Day 10

Yesterday, we rose later than usual for a relaxing breakfast. When everyone had arrived, we once again walked for ever until we reached a small building, where we would take cooking class. The room had already been set up for us, with cutting boards at each table and a mirror above the teacher. Keeping in mind the teacher's close instruction, we made the following dishes : paella, tomato bread, gazpacho, and some sort of many eclair dish that I don't know the name of. It was awesome.

 Afterwards, we explored the city, looking at various cathedrals and historical sites. I took even more photos. We returned to the hotel, with an hour and a half to make  ourselves ready for the flamenco show.

  Much later, we arrived at the show , and lead to a small room for a buffet dinner. The whole thing was very extravagant and delicious, because the ceilings were fancy and the food was great. We transitioned to a private room with a small stage in the center, and we silenced our phones to watch the flamenco show. The show amazed me because it involved exotic dancing, wonderful costumes, skillful guitar playing, and some singing.

 At the end of the last day in spain, I considered everything I'd done, and I knew I'd never forget my time in Spain .

Morgan Nelson

Gourmet cooking, Parque de la Ciudadela y Flamenco!

Day 9 6/15/15

Day-9 6/15/15

Yesterday we started the day with a visit to Camp Nou, the soccer stadium for FC Barcelona. With our tickets we were able to tour part of the stadium and learn about the history of the club (founded in 1899) in the museum.

After the stadium we went to plaza Catalunya for an open lunch. After lunch (and ice cream for some of us :) ) we took a tour of the major Gaudi buildings/sights in Barcelona. We stopped and toured the church of the Sagrada familia and the park Güell.

 Once we returned to the plaza we had an hour of shopping, walked around town, and went to a tapas dinner. The day was long but fun and interesting. -Gen Nickerson

#AmoBarcelona #AmoGaudí

Day 8

Today we woke up at 4:30 am and left Bilbao and our beloved guide Abel who had been with us since Madrid and took a 6 hour train ride to the wonderful city of Barcelona. We met our new guide Eleonora at the airport and then drove to our hotel ibis. After dropping off our stuff at the hotel, we proceeded to the beach! We experienced a little bit of the Catalunyan pride in the subway but moved on and continued to enjoy some ice cream in the crowded Olympic Village. Then we visited the famous Batló House, designed by Gaudí, where we were able to go on the roof and see a bit of the city. We then walked to a second house designed by Gaudí called La Pedrera (or the quarry) and admired it from the outside. After a fun, but long day, we headed off to dinner where we ate a large tapas dinner of 10 different dishes! A favorite seemed to be the mussels, where the senior boys ate 4 plates of them! At about 11 pm we headed back to the hotel and fell asleep almost immediately. What a fun first day in Barcelona!
By Emily and Mad

Casa Batló, Barcelona

Day 7

In the morning, we ate breakfast at the hotel, then checked out and boarded our bus at 8:30. After driving for two and a half hours, we first arrived at the sea-side town of Camillas. There, we visited a house built by the famous architect, Antoni Gaudi, for an old, wealthy man who died only seven days after moving into his new house. For this reason, this house was called: Gaudi's Folly. Right next to this house was El Palacio de Sobrelleno, the palace built in the same era for el Marques de Comillas. Next, we walked to the University of Comillas, which was situated on a tall hill, overlooking the town. There we enjoyed a scenic view of the beach and the sea. After taking more photos of the town from atop the hill, we hiked down through the town to the beach, where we had lunch. After lunch, we drove for a few more hours to El Museo de Altamira, where we visited a full-scale replica of the cave where the first paintings by Homo sapiens ever recorded were found. These were crude paintings of bulls, deer, and horses, painted throughout several different periods. We then learned about the ancestors and development of modern-day humans. Bones, ancient tools, and other artifacts from the prehistoric period were on display in the exhibit. Finally, we drove to the beautiful, industrial city of Bilbao. With a metropolitan population of two million, Bilbao seemed much bigger than the city of Oviedo (~250,000), where we had stayed the previous two nights. In Bilbao, we checked in to our hotel, the Ibis, struggled with logging into the wifi network, then embarked on a short tour of the city despite light rain. On our walk, we were able to view the modern exterior of the Guggenheim museum of Bilbao, which was designed by Frank Gehry, the architect for the famous Walt Disney Concert hall in Los Angeles. On our walk, we also walked past the Campo Volatín footbridge, a modern, beautiful, arcing, white bridge designed by the renowned Spanish architect, Santiago Calatrava, who also designed the Milwaukee art museum and the subway station at the World Trade Center in New York City. When the rain grew harder, we sprinted to a nearby supermarket, soaked, to buy food for our breakfast and lunch the next day. Then we ate dinner at a restaurant named La Kazeta. After having cheesecake and flan for dessert, we returned to our hotel to rest for the train the next day.

Por Jason y Michael.