Day 7: Pamplona y Barcelona via bus...

We left Bilbao and headed to Pamplona today.  Left nice & early - slept on the bus, and stopped for a few hours in Pamplona.  Saw this statue above for the Running of the Bulls, which is a part of the entire festival.  The entire festival in early July is San Fermin, the patron saint of the city.  The Running of the Bulls does happen every day as a way to transport the bulls to the bull ring...

...and as you can see, I hearded mine into the bullring.  :)  We did get to walk along on the same path the bulls will be doing in less than a month.

After speeding thru Pamplona, we headed to Barcelona...5+ hrs on the bus... some sleeping was definitely involved.  We dropped bags at our hotel and headed to the metro.  We had an hour of free time on Las Ramblas.

Las Ramblas is this street behind the kids (above)  with all sorts of shops, flowers, restaurants, crazy people, street performers, etc...you name it, it's there.  At the other end is the port and a statue of Christopher Columbus.

 So, of course we all had to get ice cream while we rambled down Las Ramblas.  Delish!! :)  After heading back to the hotel and having dinner, the kids were pooped, so no evening adventures to share with everyone tonight.  We had a HUGE day tomorrow with a city tour & Dali museum.  Yippee!!

The weather has dramatically improved - not so cold and no rain, so far!!  Yeah!!

~steph :)

Day 6: Rain, Rain, GO AWAY!!

Rain, Rain, GO AWAY!!!  That's pretty much how our day went today.  We headed to the lovely beach town of San Sebastian, were greeted with rain (and our local guide Eduardo), had the sun show up a few times, but then allow the rain to return...ugh...

But, amongst the rain drops, we were able to see this beautiful seaside town.  Here we are at the top (or close enough) of Monte Igueldo with the Playa de la Concha (Shell Beach) over to the left...gorgeous!!

 Here are the kids with our amazing guide, Fran!

After our city tour, we headed back into the Old Town and went tapa-hopping.  However in the Basque country, they are called Pinchos (Pinxtos).  This place above was great!  Kids all ordered themselves and enjoyed the local fare.  We headed to another place down the road and had some more yumminess!  The kids did some shopping before we headed back to the bus and headed off to Guernica!!

Guernica is the city that Franco had bombed 75 yrs ago this past April.  The Spanish 3 kids study Picasso's painting that is in the Reina Sofia museum in Madrid that the kids saw just a few short days ago.  The Peace Museum is closed on Mondays, but we got to go to the Assembly House and see the Tree of Guernica, the few things that didn't get bombed by the Nazis.

Behind the kids here is the "Old" tree which is nearly 300 yrs old.  The Tree is the most universal symbol for the Basque people, representing freedom and independence.

After a rainy drive back to the hotel in Bilbao and another delicious dinner, we had to go on our nightly adventure...including ice cream.  Only Kate, Brian & I myself got ice cream, James got Oreo cookies and Chloe & Meredith said they were "full"...even though there's always room for ice cream...whatever girls....

We also explored the area south of our hotel and found a playground and what we called an "Outdoor Gold's Gym."  It was beautiful night to wander the boardwalk and reminisce about another amazing day in Spain.

I ask the kids what their favorite city has been, and their responses are all of them...they are just impressed with every place we've been for a variety of reasons.

We're leaving early tomorrow heading east to Pamplona (no, we're not running with the bulls - that's early July) and staying the next 2 nights in Barcelona.  Parents - we'll try to call from there.  We're hoping there is better (warmer) weather there to greet us!

~steph :)

Day 5: Off to the Basque country!

We left the lovely town of Burgos this morning and headed northeast towards Bilbao...sadly in the rain.  What beautiful landscape...reminded me of Ireland/Scotland...and they rain definitely contributed towards that opinion.  Having a tour director from the Basque country sure helps us understand things up here a bit more.

Our first stop today was the Guggenheim museum...amazing!  We saw the whole thing in just over 75 minutes and had time to see Puppy outside.  :)  We then went on a walking tour of the city, just as the rain hit...ugh... but still a beautiful town amongst the rain drops.

After our walking tour, we had free time and went exploring on our own.  Visited the cathedral, and just missed Corpus Christi celebrations.  It's fun to be in these small towns as we are among the few visitors so we get to see how people really live.

