Farm day

The day after being castles out Gavin decided to take us to his nephew´s farm to have a ride on the buggy. Tom, Gavin´s grand nephew showed us how to drive it on the field. Everything was fine and everyone was doing great until Alfredo nearly crashed the buggy into a fence.

After that we had lunch in the garden with Tom and Tom´s dog Tam

Our next stop was Kinnoull Hill. In order to get to the top of the hill we had to do a long walk through the forest. By the time we arrived we were exhausted but it was worth it because the views were breathtaking.

then we headed to The Horn, a place where ice-cream is sold and where they cook the best bacon rolls in Britain. We must say that the ice-cream was delicious!

                           
Finally, we visited Gavin´s sister´s farm. There we met Lucy who went with us to Edinburgh and to the laser tag, we played with her puppy. Alfredo and Isabel jumped on the trampoline.
                            

"This was our resting day" 

Castled out

Dear followers, we are down to four and the adventure continues!

After two hours driving, two hundred miles and more than three hundred steeps we are back in Dundee.

The first castle we visited was Stirling´s. We first went to the big garden, there we had lunch surrounded by Italian students!


 Inside the castle we had the change to dress up as a character of that time! In the main garden there were two women playing an old fashioned game of tennis like in  Wimbledon

After that we went to the William Wallace monument which was the inspiration behind the Lord of the Rings tower. To see the views on the top of the tower we had to go up 246 step. Once we got down were really dizzy because the stairs were spiral!
                                

As the good fans of Outlander and Game of Thrones that we are, we headed to the Doune castle where some of the scenes were filmed. For example Winterfell´s main room or the Mackenzie´s castle.
                              

After a long and tiring trip we moved towards Dundee again.

Take your pick

Friday morning started like a normal day here in Dundee. The Spanish students met in the Tinsmith. In spite of having already arrived from the Highlands we had the stay until 2:30. Gavin and Kira planed a surprise for us. We were going to pick strawberries, blueberries, and all other berries..

Of course, all the fruit that we had collected was going to be for our families, host families! If we put them in our luggage back to Spain they would turn into juice.

After that we came back to Dundee and went to the VnA which is the most famous museum in Dundee. The building is incredible, very modern and cool but the expositions that were inside weren't so attractive.

When we finished our visit and came out the building it was raining , well pouring! We had to run to get to the uni in time. Once at the uni we did some blog work, like the one you are reading right now. This afternoon we are going to see watch Nadal´s match so we hope he wins!!

Alfredo and Nacho.

Españoles por los Highlands 2

The next morning we walked to a local cafe where we ate all kids of rolls (bacon, sausage, egg even black-pudding!)

Later on we went to Tesco to buy our pack- lunches, it was very funny watching everyone pick their three pounds meal. As soon as we finishes, Sandra, Isabel and Alfredo found out that they had passed the FCE exam.. Congratulations!

Our next stop was Loch Morlich ;the only loch in the UK with an actual beach! A group of us went canoeing in the loch whilst the other stayed at the beach and counted dogs, there so many!
                         

After having a great time at the beach, a huge storm began. It started to rain very heavily but it didnt stop us from going to the ski station to see the views.

                             

We ate our pack lunch on our way back to Dundee but Kira and Gavin had a surprise for us.. golfing!! Clara, Nacho and Cristina were experts, the rest.. not so much! The best without a doubt was Gavin, he looked like a professional.
                               

Once Gavin had dropped us at Dundee a few of us decided to have dinner at the tinsmith, even though we weren't hungry.

Sandra and Clara

Españoles por los Highlands 1

We met at 9:30 at the Tinsmith to drink our usuals (Coffee and hot chocolate). From there we started our trip to the Highlands on our mini bus ´La furgoneta´. It was a three out trip, nothing interesting happened, only that Judith had to go to the toilet every hour.

We stopped at a gas a station in Inverness and the first debate appeared ´Italian or Italian food for dinner´. Eventually the Italian won ( later on you´ll find out why this was the best choice)

We had lunch at the loch´s of Loch Ness, where we saw how the boats changed from one section of water to another.
                                   
Our next stop was Loch Ness and Urquhart Castle where we even managed to put our feet into the freezing water.
                                      

As we were tired we headed to the hostel in Aviemore, we had three rooms, one for the girls, one for the boys, and one for the bosses ( Gavin snored all night according to Kira). We were then given free time, some people took a nap, others had a shower and some had a drink on the hammock.
                                    

Now, the moment you have all been waiting for ; the Italian restaurant la Taverna. We had two options, one was to order from the menu and the other was a buffet. To summerize the night lets just say we ate our body weight in food.
The rest of the night was definitely interesting, we attempted to play cards, our sleep was interrupted because of a loud thump! It was the sound of Judith falling of the bed.. Then Sandra and Clara started to talk until everyone was woken up. Isabel was not happy!

