Thursday, March 12 Buenos Dias!

I know had not mentioned I had a trip planned to go to Spain during the Spring Holidays. Well, I went, and I can say I had a tiempo grande ( for you no hables espanol folks), a grand time. I have always heard how wonderful the Mediterranean countries are, but like Italy, this is something you have to experience for yourself to truly understand. We had beautiful weather every day, ranging from the high 60s to the mid 80s a couple of days in Seville. The Spanish people are gracious and delightful. The sangria was quite tasty, and the food was okay once we learned to translate a menu. We walked miles and miles and then walked some more, but the steps were the most delightful steps I have taken since we were in Italy last year.


My Traveling Compainons: Front left to right--D.K., Betty Aden, Paula Simmons; Back--Drew McDowell, John Brindley, Natlie Peeler, Irene Long, Debbie Woodruff, Louise Lowe, Mary Ruth Brindley, Dianne McDowell, Susan Jordon, Lisa Morehead (not pictured)

Each adult was assigned a student who was to keep up with him or her, thus the term keeper. Every time we gathered to leave for a destination, we had a count off in which the students would sound off if their adult was there and ready to depart. My keeper was Haiden Rogers, and we were #10. I must say Haiden did a great job keeping up with me. No Pisa incident this year.

The Kids: Front Left to right--Lauren Simmons, Mary Nelson Robertson, Laura Polk, Caroline Jordon, Anne Hall Brashier; Second Row--Megan Kay Donahoe, Sarah Nan Randle, Ashely Giglo, Haiden Rogers, Dylan Watson; Third Row--Morgan McDowell, Trey Donahoe, and Steve Young

Our group departed from IA at 1:30 p.m. and traveled by bus to the airport in Memphis. We arrived at 4:45 and checked our baggage and passed through security without any major incidents. I had forgotten I had a bottle water in my bag. Needless to say, that bottle was confiscated. Getting our shoes on, we headed to get something to eat and prepared to board our flight.

Waiting for the plane in Memphis. Notice how fresh we look. It won't be that way when we return!

We boarded our flight to Amsterdam at 7:00 p.m. and left the ground at 7:30. The six hour flight was awful for me. I was sitting on the inside of a five-seat aisle, no leg room or wiggle room. The food was not good, but I did manage to watch the movie, The Changling. We had a two-hour layover at Amsterdam, where we refueled and prepared to board again for Barcelona, our first stop on our trip. We endured the two hour flight, arrived at 2:30 p.m. Spain time on March 13, unloaded, claimed our baggage, and were ready to face our first day of checking out Spain.