We had some time for some playground fun...until the boys jumped off and the girls went flying. LOL :)

This is the Nervion River that runs thru Bilbao.  Yes, all the kids eyes are closed as in yesterday's pics, Kate had hers closed quite a bit... :)

After our city tour, we went to check into our hotel our near the port, just next to this Transporter Bridge.  We dumped our luggage and headed to the bridge.  We bought elevator tickets, rode the elevator up to the top....

...and walked across the top!!!  I was proud of Meredith since she is scared of heights, but she did awesome!!  Some amazing views from above...a bit windy, but cool!  We walked around the town for a while and...

...found our way to the beach.  Had to put our feet in the Atlantic Ocean!!  :)  A bit chilly, but fun to do!

Had some good dinner tonight - probably the best so far.  Our first night we had paella, 2nd was pizza after the bullfight, 3rd was fish and tonight was pasta, chicken & chocolate mousse cake.  Our Tour Director, Fran, has given the kids great tips on how Europeans eat - it's been fun watching them try to assimilate them into their meals.  :)  And of course, after dinner...

...we headed out in search of ice cream!  We took the transporter across the river - no luck, so back we came & found this store around the corner from our hotel.  :)  Not Magnum bars, but an okay substitute.  Poor Brian, he picked the dud, Mojito ice cream bar...uck... so as we made our way back to our hotel...

...and he saw this vending machine next to the transporter ferry.  Ham & Cheese sandwich, hot, in 1 minute, for about $2.00...and he went for it.  James videotaped it, so I'm sure they'll have it on You Tube soon.  We all tried it...wasn't too bad...so if these are my finals words because we got food poisoning from a vending machine sandwich in the Basque country, well, it's enjoy my last blog!  LOL  :)

Besides the icky weather, all in all, another great day!  Tomorrow we're off to San Sebastian & Guernica ---super excited!!

Send clear skies our way POR FAVOR!!!

~steph :)

Day 4: Adios Madrid....Hola Burgos!!

We sadly left Madrid, but know we'll be back in a few wks, so we're okay about it, and headed north to Burgos.  This is a new place for me as I've never been, so kind of exciting for me to experience the newness of Spain with the kids.  We had some free time before our tour, so we went off exploring the town, saw the cathedral (above)...

...found my lost Knight in Shining Armor... :)  (it's about time!!)

Oh, and we had tapas again for lunch:  jamon, manchego cheese, tortilla espanola, calamari...and french fries!! :)

 Dottie - this is for you... James checking out the impressive Spanish knockers...  LOL  :)

We did get to go into the cathedral with our local guide (after a visit to the monastery)...wow..the cathedral is so impressive with it's Gothic style and spires dating back to the 13th century... El Cid is buried here...a HS choir from TX was there and sang in the cathedral...goosebumps...

Kids also got to see some peregrinos (pilgrims) on their way to Santiago de Compostela...it was neat to see the shells around showing the route.

Of course, after dinner, we had to go get ice cream...kids are now addicted to Gelato - sorry parents if they will want to go to Italy in the future!! :)  My combo was Cielo y Pina (Sky & pineapple) - delish!!  (oh, the two extra girls are from the CO group - we've warped them too!!)

Love this picture of them...it's semi-posed because I made them walk in a straight line, but has been fun to see the kids experiencing all this things that they've learned in school and recognized stuff from their textbooks...I have to say I'm pretty impressed with their knowledge and enthusiasm to see & do it...and practice their spanish! :)  That makes a teacher proud!!  Parents too, I'm sure!!

It's a bit chillier than expected up here in the north...50-60s...and possible rain tomorrow...  Speaking of tomorrow, we're sadly only in Burgos one night and now heading to Bilbao in the Basque country. As our guide Fran is Basque, he is super excited to show us his country...or as he calls it the center of the universe...

Tune in tomorrow for stories from Bilbao and a trip to the GUGGENHEIM!!!
(and yes, this will be new for me too!!)

Hugs ~ steph :)

Day 3: Madrid...and everything Spanish!!

I'm not sure what more "Spanish" we could do today!!  Maybe a flamenco would have topped off the day!  We started with a city tour with our final stop at the Royal Palace (above).  So amazing to see only a portion of the 1400+ rooms - gotta love all the chandeliers and clocks each room boasted.

