Toukokuun lopulla lähti ryhmä Irlantiin, Corkiin, opettelemaan englantia paikallisiin maisemiin ajalla 29.5. – 5.6.2026. Tässä opiskelijoiden tarinoita reissusta, englanniksi tietenkin, olihan kyseessä englannin kielikurssi. Katso myös Thinglinkistä opiskelijoiden postauksia Helsingin Maalariammattikoulun opiskelijat Erasmus-vaihdossa — ThingLink
”This Erasmus+ trip has been the most spontaneous traveling experience I’ve ever had. Two days before the plane would leave the airport, I was asked to join the school trip to Ireland, because many previous students couldn’t make it and new people were needed asap.
And I joined, of course!
The week had a lot of sights in store for us. We visited the Blarney Castle and its gardens, climbed the tower there and really felt the history around us. I would love to visit the castle again, because I feel we only saw a small portion of the grounds.
Another memorable sight were the Cliffs of Moher. Just the name alone makes me think of something from the stories of Tolkien. The cliffs are an important tourist attraction for Ireland and they really are beautiful. It was particularly windy when we visited, you could feel and hear that force of nature. The highest point on the cliffs is the O’Briens Tower, so, naturally, we climbed to see the sights. The waves looked amazing from up there.
We also explored Cork City, Ballingcollig (where our host lived), swam in the Celtic Ocean in Youghal, sang songs in a library and visited a few churches, for example St. Anne’s Church, where we again climbed the tower there to see a great overlook of Cork City.
That’s three towers down!
Our host, Joan, was lovely. There were four of us living there. She cooked us tasty dinners every evening and in the mornings we got cereal, toast and small pancakes for breakfast. We even got packed lunch every day: a sandwich, a fruit and a small chocolate bar. That’s one part of the journey I’ll truly miss. Thank you, Joan (:
As we drove one final bus from Cork to Dublin Airport, I realised that this journey was a big moment of independence for me. Just two weeks before this whole thing I had turned 20 and even though I’ve traveled before, it had nearly always been with family or a school trip, very much organised by teachers.
This time we were all given more choice on where to go, what to do and experience. This also brought with it some responsibility; you had to think where and how to spend you money, figure out the best route to a destination in an unfamiliar city, take care that no one in your group would be left behind and follow certain schedules. This is all stuff one would have to do outside of a trip like this too, of course, but they all still felt like important lessons to learn. The first days were stressful, because everything was new and you had to process a lot of information at once.
Ireland is a really interesting country with a lot of history and I feel grateful to have visited it in such a way. To see cool places and have warm dinner every day is great. I hope to visit Ireland again.”
Mai
”Our Ireland journey started 29.5.2026 on Friday. First we flew to Dublin and we stayed there for one night in a Abbey court hostel. Hostel located just in the heart of Dublin wich was the plan so we could walk easily to anywhere. We strolled around the city for a while and it was full with tourists and there were a lot of bachelor party groups. To me Dublin was too noisy, crowded and dirty so I was happy that we chose to spend only one night there. We visited the Book of kells library, but unfortunately there were just few books on the shelves.
We took a train to our main city, Cork. Our host came to pick us up from the train station. Her name was Margaret. She had a proper irish accent so understanding her sometimes was tough. She was lovely she explained where everything was and we unpacked our luggage. She usually made us lunch and dinner wich saved us a lot of money.
Cork itself was beautiful, much quieter than Dublin. Lots of places to see and a colourfull pub streets and street art. On this trip we saw Blarney Castle with its beautifull gardens, Youghall`s beaches even it was quite windy and rainy it still was great place to see. The weather changed all the time and everyday and sometimes I had rain coat, leather coat, umbrella and summer clothing with me because it was hard to predict the weather. What I was most exited about was the Cliffs of Moher. It located on the west coast of Ireland. It took us 2,5h to get there. The weather there was really really windy, maybe like 25-30m/seconds. So sometimes it was hard to walk. It also rained quite a while, but that didn´t bother me. The views were something like out of a movie or what you see online, one of a kind trip I would say.
Whole trip itself went smoothly nothing to complain at my behalf. I´ll put some photos under this text so you can see what it was like. Definitely going to Cork again sometime in the future.”
”My experience traveling to Ireland for the first time and then towards a city called Cork has been totally unexpected, since it was a last minute thing and i still agreed to go. It was a really stressful week for me, since i’m scared to be late for everything and i have social anxiety when it comes to social situations and meeting new people everywhere. My English skills were already pretty solid, so i didn’t have any problems with talking to people, even though the Irish accent does make it hard to understand what they’re saying.
