2025 Strath Haven Spain Cultural Journey
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Day 7
This morning, we woke up for our final full day in Spain! After a buffet-style breakfast at the hotel, we wrote letters to our future selves that we will receive in 5 years and headed into Barcelona! We stopped at 3 “must-sees” on our way to lunch: Casa Pedrera, Casa Mila, and Battlo, all masterpieces by Antoni Gaudí!
After lunch, we made our way to tour the beautiful Sagrada Familia!! The intricate sculptures and stained glass, grouped into provinces of saints, were nothing short of breathtaking. We even learned that locals say, “This is taking as long as La Sagrada Familia!” when things take a while because it has been in progress for almost 140 years! After our tour of La Sagrada, we had time to look around the museum ourselves before meeting back with the group and taking a train into the old city!!
We learned about the history of many old buildings, historical cathedrals, and places of importance in the old city, and that the main street there was like La Rambla now, the bustling & lively street our hotel is on! After the old city, our tour concluded, and we had until dinner to relax and explore on our own.
Later, after a long walk through the city to the water, we enjoyed our farewell dinner.
– Milena Verdi and Paisley Mello
Day 6
Today, we started our journey from Bilbao to Barcelona. We ate breakfast at the hotel and hopped on the bus to leave. While on the scenic bus ride, we took multiple stops for snacks and lunch. Once we got to Barcelona, we checked into our rooms and went out to explore. We stopped in Plaza Catalunya and had 2 hours of free time to wander and shop before dinner. For dinner, we ate at Hard Rock Cafe Barcelona, and although not authentic Spanish food, it still captured the diversity of the metropolitan city.
After a great dinner with dessert, we headed home and went to bed.
Day 5
Today, June 22nd, we left the hotel bright and early heading straight to Covadonga. After going on a hike in the clouds, seeing many cows, and exploring the churches in Covadonga we went to lunch. After lunch in a wooden restaurant we headed to Santo Adriano for some biking. We biked 18 miles, had some dinner at the Hotel and ended our day with some well deserved rest!
Day 4
Today we got up and left Gijón, on the way we went down a scenic river kayaking, and stopped to see sand dunes.
After that, we continued on our journey to Santander, where in the afternoon we explored the city.
Day 3
We were able to wake up a little later today at 9:15, and after a quick breakfast we made the most of our last hour of free time in Madrid, buying souvenirs and taking some final photos. After saying goodbye to the city, we began our long journey to Cudillero, and were able to see much of the beautiful Spanish countryside along the way. Around noon we stopped for lunch, where quinn and I ate a huge steak, before finishing up the last leg of our drive.
After lunch we got back on the road to finish our journey. We had a small pit stop at a gas station about half way and then made our way to Cudillero. We took a short tour of the city, walking around their unique harbor and steep streets. We were able to get a great view of the town as well as a cool history of the town and their culture. We ended the tour with a baptism into becoming a local (not religious) and made our way back to the bus. Then, we took the 40 minute ride to our hotel in Gijon. We had a dinner of chicken and a dessert of arroz con leche, and took a walk to the nearby beach. After hanging out there and doing a little swimming, we made our way home to get some sleep for tomorrow.
Day 2
We started off the day with breakfast at the hotel before walking to Museo del Prado. We took a tour of the museum with our guide Amor and split off on our own.
We then headed to the Parque del Retiro for a picnic lunch, a quick stroll, and a few siestas. Next, we walked through Barrio Literario to see Mercado San Miguel. After exploring more of the city, we had a delicious dinner at La Casa del Abuelo with tapas and lots of agua.
Finally, we looked for churros and gelato, walking around Madrid one last time before we depart to Asturias tomorrow.
Day 1
Hola todos!!
Today was our first day in Madrid Spain and it was filled with many naps, tours and food. We started off the day after a long red eye flight and we rallied (sort of) to get to our first activity of the day: a bus tour of the amazing historical elements of Madrid. After a quick and satisfying lunch, we toured on foot, many of the amazing historical buildings in the city.
We ended the day off with an amazing dinner for a wonderful start to an amazing trip!
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