Arnedo

Aventuras en la
Rioja

Here are some photos of Arnedo, the group tour of the cliffs. This was a group activity for those in Arnedo with families, 12 of the students.



























We also visited the ¨huerta¨, or garden-country house just outside of Arnedo of the English teacher.The huerta is where many people maintain old family homes that are just a few minutes drive outside of the main town where most people live in ¨pisos¨. Pisos are flats, what we might call apartments, but aren´t really apartments as we know them.We have had quite an opportunity here to spend time with some of the host families and it has been an invaluable experience.


Pictured here is a special ¨tapa¨ with olives, hard boiled egg (not a chicken egg, not sure what kind of bird, sorry) and anchovy. John, you would be proud of me as I at the WHOLE thing, including the anchovy. This little ¨tapa¨ we had in Arnedillo, a cute little town known for their thermal baths.

Of course being in the middle of wine country we have had a chance to try some of the ¨Rioja¨Vino tinto, or red wine. The bodegas, or wineries, aren´t really set up for tours, but rather there are shops and restaurants that serve the local wine. For example, at our hotel yesterday we had the ¨menu del dia´, which is the set lunch for the day. It included local wine, three courses, dessert and then a coffee. We were told we HAD to eat at the hotel as it is THE place to try all of the delicacies of the region. So, because the owner of the hotel is a friend of the English teacher who helped place many of the students with host families, they are giving us special treatment. For example, after that three course meal with a glass of wine (keep in mind that this was at 3 in the afternoon) they gave us a special herb licor after the meal. Then, we had to waddle off for a tour of one of the shoe factories in the town. Arnedo is known for their shoes, it´s the town of the ¨calzado¨ Well, the tour of the shoe factory was very interesting. We got to see how they make hiking boots here! The brand ¨Chiruca¨is well known throughout Europe and Spain but not the U.S. as with the dollar so low, it´s too expensive to export to the U.S. See below the cute blue hiking boot I picked out of the 25 types of shoes to choose from! John, let´s see if we can get REI to carry these!

Many of the machines now do the jobs that the workers used to do. It was quite interesting to see the computer take inventory of the fabric of the sole of the shoe and make the most of it and then cut the necessary parts. As the shoes carry the gore-tex brand, they have all these special water-proof tests that each shoe undergoes. It´s quite a process and at the end, you get a pretty hiking boot.

This video is of the Naira, singing a special teapot song that she wrote. She is the 7 year old daughter of the English teacher and is quite something. She is the one that wrote the special chants for the soccer team and is just such a cutie. This is the song I´ll teach my students to help them remember all of the words for a table setting!

Another amazing excursion we´ve had included a visit to Enciso, where there are many dinosaur footprints.

We went with Julia Herce and her family to visit all of the sites as well as have a paella lunch on Sunday with her family in Las Ruedas de Enciso. Las Ruedas is a town that will soon be covered with water as they are building a dam up river. They´ve been talking about this dam for 80 years and it´s probably going to be built any year now. In the meantime, Fernando and Lola, Julí´s in-laws still go up to the abandoned town, only three families still go, to get away from it all. It´s very peaceful right next to a river of course.

Viva España

I´m in the middle of Spanish wine country and all of Spain is CRAZY because the Spanish ´seleccion´ has won the EUROCOPA. This is the first time in 44 years they have won and it´s a huge thing for them. It´s the first time since Spain has entered the domocracy and it is absolutely crazy to see the ENTIRE country in a fury of love for Spain, soccer and their futbol stars are the absolute kings and heroes of the moment. I´ve talked to people who say they have NEVER seen Spain like this, so united and crazy about one thing. They played in Vienna but everyone here was glued to the television sets during every game. We´ve been here for the quarter finals, Spain vs. Italy where Spain won in a shoot out after a tied game 0-0. Then, they played Russia at they won 3-0. Then, Sunday night they won against Germany and proved that they are the best team in all of Europe, 1-0. Here are some of the chants that you might hear while you´re here. This one was composed by Naira a 7 year-old daughter of the English teacher here in Arnedo who has been inviting to all sorts of amazing events. España Arriba, ganando la liga, Alemania abajo, comiendo escarabajos. Also, you´ll hear: CAmpeones, campeones, campeones o-e...oooooo...eeeeee.

It´s beautiful really. Yesterday evening when the players flew home to MAdrid, 100,000´s of thousands of people lined the streets to the Plaza de Colon to welcome them home. Today, they were invited to a Reception by the King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia and the prince, princess and the rest of the royal family and welcomed home. Right now, they are being welcomed home by the President Zapatero. Everyone here is completely crazy and happy about the win. All of the players are from all regions of Spain and have united the basques, catalans, gallegos, canarios and all. It´s great. Also, I am including some pictures of this tiny town we´re in of 12,000 and what happened after the win. Every town in Spain this very thing happened. All of the young people paraded down the streets with their flags to the fountains and the real daring jumped in. The pictures I´m including are from the guy that runs the sporting goods store across from our hotel. He happened to show me them and I asked him to email them to me. In the first shot you can see me in the door of the hotel (in a white shirt, blue pants) taking pictures. I was actually making a video and as the people paraded down the street I was saying hello to my students who were taking part in the festivities. I can´t wait to hear their stories, since their each with their own family.

