1. Madrid and Gandia 2012- The Diary
16th May- 25th May 2012
The Students
Claire Duncan
Ryan Richardson
Margaret Caven
Darryl Crichton
Jade Paterson
Jim Stevenson
Antonio Calderon
Sean Dickson
Chris Hernan
John Boyle
Anna O’Neill
Kirsty Menzies
Ross Carroll
David Connelly
Gary Kelman
Angela McGuinness
The Staff
Gail Dennett
Morveen Urquhart
Carrie Findlay
Flora Walker
Ian Lyon
Each day the diary will tell you EVERYTHING that we did, especially what we
enjoyed, what we didn’t enjoy and any special or funny moments!!
Day 1
What we did
 Flew from Edinburgh to Madrid
 Checked into hotel

2. What we liked best
 The flight arrived on time and was quick
 Ross visited the flight deck!!!
 Getting off the plane and feeling the heat in Madrid
 Looking out of plane window and seeing the lights.
 Hotel was clean and big with relaxing rooms
What we liked least
 Noise outside Hotel and in corridors
 Too hot in the rooms
 Arriving late in Madrid-we were tired!
Day 2
What we did
 Visited the Spanish College
 Had lunch in College
 Visited Cosmocaixa
 Shopping at Plaza Norte
What we liked best
 Hot weather 
 Meeting Spanish staff and students
 Visiting the workshops at the College
 Playing football with Spanish
students
 Mini beast section at Cosmocaixa
 Shopping in the mall
 Having fun with friends!!!!
What we liked least
 Some parts of Cosmocaixa were a bit
boring.
 The sausages at lunch time were not
nice.

3. Day 3
What we did
 Warner Bros theme park
 Picnic
 Dinner at College
What we liked best
 Superman ride
 Wild West area in park
 Getting soaked on the water
flume
 Tallest ride in Europe
 Morveen and Mags breaking the waltzers
 Graphics in the Batman simulator
 Picnic- tortilla was tasty
 Queue jump saved time
 Speaking to the Spanish students at the theme park
 Enjoyed chill out time before dinner
 Dinner-cannelloni and chips!!!!
What we liked least
 Would have liked to spend more time in the theme park.
 Souvenirs expensive

4.  Confused at how queue
jump worked?
 Not being allowed to
take water/food into
park
 Too hot!!
 Lost hat on water ride
 Fish for dinner
Day 4
What we did
 Canada Real Nature Park
 Escorial
 Dinner in Cafe Di Fiore
What we liked best
 Seeing all the different animals
 Interesting information about the
animals from the Spanish staff
 Gift shop in nature park was good
 Picnic in the park
 Views in Escorial
 Enjoyed walking around Escorial
 Running up the hill in the rain!!!
 Hot chocolate to heat us up
 Good selection of food at all you can eat buffet for dinner
 Good laugh in pub watching football
What we liked least
 Thunder and hail stones!!!!!
 Walking round the nature park took a long time
 Hot chocolate too rich!!
 Chicken noodle soup at dinner too salty

5. Day 5
What we did
 Tour of Madrid
 Lunch in Alcazar
 Shopping for souvenirs
 Dinner at Cafe Fiore
What we liked best
 Seeing the sights of Madrid-the Palace and
The Ritz Hotel!
 Seeing the Bull Ring
 Being on the bus for the tour as weather not
great
 The big Spanish Flag was amazing
 Meeting new Spanish staff
 Sangria and tapas delicious 
 Lunch was tasty
 Frozen chocolate with white chocolate
gorgeous
 Shopping for oresents!
What we liked least
 HUGE portions at lunch!!

6.  Weather not great 
 A lot of walking
 Steak was quite chewy!
Day 6
What we did
 Visited Colleges and took part in classes
 Real Madrid Football Stadium
 Dinner in Italian Restaurant
What we liked best
 Making jewellery in craft class
relaxing
 Cooking class good fun and we
got to eat it at lunch-delicious!!!
 David’s music class was brilliant
fun-loved making our song!
 Playing football with Spanish
students at break
 Looking at the blog Domingo had
made
 Seeing SFL Madrid Facebook page

7.  Chicken nuggets at lunch great!
 Getting presents from Spanish, it was very kind!
 Football stadium really interesting, good to see trophies and football
boots
 Getting picture with Christian Ronaldo
 Sitting in dug out on pitch
 Stadium shop good for presents
 Italian restaurant-pizzas delicious 
What we liked least
 Would have liked more time in Music class
 Would have liked to spend the whole day in College
 Portions in restaurant were HUGE!!!!
 Football stadium very high!!
Day 7
What we did
 Travelled from Madrid to Gandia
 Picnic
 Beach
 Dinner in Hotel Biaritz

8.  Ice cream and walk along the beach front
What we liked best
 Relaxing journey-managed to sleep
 Enjoyed the film on the bus-very funny!!
 Picnic in the sun
 Hotel Biaritz really nice
 Hotel had a swimming pool and close to the
beach
 Great fun in the sea jumping over waves
 Soft cool sand
 Very good choice at dinner
 Calamares tasted delicious
 Enjoyed the walk along the front to get ice cream
 Lots of different flavours of ice cream 
 Had great fun with Spanish students at ice cream parlour
What we liked least
 Hotel room smaller than in Madrid
 Pool really small
 No fridge in room to keep water cold
 Towels in bathroom small
 Water freezing
 Sand all over feet

9. Day 8
What we did
 Beach
 Lunch in hotel
 Swimming pool
 Albufera for boat trip
 DISCO!!!
What we liked best
 SUNSHINE!!!
 Beach was great fun, playing in the
seas and sunbathing
 Soaking Gail in the sea
 Clear water
 Bought sunglasses on the beach
 Football on the beach with the Spanish
 Breezy at the beach
 Pool nice and cool
 Walk to the Marina to see the big boats
 Boat trip very relaxing and interesting
 Thatched house was so small
 Darryl and Gary tried eels 
 Disco was amazing-good music and danced all
night!!
What we liked least
 Too many midgies at the cafe in Albufera
 Disco was really HOT!
 Pool and sea very cold 

10. Day 9
What we did
 Went to Valencia to Oceanographic
 Lunch at Hotel
 Shopping along the beach front
 Beach
 Dinner in Hotel
 DISCO!!!
What we liked best
 Walking around seeing all the
different animals.
 The dolphin show was amazing!!!
 Oceanografico was very interesting
 Liked seeing all the brightly coloured
fish
 Shopping for presents
 Last time at the beach 
 Pub fantastic!
 Spanish music was great!
What we liked least
 Would have liked to spend the whole day at Oceanografico 
 Would have preferred to go to
Disco than listen to the band!

11. Day 10
What we did
 Travelled from Alicante to Glasgow
What we liked best
 Good short flight
 Liked arriving home to the sunshine!!
What we liked least
 Saying goodbye to our Spanish
friends 
 Didn’t want to come home!!