Delta flights on time

Hello parents,

Please remember that we are on Delta flights: Barcelona to Atlanta (flight 115) leaves at 10:00 am and it now looks like it will get into Atlanta at 2:05 instead of 2:25 pm ( just a heads-up, Pete)

And from Atlanta to SFO (flight 2749), departing at 5:35 and arriving at SFO at 7:41.

All on time as of now. Please check these flights for any changes during the day tomorrow.

Well, signing off. Thanks so much for following our blog. Looking forward to seeing you all at home!

- Fondly,
JLS travelers

Barcelona and Costa Brava

Hello everyone,

Monday, June 28th was a walking day since we pretty much spent all of Sunday in sitting position on our long bus ride to Barcelona. We explored and explored Barcelona by foot, probably covering a good 7 miles. We started out in the ramblas, headed for the harbor, and negotiated the winding streets of the Bari Gotica (the older part of the city).

In the morning we were given a bus tour with an English speaking guide. She took us by the Sagrada Familia (Cathedral conceived by architect Gaudi and still not finished), Montejuic, hill overlooking the city and Park Guell (again a park and city respite gracias a Gaudi). (see photos of all)

Between our bus tour and our self guided walking tour, we stopped for more pinchos (bread canapes) and tapas at a restaurant just off the ramblas. The kids watched a replay of one of the soccer games. The next day we watched Spain versus Portugal (see Tejas´reaction on first photo). Everyone was very much into the game, routing for Spain, especially since USA had been eliminated after suffering a defeat from Ghana. (Ghana gano "Ghana won" I would make the play on words, since gano means won in Spanish. Nonethless, the kids didn´t appreciate it. Don´t blame em. ......

Now were at Costa Brava. Most of our team just went bike riding (see photos) the rest of us are shoppping for last minute souvenirs.

Hasta pronto

Sunday, June 27th

Hello everyone,

Trying to backtrack a bit to a few days ago and to go from there. My last blog entry we were in San Sebastian (actually it was Angela Chen who blogged) and you found out all about our adventures in San Sebastian. Hey, Angela, that walk around the mountain was good exercise and what they hey - we got to the beach after all!!!! ;) Okay, as you kids say "my bad" - if only one of you guys hadn´t noticed the cathedral......:)

The following day was a travel day. It took us nine hours to drive from San Sebastian to Barcelona. Actually the trip is only 7 hours but we took a two hour break in Pamplona. Good thing too, because our guide showed us the route of the ¨running on the bulls¨ (see photos). Did you know that the route is only about 4 blocks long and lasts only 5 to ten minutes? They set the bulls free every day at about 8 am. This last several days.

Then we are off to Barcelona, just in time for dinner. We were all treated to chicken paella and an accordian player who regaled the crowd. And, we celebrated Angela Chen´s birthday a day early (she had more celebrations the following day) with a ¨happy birthday serenade (check out pix). Sweet sixteen!

Back to the hotel at 10 pm (another full day). We all slept like logs.

Next blog - adventures in Barcelona.

Hasta pronto!

As we know a picture is worth a thousand words. So finally some photos! I

Finally a new blog entry

Hello everyone,

Sorry about the delay - just a lot going on and haven´t had a chance to use the hotel computers
Anyway, just a quick update to know that we´re on our penultimate day of the tour. We´re now staying in a small town on Costa Brava. On the agenda today is sunbathing, last minute souvenir shopping, walk through the town and again, more beach time. Today is really the most relaxing day of our voyage, the other days have been jammed packed!

Last night we watched Spain defeat Portugal and as they say in the states, " the crowd went wild." Tejas, especially was thrilled!!!! We all walked into the town center and amidst cheers of oles and upas we were amongst the fan revelry. Very cool. Then Mr. Howard (Keith) treated the kids to ice-cream. Very nice.

We were back in the rooms by 11 and the kids reported this morning that they all slept very soundly. Big days will do that to you!!

