European adventure for Athboy students
Image 1 of 3
Third year students at the Brussels Atomium.Image 2 of 3
ABOVE: The group also visited Cologne Cathedral on the trip. RIGHT: Athboy CS students at the Efteling theme park during their recent school tour.Image 3 of 3
Athboy CS students at the Efteling Theme Park during their recent school tour.Third year students from Athboy Community School accompanied by five of their teachers travelled to Belgium and the Euro Space Centre over the Halloween break.
Sixty-three students along with teachers group leader Mr McHugh, Mr Fox, Miss Mahony, Miss McGrory and Year Head Mr Magner, were based in Brussels for the tour but also did the ‘Border Hoppin’ tour with Saffron Travel taking in Belgium, The Netherlands and Germany over four action packed days.
The group flew into Zaventem and their first visit was to Breendonck Fort in Mechelen, a 120-year-old military fort that was used as a Nazi concentration camp during World War II. The group had a very moving guided tour outlining the grisly history of the fort and all that went on there before and after liberation.
Then, it was on to the Technopolis Science Park for a few hours of interactive science experiments and games, based mainly on the laws of physics. The group had some time at the iconic Atomium in Heysel afterwards. At the end of a packed first day there was time for an evening visit to the beautiful city of Leuven before returning to their Brussels hotel.
The full day on Frida was spent in Effteling Theme Park near Waalwijk in the Netherlands, where the students and teachers enjoyed some hair-raising rollercoasters and other attractions before an-all-you-can-eat Chinese restaurant stop on the way back to Brussels.
On day three, the group headed to Cologne in Germany, to visit the amazing Koln Cathedral and engage in some retail therapy before visiting Aqualand Waterpark in the city. They went back to Belgium that evening, to the city of Genk for bowling and dinner.
The final day saw the visit to the Euro Space centre in Transinne near the Luxembourg border where the students go to enjoy the 5G space cinema experience, the G Force spinner, the planetarium and various other interactive space themed exhibitions and activities.
That evening the group returned to Brussels for the flight home tired but happy. The students were keen to thank all the teachers, particularly the group leader Mr McHugh who put so much time into organising the trip.