Allons-y!

We are writing this from the Hotel Adonis in Carcassonne, France! 

We left Barcelona this morning (the local Spaniards there pronounce it Barthelona…..thoth thillly Thpaniardth).*  We left by bus and travelled over the Pyrenees mountains to the city of Collioure.  Collioure is an old French naval base right on the Mediterranean coast.  The village was painted in part by the artist Matisse, who thought that the village could use some color, not necessarily color of nature, but color of “feelings” (we think).  The kids were able to walk around the village, eat lunch, and play on the beach (dipping their tootsies into the Mediterranean Sea).  The beach here is not like what we think of as a beach in the U.S, as there is no sand… at all.  It is made up of rocks and the water is pretty cold until August or September.  The students were very entertained in the village, watching celebrations and listening to music, as it will be the 68^th anniversary of D-Day on the 6^th of this month (last year’s trip had us in Normandy, on Utah beach, on June 4^th :^).  There was a ceremony commemorating this event near a war memorial in their local park that some of the students watched.

Afterwards, we rode another two hours on the bus to the city of Carcassonne.  While on the bus, Pauline had the students get into groups to talk about some of the paintings that we saw in Spain.  They were to perform a skit (which we did right before dinner) selling their painting to millionaires (played by Pauline, Andrea, and me).  They had to review information about the painting, and creatively present their painting and convince us to buy it. 

We arrived at Carcassonne and went immediately to our hotel, which has rooms bigger than my first apartment, with separate living areas and kitchenettes. Once we settled in our rooms it was time to go to the walled fortress.  We learned what it was like in the days of yore, and why the fortress was built the way it was; with the moat around it, as well as inside around the chateau, and why there are long slits in the walls called arrow loops (ask your kids about these and see if they were paying attention. :^).  Then after our tour, we had more time to shop and roam the fortress.  What were once living quarters are now souvenir shops, creperies, and candy shops, so there were plenty of places to browse.  At the main entrance, for some unknown reason, a swarm of bees were migrating from somewhere to somewhere.  We had to go through them.  It freaked out a few of the kids but most of them bee hived (ouch…that joke stung a little). 

Then it was on to dinner at the top of the fortress in a small restaurant where we dined on salad for an appetizer, roasted duck as the main course, served with small fried potatoes and a side of ratatouille (the kids knew this because of the movie :^)), followed by a dessert of crème brulée with a syrup-like sauce.  It was one of the best meals yet, and surprisingly enough, they all gave it a try.  They have all been very brave with the food on this trip.  We have been VERY impressed with their gastronomical courage.  It was also one of the best meals for conversation (when we ate our first dinner in Madrid, the kids were very quiet, but now they are all talking non-stop like they have been friends forever). Once dinner was over, the students roamed the fortress until nightfall, then we walked back to the hotel (it was about a five minute walk as we are REALLY close to the fortress).

Tomorrow we will be riding on the bus again to Toulouse to see the city there for lunch, then we board a train for Paris.  The ride should be about 6 hours or so.  We’ll try to write more tomorrow night, although it might be minimal if the train ride is uneventful :^).

Bonne nuit!

I HAVE A NEW PASSPORT!!!

I mean all problems have been solved and we are back on track to finish out our trip smoothly as we continue on to France in the morning by going to Carcassonne after a brief stop after somewhere, but honestly we are so tired we can’t remember what Pauline told us. :^)  We’ll write it somewhere for tomorrow night’s blog while we’re not sleeping on the bus.

Today, however, was a FABULOUS day for everyone; jam packed full of Gaudi, Gaudi, and more Gaudi.  The kids learned a lot today and probably can tell you everything you need to know about….. wait…… what was his name?  Oh yeah, Gaudi.  We started this day with a bus tour of Barcelona, it’s Mediterranean coastline, the Olympic stadium, and an old bull fighting ring (bull fighting has been outlawed in Barcelona now and only a few events are still held in Madrid…now there’s only basebull, basketbull, and beach volleybull and bull hockey).** but mostly * :^).  No seriously…. We wouldn’t steer you wrong.

Annnnnnnnnd we’re walking……

Our next stop was La Sagrada Familia, a cathedral started by Gaudi, with plans left for others to finish because he knew it would not be completed during his lifetime.  It is still under construction (paid for with only donated funds) and will be completed 100 years after his death in 2026.  Gaudi wanted this cathedral to be warm and colorful, a contrast to the dark, cold, gothic style church (ie, Notre Dame).  It also uses images found in nature, as Gaudi loved nature and put it into everything he created, with natural lines and contours as well as imagery.  Which brings us to our next stop, lunch.*  It happened to be at a buffet called Lactuca (a chain in Spain…you choose how to finish that :^).

After lunch we continued on to Casa Mila.  A house built by ol’ what’s his name* as a residence for Mrs. Mila, a affluent member of the Barcelona community at the time of its construction.  There are no straight lines in the exterior of this building nor any 90 degree angles.  It was built to represent the sea, including seaweed iron balconies, and tile floors with sea creatures carved into them.

