Arrival Day
On Sunday 19th April we left Vöcklabruck very early in the morning to Malta. We arrived at our hotel in the early afternoon. Our rest of the day consisted of tasting traditional Maltese street food and taking part in a picture challenge, where we got to know St. Julians, our home for the next week.
Day 1
The first day started with a slow breakfast and after that our Erasmus coordinator Svetlana Sabo presented our partner school. Our afternoon program was dedicated to the capital city Valletta. We met our tour guide Charles after a short wait of 90 minutes, who was with us for the rest of the week. We got to see beautiful architecture and house facades and immersed ourselves into the history of the capital. In the evening we came back to the hotel, went for dinner and explored the nightlife of St. Julians
Day 2
Our day started off with a bus drive to Newark School. Talking to the students, which come from many different countries, was an interesting new experience. After school we drove to Rabat, where we had lunch at a nice restaurant recommended by our tour guide Charles. We heard a lot about Maltese history and admired the special atmosphere in one of the beautiful churches. In our free time we enjoyed some delicious ice cream, visited small souvenir shops and discovered the rest of the city.
Day 3
In the morning our tour guide took us to the neighboring island named Gozo. After we arrived on the island a bus picked us up and we drove to a prehistorical site where we saw a lot of excavations and neolithic structures. The next stop was a bakery where we tried Pastizzi, a typical Maltese pastry with different fillings.
Day 4
On Thursday, we had a break from our normal lessons because the school organized a Sports day. It was a very active and fun day. First, we played handball. It was very special because the teams were mixed. There were students of different ages, from the younger ones to the older ones. Even some of the teachers decided to join in and play with us. This created a great atmosphere because age didn’t matter and everything was about teamwork. Playing in mixed teams helped us a lot to get to know other students a lot.
Day 5
After our breakfast we started the day by walking 30 minutes to Newark school, which had been exhausting but gave us a chance to explore more of Malta’s beautiful surroundings. Shortly after we arrived, we went to our assigned classes, which included various subjects like social studies, maths and French. Afterwards we had some free time, which most of us spent at the Point Shopping Mall. At three o’clock the whole class met up at St George’s Bay where all kind of games were played, like volleyball – our all time favourite – card games and soccer. Many of us chose to tan and get a little rest. When the time came we got ready for dinner at seven o’clock and later on we met at a nice Irish Pub in the heart of Malta where finished off with a drink.
