Apparently, due to a 2 hour mechanical delay in Madrid, our Cudas missed their scheduled connection. AA anticipated this and scheduled all 28 passengers, including 26 students and 2 teachers, to return to Orlando tomorrow morning. Since it is American Airlines' fault, they will be paying for the group to stay in a hotel next to the airport in Miami. The flight information is as follows: AA#1860 Departing Miami 9:45am Friday June 26th Arriving Orlando 10:45am Friday June 26th I called EF Tours in Boston and got this information from them. They have not confirmed the information they rec [View Full Entry]

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We have had a (thankfully) uneventful morning! We got up, had breakfast, loaded our suitcases onto the coach and arrived at the airport. The flight to Miami did not leave on time. It was 30 minutes late but is now on its way. They can usually adjust the flight plan to make up some time. In Miami, they would hold the connecting flight for a few minutes, if necessary, since we're a group of 28 people. They're scheduled to land in Orlando at 5pm this afternoon. Stay with your phone and your phone chain list, just in case there is a [View Full Entry]

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We enjoyed our last day in Madrid. We started with a coach tour around the city. We stopped at the Plaza de Espana, which boasts el Monumento de Cervantes. Cervantes wrote Don Quixote, which is the second most important book to the Spanish, after the bible. From there, we went to the Royal Palace for a tour. Wow. We saw palatial rooms, staircases, silver, dishes, paintings, statues, a fine collection of Stratavarius stringed instruments and an armory that was impressive. There was a pharmacy and kitchen that was set up to emulate earlier times in the palace. The King and Queen [View Full Entry]

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So, it's the end of another full day. We left Barcelona this morning, at 7am. We spent a good part of this day in transit, via coach. We arrived in Zaragoza at 11:00. Zaragoza is south and west from Barcelona, on the way to Madrid. We enjoyed an hour and a half for a lunch stop. We got to look around the Basilica, see the historic section of town and have some lunch. Inside the basilica is the Pilar de la Virgen. The custom is that people kiss this pillar for a blessing. Mass was being celebrated while we were there, [View Full Entry]

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Today was a nice day. We left the hotel at 10am. Alejandra led us into downtown Barcelona, showed us our meeting place for dinner, and left us near the Gothic Cathedral. We travelled in smaller groups today. We saw the Spanish architect, Gaudi's, impressive downtown buildings, and went inside one of them, Battlo. We went to the Dali museum. We went to La Sagrada Familia, for a closer look. Amazing. We went to the beach. We saw Roman walls next to the gothic cathedral. We saw La Rambla and La Boqueria. Most of us did some shopping for souvenirs, and dinner [View Full Entry]

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So, Saturday, we went to the Louvre museum. It is almost overwhelming to see how many pieces of art are displayed. The museum itself is a work of art, a former palace which has been excavated and expanded over about 850 years. We then went to the Latin Quarter for lunch and went into Notre Dame. Another structure that was started around the same time as the Palais du Louvre. We're now safely in Barcelona, after an interesting overnight train ride. We slept 4 to a compartment. It was 2 sets of bunk beds. There was not much extra room, so [View Full Entry]

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We had a really nice day today. In the morning, we went out in 3 different groups. One group went to the Centre Pompidou, which is the modern art museum. It is situated in a lively shopping area called Les Halles. After the museum, the group had time to buddy-up, had some lunch and do some shopping. After that, they divided further. Some stayed in Les Halles, others went to the Musee Picasso. This is the beauty of having 4 chaperones. Another group started the day by going to the Cimitiere Pere LaChaise. They saw the tombstone of former Doors singer, [View Full Entry]

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We woke up this morning at 7, had breakfast at 8 and got on the coach at 9. Our city tour guide was called Pasqual. As Ali drove us around Paris, Pasqual told us all about it. We saw some familiar places from yesterday's walking tour, and are starting to learn our way around town. We got a great photo at the Eiffel Tower. The bus dropped us off at the Arc de Triomphe and we had an afternoon to ourselves, as a Cuda group. Some went to examine the tomb of the unknown soldier underneath the Arc de Triomphe. It [View Full Entry]

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It's been a very long day. We're back in the hotel, exhausted, excited to get to sleep, but happy. This was a fantastic first day in Paris. We went on the Metro to the Opera Garnier. What a magnificent building. We had time to have some lunch, look around and inside the Opera House. They were practicing for tonight's opera in the auditorium, but some lucky folks got to see them before the doors closed. We took a walking tour, from Opera Garnier to Place Vendome. We passed the Colonne de Juillet, the Ritz hotel, continued on to the Tuilleries gardens. [View Full Entry]

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We have landed safely and are now in our hotel. It's called Mister Bed and is in a nice area. There is a shopping center next door (uh-oh) and a metro station just beyond that. We'll be using the metro today to go downtown and take a walking tour. Right now, the kids have stored their bags in the 3 rooms that were ready for us. Some of the boys are taking a catnap before our group meeting in 40 minutes, before we head out for the day. Some of the girls are primping, changing clothes, etc. Ms. Cambron took a [View Full Entry]

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