For the final week of the Easter holidays, a group of Lower Sixth Spanish Standard and Ab Initio students visited Salamanca in north-western Spain for a total of seven days. In pairs, we stayed with host families who lived near or in the city centre. This helped improve our Spanish concerning both listening and speaking, in addition to around four hours a day at the Letra Hispánica language school.
Following a traditional lunch cooked by host families, we had activities with the school, such as visiting the Salamanca Old Town and its Cathedral, art galleries, or had free time to go out and explore the city or do some shopping. In the evenings, we also engaged in organised activities, including a salsa dancing class, tapas tasting and going for churros.
With no classes on the weekend, we were able to participate in two day trips. On Saturday, we visited Segovia, a beautiful city a few hours out of Salamanca, and enjoyed seeing the Roman Aqueduct, which is a World Heritage Site, along with the stunning cathedral and spending a few hours in the Plaza Mayor, eating lunch outside in the sun. Following this, we had a tour around the Alcazar, a spectacular castle situated in the Old Town of Segovia.
On Sunday, the day started with a visit to a farm, where we spent about an hour in an animal trailer, pulled along by a tractor through the bull fields. As well as this, we saw Spanish horses both in their stables and being ridden in the sand school. For lunch, we travelled to Ciudad Rodrigo to eat at a restaurant of their choice, and then enjoyed a short walk around the city.
The Salamanca trip was both an enjoyable and valuable experience. It is safe to say all students improved their Spanish, especially those who have only been studying it for a couple of months. We were lucky enough to experience Salamanca under the sun, which made the trip even more incredible, as most of our free time was spent outside in the Plaza Mayor. The trip was successful to say the least, thanks to the fabulous itinerary composed by the teachers leading the trip, Miss Gago-Pesado, Miss González and Miss Schirn, and the exemplary behaviour of the students.
Sophie Bruxner-Randall