                                                

To be continued...


Sandra and Clara

Visiting Edi

On Saturday morning the Spanish students went to Edinburgh. We were very lucky with the weather as it was fantastic!

Our first stop was the castle, however we didn't go inside. We were just outside enjoying the views and the sun as well as taking many photos. Another reason why we didn't go into the castle was that we were told that we would need an entire day to see all of it!

Afterwards, we went to a pulled pork roll shop called Oink which is very well known in Edinburgh. The traditional sauce to have with it is apple flavored however two of the students decided to have BBQ sauce.

At the end of that street we found a market where Nacho decided to buy a paella plate ironically! He said he enjoyed it a lot because he was missing Spanish food.


Later on we went to the cemetery where we saw Tom Riddel´s grave ( a famous Harry Potter character).



 Before heading to our next stop we saw the rocket-man wings sprayed on a wall, so we obviously had to take some photos.. Sandra however, was to short for the wings.

Our next stop was the famous doggy statue ( Hachiko). People say its good luck to touch his nose!
Even though Nacho wanted to visit to the Scottish Parliament , we couldn´t go because it was closed.

As a result we decided to go to the National Scottish Museum where we saw things such as traditional clothes and instruments from different cultures.

After walking past the cathedral and Hume´s statue we were given two free hours to go shopping. The majority of the students went to a souvenir shop and then went to another Harry Potter shop. The group divided again; Alfredo, Mangel and Clara attempted to visit a famous a Chihuahua cafe that ended up being closed. Meanwhile the rest of the girls and Nacho decided to go shopping at Princes Street.



We were all exhausted by the end but it was definitely worth it!

This was written by the mystery students who forgot to write their name.

Two girls and the north sea

On Monday afternoon we went to St Andrews, which is a city located 20 minutes away from Dundee.

To start off, we took a bus from Dundee´s station to St Andrews´ Station, surprisingly everything went okay, without any complications. Once we were there we headed to the information point where we got a map as well as some presents for our families!


Next, we went to the university and to be honest it took us more than we expected to find it. Whilst we were there we took a few photos and found a óoh willie!´

After that we decided to go and see the cathedral and the cemetery. We discovered that it´s not an actual cathedral, you can only see the ruins of the building. It was interesting to imagine how the cathedral looked in the past, it must have been huge..

Our next stop was the beach, on our way there something unexpected happened. Isabel and Alfredo, (the only witnesses) were walking past two men when they heard a loud noise. One of them, who must have had a stomach ache, farted extremely loudly.

Finally, at the beach only Judith and Isabel were brave enough to try the waters of the north sea! It turned out to be warmer than we thought.. Nevertheless, the difficult part wasn't going into the water, it was changing into out swimming costumes in the middle of the beach. After some time, a lot of screaming and help, we both ended up dry and clean.

All in all, it was a fun day filled with incredible memories. 

Judith and Isabel

Confronting our fears

Hi guys, we´re gonna talk about what we did on Thursday!

Firstly we got divided into two teams, some of us went to play tennis for about 40 minutes, however because of the pouring rain everybody kept slipping.. The other group went rock climbing, no one had ever tried it before so it was the first time for Isabel, Sandra, Judith and Alfredo.
Mangel was there, taking photos of us like a proud mother.

 Isabel was the first to go up, it looked like she was in her element!
Judith was the next one, she did quite well, however once she reached the top of the climbing wall, she started screaming due to her shaky leg!! Fun fact, it really was shaking, we could all see it..

Then it was Sandra´s turn, it was a spectacle watching her do this activity. Let´s just say this was not Sandra´s cup of tea. We are not going to get into too much detail but it was funny to watch.



The last one was Alfredo. At first he was very confident about going up but not about coming down. On the last climbing wall, he was very scared because we no longer had the man´s help, it was all down to the harness.

After this adventure, we decided to go to Olympia, a public swimming pool with slides and waves like in the sea. The water was warm, maybe that´s the only bad thing we can say about it. We all thought it was a lot of fun and refreshing after a whole day of physical activities!

Isabel and Sandra

Discovering the discovery

The other day we went to the Discovery Museum, although most of you are probably wondering what it is.. For your information, the discovery was the first ship which arrived at the Antarctic in 1901. The captain of the trip was captain Scott.

At the museum we learnt about all the part of the ship and what wood was used as well as how much food they took for their journey! We were actually really impressed by the amount of food they had, for instance, they had more than 2000 kg of cheese. Besides this, we found out about the nicknames given to the crew.

However, the best part was the opportunity to see the house where Scott and the crew stayed. It was a virtual experience, so we were able to go through the different rooms. Furthermore, we saw the UK’s station in The Antarctic, we were surprised by the size of the station and how comfortable it seemed to be.

