WOW!!! The Picos de Europa are always the big hit of the trip. All the students arrived ready to see what the ¨Picos¨ had to offer and little did they know that they were going to encounter a beautiful day, gorgeous mountains and even some snow WAY UP at the top of the mountain.
When we arrived, we immediately had a sack lunch at the bottom of the mountain. The students were observing the mountains and views. After eating lunch everyone took the ¨teleferico¨ up the mountain. There were sheep, and bulls on the mountain. It was a surprise for many students. Some of them even took pictures with the bulls...at a distance of course.
As we ran into some of the students on the mountain, we asked what they thought. Andrew said ¨This is the highlight of my trip¨. They REALLY had a great time while in Picos. You will need to ask your student to see pictures when he or she returns home.
¡Hasta luego!
Susan & Rachel
Monday, June 20, 2011
¨El día de la E¨
¡Hola a todos!
On Saturday all Spanish speaking countries celebrated ¨El día de la E¨ - a day in which the Spanish language is celebrated. We asked our students to tell us their favorite Spanish word, explaining whether they like the word due to the ¨sound¨ or the ¨meaning¨. Watch the video and listen to your student as they tell you their favorite word.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlzUj3nfjes
¡Hasta luego!
Susan & Rachel
On Saturday all Spanish speaking countries celebrated ¨El día de la E¨ - a day in which the Spanish language is celebrated. We asked our students to tell us their favorite Spanish word, explaining whether they like the word due to the ¨sound¨ or the ¨meaning¨. Watch the video and listen to your student as they tell you their favorite word.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlzUj3nfjes
¡Hasta luego!
Susan & Rachel
Friday, June 17, 2011
Bilbao and the Guggenheim Museum
Yesterday afternoon (Thursday), we had an excursion to the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao during the afternoon/evening. It takes about an hour and 15 minutes to get to Bilbao from Santander. It was a gorgeous bus ride through the mountains. Unlike Texas at the moment, everything in northern Spain is green! As the bus wound its way through the mountains and into Bilbao, we caught some gorgeous views of the ocean along with some ¨pueblos¨ (smaller towns).
Bilbao is huge and there are MANY building in the center of Bilbao. The students were anxiously looking for the Guggenheim as we were approaching what seemed the final stop. For those of you who haven´t been to the Guggenheim in Bilbao, the outside of the building is similar to the band shell in downtown Chicago in Grant´s Park...but much taller. Once we approached the museum, there were not questions about which building was the museum. The students walked their way through the Guggenheim making comparisions to the Prado in Madrid. Two completely different styles of art. The Prado is full of classic art work and the Guggenheim was a little more modern, with a lot of ¨out of the box¨ thinking.
The excursion to the Guggenheim in Bilbao ended up being a fun trip for the students. They were able to see some more of northern Spain and learn something new.
Tomorrow it´s Los Picos de Europa. We can´t wait to see their faces when they arrive in the Picos...it´s gorgeous...maybe even more so than the mountains in Colorado.
Bilbao is huge and there are MANY building in the center of Bilbao. The students were anxiously looking for the Guggenheim as we were approaching what seemed the final stop. For those of you who haven´t been to the Guggenheim in Bilbao, the outside of the building is similar to the band shell in downtown Chicago in Grant´s Park...but much taller. Once we approached the museum, there were not questions about which building was the museum. The students walked their way through the Guggenheim making comparisions to the Prado in Madrid. Two completely different styles of art. The Prado is full of classic art work and the Guggenheim was a little more modern, with a lot of ¨out of the box¨ thinking.
The excursion to the Guggenheim in Bilbao ended up being a fun trip for the students. They were able to see some more of northern Spain and learn something new.
Tomorrow it´s Los Picos de Europa. We can´t wait to see their faces when they arrive in the Picos...it´s gorgeous...maybe even more so than the mountains in Colorado.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
El Centro Comercial Valle Real y Tapas
Yesterday (Wednesday), the students had an optional activity in the afternoon. Either enjoying the beach or going to El Centro Comercial Valle Real. We told the students, those who wanted to shop, to meet in front of Correos at 4pm. Would you believe...all 24 Westlake students were there!
In order to get to the mall, we had to take a train. Each student bought their own ticket of ¨ida y vuelta¨ (to and from). When we got to the mall, we spent about two and a half hours there. It´s a neat mall, full of nice stores. At the end, most of the students had bought earrings, sandals, shirts, or shorts. The store ¨Zara¨ is a big hit here. There´s one in the Domain, but it doesn´t compare to the ¨Zara¨ stores in Spain.
When we returned to the center of Santander, most of the group decided to join us for Tapas on a ¨Terraza¨ in one of the plazas. The evening turned out to be a great time! The students are very well behaved and really taking the opportunity to participate in all the activities and get the most out of what Santander has to offer!
Later today, we are going to take a trip to Bilbao and visit the Guggenheim museum. The day has started off wet and cold. Hopefully the rain won´t continue, as the sun and warmer weather are greatly appreciated. More to come later on the Bilbao / Guggenheim museum trip...
Hasta luego.
Susan & Rachel
In order to get to the mall, we had to take a train. Each student bought their own ticket of ¨ida y vuelta¨ (to and from). When we got to the mall, we spent about two and a half hours there. It´s a neat mall, full of nice stores. At the end, most of the students had bought earrings, sandals, shirts, or shorts. The store ¨Zara¨ is a big hit here. There´s one in the Domain, but it doesn´t compare to the ¨Zara¨ stores in Spain.
