Written by Anonymous
5 days in London, 3 days in Belfast, 1 day in Derry, 5 days in Dublin.
The trip was a once in a lifetime.
I was able to visit parts of the world I always wanted to explore, all to learn more than I would have as a tourist, with credit points to top it off.
The tour was structured enough to learn more than I ever could through a standard university subject.
We still had plenty of free time to explore, learn and marvel about the history of each city or town we visited, and venture into a local pub (more than once).
We started our tour in London, where we heard from academics, highly skilled professionals and health specialists, who all provided a wider picture of terrorism and how the United Kingdom combats terrorism from all levels; from a policing perspective to a health and restorative alternative.
We also spent a day at Oxford University, dreaming about studying in historic buildings and beautiful settings; just enveloped in history.
We were lucky enough to arrive on a university open day, and were able to explore some of the colleges.
I never knew Einstein’s blackboard with his formula describing his theory of relativity was held here… actually, I didn’t even know this existed!
Next on our itinerary was Belfast.
The difference I found between London and Belfast was how history still played such a large role in the city and how the community continue to interact with each other.
We learnt more from a 5-hour Irish political walking tour than we could ever learn from a history book.
Speaking to the tour guides, who were former political prisoners, put into sharp focus the struggles that Ireland and Northern Ireland dealt with in a past that is not so far back in our history.
Next stop was a day in Derry.
We had been warned about the dangers of Derry, however it was certainly the highlight of our trip.
It was beautiful, and held the most random artefacts such as a Nobel Peace Prize!
We also spent the day with brilliant author Julieann Campbell, author of ‘Bloody Sunday.’
Her Uncle was the first man to die on Bloody Sunday 1972, and she was an absolute wealth of knowledge. As well as giving us an impromptu tour of Derry, she convinced us (it wasn’t hard) to stay later than expected and spend the evening in a local pub.
Speaking of Ireland consuming us with its history, we then continued to Dublin, which was the end of our tour.
Throughout our trip, we met academics, law enforcement, historians, political prisoners and authors.
All people I would never have had the opportunity, let alone the pleasure, of meeting if it wasn’t for the study tour.
It was two weeks of learning and fun, and each and every person we met was informative, friendly and interesting.
We also had a fantastic Professor that through his knowledge and connections, gave us experiences that we would never have been exposed to if we were travelling alone.
I shopped at Harrods, saw the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, roamed Hyde Park, saw a musical, tried my first Guinness at the Guinness factory (not a taste I will pretend to enjoy), explored coastal Irish towns, learnt more about Derry Girls than I ever could from watching the tv show, and spoke to fascinating people who had lived hard lives for what they believed in.
Would I do it again?
Yes. In a heartbeat.
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