Day 3: We had a "Real" good Day in Madrid

 

Part of our consolidated group in front of the Plaza Mayor

I had a really rough night, last night, when it comes to sleep.  It happens sometimes when I travel, especially with students.  I think I finally fell asleep around 2am for us and our wake-up call was at 6:15.  Needless to say, I was dragging for a bit. That said, there are some things I've learned along the way that can make up for those doldrums. First, you should eat a healthy breakfast.

The hotel we are staying at is a modern Holiday Inn Express. It isn't the most amazing place, but it provides a bed, a large dining area (where kids can hang out), and a complimentary breakfast in the morning. I only has a small breakfast today, but it was enough to give me fuel for the day.

Some of the kids took full advantage. 

Delicious pastries and fresh bread.

The Spanish Ham was amazing! 

These kids were at breakfast right when it opened. The cafe quickly filled up afterwards!

Another group of the Breakfast Club

 

Another thing you can do, when feeling really beat by travel and lack of sleep, is get lots of exercise. For us Eurotrippers, that's not a problem. As I sit to write tonight's blog, I have over 15k steps and I took it easy today...sitting when I could get a chance and not running back and forth on our line chatting with everyone and keeping the pace constant.  The kids have a lot more steps than me today, because they went dancing, but more on that in a bit!

The sun was out this morning!

Stefano asked Maria to translate a sign. She did great!

Stefano is explaining Plaza Mayor to the group

The way these tours work, typically, is that the bus drops you off a designated spot and then you walk to where you are going.  In Madrid, they've built really nice underground bus drop off stations. While the bathrooms scarred our kids, the convenience of these areas allows for us to pop up right near the city center. Our morning walks have never really been very long. Stefano stops along the way with tidbits and fascinating facts. This morning, our walk took us through the heart of Madrid from the Royal Palace to Plaza Mayor to the San Miguel Market. It was so different this morning compared to last night. The city was ours!

After a brief walkabout, we ended up at our Flamenco Dance Studio.  Here the students were instructed in how to properly dance the Flamenco.  I am not a dancer, so I sat this one out, but the kids all took the lessons seriously (for the most part).  I am including some pictures of their workshop as well as the performance afterwards.

Our instructors!

Look at that footwork!

Center Stage!

Flamenco is more than just a dance. It is almost a theatrical performance. The dancers, the singer, the guitarist, they all displayed so much passion. It was amazing to watch.  A few of us were so entranced that we may have dozed off into dreamland for a few minutes.

I have some video, but this platform doesn't really allow easy video uploads. I will work on making it a TikTok while we leave Madrid on Monday.

After the dance, we left for lunch...the restaurant was fairly close by.

Chicken Caesar Salad. It was really good.

The Main Course was roasted chicken and potatoes

 Our restaurant was pretty good. The Caesar salad was really good. There were croutons and small bits of diced chicken. It was not over dressed either.  There were a few extras available to our group and all of them were eaten.  It was followed by a main course of roasted chicken and potatoes. The chicken had mixed reviews, but only because a few of the kids thought it under-seasoned. Others really liked it. Some dug right in and picked up the drumsticks while others carefully carved off the portion that was calling to them. Dessert was a small cup of ice cream (think Hoodies).  Again, no spares were left behind.  
 

For the sake of time, I will not narrate the next portion of our day. We had a roughly 2 hour city tour on our coach bus followed by an hour long tour of the Royal Palace. I have some great photos though.

Happy Birthday to Max!!!

This was a view we had right before the bus tour!

Leticia was our guide for the day. She was superb!

Madrid's Bull Fighting Arena. It was a really cool building!

A funny statue, but I didn't catch the explanation!

I was facing the wrong way

Because I was trying to catch a glimpse of Christopher Columbus

In the entrance hall of the Palace.

Just me, hanging out with the King!

This table seats 110 guests. We hope to eat there tomorrow!

A Stradivarius 

When our tour completed, we broke into smaller groups to grab dinner at a local square. Some of the kids ordered Churros and they gave me the thumbs up! Others had a more formal meal, but those seeking Paella are going to wait until tomorrow when we have a little more time. We met back at our meeting place and walked to the underground bus terminal. It is only a twenty minute drive, or so, to the hotel, so we made it back fairly quickly.

From what I gathered from the kids, they had a good time today. We got rained on a little bit, but missed the heaviest rain over night and while we were at the Royal Palace. The sun broke through the clouds to give us clear skies and amazing views.  Now, the wind is whipping and the kids seemed almost ready to go to bed. We will check rooms a few times tonight, but I think they are exhausted from a long day of travel followed by a long day or touring. Tomorrow, we do it all again!

Mr. Lavoie, currently in his hotel room preparing some Easter surprises for the kids...Sshh, don't tell them.

Day 2: We Made it to Madrid

 

Flexibility is the name of the game with travel. Things sometimes don't go as planned. I had every intention of writing a second part of the entry last night/this morning, but I didn't catch enough sleep to warrant it.  I am happy to make a Day 2 post which truly captures Day 2, however.

