Schottland 2018

On Tuesday, 11th September 2018, we, the 4th grades of the BHAK Oberwart, started our trip to Scotland by going to the airport in Vienna accompanied by our two teachers Mrs Portschy and Mrs Martin. After a two and a half hours flight and a rough landing due to extreme wind we arrived at the airport in Edinburgh. Taxis brought us to our accommodation near the city centre. After we had checked in, we were separated into two groups and had a guided walking tour, where we got first impressions of the city. We went up Carlton Hill, stopped at the Scott Monument next to Princes Street Gardens, passed the National Gallery, went up the Royal Mile and also stopped at Greyfriar´s Bobby and The Elephant House, where J.K. Rowling started her work on the first part of Harry Potter.

On our second day we headed to the Royal Yacht Britannia.We were very surprised how big this ship actually is. In the afternoon, we went to visit the Holyrood Palace. As the weather was fine, we spontanously decided to walk up Arthur´s Seat, a hill just outside the city centre. On Thursday before noon we went to explore Edinburgh Castle which is located on an extinct volcano. There we had a great view of the city. The weather was fantastic and we saw a rainbow. In the evening we were allowed to explore the city by ourselves. Later this day we had a Ghost Tour through some narrow and dark streets. On our last day in Edinburgh we visited the Scottish Parliament, where we were informed about the political system in Scotland. An hour later we went to the Edinburgh Dungeon where we learned about the dark history of the city. We were scared sometimes, but at least we had some fun too.

On Saturday we left the Scottish capital for the biggest city, Glasgow. There we enjoyed a guided tour through the Celtic Park stadium. Once we were done in the fan shop we had a visit at BBC, where we saw some recording studios and news rooms. Later we were taken to our hostel in Oban, located on the westcoast of Scotland. During the trip up north, we had a stop at Luss and Loch Lomond.

On Sunday we first had a stop at the Glenfinnan Monument and the railway viaduct, also known as “Harry Potter viaduct”, where we saw the daily train crossing the viaduct. Then we drove on to Fort William where we stayed for lunch. In the afternoon, we visited the Glenturret Distillery. We were excited to hear about how whisky was made, although afterwards most of us were not allowed to taste or to buy it because we were underage. After this great experience our bus took us to Cultoquhey House, where we spent two nights. On Monday, we drove through the Highlands to Blair Castle. After this visit, we had time to explore the cities of St. Andrew and Dundee, which are both very beautiful. In the evening we returned to our accommodation.

On Tuesday we left Cultoquhey House in the middle of the night to go to the airport, where our plane back home took off at 6:40 am. At 1pm we arrived at our school in Oberwart. Summing up we can say that our school trip to Scotland was a great experience and we came back having made unforgettable memories.