ICT & Art Trip to Spain
On Wednesday 23 May 2007 the date Liverpool Football Club were playing in the UEFA cup final against AC Milan 41 students and 5 staff set off early for Liverpool Airport. It was obviously very busy at the Airport but our EasyJet representative was extremely helpful guiding us through the throng efficiently. Having provided our girls with Baseball caps highlighting our school it made looking out for all 41 very easy.
Our transfer to the Prestige Hotel Goya Park went smoothly and girls were given the opportunity of settling in together and relaxing around the pool area. After our evening meal provided by our hotel as ‘Buffet Style’ allowing a wide selection of food for our varied palettes we took the girls down to the beach for some team building activities and provided small prizes.
Thursday took us into Barcelona for our ‘Art ‘day activities. Here girls experienced the work of the artist Gaudi firstly visiting the Holy Family Church. Our girls were expecting to see the inside of a church complete but were surprised to find just a construction site with many Gaudi features taking shape inside.
We were then collected by our coach and taken to Parc Guell where Gaudi’s artistic talents were found all around us. Girls picnicked here with packed lunches provided by the hotel, they saw the Gaudi houses and the many colourful Gaudi features around the park.
Girls were impressed by the wide and varied work of Gaudi, they spent time meandering around the park itself enjoying the scenery and tilework and of course keeping cool! Girls were once again easily identified by their baseball caps which had now become the must have fashion accessory of the trip.
After lunch girls were taken to experience the culture of a Spanish city by walking from Plaza Catalunia down through ‘Las Ramblas’ to the harbour itself where our coach was waiting to collect 41 tired but happy girls for the return trip to our hotel.
After a short rest and evening meal Thursday night was ‘Treasure Hunt’ night. Here girls working in small groups had to find a list of items that could be found along the beach and promenade area of Rosas. Working in teams some items were easy to find or identify but others took quite a while to work out and prizes were once awarded.
Friday gave girls the opportunity for a quieter day with the cultural experience of a Spanish fishing village ‘Cadeques’ where the artist Dali lived. Girls meandered around the small village, some using their spanish linguistic skills before boarding the Cadeques Express.
The journey aboard the small train explained clearly the outstanding natural beauty of the area and why Dali loved the place so much. Girls saw Dali’s home with its distinctive turrets of eggs and faces. We then returned to our coach for the short return to the hotel and a buffet lunch.
The afternoon was spent at leisure relaxing around the pool area discussing and digesting all that they had done so far.
After a quiet evening meal Friday night was ‘Bingo’ night with Mrs Andrews. Here girls were kept busy trying to win the various prizes on offer for the Bingo.
Saturday morning saw once again an early start for Barcelona where we were to visit Tibidabo an amusement park overlooking the city. Today was ‘ICT’ experience day. Girls had previously studied a wide variety of control operations back at school and today was an opportunity to see and experience some in action.
Rides at Tibidabo consisted of both old style cog-wheel rides and modern ICT controlled rides. These funfair rides were controlled using many ICT features and girls were asked to observe and find these features whilst experiencing the thrills these rides provided for themselves. A fun day was had by all!
41 very tired girls returned to the coach for the ride back to the hotel where after their evening meal and a re-charge of batteries the ‘Big Quiz’ evening took place.
After our quiz girls had the opportunity of joining in the hotel entertainment and took part in the dancing till late.
Students experienced ICT in a number of contexts overall not just at Tibidabo. They were asked right from the beginning of the trip to find out about ICT features being used at the airport and onboard the aircraft. Whilst at the hotel many features were identified in operation of the daily running of the business. Smart cards for room access girls found frustrating at times, CCTV camera around the building for security around the hotel and sensors being used in the automatic doors to name a few.
Sunday saw students sadly packing bags, tidying room for cleaners and leaving the hotel after having a wide and many varied experience of both ICT and Art.
We finished our trip with yet more fun and had a sandcastle competition on the beach with any last minute gifts being purchased before setting off for Figueres to see the works of Dali at his personal museum. The museum contained many of Dali’s works right from his early days to his modern eccentric and extraordinary ones.
After a short wander around Figueres girls boarded the coach for the final journey back to Barcelona to board our aircraft home.
Pictures from our trip
