Spain Travel Diary

Spain+Travel+Diary

Over February Break, ten NDA students from grade nine to grade twelve visited Spain on a language immersion trip. We had the opportunity to visit Seville, Cordoba, and Madrid on our trip. So here is a brief summary of our time in Spain that will hopefully convince you to visit this beautiful country!

Getting to Spain

Wednesday, February 13th& Thursday, February 14th

We left Boston’s Logan International Airport at six pm (EST) on Wednesday night to fly to Lisbon, Portugal. After a smooth seven-hour flight we arrived in Lisbon at six amtheir time. We ate and then slept on the floor of the airport, to pass the time in our six-hour layover. Now I will never judge anyone sleeping on the airport floor because it was more comfortable than one would assume when you are really tired. Finally, at noon (Portugal Time) we boarded hour one- hour flight to Seville, Spain. This quick flight got everyone excited to finally finish our travel and arrive atour final destination, Spain!

Seville, Spain

Thursday, February 14th Continued

We met our native Spanish speaking tour guide, Ana, at the airport. We then rode a bus over to our hotel, The Don Paco, where we spent the next four nights. We had a chance to unpack and freshen up after our travel day, before heading out to explore Seville before dinner. We walked around to get a lay of the land in Seville, to see spots that we would want to return to. We had an early dinner where we tried some classic Spanish dishes all were a little delirious and ready to sleep.

Friday, February 15th

Today we got up feeling mostly refreshed, ate breakfast and then embarked on our first full day in Spain. Our first stop of the morning was the Plaza de España. We also saw iconic monuments along the Guadalquivirriver that runs through parts of Spain. We then toured the beautiful Cathedral in Seville, La Giralda. The views from the top gave us a bird’s eye view of the city of Seville and beyond. We learned that most churches now were mosques when the Moors ruled Spain. Therefore, many of the churches have stunning remnants of the prior religious building. After the tour,we were given a scavenger hunt to get to know Seville better. This challenged us to talk with shop keepers in Spanish about signs and places to find what we were looking for. We went back to the hotel to get our dancing shoes readybecause we were going to see and participate in a flamenco lesson. I was honestly quite nervous because my dancing skills are mediocre, but we had a great time. Now we all have a different appreciation for how challenging flamenco dancing is.

Saturday, February 16th

This morning we crossed Puente de Triana from Seville to the neighborhood of Triana across the Guadalquivir River. We wound our way through the neighborhoods to arrive at an art studio where we spent the morning painting fans. Fan culture is engrained in Spanish culture, women use their fans to communicate with other women and their interest in men. We ate lunch in Triana before crossing back into Seville where we went on a bike tour of the two areas. Riding bikes in a busy city was a new challenge, but a great opportunity to see the area the way the local Spaniard’s do. We had dinner at the mall food court in Spain, El Corte Ingles. We explored the mall a bit, ate really good traditional food and, had gelato, the first of many:)

Sunday, February 17th

On Sunday morning we got up very early and ate breakfast with many runners of the Seville marathon, which was happening that morning too. We got on the bus for the hour-long drive to Doñana National Park, where we saw the most beautiful sunrise. At the park,we got a tour of the diverse landscape including the beach and forest, right alongside one another. We participated in a service project to pick up small metal bullet shells that remain from when the royal family would hunt on the grounds. Geese migrate to Doñana and eat the sand which is infiltrated with these shells. When a goose eats ten of these shells it will poison them. The park works tirelessly to recover the shells to help the geese. We returned to Seville that afternoon to pack up before leaving for Madrid in the morning.

Córdoba, Spain

Monday, February 18th

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We again got up early to ride the bus to Córdoba. We drove through the rolling green countrysidesbeyond the cities. First, we toured the Mesquita, a Moorish Mosque that was converted into a Church. The building was beautiful and amazing to think of the technology that the Moors pioneered. We then had time to explore Córdoba’s famous patios, that are maintained for a competition in May. Most patios had beautiful hanging flowers and other plant life. Then we boarded the Ave High-SpeedTrain to Madrid and again got appreciate the beautiful scenery of Spain. We arrived in Madrid just in time for dinner time. We experienced the typical tapas meal experience at three different restaurants featuring classic Spanish delicacies. (Tapas are small appetizer sized portions of classic Spanish dishes) We even saw some awesome street dancing to in the Puerta del Sol.

Madrid, Spain

Tuesday, February 19th

We went on a sightseeing tour via bus this morning to get a sense for the sights to see in Madrid. After getting a feel for Madrid we had the opportunity to visit the Prado Museum. The Prado is an art museum that features the Spanish artists Goya and Velazquez, as well as many other famous artists. We had free time to explore the city that afternoon and see everything Madrid has to offer before dinner. Including Gran Via, a huge shopping hub in the city. We even went to a five story Primark on Gran Via. Tonight, we rode the Metro to the suburbs of Madrid where we had a home dinner. This meal was personally my favorite. We had a lentil and chorizo soup followed by a dish called broken eggs (sunny side up eggs, chorizo, roasted pepper, and potatoes) and finally a homemade cheesecake. We conversed with the locals, shared lots of laughs, and experienced the traditional family mealtime.

Wednesday, February 20th

Today was our last full day in Spain and we visited a local school in Madrid. We “speed dated” the older students while they were in their English classes. It was like rapid fire questioning about what their lives were like and they wanted to know the same about ours. It was interesting to understand the lifestyle of teenagers in another country. After seeing and getting to know Madrid and the Spanish lifestyle it helped us connect with them. We even went to a class in Spanish, which was a fun challenge to trying to understand the class. It was exhausting, but so fun experiencing school, a mundane thing here, but suddenly more fun in Spain.

Thursday, February 21st

Our experience abroad in Spain was over, que triste. We flew back to Boston and spent the flight and time with our families recounting the amazing experience we just had. If you ever have a chance to visit Spain, do it!