Okay, that´s all for now. I´ll be writing later today (with photos) and I´ll report on the flight status. We´ll be leaving tomorrow at 5:30 am for Barcelona Airport (Yikes)

Hasta Luego

"I thought they wouldn't notice!"

(ANGELA WROTE THIS, NOT MS. GRUNER. SO THIS IS A STUDENT SPEAKING. EXCEPT WITH MS. GRUNER'S APPROVAL. AND THIS IS THE RESPONSIBLE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT TOO.)

Today, we set off to the beach town of San Sebastian, or Donostia as it's called by the Basque locals. We had amazing views of the water, the beach, and the surrounding city (after our guide Roberto figured out which way we were supposed to look and not look. "Don't look right! Don't look right! Wait, we turned around... DON'T LOOK LEFT! LOOK DOWN ~~ Okay, now you can look... isn't it pretty :D?") In the morning, we stopped by Mount Igueldo amusement park, which was on top of a mountain by the Playa de la Concha, where we spent the afternoon.

For lunch, we ate some really amazing pintxos, a famous local dish, in the old part of the city. Pintxos (or pinchos as they're spelled in Spanish) are little bits of food like hors d'oeuvres, or canapés, except that they're bigger, more filling, and with with more interesting ingredients. Oh, and cheaper*! Two or three of those were enough for a solid meal (really. They're pretty big.) They're hard to explain... but they're really good!

In the afternoon, we went to the beach and spent a few hours there, after we managed to a) buy some towels (yeah. um. We all forgot those...), b) find the beach (great job, Señora! "I thought they wouldn't notice!"**) and c) find some shade (a toldo, awning, is not the same as a beach umbrella, a mistake I will never make again). It was sunny, the sand was hot, the water was cold, and we had some sodas and ice cream. It was great!

And now we're back at the hotel. Dinner is in a few hours, at the same time as the US v. Ghana fútbol soccer match... we'll brave the wrath of the waitresses to go run out to the TV between courses! (The waitresses are.... very controlling.... "No! You must all sit together! No, you must all come down to breakfast at the same time! No, YOU MAY NOT GET UP TO GO WATCH THE GAME!" and so on and so forth.)

*The per unit price of pintxos is higher than that of hors d'oeuvres or canapés, but the per meal price is lower, since you don't need to eat that many for a full meal.

**Ms. Gruner decided to lead us the long way to the beach around the coast instead of cutting back through the city center, wanting to avoid the students' complaints and "Hey We've Gone This Way Before What Are You Doing?". The "long way" ended up meaning "around the mountain", half an hour longer, and ended in the inevitable "Wait! That was the cathedral we saw in the city! Do you mean we could have just gone that way instead of all the way around!?" So much for not noticing...***

***Most of us wouldn't have noticed, except one student noticed... and that was the end of that. We noticed.

Exploring Bilbao

It was sad to say goodbye to Burgos, it is such a lovely city. However, the Basque Country awaited.

We arrived in Bilbao about 11 am and headed right for the Guggenheim Museum. We were all very intrigued by the "poppy puppy" sculpture in front of the museum (see pix), an emblem of the city.

We spent a couple of hours exploring the museum, each of us with our individualized taped guided tour. Of course while the students loved learning more about modern art, the real draw was the building itself. Shaped like a wave and made entirely of steel, it represents the host city itself. Bilbao is a port city with its main export being iron and steel.

After the Guggenheim we walked into the old town and had lunch at a terrace in front of the Gothic Cathedral. We made an impromptu decision (as we had a few hours of free time) to find the town's funicular. We had heard at the top there are amazing views of the city. Many of the students hadn't even heard of the word funicular, let alone been on one, so it was a real treat. I don't think there are very many in the states.

Anyway, after spending the day in Bilbao we headed for a rustic inn, our night's lodging in the backwoods of the Basque Country. We watched the Spain v. Chile soccer match in the hotel lodge along with tons of other screaming native Spanish soccer fans. Good thing Spain won! It was fun to feel the passion in the room.

Now, off to San Sebastian!!!

Hasta pronto.