buying some clothes we went to Burger King and then to a gift shop to buy some presents for my family.

This day we came back earlier than other days to Moate because we were going to go to a nightclub with the entire group. I didn't dance too much, or nothing, but it was a good and funny night. 

Day 7: Dublin

I am so sad because today is the last day that we are in Ireland. It has been a very intense and tiring week but I really liked it a lot. I still remember the first day of the trip as if it were yesterday. My friends and me tried to stay all night awake but we didn't get it. We felt asleep at 1:30 in the night. 

We made our bags and went to the meeting point like everyday, I was so sad. Our mum brought us by car. We stayed in the bus for 1h20min until we arrived to Dublin. 

Firstly, we visited the Trinity College and his amazing library. I thought that this library only appears in Harry Potter film's but I was wrong, it also appears in Star Wars. The long room was so big and in both sides there were lots of books with different sizes and style.

After the visit, the teachers proposed us a challenge with 12 questions and the first group that answers all questions they could win some presents. We put a lot of effort in the activity but we didn't win because we spent a lot of time trying to find the Dublin Castle. However, it was a fun activity. 

The rest of the day we had time for lunch and then we went to the airport. 

When we entered the plane, the AC wasn't working, it was so hot. The tribulation told us to be patient but finally, after 30 minutes of heat, the AC started to work. 

This has been our amazing week in Dublin.