So, here goes. We landed in Munich on time and departed our plane. The Munich airport is pretty big so we followed the signs to Gate G. It led us through Passport Control and some of us got our first passport stamps! We continued through the maze and finally got on our shuttle. In Gate G15, we waited to board.  Another shuttle! Then we climbed the stairs.

Saugus Sachems have posed here before! Happy to continue the tradition!

The plane to Madrid was much smaller than our first flight, but we boarded quickly and took off. The flight was just over 2 hours. It was mostly smooth soaring...although I tried smooth snoring! It didn't quite work.

We landed in Spain and went to our baggage carousel.  Everyone retrieved their bags and we met Sonia. She works for EF and helped us get to the city center to meet Stefano.  Our driver, Horacio, expertly maneuvered through the narrow streets. 

We briefly met the other two school groups and headed into the heart of the City. We will see it again, but here are some quick photos:

Typically, we would walk a city and then go to a specific restaurant for dinner. It is so busy here, with Easter weekend, that we went to the San Miguel market instead. Everyone could find something that they wanted to try or something that they were already comfortable with. Some kids tried Tapas and others tried Popeyes, lol.  

I ended up ordering a pizza!

After dinner, we made our way to the bus and towards the hotel. We all checked into our rooms and then a bunch of the kids met in the lobby to play cards and order UberEats, lol. There was lots of McDonalds! I always enjoy these moments, watching kids just be kids.  We have a full adventure ahead of us, but these casual times are sometimes the best.  

It is a short post tonight, as you can guess, I am fairly tired. We have a busy schedule tomorrow and I might even be posting a video or two!!!

The kids all went to bed a while ago and it is quiet in the hallways.  I think a full day of travel pooped them out. Tomorrow, we get to do it again!

Mr. Lavoie, currently wondering how the roofing company is doing at his house while he's thousands of miles away!!!

Day 1: A Post in Two Parts, most likely

 

We are off...taking off at roughly 8:30pm, we had a fairly easy path towards the plane.  Our pilot informed us that we are flying into the Sunrise and that it would be a fairly quick flight of just under 7 hours.  Some of our kids have never flown before, so 7 hours might seem like an eternity.  I am starting tonight's blog at 9pm (Boston time) and will pause for dinner service.  After dinner, I will try to get some sleep. I will probably hold off on posting this entry until we are on our second flight.  We have about 2.5 hours from Munich to Madrid...so it seems like it will be a post in two parts.  

But, who knows...maybe I will be happy with what I've written tonight and will not feel the need to post again until Friday's touring has wrapped up.  

I took an Uber from Saugus to Logan today. My driver's name was also Richard. He is originally from Kenya and we chatted about international travel as he drove me into town.  One topic was the number of bags he would bring when going home versus me traveling to Europe for just over a week.  It was an enjoyable ride and I gave him a five star rating.  When I said goodbye to Richard, I entered Terminal E and saw Mr. Sepulveda immediately. He had just arrived too.  We hopped right in line to check-in and soon we waiting in Terminal E for the rest of our group to arrive.  Slowly, but surely everyone arrived.

Checking in with large groups can be conducted several ways.  Our way, one for a medium sized that lives near the airport consists of the kids getting into the queue and going through it alone. This has benefits and I think helps some kids start building some independence.  It also allows those parents/guardians who stay with their children a few more moments to be together.  We saw at least three other schools enter the same line as us (yes, they are all on our flight).  Each school came on a bus and all entered the line together. They were Shawsheen Tech, Durfee, and Groton-Dunstable. They all had more kids than us too.  The Lufthansa gate agents worked efficiently today.  The line grew with each of these schools, but they flew through check-in rapidly.  

After our final student had made his way through the line, we said our final goodbyes and made our way to security.  The plan here was simple...I had TSA Pre-Check on my boarding pass, so I went through that line. Mrs. Agola entered the regular line first and Mr. S was the last one of our group to get into line. I zipped right through and was surprised that it wasn't that busy given the number of people we saw checking in at the ticket counters. As our group made it through, we congregated and made our way to Gate E10.  We had plenty of time to grab a snack. Some kids got pizza, others ordered Asian, some ordered two meals, lol.  I held off.  I actually haven't had a sip of caffeine today. I really want to sleep on the flight and decided not to have a diet coke or anything that might keep me up. I did get a Ginger Ale though.

At last, it was time for our group to get in line and board the plane. It is a double decker! I think we are all on the first floor, but I am not 100% sure.  After I finish typing, I may go upstairs to look at it. I think most of our group is seated with a few others in our group. One of our young men was across the aisle from me and a flight attendant asked him if he would leave his aisle seat to allow a little girl sit next to her father. He said yes and moved to the new seat...as I type this the little girl is asleep sprawled out onto her Dad. It is sweet and it goes to show the caliber of students who decided to travel on trips like this.  I am proud of our kids.

