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Students visit Europe

By Jenny Susa 5 min read

A group of 25 students, teachers, and parents from the Bethlehem Center School District recently returned from visiting several European countries. With the help of a tour guide from EF Educational Tours, high school Spanish teacher Ray Van Sickle lead the group on tours of Ireland, Wales, Scotland and England.

Van Sickle said they had no complications on the trip and were even fortunate enough to have good weather the entire time.

After their arrival in Ireland, he said the group viewed the “spectacular scenery along the 112-mile Ring of Kerry.”

The tour ended in Bog Village, and students learned about 18th-century rural Ireland.

“As wonderful as Ireland sounds is really the way it was,” said Van Sickle. “Most students would say that Ireland was the highlight of the trip. It is very green and everything is slow paced. They are the kindest people in the world and everything is so clean. The students really enjoyed the relaxation of the visit.”

The students agreed that Ireland was one of their favorite places they visited on the trip.

“The countryside of Ireland was beautiful,” said student Matt Stay, adding that the night life in Ireland and the other European countries they visited was very different from that of the United States.

“The pub life there was much more cheerful and friendly,” said Stay.

Lauren Golden also said that Ireland was her favorite part of the trip.

“I really liked it,” said Golden. “It was so nice there and the countryside was so beautiful. That was probably my favorite part of the trip.”

While they were there the group visited Dublin, and stopped at the Rock of Cashel and the paid a visit to the famous Blarney Castle.

“Every one of the students kissed the Blarney Stone,” said Van Sickle.

The group also took a tour to Ireland’s Phoenix Park and St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Their final stop in Ireland was Trinity College, where the students got to see the ancient Book of Kells.

Van Sickle said the group crossed the Irish Sea via the world’s largest ferry to get to Wales, where they visited the Beaumaris Castle and traveled through Snowdonia National Park to spend the night in North Wales.

“We stayed in a 200-year-old hotel that Queen Victoria had visited,” said Van Sickle.

The next day, the group crossed over to England’s Lake District and visited Rydal Mountain on the way to Scotland.

Upon their arrival in Scotland, the group traveled down the Royal Mile and visited Edinburgh Castle.

That evening, they were guided through a haunted tour of Edinburgh.

“They took a ghost tour of all the underground crypts of the city,” said Van Sickle. “The tour ended in the back room of a pub and they told ghost stories and the kids got to ask questions. They had a lot of fun.”

Student Jessica Plachta commented on Edinburgh as one of her favorite parts of the trip.

“Edinburgh was fun,” said Plachta. “It was nice to see all the old buildings.”

Immediately after the haunted tour, Van Sickle said the group boarded an overnight train to London.

“There were a lot of Beatles fans, so we had to visit Abbey Road,” said Van Sickle, recalling how the students had so much fun trying to re-create the picture on the famous album cover.

Student Amanda Bolin said this was her favorite part of the trip.

“Abbey Road was really nice,” said Bolin, adding that she also enjoyed the many other attractions the group visited in London.

She commented on the Eye of London, the very large Millennium Ferris wheel.

“The Eye of London was a lot of fun,” said Bolin. “It was huge. I also thought it was neat to visit West Minster Abbey because that is where Princess Diana’s funeral was.”

Also among the attractions the group visited were Big Ben, Piccadilly Circus, Buckingham Palace, where they watched the changing of the guard, and the Tower of London.

Van Sickle said they made sure to be on the other side of town when the Live 8 concert came to London.

“We just missed all the protestors by one day,” said Van Sickle, adding that while some of the students wanted to stay and watch the concert, he knew it would be better to avoid the crowd.

“The hotel we stayed at the night of Live 8 was very modern, so we got to watch the concert from big screen TVs,” said Van Sickle.

He commented that a lot of parents were able to travel abroad with their children this year.

“A lot of people made it a family vacation,” said Van Sickle. “Everyone enjoyed themselves and I wanted to take the students there because this was a great chance for them to see a lot of good places.”

Plachta said that while she enjoyed the whole trip, “it is good to be home.”

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