Spain and France USM trip June 2013

Traveling with 38 middle school kids, four other teachers, and at least one if not three tour guides at any one time is quite the experience. While nothing happens quickly, we are extremely impressed by this group's manners and interest in all aspects of the trip.

We are now coming to the end of day three in Spain, the first two of which were spent in Madrid. We arrived sleep deprived after a night of movie watching and resting but not really sleeping on the plane. That gets mentioned first because it absolutely does color the first day's experience. Still, we hit the ground running and had an incredible day. We spent the morning walking and hit a few sights including Plaza Mayor and treats at a pastry shop, La Mallorquina. Lunchtime allowed some wandering in the Mercado de San Miguel, which reminded us of the Milwaukee Public Market only all Spanish choices. We met up after lunch with our local guide to tour the Palacio Real, which is a must do activity in Madrid.  Riding the Metro to Retiro Park is another great experience for the students, and they did a great job learning the routine. Going to Spain in June is quite different than March because of the warm temperatures. We rented rowboats on the small lake in the park and soaked in the sun in the idyllic setting. Jeff and I tried to meet up with Hannah Rice but unfortunately she wasn't feeling well and the phone issues kept us from connecting later. Tired but happy, our entire group walked all the way back to the hotel and took in many sights and sounds along the way.

      

Our final day in Madrid started with a bus tour of the city and stopped along the way for photo opps including the obilisque that was designed by Santiago Calatrava, who designed the Milwaukee Art Museum. Our tour ended with the Prado Museum. Next we took the Metro to the soccer stadium. Split into two groups and had a long lunch, so long that we were late four our meeting with the private school that USM has a relationship with. While that meant that the formal activities they had planned went by the wayside, everything worked out well because the kids bonded with the Spanish students and played games in the school courtyard. The students are calling that interaction a true highlight of the trip. 

Jeff and I sneaked away for an adventure of our own meeting Elisa Gomez, the student we will host in the fall, and her immediate family. They picked us up at the school and took us to their home, which is a condo like home the size of our house. Elisa is finishing her freshman year in high school and is the oldest of three children. Her younger sister Maria is 13 and her brother Alvero is 10. The parents are also Elisa and Alvero and are about five years younger than we are. We had a lovely time getting to know each other, preparing Elisa for what to expect in the fall, and sharing an amazing Spanish meal together. We arrived back at the hotel just in time to join the group for chocolate con churros back in the Plaza Mayor area. Think fried donuts dipped in a substance that’s somewhere between hot chocolate and fudge. Our location is nice because we can do all that on foot. By the time we got back it was midnight with a 7 am wake up call. Ouch!

After breakfast today we boarded a bus for Escorial where we toured the monastery, which is currently used as a school. While we had been there before, I didn't remember much from our last visit so I enjoyed it as a new experience. It was then on to Segovia for a tour of the city and its famous Roman aqueduct

and castle with a nice break for lunch in between. We are currently riding to Burgos which is a gorgeous drive through the countryside.

June 15, 2013

We are sitting on a beach in Biarritz, France, a little coastal town not far over the border from Spain. I will get to our day today in a moment, but first let me go back and pick it up at Burgos. We stayed in a fairly fancy hotel and had dinner there as a group. About 20 of us headed out for a moonlight walk through town and ended up at the square featuring a statue of a pilgrim. Apparently there is a well known pilgrimage in Spain, France and Portugal tracing the footsteps of St. James. The symbol marking the route looks like a shell and we have seen it a few times since.

Friday started with a tour of the cathedral of Burgos which has many different chapels sponsored by the wealthy families of the times. There must have been quite a lot of wealth because they are laden with gold and valuable art. We headed out for a day of bus travel and stops at amazingly cool places. Bilbao was where Jeff and Todd spent a month two summers ago when they had a grant from school to take a class and immerse themselves in Spanish culture. The city was once totally industrial but now is a very cool combination of old ad modern since the Guggenheim Museum was built in the late 1990s. Lunch took place in a mall where we managed to have an incredible little meal for less than 3 Euros. Mine was a tortilla Espanol with a crab sauce that I won't soon forget. We strolled by the river and took in all the sculptures outside the museum, including a giant puppy made of bright flowers.  

