Next stop, Ireland and Scotland!

Spectacular scenery, amazing architecture and hospitable homelanders are just a sampling of what awaits those who go on this year’s Spring Break trip to Ireland and Scotland.

Hosted by Dr. Caroline Cherry of the English department, the trip to Ireland and Scotland is this year’s version of a trip she plans every year. Last year’s group of twenty students, alumni, faculty and staff went to London and Paris, and Dr. Cherry has planned a similar experience for this year.

From March 4 to 12, trip-takers will travel the Emerald Isle while staying in Galway and Dublin, the cultural and capital centers of Ireland. Places of interest on the itinerary for Ireland include the Aran Islands, the Cliffs of Moher, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Newgrange and the fortress of Dun Angus.

Then the group will go Scotland, where they will stay in Edinburgh and tour Edinburgh Castle, Loch Lomond, Stirling Castle and the Bannockburn battlefield featured in “Braveheart.”

Despite all of the arranged tours, travelers will have free time to explore the cities and countryside, and they even have an entire day to do as they wish. During those times, however, the “buddy system” should be employed.

Dr. Cherry has held this Ireland-Scotland trip more than five times before, and the latest excursion to Ireland was in 2008. Nevertheless, she has changed the itinerary around just enough to give this trip something new.

Participants will stay in well-located hotels in the cities, close to the heart of nightlife. The total price of $2424 includes the hotel fare, as well as transportation in the cities, airfare, tours and breakfasts at the hotels.

There is a class available for the trip as well – Fine Arts 280, which counts as the aesthetic literature requirement – where those who choose to take it will learn more about the history, religion, literature and art of the places they will visit in Ireland and Scotland. “The trip was first established in 1995 by a former dean who thought Eastern students needed more opportunities to study abroad,” Dr. Cherry said. “This is still the goal, to gain knowledge experientially about the country through books and then by being there: academic and cultural learning.”

The class is not necessary to go on the trip.

The first payment of $400 is due by November 10 and is fully refundable until then. Dr. Cherry needs 20 people to sign up; otherwise, the trip will not happen. Anyone with an Eastern connection is allowed to come, even parents.