That being said everything went well and i met new people and that made the trip even better. The day after from all the traveling and meeting everyone and the host family who were really nice and it felt like a home, we first visited The English Market, which was cool to see and after that we all kind of just split up into a smaller group and we were just exploring the city, shopping at places, going to a cafe and seeing street art.
On Sunday, we went to a place called Youghal Beach, where at first it was raining so it wasn’t as pretty as when the sun was shining later on, it was a beautiful place and i took many pictures. After that we walked towards Youghal town, which was small but colorful.
On Monday the next week, we visited Blarney Castle & Gardens, which was famous for its stone, which has the traditional power of conferring eloquence on all who kiss it, something which i didn’t do. The castle and the gardens and everything there were really cool and pretty.
On Tuesday, we were exploring the city more and visiting few different churches, Saint Fin Barre’s Cathedral, St Anne’s Church Shandon Bells & Tower and Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church, but for the last one i only saw it while we were walking past it. The rest were cool, especially Saint Fin Barre’s Cathedral, which was the most popular one and the gothic exterior was absolutely stunning — the three spires, detailed stonework, and dramatic architecture. We also went inside of the cathedral, which was also pretty on the inside and got to learn more about how it came to be.
On Wednesday, we went to visit the famous Cliffs of Moher and it was a stunning experience, but also it was really windy out there, which annoyed me more than how others felt of it, because the trip there and back was very long, probably like 10 hours in total on a bus and i was sick of it by the end.
On Thursday, we were at a school called Cork College of FET Douglas Street Campus and the people there were really welcoming and got to see the place the students go to. After that again the group of ours split up and we were walking around the city and then hanging out at a pub and after that we went to a library, where there were people singing Irish songs, which was cool to listen to. I also had to pack my things, since on Friday we were already leaving Ireland and the lively colorful city of Cork.”
-Markus
A Journey Without Expectations
”Ireland had been on my bucket list for a couple of years. Friends and people online had spoken highly of both the country and its people, so I was excited to finally visit. The trip came sooner than I expected, however, and I only had a couple of days to prepare. After some quick Googling, I realized I couldn’t find much information about places that particularly interested me, so I left Helsinki with an open mind and very few expectations.
Landing in Ireland, I was not disappointed. One of the first things that caught my attention was the architecture. The buildings seemed full of history, and I loved how old and new existed side by side. Historic facades stood next to modern additions, while colorful street art complemented rather than competed with the surrounding architecture.
Ireland has two official languages, English and Irish (Gaeilge). As someone interested in languages, I was excited to spend time speaking English in a different environment, hearing new expressions and learning local words. During the trip I picked up words such as “ye,” “sláinte,” and “blimey.” I was especially fascinated by the Irish language because I had never heard it spoken before. By pure luck, we discovered a sing-along event at Cork City Library, and on our final day we attended it. It was a wonderful opportunity to hear Irish spoken and sung, and to experience a part of the culture that I otherwise might have missed.
What impressed me most throughout the trip was the relationship the Irish seem to have with nature. My favorite places were always the ones where I could see and feel the natural surroundings. I noticed many areas that could easily have been demolished or heavily developed, yet they had instead been preserved and restored. One particular memory stands out: While sitting on the double-decker bus I kept hearing loud knocks on the roof. At first, the sound startled me, but then I realized it was caused by tree branches brushing against the bus. By letting the trees grow freely, the trees on the side of the road had been shaped in a way that created a path for the bus. And the knocks on the roof of the bus were there to remind us of nature, that it is here and was here before us, before the road, pavement and before the double-decker buses.
My favorite destination was Youghal and its beach. I loved the strong wind, the scent of the ocean, and the opportunity to explore the shoreline. I found many beautiful and interesting rocks, several of which ended up in my bag as souvenirs. If there was one thing I disliked, it was the long bus rides. Sitting still while fascinating landscapes passed by the window felt almost torturous because I constantly wanted to stop and explore.
The trip also taught me a lot about myself. I learned that I am more adaptable than I had thought. Before this experience, I would not have imagined feeling comfortable living with a host family and sharing a home with three complete strangers. Yet it turned out to be a positive and rewarding experience.
What I enjoyed most is difficult to put into words. More than any single place or activity, it was a feeling: a sense of inspiration, community, and togetherness. I had the opportunity to meet people I might never have spoken to otherwise and to share experiences that created lasting memories.
After returning home, I feel more certain about what I need, enjoy, and dislike while travelling. This was my first time travelling with complete strangers and staying with a host family, but the experience has made me much more open to doing both again in the future. Most of all, I will cherish the experiences, memories, and people that made this journey so special.”
Pendo
