Video: Barcelona Dos

The second video of our trip.  Shot and edited by Brannon Parish.

Video: Barcelona Uno

Our first video of the trip.  Photographed and edited by Brannon Parish.

Sit Right Back and Hear a Tale...

There always seems to be a dominant mode of transportation on each of these tours.  I am not talking about your feet.  Every tour features you dragging yourself up and down staircases, down cobblestone streets and across cities with no concern for your inside voice screaming to just sit in front of a TV watching Jersey Shore, eating a bowl of pretzels.   

I am talking about the transfer.  The mode that takes you from one amazing spot to the next.  In the past, this has always been the bus.  On this tour it has to be the boat.  With four different rides, the kids are quickly becoming expert sailors.  

We began our water crossings with a jaunt across the Mediterranean Sea from Barcelona to Italy aboard the Grimaldi Line.  With cars and trucks rolling past, we boarded the ship at 10pm.  We are assigned our usual cabin mates and given our usual paper room keys.  These cabins were very similar to the train cabins of our past with their drop down bunks and tiny spaces.  The difference here is that each room has its own "bathroom".  A better description would be a "water closet" because it is the size of a hall closet that usually ends up covered in water.  

Another difference with this mode of transportation is the amount of sleep that it affords and the freedom to roam.  If you wanted, you could lay down on your bed, go to sleep, and not get up until arrival.  I heard that one of the kids caught 12 hours of zzzzs from Italy to Greece.  Not too shabby!  

The other benefit is the ability to get up and walk around seeing the sights.  These boats are international habitats of humanity.  From ponytailed backpackers to entire families in a "deck tent", there is plenty to see while engaging in Europe's favorite pastime, people watching.  

There also is always room for a little trouble.  A certain student used an open microphone in one of the conference rooms to help him sing "Happy Birthday" to one of the kids on our trip from Spain.  Little did he (and we) know that the mic was set up to broadcast to the ship.  Needless to say, the whole ship found out that someone could use some voice lessons upon our return. :D  We also had an opportunity to visit the bridge of one of our ships.  We were all a little surprised that a very small crew runs these very large boats.  

The kids fill their time with laying around the pool, staring off the deck into the blue blue water, and an occasional shimmy and shake in the disco. This is like practice for the real thing coming up next week.

Today, we finished our series of ferry boats with an Adriatic Sea crossing and a final run out the back deck.  Tomorrow, we start the cruise ship tours with a day trip that skirts the Ionian Sea.  Of course, Monday starts our final four day island cruise with a run around the Aegean.

Bon Voyage!

Dinner Time

This is usually an event that doesn't come soon enough. It is a time to refuel after a day of walking and climbing. It is also the time where kids swap stories about their adventures from the day. Who got the best deal from a street vendor, who's chaperone led them to the wrong subway (not mentioning names), and do on.

On our first stop this tour, we have found ourselves enjoying our Barcelona hotel's dinner buffet more than a couple of times. Having this much selection is almost never been part of the plan, so we are encouraging the kids to eat up. A couple of years ago, we ate goulash almost every night, so the choices have been pretty good for the kids.

In my experience, the meals are mostly uneventful with a few exceptions. It is usually benign enough for most any teen palate. The hotel at least features one here daily a pan of french fries so no one starves.

Each meal also comes with a beverage and that beverage is water. Kids learn very quickly to pace themselves in order to stretch those bottles on the table through the meal. Everyone is having a great attitude about the water...even our most die hard Pepsi fans (I'm not mentioning any names).



Sadly this bounty cannot last. Our first morning on the ferry was a testimony to that, but that is another story.

Going Gaudí

We have spent the last two days perusing the winding roads that decorate Barcelona.  One of the things that I did not expect to experience is the impact that the famous architect, Gaudi, has had on this city.

On our guided tour yesterday morning, our first stop featured the architect/artist's work in Park Güell.  It really does take a little effort to look past the whimsy of  his work to see just how incredible it is.  He was hired by so many to produce his magic for them.

Our bus driver, Kim, and our guide, Tony, led us to Gaudi's most famous, yet incomplete work, the Familia Sagrada.  We walked around the entire church in awe of its graduer.  We have saved the trip inside for Saturday morning.  While it is no longer possible to climb the towers, I hear that we can take the elevator up.  Not ideal, but we'll take it!

Today, we added a little more Gaudi to our trip with a stop at two of his famous houses, Battló House & Casa Mila.  It really must have been awesome to live in these houses.  Now, both are open to visitors and budding photographers.

I love it when students get a taste of different art forms from around the world.  The get to see how that art impacts the culture, design, and feel of a city.  I can't wait for them to celebrate our next city's famous artist, Michelangelo.

Greetings from Barcelona!

We arrived into Barcelona El Prat Airport this morning at 8:30am after a couple uneventful flights from the California. Many of the kids had a chance to catch up on missing sleep but a few fell victim to the temptations of free viewings of the Hunger Games on the 9 hour flight from Atlanta..

Upon arrival in Spain, we were greeted by EF Tour Guide, Lindsey. A few kids were treated to a little ATM drama while the rest of us waiting for our other 4 tourmates from New Jersey to arrive. They are a great girls and are already starting to fit right into our group.

Hotel Catalonia Park Putxet, our hotel for the next 4 nights, rests on the hill on the east side of town.  Even better than the fact that we could check into our room at 10am, was the wifi code Lindsey handed out in the lobby.  That wifi speed here bogged down to a crawl after a few seconds with everyone immediately accessing Facebook & Instagram.  Nice!

After a quick re-fresh in our rooms, we ran down to the nearest subway and rode it into the center of town. It was fun showing some of the kids how to ride the subway for the first time.

In just a few minutes, we arrived at the famous Placa de Catalunya where we wandered down a maze of streets taking the time to check out the views. We even ran into members of the USA Olympic Basketball Team. There are so many amazing sites to see here and the kids, in spite of their lack of sleep, have maintained a great attitude for travel.

We returned to the hotel around 7pm and were treated to a buffet dinner in the hotel restaurant. It had to be one of the better meals that I have seen on tour. After dinner, kids sluggishly slid out of the restaurant and up to their rooms. Not sure they need to be reminded about a curfew tonight. I am positive the kids will be asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillow.

Return of the Traveler's Blog!

In just three short days, 29 students and 5 adults will board a bus for the official start of our 4 country, 18 day trip to Europe. To see where we are headed, check out our site at Ziessler Educational Tours.

To get ready, we have dusted off our blog, plugged in our twitter account, and fired up the Youtube channel.

Stay tuned here for brief updates about our travels, videos and pictures. We hope that you enjoy our hearing about our travels.

First stop is Barcelona!

Luggage Photo

Some rights reserved by robef