Ok, here goes the pictures. Love ya all! Enjoy!

Unas fotos

Here are some pictures from the trip.

I finally got to visit Parc Guell in Barcelona..after 4 visits I finally made it!

See also el ¨puppy¨ at the Guggenheim in Bilbao, quite a sculpture in front of the museum. The locals call it el poopy, and they call the museum it´s cage. I have to go, we´re having a meeting with the students before we send them off to their host families.

El Plan

So, I did send that last preparation email. Ok, it wasn't one email, but 3 I think. It included great little nuggets of knowledge, such as, the sage wisdom of the traveling nerd from Seattle, Rick Steves and telling students to "WEAR THEIR MONEY BELTS, OR ELSE!" I told them to read up on the U.S. State department warnings about all of the things that could go wrong. It also looks like we lucked out because the truck drivers strike is settled and they are now working on refilling all of the stores shelves. They were protesting the rising cost of petrol and wanted the government to take action. Well, they did, so as long as it doesn't cost any more than $140 dollars a barrel for gas, we should be fine. If you want to check on how to be a packing nerd, see this Rick Steve's site below:
Here's a helpful Rick Steves website about packing light:
http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/tips/packlight.htm
Also, read on to get really paranoid about terrorists and pick pockets:

State Department website with travel advisories:
http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1024.html

Here are the places we are visiting:
Barcelona

We will first touch down in Barcelona this Friday, exhausted after hopefully only 24 hours of traveling. We have some rest time, a group Welcome dinner planned to celebrate our arrival and THREE Birthdays! Wowee zowee! Also we'll have some tim to wander the city, maybe see the lighted fountains or a trip to the cable car for a view of the city. I've always said if I had a chance to move back to Spain, Barcelona is where I'd move to. I fell in love with the city nearly 10 years ago! (I also said the same thing about New York City when I went there at age 16..I don't think I'll be moving to either place anytime soon. It doesn't fit with the farm and sustainable living idea John and I have. I don't think you can have chickens, goats and a big garden in either one of the cities)


We also plan to venture to La Sagrada Familia the giant cathedral that is a work in progress still and Gaudi's "Manzana de la Discordia" to see some more of the famous architecture of the city
I think that to really see the city and surrounding highlights, you need at least a week. We unfortunately have two measly days.


Bilbao
Here we plan to see the famous Guggenheim museum. This was constructed by Gehry, who also did our EMP in Seattle. Architecture of the future, designed by a computer!

Santander

We hope to spend some time relaxing at the beach in Santander. Also plan to visit the Guernica Museum of Peace and the Caves of Altamira. More info. to come!





Arnedo, Calahorra, Rincon de Soto, Arndedillo
This is where we'll be relaxing for a little while. Maybe take a trip to the Santiago trail, or maybe to a winery? Who knows! We may venture up to Pamplona to see how the preparation for the running of the bulls is going!

Burgos
After relaxing in La Rioja, we hope to head to Burgos to see the cathedral and read up on the history of this famous berg.
Madrid

We will end our trip in Madrid seeing some famous artwork at the Prado and the grand final of seeing Picasso's "Guernica" in the Reina Sofia museum of modern art.

Well, you know the plan, now part of the fun will be to see how our plans really end up. That's when the real adventure begins, right?

Some of my favorite stories from my last trip went something like this...Remember when we went to the Station to catch the train, but we got on the bus going to the WRONG station? :) We barely caught the train to our next destination! We were lucky it was the ONLY late train on the whole trip!

Wish us luck!

Ash

Preparacion: One week and counting

Right now I am eagerly awaiting the end of my amazing day job so I can go wandering for the summer. In one week you can find me on a plane to Spain as a leader of a group that will not be named where we will encounter "aventuras" in the language and culture of Catalunia, El Pais Vasco and La Rioja, not to mention Castilla y Leon and some places in between. Right now I am contemplating the important questions like, "Should I email the group again with last minute gift ideas for their host families, and also let them know my cell phone number in case they have a packing emergency like I know I will have next week, such as which sandals to bring, how many luna bars to pack, and will my host family really like this_____I got them?" Well, I'm sure I have one more preparation email for them, I know they are overwhelmed as we've been prepping for a year for this trip, and I think the 200th email might put them over the edge.
So, I know I will also need to sleep for about 72 hours prior to this trip because the nature of the trip will not really allow me to sleep much, as I will have to have plenty of energy to keep up with the 19 teenagers, and, besides, I'm not that young anymore.
It's interesting for me heading back to Spain ten years after my first 'aventura' that changed the course of my life so. I am looking forward to an amazing time to reflect on where I've been since my first time there and some time to reflect on the next ten years, too. :) Stay tuned for more information in coming weeks...