Day 4: It's all about the Art

Today our workshops started at the EF Language School.  The school is about a 20 minute walk from our hotel, and as there is a primary school next door to our hotel, we were able to see daily life...mom's walking their kids in uniforms to school as well.  The tour company I use, EF tours, has a Language School component in their portfolio.  So, around the world, they have different offices to teach locals English, or they go to where the Olympics are being held, and train the translators.  Each day of our 3 hour workshops has a theme.
So, today's theme Art & History.  In the workshops, they learned all about different pieces of art, and had to present with a partner, all in Spanish.  Their professor is named Abel, and he is doing amazing with them!  Señora Buchter & I are not allowed in the room....so we just hang out in the computer lab (hence the blogging) and in the patio, until they are done.  We had lunch around the school and then headed down to the Prado museum.  Because the students learn a lot about art in Spanish 3, they knew most of the paintings from the workshop.
In the Prado, Patricia split them into 3 groups, gave them a challenge and off they went.  While they were doing that, Señora & I headed to Opera and once they were done with their challenge, they got to participate in an Amazing Race.  We called it "Amazing Race: Find the Profesoras" edition.  In their groups, they had to find us and the team who did first, won a secret prize.  They could walk, metro, taxi, bus, etc.... to get to us.  And the winners were:  Team #2:  Nico, Meredith, Lilly, Abby, and Sarah!  They used their metro skills and got to us first!!  Well done - so proud!!  The other 2 groups showed up a bit later as they chose to walk.  Proud of them all for using their maps & asking for help (in Spanish).
Our last tour stop of the day was the Royal Palace, one of the largest in all of Europe.  The King & Queen do not actually live here, but use it for official visits.  It's very ornate and each room has a different clock & chandelier that are quite eccentric!
After a bit of free time to shop, we had tapas for dinner:  tortilla española, croquetas, calamares, pan, chorizo....all super yummy!!!
When it was time to head back, Señora & I took the winner for ice cream...and learned that almonds are NOT nuts....nice try, crazy ice cream lady!!  After ice cream, we treated them to a relaxing taxi ride back to the hotel!
All in all, great 1st day of workshops!!  Excited to see what tomorrow brings!!