Dinner was just served.  I am going to sign off now and try to finish this blog in my morning!  If I can't sleep, I will be back.

One of our groups of kids on board and ready to go!

For those who have never read my blog before, I apologize. First, I can have fits where I write too much. It is basically a stream of consciousness.  Second, I try to blog about the food that we have while on tour. This isn't something one should apologize for, except that I really like airplane food!

Tonight was top notch!!!

I ordered Beef Stew.  It was really good.  The first course was a cucumber and couscous salad. The cuke was thickly sliced, cool, and crisp. It rested gently upon a medley of couscous lightly drizzled with oil and mixed with some sweet red peppers. It was the perfect way to begin my meal. 

The Beef Stew was served piping hot. I took my dinner roll and put it into the same vessel as the stew to soften the bread and melt the butter. After eating the salad, I started in on the carrots and mashed. The carrots were a little el dente (just the way I like them) and the mashed boarded on whipped.  With every bite, I got a hint of the Beef stew flavors until it was time to dig in.  The beef was tender and rich with flavor. It melted in my mouth.  The portion was a little light for my usual meal, but it worked well on a tray.

For dessert, Lufthansa's expert chef prepared a marbled brownie.  This delectable treat was more like a fudge than a brownie. I sampled it before taking the picture to see if I wanted to eat it or not. I ate it! While very rich, the brownie accompanied the main course really well. It was not a lot of food, but it was all comfort food. I think this meal will help me fall asleep.

And this is where part one of tonight's post will end. I am going to try to sleep for the next few hours. If all goes well, there will be a few more lines added in the AM and when you wake, you will see that I slept and feel ready for the next day!

Part Two: Kind of...

Well, I'm still on the first flight and I'm not quite sure if I've slept at all yet. I definitely tried to catch some Zzz's. But I'm up again and I don't think I'll find anymore sleep on this plane, wherever I look (they have curtains hanging up preventing me from going upstairs). We are scheduled to land in about two hours. The plane is still quite silent, but I expect the final service to begin soon.

Thanks for reading everyone. If you enjoy this blog feel free to leave a comment or let me know online. It really makes my day when someone mentions it to me. Which reminds me... There is another Rick Lavoie who lives in Massachusetts and works in Education. He's way more famous than I am. He's traveled the country giving speeches and presentations. Well, recently, he sent me a small package and a note. He's read the blog (Hey, what's up? If you are reading it again). 

So, maybe today's post should be a tale of three Richard's. From my Uber ride to this moment, things have been going well. We will land in Munich in a few minutes and trek to the gate for Spain. I'm glad some of these kids will get a taste of Deutschland. It's beautiful. I'll post along the way, but for now, I'm signing off. 

Mr. Lavoie, currently stretched out as much as on can on an airplane. Hopeful for a few more minutes of shut eye!

Eurotrip25: Departure Day for Spain and Portugal

In roughly 12 hours, Eurotrip25 will be in the air! 

I am thrilled to once again be leading a group of students overseas to help them discover the world. When I travel, I often use the slogan "One Must Travel to Learn" to highlight the reasons why I take studets overseas with me. The phrase was originally declared by Mark Twain and I came to know it when a former colleague and dear friend, Kate Payne, found it one day before we embarked on Eurotrip13. It has become my travel philosphy, of sorts.  I know not everyone has the means to travel.  As a teacher, I never thought I'd be able to travel for work like so many of my friends get to do.  So, to turn travel into a learning experience was something that I jumped at early on in my career.

2025 marks the twentieth anniversay of my first student tour of Europe. As a chaperone on Mr. Fontanella's Italy trip, I was blown away by how much the kids changed while on tour. Everything was new for them.  Some kids fell in love with art and others really dug the archeaology.  The food tasted fresher and so many kids tried things that they would never taste while at home. They matured and, honestly, so did I.  In those twenty years, I have traveled on approximately 15 student tours.  I've worked with about two dozen different colleauges.  I've been to over 25 countries.  And each time, I learn something new about myself, the world, and more importantly I see the kids learning too.

The Saugus High School Alumni Association has helped sponsor these trips for over a decade. Their generous donation covers the expense for a really nice Hoodie (You'll see this years in my next post).  I am so grateful that they see the value in this experience too.  They are not alone in helping to make it happen.  This year, roughly 20 people ordered items off of Amazon or donated through Venmo to help fill EF Tours backpacks with helpful goodies, journals, and other travel accessories for each traveler. These folks, combined with School Administrators, School Committee members, and others throughout the community have really helped make International Student Travel part of the fabric of Saugus High School.

I will be posting tonight, while in the air (if the WiFi holds up) and I will go over a few details of what this blog has become for me (and others), but I also wanted to start typing this morning and wipe the proverbial cobwebs off of the keyboard.  Until then, I will say 'adios.' 

Mr. Lavoie, currently finishing his packing and making sure his supply of snicker bars is well stocked.