Free Day Tuesday

More blog to come on Wednesday, computer battery running low.

Awesome walking tour through Barcelona

Today was absolutley beautiful - sun, sea, sand, and a lovely mediterranean breeze - all signs of a typical day in Barcelona. This morning we boarded a bus to sight see, our tour guide Francisco took us to The Guell (probounced "way") where Gaudy (architect) was commissioned to build a town on the outskirts of Barcelona for the "rich and famous" of that time (late 1800's), the Sagrad Familia (a magical church, construction is ongoing), as well as 2 apartment buildings - it took Gaudy roughly 50 years to work on all four masterpieces, the church was only 50 % completed and the town he was commisioned to build failed before he passed in 1926. We also saw the Olympic areana. After our bus tour, Francisco dropped us off at the Ramblas - the center of Barcelona where all the fabulous shopping and cafe's are. We shopped, ate, people watched, and relaxed taking in the glorious mediterranean sun and air. To end the eveining we went to dinner in the Olympic port village - located on the beach. We ate a traditional spanish meal of Tapas at Moncho's. We are excited for tomorrow's adventures!

Bus Ride to Barcelona

Happy Easter! This day was devoted to traveling by bus to Barcelona. Along the way we saw some intersting changes of scenery and different terrain. We spotted several big black bulls that were originally old signs from an Osborne brandy company, once billboards were outlawed they painted the large bulls black to signify spains culture, they are large and in charge!! We also spotted a stork nest, perched on a tree top. Stork nests are quite large, very exciting to see. We had two cappucino stops, before arriving in the medieval town of Zaragozas. Here we said a prayer at the Basilica Nuesta Senora del Pilar - stunning. Then we were on the road again to Barcelona. By the time we arrived it was dinner time, we had buffet at Fresco's - very yummy. Then it was off to bed, to be ready for our first big day out in Barcelona.

Day 3 Madrid Big Day Out

Hola parents, friends, and family! The spending money was burning a hole in the students pockets, so of course we had to let them do some shopping in the heart of Madrid. Souvenirs, shirts, shoes, and other trinkets are being stuffed in suit cases now :) We also ventured to Hard Rock Cafe Madrid to enjoy burgers and again....more shopping - Rock & Roll! We will be making our way to Barcelona tomorrow - bus ride - please feel for the chaperones, it's 8 hours!!! :) We miss you all, will blog again on Monday. Happy Easter, don't forget to save some chocolate bunny ears for us!!!

Day Two Toledo

We started our tour at thr park and statue of Don Quixote commemorating the writer Cervantes. We then went the the famous Bullfighter Stadium that holds 85 thousnad spectators. We also did a bus tour all over Madrid and saw the famous Futbol stadium (soccer). We then had a grand tour of the Royal Palace, and saw 15 rooms out of hundreds. It was unbeleivable to see the opulance and grandeur of this palace where all the royaly lived since the 13th century. Taveling 42 kilometers we went by bus to Toledo, and entered by the Porta del Sol, the Sun Gate. This medieval hill town has historic Isllamic, Jewish, and Catholic roots. We first toured the Calle de Santa Isabel other wise known as The Cathedral. There are five famous Cardinals buried there, and its architecture is Baroque, Roccoco, and Morre. Then we went to the church that is called El Greco House and Museum to see Goya's most famous painting called Assumption The painting was of a nobleman who was buried where St. Stephen and St. Ephram took his soul to heaven as bystanders witness this miracle. Next we went to Santa Maria la blanca, which was a Jewish Islamic Synagogue that was turned into a Catholic church. We also toured the Damascene Sword Factory for sword and jewelry making demonstrations. The jewelry is Islamic in design with gold leaf etched on a gold and black backgroud. Steven and Shawn bought awesome swords - lets see how we get them home! Sorry I can't uplaod pictures - You will see plenty of pictures when they get home! Tonight we went to a Flamenco performance for an hour and a half. Ole until tomorrow!!!

Day One Madrid

We arrived in Madrid and went directly to thr Ibis Mardid Velantin Beato hotel to unpack and rest. We then went by Metro to the Prado Museun to see El Greco, Valazquez, aqnd Goya paintings. We walked to a large park that used to be in the king's back yard. It has a lake and is as large as Central Park. The flowers and parks are everywhere and beautiful. We did a walking tour of Madrid by the Plaza de Mayor and had a terrific buffet at Freso's Restaurant. We still had jet lag and crashed at the hotel about 11. It is typical to eat dinner at 9 here!

Atlanta Airport

We are here in Atlanta with the warm sun shining through the windows at gate E9. We are hanging out using all of our technology devices and enjoying the airport food. The food court is very extensive with a jazz pianist playing on a grand piano! Everyone is tired - and relaxing.

The flight was delayed by 1/2 hour from Albany - but we made it here in 2 and 1/2 hours. David the steward from Atlanta gave us a great pork roast and orange bundt cake recipe. This made us very hungry as they only handed out cinnamon cookies and peanuts! We are blessed to have this laptop to use thanks to Courtnee! Hopefully we have good internet access in Spain. All is good - we are boarding our flight in less than 2 hours. We will Blog again soon!

Ready for Spain!

We are ready for Spain! This is our Spain group all dressed up for Tamarac Tie Dye Day.
Many months of planning, organizing, shopping, and packing have finally come to an end.
Tomorrow we will meet at Albany Airport for our flight to Atlanta - then to Madrid.