 - Group of students and teachers at Monte Igueldo in San Sebastian, Spain
 - Group of students at Santillana del Mar in Spain
 - Students at Plaza Mayor in Spain
After classes on April 13th, fifteen students and two faculty members from the World Language Department went to Madrid to begin a ten-day tour of northern Spain. The visit, led by NFA trip leaders Jeanne Methot and Alfredo Poletti, was conducted under the auspices of Voyageur Tours of Worcester, Massachusetts.
After arriving in Madrid the group headed north to the Gothic city of Burgos – home of the legendary El Cid. Next they continued northward to Vitoria – headquarters of the Basque region’s autonomous government. In Vitoria they visited the medieval district before continuing on to the coastal city of San Sebastian, where among other things the group enjoyed a funicular ride to the top of Monte Igueldo and a spectacular view of the area and the Bay of Biscay. From San Sebastian, the tour continued westward on the rugged coastline of the Gulf of Vizcaya to Bilbao. This is Spain’s largest port, the political hub of the Basques, and site of the newest Guggenheim Museum. Then the tour continued westward to Guernica, made famous in the painting by Picasso, and a visit to the medieval town of Santillana del Mar, including the pre-historic Caves of Santimamine. Turning southward, it was back to Madrid for an extended look at the capital city and a side trip to the old capital of Toledo. On Sunday, April 22, the group returned to the U.S. in time for those Monday morning classes at NFA.
The names of Gods and Goddesses replace our student's names to protect their privacy. But they will recognize themselves!
From April 14 to April 22, 13 travellers, Ms. Barclay and Dr. Tylawsky set forth from Eastern CT to travel to Greece. Our itinerary led us first, to Glyfada on the coast south of Athens, where our first evening ended with Poseidon teaching us how to skip stones into the Aegean Sea. Diana and Daphne didn't care how cold the water was and waded right in.
Our second day gave us the tour of the Athens, the Acropolis, and Acropolis Museum. Then we left the tour group, ate lunch in the Plaka, and returned to have a class in the Ancient Athenian Agora. We also visited the Agora Museum where Hestia and Demeter banished our jet lag with candy, gum and wisdom. Then it was on to learning the subway system and a visit to the non-touristed Victoria Square. After the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Apollo and Zeus learned how to cross the streets at Syntagma Square. Finally we returned to the hotel by the state-of-the-art tram built in 2003.
Our third day was a delightful mini-cruise to the islands of Poros, Hydra and Aegina. We'll never forget our class about coinage and literacy perched on the terrace of the Temple of Aphaia on Aegina. Our owl-mascot Bubo ruled by the temple. Iris vividly demonstrated the importance of timeliness when meeting ferry connections.
Day Four: we spent an entrancing morning in Delphi and then descended through Naupaktos to the gleaming Rion-Antirion bridge, where we crossed to the Peloponnese. We'll always recall Apollo's sprint in the stadium at Delphi, scattering his shoes far and wide as he strove to catch Mercury. Ms. B supplied commentary to the bus for our guide Katrin whose bronchitis brought her voice to a squeak.
Our fifth day dawned with a beauty that was stunning. The colors of red-bud trees and early spring greens in Olympia were magical in the slanting morning light. After our guide left us, we found our way to Phidias' workshop where we had class and guessed the dates of some of the hundreds of pottery fragments beneath our feet. Crisscrossing the Peloponnese took us through the Argolid and to the coast at Tolo where we had an evening class on the pebble-strewn beach.
Day six took us to Epidauros, where Ms. B sang the NFA Alma Mater to us in the 5th Century BC theater. The ruins of Ancient Tiryns towered over us as we drove to Mycenae. Aided only by the flash of cameras, Mercury, Asclepius and Hecate fearlessly risked the descent into the pitch black stairway to the secret spring of Mycenae. A highlight of our return trip to Corinth was a giddy rummage through a field of broken pottery at a factory outlet.
Our last day included a trip to Cape Sounion and the Temple of Poseidon where we read Byron's poetry overlooking the Saronic Gulf. Returning to Athens we went to the National Archeological Museum, strolled and shopped in the Plaka and had a delightful roof-top dinner beneath the Temple of the Erechtheum.
AP French Language Exam Monday, May 7th, 2007.
AP Spanish Language Exam Tuesday, May 8th, 2007.
AP Latin Literature Exam Friday, May 18th, 2007.
|
