Barcelona part 1

We arrived in Barcelona in time for lunch. In the afternoon we took a bus tour of the city and then attended a fantastic piano concert in the Palau de la Musica Catala.

Zaragoza

Today we drove the three hours from Burgos to Zaragoza. We toured the city by bus and by foot, spending time at the basilica, bell tower, Roman theater, Expo 2008 center and the multi century Aljaferia palace.

The road to Burgos

Today we left Madrid and made our way north to Burgos with a stop in Santo Domingo de Silos. We were able to visit the monastery of Santo Domingo de Silos and hear the monks perform Gregorian Chant. After a quick lunch, we travelled on to Burgos where we toured the French Gothic Cathedral and the city center.

Madrid Day 2

Today we experienced Madrid in a variety of ways. We started the day off with a bus tour of the city highlights and then got off at the Prado museum. Students enjoyed a guided tour of the museum and then we went on a walking tour of some of the city center. After some free time for lunch, exploring and shopping, we headed back to the hotel to prepare for the evening entertainment--flamenco! Before dinner and the show, a guitarist demonstrated how guitars are made and also gave a brief history lesson. The Tapas dinner soon followed and then the incredible flamenco show finished off the day for us.

All the students are doing great and most have even been at least trying the food! The trip is going fast--tomorrow we bus to Burgos.

Day 1-2

> After a solid day of traveling we spent Friday touring the city of Toledo. We were able to watch a jewelry-making and sword-making demonstration before beginning our walking tour of the city, synagogue and cathedral. After the city tour we traveled back to Madrid and ate a wonderful 4 course meal before crashing (a couple of the kids kind of crashed during the meal)!

Hello everyone!  This is a blog set up to keep track of Park Center and Osseo High School Band members as we travel in Spain this year.  Please feel free to share the link with your families and friends.  I will do my best to keep this updated on a day to day basis throughout the trip.

We will be meeting Thursday morning a the airport at 9:00 am--so pack your stuff, secure your passport, kiss your mother and say goodbye to your goldfish--roll out!

The day the blog forgot

Even though the group is back in the United States by now, I thought that I would finish up the trip with a summary of our Thursday adventures.

We began the day with a short bus ride to the Vatican for a tour through the museums and St. Peter's Basilica.  The first thing we noticed as we arrived at the Vatican was that the line to enter the museum was over a block long!  Fortunately for us, our group reservation let us skip the line and basically walk right into the museum checkpoint.  We passed through the entrance and into a courtyard where Loredana was able to explain the history and meaning of the fresco in the Sistine Chapel.  After a brief art and history lesson we meandered back up to the balcony for a group picture and then continued to the Acorn courtyard and into the indoor museums.

Our next stop was Laocoon and his sons in and the Belvedere Torso - both amazing examples of Greek sculpture displayed in the museum.  While most of the other sculptures in the museum are ancient Roman copies of earlier Greek pieces, these are well-preserved originals.  We then continued through the halls of sculpture, the hall of tapestries and the hall of maps and entered the Sistine chapel.  No photography is allowed in the Sistine chapel, so students were able to enjoy the masterpieces on the ceiling and walls without the distraction of trying to capture it with photos.  

Our final destination of the tour was St. Peter's Basilica - the Largest catholic church in the world.  Just inside the door, the first chapel holds Michelangelo's Pieta.  This sculpture is the only one actually signed by Michelangelo.  The tour through this church seemed to go quickly, but the sheer magnitude of the building would have been hard to appreciate with any amount of time.

After finishing the tour for the day, the rest of the afternoon was free time for everyone to explore the city center for a final time before we left the next day.  Some of the students took the opportunity to ride the elevator to the top of Vittoriano for a bird's-eye view of Rome.  Others went back for a last look at the Coliseum while some others spent the afternoon shopping or relaxing once they walked back to the hotel.  

Our final group event was a farewell dinner.  This 5 course meal was a relaxing and fun way to end the trip.  Bruschetta, 2 courses of pasta, a meat course, and then desert and coffee--I have no idea how Nate said that he was still hungry!  Along with the food a duet of a guitar player and a flute player, both of whom also sang, provided excellent entertainment and the perfect atmosphere.  The kids had a great time talking and eating, and it seemed a great way to connect with each other before we all packed up and left at 6:00 the next morning.

Landed

We are waiting to load at ATL. As of right now we are expecting to be on time for arrival.

Boarding the plane

We are all through security and should be boarding our plane to Atlanta shortly.

And we're walking...

Today we did a walking tour of much of Rome. Before lunch we toured the Coliseum, the Roman Forum, the Palatine Hill, the Spanish steps and the Trevi fountain. After lunch we walked to the Pantheon and the Navonna square before taking a bus to the Circus Maximus and then back to the hotel.

The kids were pretty tired, so many of them took a short rest before heading out again for free time in Rome. Some went back to places we had visited during the day and others stuck close by the hotel. They should all sleep well tonight!

The "She-Wolf" symbol of Rome--Romulus and Remus feeding from her.

Trevi Fountain by day

Fountain of Four Rivers - Navona Square 

Inside the dome of the Pantheon

The Pantheon--the most intact ancient Roman Temple

Loredana explaining the Ruins of the Palatine Hill

Arch of Constantine - beautifully adorned with scaffolding

The Spanish Steps

The Roman Forum - the building on the right is the
Ancient Roman Senate

Arch of Titus

Depiction of the treasures of the Temple of Jerusalem being
brought into Rome - the first depiction of a menorah in Roman artwork.
Inside the Arch of Titus

Park Center Band in the Coliseum

The Coliseum by night