Hiking Fieldtrip

As the schoolyear winds down (this week is my last! not forever, thank God) and the weather gets nice, outdoor fieldtrips are popping up like daisies. And luckily because my school is just that wonderful, I got to go on both of them within one week. Yuju!

Shepherd's house

So many flowers! 

The first was a daylong hike in the Ancares with my oldest students, 1* BAC. The landscape was wonderful, especially with many of the hills covered in purple and yellow blooms. In my opinion, there was too much uphill climbing and not enough downhill haha, but we survived. Mostly we walked on the side of hills or up them, but at one point the path opened up to a big valley. In the words of my student, "This is paradise!" Perfect setting for a pastoral play. In fact we stopped to have lunch in Brego, a little abandoned house where shepherds used to spend the summers, caring for their animals that would they would bring from Asturias or Leon to graze in that valley. From the looks of it, that's not much of a tradition anymore, but it would be cool and Thoreau would certainly approve. Wouldn't be a hike in Galicia without coming across some cows. And the handful of kids who had the energy to climb up the Peak of Tres Obispos encountered some wild horses. Our hike ended at the Albergue dos Ancares where we rehydrated and I had a nap in front of a fire. Perfect end to a day outdoors.

Galicia or a tropical rainforest? You tell me!

Checkin out Sancho Panza (Don Quijote's sidekick)

And because of the picture overload, I'll save the other fieldtrip for tomorrow

Gatinhas en León

The first Friday of May is Labor Day in Spain. And often my best friend's birthday falls on that weekend so we have double the reasons to celebrate! This year we went to León (I made that sound like it's a lifelong tradition of ours to travel...but I guess I hope it turns into that), a few hours away from homebase.

We really had a great time, because it's hard to have a bad time in such fun company, but 3 days in León became more than necessary in my opinion. One thing that León definitely has going for it is the atmosphere. People had said there was a good ambiance, but I didn't imagine it was to such an extent. At any hour of the day, you could find bars with people and terraces close to full. In my opinion, Spain in general is much more into café/bar life than America, but this was a step beyond what I've been used to. Often there are awkward hours at least in Lugo where it's too early for pre-dinner drinks, but too late for the afternoon coffees. This lull is non-existent in León. As one friend observed, "It's as if they have nothing better to do than meet with their friends and family." But isn't it beautiful? Having that as your number 1 past-time? So although there weren't an abundance of tourist things, the good thing was we could just go out and enjoy the atmosphere when we got bored.

So noble (interactive museum)

Don't get me wrong, León is not completely lacking in activities. We saw the Cathedral, which is quite dark, as my friend pointed out, "because the stained glass is dark" Hahah, she said this right after we had just commented on it, so for the rest of the weekend we teased her about it. Poor H. Andri! We also enjoyed an interactive museum, and free history of León museum. That was actually interesting and included all the time periods from Celts to Romans to Modernity. We went in one of the palaces too, now used as a public office building. It wasn't that fascinating. I much preferred the Pantheon museum next to a Basilica or other church. You couldn't take photos, but in the bottom before reaching the courtyard there was an open space with the ceiling painted with Medieval style Christian scenes. Really interesting, and certainly reminiscent of a cool pantheon.