Hi everyone! I'm so sorry that it has been so long since I have updated the blog. I feel like we have been non-stop since about the beginning of July in our household. I will try to update whenever I have a free moment until we are all caught up.
This summer I took 48 Spanish and French students to Madrid, Barcelona and Paris. We had 60 total people in our group (including chaperones) and were gone for 10 days. We left 24 hours after the terrorist attacks in Nice, France, so it was definitely stressful and nerve wracking. However, the students were still super excited about everything, so we were able to relax a little and have some fun when we finally got there. I couldn't have asked for a better group of students. They were so well behaved, never complained, and wanted to experience everything they possibly could. The chaperones that went with me were also fantastic and really helped me make it through the trip. We endured the crazy heat (105 degrees in Madrid), ate delicious food everywhere we went, had amazing tour guides that we were so lucky to have/meet, and saw some amazing palaces, museums, and wonders of Europe! Even though I think traveling is a great opportunity and experience for our students, I am done leading trips for awhile. It is time for someone else to take over because 10 days is just way too long to be away from my own family. And I'm getting way too old to only sleep 4-5 hours a night max for 10 straight days. Maybe I will start traveling again when my boys are old enough to go with me :)
I took a ton of pictures, so it is hard to narrow down what I want to post. Also, since I went to Barcelona two years ago and posted all those pics already, I won't re post pics again (even though I absolutely love Park Guell and La Sagrada Familia). Here are some of my favorites from our trip. Enjoy!
Selfie with students on our first flight from Cleveland to Atlanta
Since we had a 9-hour flight from Atlanta to Madrid, we were able to see the sunset and the sunrise from the plane window.
We were on two flights on the way to Europe. My group got in on time, but the other plane was delayed about 6 hours. Here are the students who were on my flight hanging out in downtown Madrid.
Retiro Park in Madrid…gorgeous
A group pic of the chaperones at the Royal Palace in Madrid
The Royal Palace
We went on a bus to get from Madrid to Barcelona. Here is our bus selfie
Group pic with some of our students at our hotel in Barcelona
First meal in Madrid….Paella (Specialty of Spain)…it was delicious!!
The soccer boys admiring the Soccer Stadium in Barcelona.
The Soccer Stadium
Our hotel in Barcelona was incredible. It had a roof top pool and bar. We spent some time there after bed checks with the students one night. Here is a group pic with most of the chaperones.
Selfie with Karen at Park Guell in Barcelona
Some of the students at the beach on our bike tour in Barcelona.
The Bike Tour was so much fun. Here are Karen and I
The Beach and Harbor in Barcelona
Beach Day
We took a high speed train from Barcelona to Paris. Here is our train pic
Seeing the Eiffel Tower for the first time with Amber and Karen
We took a boat cruise our first night in Paris and got to see the Eiffel Tower all lit up It was amazing!
We also got to see the Eiffel Tower twinkling…it does it once an hour at night.
The following day, we went back to Paris and got to actually go up in the Eiffel Tower.
On the first platform of the Eiffel Tower with Amber
A view from the Eiffel Tower
Some of our students under the Eiffel Tower
Looking up from the ground
This was the tour director of my bus, Fernando. He was fantastic and the students loved him!
Fernando's wife, Myra, was the tour director on the other bus. What a fun couple!!
Selfie with two of my favorite students. I am next to Emily and Katie is in the background.
Karen (special Ed teacher), Amber (French teacher) and myself in front of Notre Dame Cathedral. These two girls helped me survive the trip…they were amazing! They made me laugh a lot and we had a ton of fun together. Karen also went with me two years ago to Costa Rica!
Pretty views of Paris
The Louvre
Arc de Triumph
The beautiful gardens of Versailles, France
And the palace
Group picture of all the students our last night in Paris.
On our last night of the trip, the chaperones had a celebratory drink in the hotel lobby since we survived. Don't worry, my principal came with us on the trip and it was his idea!!
Here are my plane selfies for the trip home. We traveled for 27 straight hours from the time we left Paris until we finally landed in Cleveland, so don't mind how delirious I look!
It was definitely a long 10 days, and I missed my sweet boys a ton, but I'm glad we went. It was a wonderful adventure that I will never forget! I was pretty exhausted and jet lagged for a couple days after I got back, but I was soooo excited to see Landon and Keegan. A big thank you to Rod and Dixie who came out and helped watch the boys while I was gone. We really appreciate it! :)