When we returned to the center of Santander, most of the group decided to join us for Tapas on a ¨Terraza¨ in one of the plazas. The evening turned out to be a great time! The students are very well behaved and really taking the opportunity to participate in all the activities and get the most out of what Santander has to offer!
Later today, we are going to take a trip to Bilbao and visit the Guggenheim museum. The day has started off wet and cold. Hopefully the rain won´t continue, as the sun and warmer weather are greatly appreciated. More to come later on the Bilbao / Guggenheim museum trip...
Hasta luego.
Susan & Rachel
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Monday, June 13, 2011
The flight, Madrid, Segovia, Burgos and Santander
Hi everyone,
About our flights...
The flights were wonderful! Austin to Newark was really nice. All the students were excited about getting to Spain and starting their study abroad. We even ran into Mr. Mayton (one of the assistant principals from WHS). From Newark to Madrid, the flight was smooth sailing. The food was good and no problems. Many students slept on the flight and were ready for exploring Madrid.
In Madrid...(Saturday June 11th)
We were really really busy! We immediately went to the hotel, dropped off their bags and hit the city to see everything possible. We saw about a weeks worth of things in less than 12 hours. Some of the kids were tired, but they held up great. We are so happy that they were able to see as much as they did while in Madrid.
In Segovia...(Sunday June 12th)
We got off the bus in front of the Roman Aqueduct. Talk about impressive!!! We spent about 3 or 4 hours in Segovia. We saw store fronts, churches, examples of two styles of old achitecture and we also toured the Alcazar de Segovia. If you have a moment, google this place and look at the pictures/images that are on the internet. Disney was inspired by this castle and thus Disney Land and Disney World have castle that are similar to this one.
In Burgos...(Sunday June 12th)
We had a very short amount of time to visit the gothic cathedral. So many of the students were taking pictures of the achitecture...the ceilings, altars etc... An amazing Cathedral if you ever get a chance to travel to Spain. If you have a moment, you should also google La Catedral de Burgos.
In Santander...(June 12th)
We arrived about 9:15pm last night and all the families were waiting. The students were nervous by then, but also excited. This morning (June 13th) when we met our students at the Universidad de Cantabria...la escuela de idiomas...we asked them about their dinners and families. Everyone had wonderful things to say. They also slept well and were excited to start the day. Today they had their placement exams and then their first class. They will be returning home at 2pm to have lunch with their families. This afternoon we plan to show them Santander so they know how to get around and explore the city a bit.
We are having a great time and are so happy that your child was able to join us on this wonderful new adventure.
Hasta la próxima vez...until next time.
Susan & Rachel
About our flights...
The flights were wonderful! Austin to Newark was really nice. All the students were excited about getting to Spain and starting their study abroad. We even ran into Mr. Mayton (one of the assistant principals from WHS). From Newark to Madrid, the flight was smooth sailing. The food was good and no problems. Many students slept on the flight and were ready for exploring Madrid.
In Madrid...(Saturday June 11th)
We were really really busy! We immediately went to the hotel, dropped off their bags and hit the city to see everything possible. We saw about a weeks worth of things in less than 12 hours. Some of the kids were tired, but they held up great. We are so happy that they were able to see as much as they did while in Madrid.
In Segovia...(Sunday June 12th)
We got off the bus in front of the Roman Aqueduct. Talk about impressive!!! We spent about 3 or 4 hours in Segovia. We saw store fronts, churches, examples of two styles of old achitecture and we also toured the Alcazar de Segovia. If you have a moment, google this place and look at the pictures/images that are on the internet. Disney was inspired by this castle and thus Disney Land and Disney World have castle that are similar to this one.
In Burgos...(Sunday June 12th)
We had a very short amount of time to visit the gothic cathedral. So many of the students were taking pictures of the achitecture...the ceilings, altars etc... An amazing Cathedral if you ever get a chance to travel to Spain. If you have a moment, you should also google La Catedral de Burgos.
In Santander...(June 12th)
We arrived about 9:15pm last night and all the families were waiting. The students were nervous by then, but also excited. This morning (June 13th) when we met our students at the Universidad de Cantabria...la escuela de idiomas...we asked them about their dinners and families. Everyone had wonderful things to say. They also slept well and were excited to start the day. Today they had their placement exams and then their first class. They will be returning home at 2pm to have lunch with their families. This afternoon we plan to show them Santander so they know how to get around and explore the city a bit.
We are having a great time and are so happy that your child was able to join us on this wonderful new adventure.
Hasta la próxima vez...until next time.
Susan & Rachel
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Three days until departure for Spain!
 |
| Gearing up for Spain. |
Hey everyone! It's three days until Friday, our departure date to Spain. Rachel (Ms. Calvert) and I are super excited about our trip this summer to Santander, Spain. We are taking 24 students and traveling with Rose (Mrs. Potter) for 17 days. Our first stop will be Madrid, then we will head north and stop in Segovia and Burgos before arriving in Santander where our students will study at the "Universidad de Cantabria". They will be in classes for 4 hours during the mornings and the afternoons are filled with various activities (flamenco, surf lessons, an exchange with Spanish students, shopping, the beach and excursions). We will have two excursions, one to Bilbao where we will visit the Guggenheim Museum and then a second excursion to "Los Picos de Europa". The day before the flight leaves to return home, we will travel to Toledo and spend the night there too.
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