The museum itself is an incredible work of art and it holds art from an interesting time in Spanish history before, during and after WWII. Sixty minutes was not nearly enough to do the place justice, but we listened to the tour on headphones and got to as many exhibits as we could without completely rushing. Though we hated to leave so soon, we had much left to do that day. The ride to San Sebastian was another rich in scenery with farms and villas. Spain has had a wet spring so everything is green while we are told that it will be brown and gold later in the summer.

The stop in Sebastian was truly a tease because we got just 90 minutes to walk along the ocean and take in the gorgeous landscape and architecture. Oh, and we did manage to make a few minutes for gelato in a cute shop downtown. Jeff would like to spend considerable time in that region someday and though I don't speak the language, I think I would be content to hang out there, eat the amazing food and take in the sights. Another beautiful bus ride to Biarritz took us to still another good meal at the hotel, though this one was rather simple with chicken, green beans and a delightful apple tart. Free time at the hotel gave us a chance to reconnect to the world via phone, e-mail and Facebook, and it’s probably good not to get too far removed from reality.

Today is our completely unscheduled day and a chance to explore Biarritz on foot, walk the promenade where one view is more beautiful than the next, and ahhhh, hang out on the beach. We started the day at a market which was a result of our quest to find the Milwaukee Cafe, started by a woman from where else but Milwaukee who had married a French man who was a professional highligh player. Her daughter was working there at the time and it was funny to hear someone speak English with no European accent. We treated ourselves to sweet treats, most of which would be consumed later as a mid morning snack. A little jewelry stand in the parking lot provided the first splurge opportunity of the day.

Then we moved on to a long group walk where I probably took 300 photos of the water, rocks, flowers and statues. One cool spot had a statue of the virgin and was a gathering spot for artists. A few of us bought some nice water colors.

The kids got some time to themselves and the teachers managed to find a quaint Italian restaurant off the beaten path with great food at a reasonable price. Never have I had so much good food back to back. I keep hoping I won't like something so it will be a bit easier to stop. We are building in as much free time as possible today so we give everyone the chance to do what appeals. Some in the group visited a maritime museum while others hit the boutiques.

While it was hard to leave Biarritz, we had much ahead of us so we boarded a bus and headed toward Tours. We stopped along the way at our first incredible castle in the Loire Valley: Chenonceau.  I really enjoy the history of the castles, especially Chenonceau since it was significant through key parts of history and even served as a hospital in WWI and free zone in WWII since it spanned the river with one side being German occupied and the other holding firmly French. Again, it was lovely to see the castles in warm weather. Another amazing dinner at a little French restaurant in Tours– the highlight was an amazing salad with goat cheese.

The following day a bus took us to and Chambord, the castle known as a hunting retreat for kings. Another highlight that day was the cathedral at Chatres, known for its beautiful blue stained glass that’s like no other. We were on a rather tight schedule that day as we had a TGV to catch, this time bound for Paris. With just two days in this great city, we had to fit a lot in. We started with an evening booking at Le Louvre and had about two hours to take in as much as possible. This time summer would play against us because the crowds were noticeably larger, but we still had a wonderful time. The group stayed in two different hotels in right next to each other in Paris.

Our last full day in France was more like two in one because we fit so much in: a bus tour stopping at the main sights including the Eiffel Tower,a tour through a perfume factory, time hanging out in the Latin Quarter where we ventured out and had falafels at a little storefront stand, Montmartre including my favorite spot with the artists painting in the square at the top, dinner, the boat ride down the Seine and finally, going up the Eiffel Tower at 11 pm. On the hour the tower’s white lights blink and we got to see it at 11 and yes, midnight. We would have to rush back for a few hours sleep before heading back to the US on June 19. What a great trip!