España 2001

From April 11th-20th, 2001 10 students, 2 teachers, and 4 other adults traveled to Spain for a 10 day Spanish extravaganza!

We traveled with EF Educational Tours and took their "Madrid to Mallorca" tour.  I recommend it to anyone who is looking to travel to Spain.  

Our Itinerary

Click on the links in the text below to see pictures of the different sites we visited during our trip!

Day 1:  Flight to Spain

Departed Detroit Metro at 9:30pm on Wednesday, April 11th.  Arrived in Amsterdam, Netherlands at 11:30am (their time) on Thursday morning.  Departed Amsterdam at 12:25pm and arrived in Barcelona, Spain at 2:35pm.  After a LONG layover, we left Barcelona at 6:15pm and arrived in Palma de Mallorca at 6:45pm.

 

Day 2:  Arrival in Mallorca

We finally arrived in Mallorca and took a short bus ride to our hotel in Can Pastilla, right outside of the capital, Palma de Mallorca.  After dinner and a quick swim in the Mediterranean, we headed for bed after the long flight.

 

Day 3:  Free day in Mallorca

 

Our first day was a relaxing one...nothing but free time.  Most students took the day to enjoy the Mediterranean on the beach, while others explored the town of Can Pastilla, where we stayed.  Some of us took a trip to the other side of Mallorca where we saw the Cuevas de Drach in Porto Cristo and the Monasterio de San Salvador in the Mallorcan countryside on the southeastern portion of the island.

 

Day 4:  Guided tour of Palma de Mallorca

After a nice continental breakfast, we headed to meet our local guide, Mercedes, who showed us around the capital.  We visited the 700 year old Castillo Bellver, the Catedral de Palma, the Palacio Real de la Almudaina, and had a free afternoon in Palma to explore the city and enjoy the Mallorcan culture.  That night we boarded an overnight ferry (at 11pm) to Barcelona, our next stop.

 

Day 5:  Guided tour of Barcelona

It happened, our first delay.  The bus was late picking us up from the port when we arrived at 8am.  Oh well.  After jetting to the hotel to drop off our gear and meet our guide, Sergio, we began our guided tour.  Driving through Barcelona we saw many beautiful sights, including some buildings designed by Antoní Gaudi and the Olympic stadium for the '92 summer games.  We stopped at the Pueblo Español designed for the 1929 World Fair, as well as a visit through the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona.  Later, we took a walk by La Sagrada Familia designed by Gaudí, and of course walked La Rambla.  After relaxing in the Plaza Mayor it was back to the hotel.

 

Day 6:  Barcelona

We started our day by touring Parque Güell, designed by Antoní Gaudi.  Then it was off to Moncho's on the Mediterranean for a paella lunch.  After lunch...free time.  I spent it exploring Las Ramblas and traveling back to La Sagrada Familia where I paid the 850 pesetas and went inside and climbed up the bell towers...ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!  At night we opted to attend a Flamenco performance.  It was WELL worth the late evening.  (11pm performance, arrived at the hotel just before 2am)

 

Day 7:  Transfer to Madrid through Zaragoza

Arrived in Zaragoza after a 3.5 hour bus ride.  In Zaragoza we explored the Basilica de Nuestra Señora del Pilar and explored the Plaza Mayor.  After having lunch down one of the side streets, we boarded the bus and headed for Madrid.  Arriving in Madrid about 7pm, we unloaded our gear at the hotel and then headed to dinner.  After dinner, off to bed.

 

Day 8:  Toledo and Madrid

We started the day off by traveling to Toledo where we saw sooo much.  Toledo was, in my opinion, the most beautiful city we visited.  In the afternoon, we had our guided tour of Madrid.  On our guided tour we visited the Plaza de España, the Prado Museum, the Palacio Real, as well as some other sites.  We actually saw the King (Juan Carlos I) leaving the palace, as he was using it that day for a state function.  We had some free time in the evening, which I used to head out to the Plaza de Toros (Las Ventas) for some photos, as well as enjoy the atmosphere of the Plaza Mayor.  We had a tapas dinner in a restaurant that was formerly a dungeon, complete with a live Tunas band.

 

Day 9:  Valley of the Fallen, El Escorial, Segovia

We started our day at El Valle de los Caídos, Franco's memorial/Basilica for those who died in the Spanish Civil War.  After that, off to El Escorial a royal city and palace built as the summer palace and burial place of MANY members of past royal families.  After having lunch near the palace, we drove to Segovia - another beautiful city with many beautiful sites including the oldest aqueducto romano in the world (only 2000 years old) and El Alcázar a castle occupied by many kings and queens, including Fernando and Isabella during their struggle to expel the Moors from Spain.

 

Day 10:  Flight home

We left Madrid from Barajas Airport at 6:45am.  Landed in Frankfurt, Germany at 10:30(ish), had a layover until 1:15pm and arrived back in Detroit at 4:10pm (our time) on Friday, April 20th.  An absolutely wonderful trip...I can't wait to get back.

 

 

 

Feel free to   with questions or comments.

 

 

This page was last updated 08/06/03.