As our last day on this beautiful island draws near we all are eager to see some more then we have so far. All is arranged and finally friday morning all students climb in a bus to take part in a roundtrip over the island moderated by Tim Daley.As soon as everybody took a seat the journey could beginn. I was one of the happy ones who managed to get a fron t seat so I was able to listen to Tim’s stories very well. It all started out with a story that had us wonder if Mike Tyson (the boxer) may have had irish ancestores. Tim told us about a man who bit off the ear of woman that did not want to proceed with their affair. As revenge he bit off her ear and flew to the United States to avoid to be punished in Ireland for the crime he commited. Our tour guide showed us her house and told us about the movie that was filmed on the island telling this particular story. But this was only one of the interesting stories Tim had to tell, there were many more secrets about all kind of people living on the island but we had to promise not to publish most of them on the net because he feared trouble ;-). We left the village of Keel to drive along the breathtaking Atlantic Drive. There the whole beauty of the Island could be adored mountains, the ruthless sea, green pasteurs, pretty houses, sheep (which Tim did not like just as well). But what we also saw all along our ride were ruins of houses whose inhabitants left long ago. As practical minded germans most of our group was wondering why the estates had not been sold or renewed. Tim answered that all the people that left the Island and Ireland always hope that they will come back one day so they keep there houses as a place to return to.At one point of the drive we stopped to stretch out, to smoke and most important to take pictures of the wonderful scenery. Driving on Tim kept entertaining us very well telling stories about his life connected to irish traditions, about work and mainly about the history of the Island. As well as the changes that are taking place right now for example with the irish turf. The turf is typical for the landscape but only now people realize that it should be preserved because Ireland is about the only place in the world that has such a natural sight.Our journey was over too soon but it gave us a good glimpse on why it is worth to come back to Achill to see more.Once again thank you very much to Tim, it was an unforgetable ride!

by Anne Mevenkamp

The deserted village

Only a 15 minute walk away from our hostel there is a very interesting place to see. One sunny day Judith, Thomas and me walked up to the deserted village to see what it was like. When we arrived there was nothing but ruins. A lot of rocks and sheeps but I guess you will find those everywhere.There were no signs telling what happend with this village, no curios secrets revealed why a whole village was deserted all of the sudden.But just looking at the "houses" made you wonder why people left or what their life might have been like while they still lived there.During our roundtrip of the Island we did get some answers to our questiones. One possilble explanation why people deserted the village is that the sea drew back and the village was not located at the shore any longer and that they could not go on with their life like that. It wa also revealed to us that all houses did not have windows and that the doors faced the mountain. This was when the british ruled over the irish and they did not want to be reminded that the irish existed and so they were not allowed to show any light in darkness. A few details but not enough rerveal the mystery over this village, which is good because it keeps you wondering about how it may have been.The visit is defenetly worth the walk if only to enjoy the wonderful view you have from up there.

By Anne Mevenkamp

Last modified by: Laurence Borgmann