After our city tour with our local guide,  Berta, we went for tapas!!  Had everything from jamon y manchego cheese, to calamari, patatas bravas, tortilla espanola, croquetas...delish... and then all followed with churros y chocolate...sigh...

We needed to do some walking afterwards, so went to the Reina Sofia art museum where the kids got to see the infamous Guernica painting.  Aftewards we strolled thru Parque Retiro (below)...and of course had to get some AWESOME Magnum bars!!  :) (above)

 The kids also got to experience the metro system!!  They did very well navigating their way to the hotel for a quick drop off before...

...heading to a bull fight!!!!!!!!!!  Yes, we actually made it to one this year!  The kids were fascinated with all the pomp and circumstance that goes behind it.  One of the bullfighters, Alberto, actually did so well that he got a standing ovation, white handkerchief waves, and then was awarded the two ears of the bull.  The other two fighters...well, they need some work.  We actually ran into Alberto as we were leaving and got to be groupies trying to get a picture with him... (see below!)  :)  My little stalkers...:)

Needless to say it's been an amazing time in Madrid!!  Weather has been perfect - were were even kind of chilly at the bullfight tonight...we opted for Sol y Sombra (Sun & Shade) and got lucky & were in the shade the entire time!!

Tomorrow we sadly leave behind this amazing city and head north to Burgos.

Tune in tomorrow for tales from our next adventures!!
~steph :)

Day 2: Welcome to Madrid!!

Off we go!!  Adios USA!  Spain, here we come!

Flights went well today, except for a delay from DC to Madrid, but thanks to an awesome tail wind, we left an hour late and arrived 10 minutes early.  We were met by our guide, Fran, and were whisked away to our hotel.  Since we couldn't check in, we had free time until 1:30ish, so off we went exploring!

We saw the Don Quixote statue (above) in the Plaza de Espana, Royal Palace (below), beautiful cathedral, Plaza Mayor where we people watched (crazies!), Puerta del Sol, grabbed some lunch before heading back to the hotel.

Our afternoon excursion included a trip to the Prado museum where the kids saw amazing art from Goya to Velazquez - and recognized much from Spanish class!  :)  By this time (8 pm), were were all pooped and trudged to dinner. We had Gazpacho, Paella and a yummy desert...but decided we needed more, so instead of heading back with the group, we went for ice cream!!

We didn't find our Magnum bars that we originally had wanted, but found a great 2nd choice - GELATO!  It was delish!  We sat in Puerto del Sol, people watched, headed back thru Plaza Mayor and had a gorgeous stroll home near the Palacio Real all lit up at night...spectacular!

All in all, the kids were troopers!  They saw sooo much of Madrid already and tomorrow (Day 3) is our official city tour, so they're bound to see much more!!

Weather is perfect, by the way...70s...delightful!!

Talk soon!!

~steph :)

Grand Tour of Spain 2012

MLI --> ORD --> IAD --> MAD

Grand Tour of Spain 2012!!

This summer's trip is taking me back to Spain with 5 amazing kids for 20 days on the Iberian Peninsula.  We will be making a circle of Spain, visiting the amazing cities of Madrid, Burgos, Bilbao, Pamplona, Barcelona, Valencia, Granada, Torremolinos, Sevilla, Cordoba & Segovia.  We'll be doing a day trip to across the Straight to Morocco as well as taking a night train to Portugal for a few days.  AWESOMENESS!!!

We have 4 other groups traveling with us:  Colorado, Missouri, and two groups from Texas.  We will be in the able & capable hands of Fran, our amazing Tour Director, so I know we'll have a great time!

Am hoping to meet up with some great friends along the way, and even some former students studying abroad.

We have oodles of things all Spanish on our bucket list, from tapas to churros y chocolate, to some amazing museums, flamenco dancing in the caves of Granada, paella and empanadas...sigh...

Am excited to show another group of students the place I call my second home (this will be my 6th trip to Spain with kids).   Another group to share the amazing experience of international travel.  Another group to catch the travel bug.  :)  

So, follow along - ¡Búscanos!  (Look for us!)

~steph :)