On March 18, seven high school students from St. Augustine School and a teacher chaperone left for Spain for nine days. The girls were three Grade 10 students: Cheyanne Hinkley, Kayla Lockhart and Taylor Horlock and four Grade 12 students: Katie Cire, Katherine Bergum, Jalene Makus and Amber Rakai. Ms. Kleiter was the organizer of the trip and the chaperone that went with the seven girls. The trip to Spain was an eventful and memorable trip. I am sure one that the girls and Ms. Kleiter will remember for years to come.
St. Augustine Travel Club has been planning and preparing for their trip to Spain for just a year now. Back in April 2007 the trip was just in the motions of being planned. At the time it seemed so surreal that most of the travelers did not even imagine what that trip was going to be like. Each one of the travelers decided to not only travel to Spain but to take a geographical studies course to receive five high school credits for traveling on this trip. The travelers did much research on Spain before leaving in March.
On March 18, the group left Edmonton International Airport in the evening to travel to London. The flight was an overnight flight of approximately nine hours. Most of the girls did not sleep as I think they were too excited for their arrival in Spain. We arrived in London in the late morning and we were off to Spain by mid-afternoon. When we arrived in Spain it was raining. We were told that a heat wave had just gone through and that they had not seen rain in weeks. But, even though it was raining for the first couple days the weather was still beautiful to the weather we were having in Alberta.
The travel group was able to tour many different places. Some of the highlights were Malaga, Seville, Gibraltar, and Granada. I would have to say that our favorite tour was the trip to Gibraltar. It was great being in the UK for a day. We toured the St. Michael’s Caves, which was a sight to see. The girls were astonished at what nature can actually do. Plus, those caves do have a lot a history. Also, the castles and gardens in Granada were also very beautiful even though it was spring and the flowers were just starting to bloom.
It was absolutely amazing to be in another country during Holy Week and Easter. On Good Friday we had the great pleasure of visiting a cathedral in Malaga. The smell of incense filled the cathedral as many people paid their respect to the replica life size cross with Jesus nailed to it. Many people walked within the city wearing black. The state of it being as somber day was evident. Once the processions started, the city stood still. It was an amazing site to see the affects of the processions in the streets of a large city in Spain. The music and incense now filled the streets with many people stopped, paying their respect to Jesus, Mary and their followers. Just thinking of it now still gives me goose bumps. It was apparent that the Catholic faith was strong in this city as it is across Spain. Two days later we were in Seville on Easter. We were able to visit the Cathedral in Seville where Christopher Columbus' tomb lies. The feeling in Seville was much different then the feeling in Malaga. Many people were out in the streets with their family. The bells were chiming as you knew people were singing Alleluia, Alleluia! You knew that day was a day of joy, happiness and celebration. The group even had the opportunity to tour around by horse and carriage.
Even though the weather was beautiful down there and you would think since we were staying at a beach site resort that we would have just lounged down by the beach everyday. Needless to say our days were busy touring, learning and of course shopping. I am sure if I would have offered to the girls to stay for another week to enjoy the Costa del Sol they would have not argued with me. I think I heard from all of the girls that they would love to return to Spain... one day.
The St. Augustine International Travel Club is looking forward to planning their next trip for Spring Break 2009. Though, we are unsure if it will top our trip to Spain.