4f in Edinburgh

From 3rd until 9th June 4f are on their language week in Edinburgh. After an early start on Sunday (5 am… 💤) we flew via Frankfurt to Scotland’s capital, where we received a warm welcome at the McKenzie School of English. Soon all the pupils had been safely collected by their host families, leaving Mrs Eichberger and Mr King with the opportunity to investigate the local culinary opportunities. Mmmmm, British food again, at last! 😀

Monday
Today the pupils had their first lessons at the McKenzie School of English in Leith. The school has just recently moved premises and is now at home in a converted church. As you can see, it’s a very nice environment!

In the afternoon we took an interactive tour round Edinburgh. Guided by iPads, we had to answer questions at specific locations in the town. Then it was back on the bus and home to the host families for a good Scottish supper.

Tuesday
After the morning’s lessons we took the bus up Leith Walk to town again and went to the Edinburgh Dungeon for a good scare. Luckily they let us all out again, despite maintaining that we were definitely very guilty!

Wednesday
Today’s afternoon activity was climbing up Arthur’s Seat, Edinburgh’s local “mountain”. An extinct volcano, it provides fantastic views of the city and with the weather being unusually cooperative, everyone enjoyed it much more than they were willing to admit!

Thursday
This was the first day of our tour of the Highlands. Our first stop was at Pitlochry, where a visit to a whisky distillery was on the plan. After an interesting guided tour we carried on up to Inverness via the Pass of Killiekrankie and Culloden, the locations of the first and last battles in the Jacobite risings. We then spent the night at Inverness Youth Hostel.

Friday
The first stop on the journey back down to Edinburgh was Loch Ness, with a boat ride to the ruins of Urquart Castle. Despite looking carefully, nobody spotted anything resembling a monster. We did see some ducks, though…

We then stopped for lunch at Fort Augustus, where the Caledonian Canal steps down to Loch Ness in a series of locks. A very picturesque place and well worth a visit.

We then travelled on to Fort William and the fabulous Glencoe, with wonderfull views of The Three Sisters and Buachaille Etive Mòr, before heading back to Edinburgh via the Trossachs and Sterling.

It was a lovely end to a highly successful language week.