June 12 - Arrival in Madrid

The first day of a transatlantic trip is not an easy day, but I am so proud of each and every one of the students on this trip. We encountered some pretty challenging moments in the last 36 hours of travel, yet they faced every one with laughter and a great attitude. They were tired, hot, and sweaty, but our tour manager is already praising their curiosity and resilience. There were smiles and amazement all around when we came out of the metro into the gorgeous plazas of central Madrid. There were also so many questions about what we get to see and do tomorrow! I can’t wait to explore more over the next few days!

Reflections by Lily Cassin and Fiona Reilley

Hola! Today was our first day in Madrid.

After almost a full day of traveling, we made it to the hotel that we’ll stay at for the week. We started with an AC-less bus ride to JFK. When we got on our 6 and a half hour flight, we sat on the tarmac for an hour as air traffic from storms in the Midwest finally cleared up. So we also arrived in Lisbon, Portugal, an hour late and had to book it across the airport, taking shortcuts through customs in order to make our connecting flight to Madrid - but we made it!

Upon arrival, we met our tour guide for the week, Carolina (pronounced like North Carolina, she tells us), who took us on another bus (with AC) to check into our hotel. After about an hour of downtime to refresh and refuel, we took the metro to Plaza de Sol and explored local landmarks, including Plaza Mayor. We learned more of the history of Madrid, and touched the butt of the statue “El Oso y el Madroño” for 7 years of good luck.

We then walked to dinner at the beautiful Restaurante La Cathedral where we had salad and swordfish before enjoying some gelato. We thoroughly enjoyed the architecture and some street performers’ violin playing. We’re looking forward to the upcoming events this week, particularly our tapas cooking class tomorrow!