BARCELONA!

Today  is Thursday.   We had an early wake up call and boarded a high speed train to Barcelona.  The train was such a delightful ride.  The seats were leather and reclined nicely.  The best thing about the ride was that it was absolutely silent. It looked like a silver bullet as it sped through the country side.  After we arrived in Barcelona, we took a nice walk to a culinary restaurant. The wait staff were so cute and attentive.  The food was delicious.  I had calilonies stuffed with sausage and topped with a creamy cheese  sauce and a crusted Parmesan topping.  I then had duck with a chutney, fruity sauce. We enjoyed our meals very well.  Then we walked in the streets and took in some shopping. The city itself has a lot of apartments.  Again, it is very clean and not much traffic. We also went to an artwork shop.  We learned how to make a mosaic dish. I found this very relaxing to make. It needs to be baked in a kiln at 800 degrees Celsius.  We will get them tomorrow.  I am excited to see the finished product!  We also practiced Salsa dancing. That was a lot of fun. It took place in a studio down a windy street.  It was very ethnic and Latin. We all enjoyed the lesson. 

WEDNESDAY SCHOOL VISIT

We went to the Gaudem school today.  They had a very interesting concept of fusing the death with other children.  The school approximately has 1,000 students.   It starts at age three and goes up to high school age.   In each section, the children are divided into sections named in colors and groups such as animals or planets.  There are deaf children in the green groups. Here, they have two teachers and sign language is also taught.  This school has no books for the younger children.  They learn through projects.  The school also has a school wide project starting in January.   The teachers stay late one day after school to decorate the school in the theme of the project.  The next day, the kids come in and learn what the school wide project will be for the remainder of the year.   The school day starts at 9 and ends at 5.  They do have a long lunch break which includes lunch, sports and swimming.  Then classes resume at 3 with classes until 5pm.   

TUESDAY, THE OLIVE OIL FARM

Today, we had a great tour of the olive oil farm.  It is a family owned business.  The process was very interesting to learn about.  All olives become black,  depending on when they are picked. The first couple of pickings, the olives are green and the oil is very "green " tasting. The olives need to be crushed and the oil spun out.  We had an oil tasting.  Chocolate ice cream was served with orange flavored olive oil. YUM!  

MONDAY. 2/15. ANOTHER AMAZING DAY!!

Our day started with a visit to a private school.  The grades went from preschool to senior year.  The teachers get to know the children and their parents quite well.  I visited fourth grade and second grade. It was English day which means that whole day was taught in English. So they alternate days between English and Spanish.   The kids were great. Their day begins at nine and finishes at 4:30.  Their parents pay 400 Euros  per month for their child.  We then had lunch at the country club around the corner from the school.   Very nice!   We then toured the bullfighting arena in Seville.  Absolutely amazing!   Matadors are very famous in Spain.  It is quite the show!   After that we walked around Seville. We toured a beautiful cathedral.  Then an old Arabic  Building that has been used in several movies. We then took a river cruise through Seville. Quite nice and relaxing. We ended the day with a Flamenco show and dinner. This was so entertaining!

Sunday. 2/14

Today, so far has been fascinating.  Our day started with a tour of La Alhambra.  This place dates back to the 1300's.  There were beautiful gardens with well manicured bushes and fountains. Then, we went inside and took a tour of the palace.  The structure was very Arabic in appearance.  Many different rooms were inside, including rooms for just the king and his servants and rooms for the queen and other ladies and their children and servants.  There were toilets and baths for the people, which were ideas from the Romans.  So excited to find out that Queen Isabella gave Christopher Columbus permission to sail to find a route to India right at La Alhambra!! And we were standing in the exact room!  I was so thrilled to find this out!  We also walked to lunch to a Moroccan Tea Room.  We had a vegetable soup and my entree was a crusted meat pie.  

Gypsy Dancing!

What an experience we had Saturday night.  We took an evening walk through Granada.  The shops were great and the sidewalks were beautifully tiled. Streets were very clean and quaint.  We had a lovely dinner and then took a walking tour through the Arabic section of Granada. Streets were windy and narrow and paved with well worn rocks that were laid down thousands of years ago.  The Arabic influence were quite evident in the houses and buildings. We ended the evening with going to a Gypsy cave.  Chairs were all set up and we were given wine. There were pictures on the wall and copper bowls hanging from the curved ceiling. We were given wine and then the entertainment started.  Gypsies danced and sang and tapped their wooden heels on the wooden flooring. Quite the show!!!