From there we went to Parc Güell, this park was designed by Gaudi and originally was to be the center of 60 homes built for the upper class to live in, however his work did not sell, nor was it popular at the time, so only one was sold of the three that were built, Gaudi kept one, and the third house went to one of Spain’s higher-ups (we think).  The road the houses is held up by a columnar bridge designed to look like palm trees.  This is where all of the girls got the answer to the question they have been asking for the last few days; “In Barcelona, do we get to see where the Cheetah Girls went in their movie?”   This is the place.  There is a dragon that “guards” the entrance to the parc that was in the movie.  Please refer to the picture. :^)

After Parc Guell we did a little more sight seeing on the bus, and then ended at Plaza Catalunya to watch some street performers and make some phone calls.  From there we walked to dinner at a Tapas restaurant.  This dinner consisted of a mixed green salad with veggies for an appetizer, chicken and patatas (taters to you and me)* and chocolate mousse and chocolate for dessert.  At the end of dinner we took the Metro (which I, of course, was apprehensive about, but the kids did just fine) back to the bottom of La Rambla to a Flamenco show.  We didn’t have time to explain Flamenco to the kids prior to the show, so Pauline explained it when the show was over, how the music and singing represent unhappiness, hurt, anger, and sadness for different family, or historic situations.  Flamenco is not just dancing.  In fact it started as songs around a campfire where poor families didn’t own a drum or guitar to accompany the singing.  The beat was held by rhythmic clapping and stomping which are now key “instruments” in the performance.

Then we walked back to the hotel.  Though it was a busy day, it was chock full of education, history, and culture, not to mention, problem solving, relationship building, bonding, and fun.  We may owe our good fortune today to Kenna, who, while at Plaza Catalunya, took one for the team*, and was the lucky recipient* of a kamikaze pigeon, who pooped on her sleeve, exacting revenge for yesterday’s terrorizing.**  Gracias Kenna.

So much for finishing before midnight.  Going to bed.  Hasta demain!

(PS, I will have a new page linked to this one for our time in France, if I can figure out how to get it to work. :^)

Today started off like any other normal day on an NETC tour…the students got their wake up call at 630 and we were down for breakfast at 730.  We stopped to take a picture in the stairwell of the hotel as the spiral staircase provides a perfect backdrop for what we would think to lead to a perfect day. :^)  After breakfast we took the bus to the AVE (Spanish for “bird” or “high speed train” (that one is Andrea’s joke)) to head for Barcelona.   The train ride was very uneventful as most everyone (Andrea and I, and maybe Lauren*) slept.  We rode this train with the other NETC group (of 45 high schoolers) we were originally supposed to travel our tour with.  It was a sight trying to get all of the luggage for everyone loaded and unloaded, however, being the well-oiled middle school machine that we are, it went flawlessly thanks mostly to your kids forming an “assembly line” quickly.

We arrived at our hotel, the hotel Tryp Apolo, shortly after noon.  After a smooth and efficient check-we headed off to the subway to go to lunch and the Picasso Museum where the students were able to view some of the earlier works of Picasso, showing "his growth as an artist and morph into a cubist."

This is pretty much where the smoothness of the day came to a halt for a little bit, for as we boarded the very crowded Metro on our way to lunch and the museum, we were so busy with keeping the students corralled that I was PICK-POCKETED (of all things).  After reminding the students frequently to keep their passport holders (often times also holding money) around their necks, dumb me still had mine in my pocket.  It was stolen as we entered the subway car.  I realized it as soon as the perpetrators left the subway car just as the doors closed.  Luckily the kids were corralled the way we had taught them, so they were not affected or in harm’s way.  While the students went to the Museum with Andrea and Pauline, I took a cab back to the hotel and cancelled my debit card and back-up credit card and will be getting my new passport at the embassy in the morning.  The students were very surprised at how quickly and easily these “thieves” move (very much like magicians :^).  They were also very supportive, and their loving character came out when they wanted to buy us lunch and offered us some of their your money if we needed it :^) (luckily, there was no money in my passport holder).  What an amazing group!  This also served as a first-hand life lesson for them, and me too…that now I should listen to Andrea I guess.  The students were also surprised at how positive we were during the whole situation when I stated with smiling enthusiasm “sure I got pick-pocketed, but I got pick-pocketed IN BARCELONA!!." :^)

I rejoined the group after their trip to the Museum and carried on with our incredible journey through the city.  We spent a couple of hours shopping at Las Ramblas (the 16^th street mall of Barcelona, only 10 times longer, and with local artists selling their work) and watching the street performers (living statues).  You should know that the kids picked out some very thoughtful gifts for you.  At the north end of Las  Ramblas is a circular square (please, just go with it) called Plaza Catalunya.  We had some quality downtime relaxing in front of some fountains and the students talked about what they have been enjoying about the trip (mostly food and shopping* :^)  The square is full of pigeons that the students enjoyed feeding, chasing, and terrorizing (ahhhhhh….middle schoolers*).  On one corner of the circular square was our restaurant for dinner, Navarra.  We had a tremendous meal starting with Risotto as the appetizer (with bread), a main course of glazed porkchops and fresh veggies, followed by a dessert of tiramisu sprinkled with cocoa and topped with kiwi.

Afterwards we had a leisurely stroll down Las Ramblas again on our way back to the hotel.  The students should now be in bed and sleeping very soundly (as angels should).

Tomorrow, we are off to see more of Barcelona on a sight-seeing tour around the city by bus with a local native, Eva.  Our tour will include the Royal Palace, the Olympic stadium, Sagrada Familia, Casa Mila, and Parc Güell.  We will also be going to a Flamenco show after dinner. 

Again, Buenas Nachos.

(*indicates joke by Andrea, as she wants some credit for humor too)*

(**indicates combined effort to make you laugh)**