Day 1
With the big day finally here… we all met at school at 3.30am to start the journey to Barcelona. After racing though Liverpool John Lennon airport, we boarded the plane and set off. Just a few hours later, we arrived in Girona and picked up our coach to take us to Lloret de Mar, where we would be staying. On arrival at the hotel, we had a lovely lunch and had some time to unpack and explore the hotel. A trip to the beach was on the cards next and thanks to Miss Trigg and Miss Whitehead, we were fully equipped with beach entertainment, although some of the boys seemed to prefer their home made cricket bat… After a lovely, sunny afternoon, we returned for a quick swim in the hotel pool and our evening meal. Early to bed tonight – after being up for nearly 20 hours!
Day 2
After a good night’s sleep and breakfast, a very cultural day awaited us. We left early for Figueres to visit the Salvador Dalí Museum. The museum was breathtaking, full of incredibly original pieces of artwork and sculptures by a true genius. Josh Pugh and Harry Dennis were particularly pleased to find ‘the one with the melting clocks’ – I was too! After spending some time shopping for souvenirs (mainly sombreros) and eating more ice-cream, we headed to Besalou medieval town. Here we were lucky to meet a local train, taking tourists on a whistle stop tour of the beautiful town. We even got to see inside a 12th Century cathedral. After this, we headed to Girona for a tour of the old town and Jewish quarters, before heading back to the hotel. At the hotel, students chose to either have a swim in the pool or head to the beach for a couple of hours before dinner.
After dinner, the group had a fantastic 45 minute walk along the seafront to go bowling. We were delighted to have the whole bowling alley reserved just for us and the great music and ice cream sundaes made the night just perfect! Congratulations to Ed Sharples and Alex Leung for being the bowling champions of the night – Miss Evans definitely needs some tips! After another lovely walk back, time for bed – a great day!
Day 3
The group visited Barcelona today. Everyone was eagerly awaiting the first visit to the Barcelona Nou Camp Football Stadium for a tour of the stadium and museum. We were not disappointed and all agreed that the stadium was breathtaking. After a visit to the club shop, it was great to see our students supporting the club with home and away shirts, and Ed, it was also good to see your support for Manchester United – even in the 27 degree heat, Ed still remained patriotic wearing his club scarf. We then headed to Parc Guell, one of Gaudi’s masterpieces. The park was full of beautiful sculptures and quirky monuments and houses. It was fabulous to eat lunch, looking over the skyline of Barcelona. The Sagrada Familia cathedral left us all speechless – the immense size and original gothic style was absolutely incredible.
On the beach, the students, led by Miss Grimes, gained quite an audience when playing beach games in a huge circle – congratulations to Max Cartwright for winning the catching and running game.
After the beach, we headed up Las Ramblas to look at the many stalls and street performers this lovely zone has to offer. Jake Ellis made a new ‘part-human, part-robot’ friend. We then enjoyed a fantastic meal at the Hard Rock Café. As it was Harry Dennis’s birthday, we had a good sing and a number of students had also won upgrades on their deserts for winning competitions – delicious! Another fantastic day!
Day 4
Port Aventura theme park today! After a very early start and quite a long journey, we arrived at the theme park for a fun-filled day of super fast rides, shows and water attractions. The students made the most of the very sunny day by going on all water rides and a particularly fast ride, faster that Rita at Alton Towers I’m told.
As tonight was our last night, we had hired out the hotel disco room. After dinner and dressed to impress, we headed down to our private disco with the DJ already playing a great mixture of modern and Spanish music. Party games were in full flow; dancing competition, musical statues, wink murder… and who could forget Daniel ‘King of the dance-floor’ Howcroft in a dance off – you definitely won by a mile! Miss Whitehead and Mr Amin’s dancing skills also deserve a mention – wow! A number of end-of-trip awards were handed out for victories such as ‘Most Glamorous’ – Alex Leung and Annabel Yearn, ‘Comedy Catchphrases’ – Liam Prosser and Omair Asif and ‘Top Friend’ – Lewis Oliver. After a final group dance to the Macarena and YMCA, we all headed for bed, a very memorable final night!
Day 5
After a very early start to the day, many a sleepy student (and teacher) headed to the airport in Girona to begin the journey home. After a very smooth check-in, we all headed into departures to buy last minute souvenirs, presents and eat the first and only MacDonalds of the trip! Yes, we drove and walked past many a MacDonalds during the trip and no, Miss Evans would not let you have any! The flight home ended with, literally, a big bump back to the reality of wind and rain, after 5 days of heat and sunshine. Back at school it was great to see Mrs Nairn and all parents waiting to welcome us back after what had been a truly fabulous and memorable holiday for all.
Miss Evans would like to thank Miss Trigg, Miss Grimes, Mr Amin, Miss Hemmings and Miss Whitehead, for all their hard work and support before and during the trip. Most importantly, all the staff would like to say a huge thank you to the students – you were a credit to your parents and to the school and we are delighted you had such a wonderful time. We thoroughly enjoyed spending the time with you all;
Well done students!