On February 14, Lower and Middle 5 Spanish pupils ventured to Malaga for a trip full of culture and excitement but most importantly, to put what they have learnt to the test!

Pupils, Anna Hornbrook and Harriet Brightwell share how they found the residential...

"On a wet Wednesday morning at 4:15AM 15 tired pupils set off for five nights in sunny Malaga, accompanied by Miss DeVega and Mrs. Nagel. We spent our first afternoon exploring the city and its beautiful castle with our tour guide, Mateo, who showed us the high streets as well as some of the famous landmarks. We were given free time most evenings to buy souvenirs and try food.

On the morning of day two we attended a language school, where we were given the task of talking to strangers in Spanish to gather information about Malaga. We then spent the afternoon exploring the city’s market and the lower half of the castle. Finally, we went on a catamaran boat tour out to sea, returning for a chicken and hotdog dinner at a local restaurant.

On the third day, we had another morning of language school, this time we were asked to discover more about the various kinds of food in the market. We had paella for lunch, where we got to watch a Flamenco dance whilst we ate. In the afternoon we climbed to the top of the castle where we were given time to look around and admire the beautiful view of the city.

The following day, we drove an hour and a half to Granada to spend the day looking around the stunning Alhambra and Spanish architecture. We had a lovely view of both the city and the mountains from where we were exploring. We spent the afternoon in the city, where we were given free time to try some of the local food and look around. Finally, we climbed up to a viewpoint of the city, where we waited for the bus to take us back to Malaga.

On day five we went to a local restaurant where we had churros for breakfast, which were delicious. We then went to the birthplace of Pablo Picasso, where we got to see lots of his artwork. We had tapas for lunch at a neighbouring restaurant, which tasted amazing. We then walked to a stunning beach where we spent a sunny afternoon, returning to the apartment for dinner.

On the final day we had our final Spanish lesson. We were challenged to find certain significant things on the streets and take photos of them. We then went back to the apartment to pack our things, for the journey home.

I found the Malaga trip extremely interesting and exciting and would thoroughly recommend it to other students. The highlight of the trip for me was the boat tour as we were able to get beautiful views of the city and out to sea."

- Anna Hornbrook, L5

 

"On Wednesday the 14th of February, at an hour far too early for anyone's liking, a bus took fifteen L5 and M5 students to the airport, where we would then board the plane that would take us to Malaga. From there it was only a brief train ride and short walk to our accommodation, in the heart of the city.

Even after such a long day of traveling we still had some time for activities, and we were swiftly collected from the hostel and taken on a tour of the city that we would get to know very well over the next five days. On weekday mornings we were taken to a local language school where we had lessons that were separated into two parts. The first was fairly standard, although I have gained lots of knowledge on the preterite tense, but the second part was very exciting. Our teachers gave us questionnaires and then promptly left us to our own devices in the busy Malaginian markets and shopping streets, leading us to asking the locals for help with our work! Although this was a very scary experience to start, we all began to get the swing of it and even though I got a few odd looks from people, this exercise definitely helped my Spanish skills.

In the afternoons, our schedules were full of exciting activities including visiting the Alcazaba (a historic moorish

palace), going on a boat trip across the ocean, visiting Picassos childhood home and going out for a paella lunch, where we were also treated to a flamenco show!

On the weekends we still did a lot, with Saturday being a full-day excursion to the city of Granada, where we were able to visit the ‘Alhambra de Granada’, which is an immense palace and fortress that hosts some beautiful Islamic architecture. Sunday was slightly more relaxed, as we spent our morning eating churros and visiting a museum dedicated to Picasso, before heading out for a great Tapas lunch. We spent our final afternoon in Malaga by the beach (this has to be one of my favorite activities), and then roamed freely around the city in one of our dedicated free time periods.

There was no shortage of free time, and due to the amazing location of our hostel it meant that we could go anywhere we wanted, whether it be to the local basketball courts, trendy clothing stores or even little bracelet shops down by the ocean. This inspired lots of mingling between the year groups and has left us coming out of the trip with lots of new friendships having been forged.

Even though there are a few things that I would have liked to change about the trip (such as our accommodations slightly sub-optimal lunches) it was such a great experience and I am very keen to visit Malaga again. I would like to thank Miss Nagel and Miss DeVega for their hard work in creating and organising such a fantastic trip, as well as Mateo, who was our tour guide on many of the days!"

- Harriet Brightwell, L5