lizbird44

January 11, 2011 Malaga, Spain We arrived in Malaga today. Our first stop was Giblralto Fortress. This is an old castle that was built in the 14th Century, it was cool to look at, all the old stone, many steps, thin passage ways, areas with grass and flowers, the circular dome places where the archers used to stand when protecting the castle. We walked on this thin walkway that was high up that had the columns that archers would stand beside, below and duck in between. The entryway to the inside of the castle was inside the barrier walls, you would walk down this stone staircase with large step, and some were double or triple the size of what we would call a normal step. At the bottom of the steps was a dark alley with ... read more

January 13, 3011 Funchal, Madeira Island, Portugal Funchal= FUN! Today was a great day! Funchal is beautiful, not a big city like yesterday, just lots and lots of houses. This island is much more inhabited than Tenerife. We got on the big bus again and began our drive. Today we had a guide who spoke in both English and German. I don’t remember her first name, but her last name was Jesus, kind of hard to forget! So of course everyone’s walking around saying things like “schuuba dubben”, “unt houseen houssen”, and “un poopin scooping dooben doopen.” Hahaha! Yes, we are the silly Americans walking around saying made up words. The roads were similar to Tenerife in that there are many points that they are one way. Also, they park on the streets, which makes ... read more

January 12, 2011 Tenerife, Canary Islands, Archipelagos Ahhh… I’m sitting on my balcony drinking a glass of Spanish rose’ after an AWESOME day in Tenerife. Amazing! We arrived this morning, had our group breakfast and proceeded to the theatre for disembarkation. We got on the bus and I noticed was a lot of big buildings; it was a city. I say that because I was expecting a shipping village, small buildings, but there were a few skyscrapers, nothing like Chicago or NYC, there was a beautiful music amphitheatre. Looks like a smaller version of the Sydney Opera House. We began our climb up the mountain in our bus. Today the bus was all English speaking. The tour guide had on some hideous black and purple pants. Her dialect was strong and we found ourselves repeating words ... read more

January 10th: Morocco We took the 3-hour bus ride to Marrakech. “A 3 hour tour” At first driving through Casablanca, it looked like any large city that you could find anywhere in the world. Big buildings, large signs, restaurants, shops, people walking everywhere. We drove through the center near the University and saw a Hilton. It was a large bustling city. I guess I was expecting to get off the boat and see sand everywhere- I was thinking the building would look like the buildings in Aladdin. But it was just a city. Continuing on the drive was interesting. You would see newly built homes that could belong in Boca and next to it was a house with no windows, dirt on the floor, holes in the roof. The separation between classes is almost non-existent. Then ... read more

January 7, 2011: “La Sagrada Familia and First Impressions changed” In the morning we met for breakfast in the hotel. The fruit was delicious! After breakfast we walked past The University of Barcelona, quite beautiful, to the Universidad stop at the Metro. We took the metro to Sagrada Familia. Walking out of the metro I was definitely not expecting to see the church upon immediately walking out. It’s breathtaking from the outside. Even with the construction cranes, one may think it takes away from the beauty but I think knowing the history makes you appreciate the crane once you just take a quiet moment for yourself to take it all in. Across the street is a pond so we took the students to the pond and Adam gave a history lesson about the history of the ... read more

January 6, 2011 Landing in Barcelona: “First impressions” After landing and getting our luggage we made it to the hotel Le Meriden Barcelona. Driving to the hotel I was getting my first glimpse of the city. It’s quaint, beautiful, and gothic in nature. There were people bustling about but it wasn’t too crowded. We learned at the hotel that we had arrived on “King’s Day,” a holiday celebrated after Christmas. Most of the locals were not out and about as they were with family. What I noticed most on the first day was that this city that I thought would be full of life almost seemed shut down. All stores in Barcelona have metal garage doors that cover the storefronts and most of the shops were closed. Walking through the streets one saw a lot of ... read more

Day 12: Travel to Scotland: 6th day of study tour Yet again another early morning. We met for breakfast and made sure everyone was ready before taking the bus to the train station. Once there we waited for our train. We got on the train and I fell alseep for until an announcement came on that said there was complimentary WiFi! Really! I was so excited I woke up and got out my computer. That's when I uploaded the text from the Paris trip. I couldn't do photos for some reason, I'm not sure if it was the connection- but I tired uploading photos on the travel blog, snapfish, kodak, photo bucket and nothing would work. It was the first time I had internet access since I left the States. Another very BIG difference between the ... read more

Day 10: Stratford-Upon-Avon (4th day of study tour) So we woke up early- I think we were at breakfast at 6:30 and on the bus by 7am for the two hour ride to Stratford. Most of us slept on the bus. Once we arrived we looked at the map to figure out where we had to meet our tour guide for the day. I am quite proud to say that I was able to figure it out!!! Usually I don’t even bother looking because Adam and Stephanie are so good with maps that I just follow along but yea!!!! I figured it out. We had an excellent tour guide named Helen. She was fantastic. It was obvious that she enjoyed her job and enjoyed talking about the history of Stratford. What a nice break from London ... read more