Next thing we did was create our own flag and of course, the Spanish flag was there. 

Then we went to the actual boat which was just next to the museum, orientated facing the sun with incredible views.  

Finally, we took some pictures of the wheel

and went to the shop. We spent money to buy shortbread which was delicious!

Laser Tag

On Tuesday we went to laser tag in a place where you can go karting or paintballing. Firstly, we made our teams at the university and there we played some games such as STOP or FACTS.  We decided to keep the same teams throughout the day in order to make it more competitive.

We had to find out which bus we had to on to as well as the bus stops. When we got into the laser tag room we realised that it was very hot so some of us decided to get changed into our shorts.

The game was divided into three parts but the main game consisted in shooting the other team members, and the other was catch the flag. The girls team won practically every round. The last game was called ´ everyman for themselves´ and the objective was to shoot everyone until one person was left; the winner was Isabel.

When the game had finished, we were so tired and hungry that we had some pizzas and juicy drinks there were taking photos of us.

In the end, some of us went to Lochee park to play cards and spend some time outdoors. Because there weather was so nice we stayed there for over an hour and a half.

Red faces after broughty ferry!

Last Wednesday we went to Broughty Ferry to see the harbour. Firstly we took the bus, but before that we had some problems regarding which bus to take. Once we were on the bus another problem came up, we had no idea where to get off! With the help of our friend google maps and little orientation we finally arrived.

Then we walked down to the coast for a quick break. After that we began to complete the tasks on the list that Gavin and Kira had given us that same morning.

The first thing on the list that we did is find every Oor Wullie and take a couple of selfies for our blog.

Next we went to the Green Castle to enjoy the views. After that we headed to the beach since it was to take a sunny day. Some of us decided to take a quick nap on the beach which turned out not to be a good idea as the next our faces were red! However, we enjoyed ourselves and also we were able to play football.

Done with the beach, we went to have an ice cream at a very popular ice cream store.

Some time later, we decided to go home but we had a little problem finding the right bus stop.

Judith and Nacho

Spaniards in Glasgow

On Friday we went to visit Glasgow. At 9:30  we were supposed to meet at the train station, but Kira was a little but late. However, it wasn’t a problem because the train was leaving at 9:50. The train journey was quite calm without considering all the photos we took of each other while we were sleeping. There are some that are worth seeing…

By the time we arrived to Glasgow we realized that the weather was hot and sunny. One of our Spanish mates,   Sandra, didn’t bring sunglasses so we went to Fiona’s apartment (Kira’s sister and our guide in Glasgow). Fiona had also forgotten her camera so we had two reasons to go there.

The first place we visited was Kelvingrove a big park. Then we went to the University, there were some graduations so we could see people dressed up for that. Later on we went to the wonderful Kelvingrove museum where we saw some modern art sculptures, stuffed animals and witnessed a man playing an organ!

After lunch we visited the Botanic Gardens, inside there, it was like a sauna, we were dying because of the heat. Then, we went to the Cathedral and the cemetery, where people were  having a picnic, something very weird to us because we aren’t used to seeing that. 

 

Right after finishing visiting the Cathedral, we had some time to go shopping.

Later, we bough some food to have dinner from Burger King on the train. On our way home, the train ticket guard wanted our food and told us that next time we should bring him a burger. 

We’ll keep you updated.

Isabel and Alfredo

Another year another profile

On our second day we thought it would be a good idea to do a Q&A exercise in order to get to know  the people on the trip. This is everything we found out:

Sandra

She is 17, from Logroño and she is studying 2º of Bachillerato.  

Future: She enjoys helping people therefore would like to work for charities or non-profitable organisations. .

Hobbies: She enjoys reading and listening to pop music in particular Imagine dragons. Other hobbies include going to the gym every week.

Family: She has one sister: whose name is Amaya.

Travel:  Sandra would like to travel to Japan or the USA  to get know the different lifestyles.

Animal: If she could become any animal she would be a bird because she loves flying.

Facts: Hates spiders and really loves languages like for example; Italian, French.. She has a lot villages and does Zumba.

10  years time: Would like to be working and married. No children and living in another country. 

Mangel

He is 20 years old and comes form Pozuelo de Alarcon, Madrid. He is in his second year at university studying law and criminology.  

Future: He would like to be a judge

Hobbies: In his free time he likes playing football and watching films in particular horror movies. He enjoys listening to every type of music but his favourite group is Oasis.

Family: He is an only child.

Travel: If he could go anywhere in the world he would go to China because of the difference in lifestyles.

Animal: He would like to be a turtle because they are slow, they live a lot and are always relaxed.

Facts: His mum is the mayor of Pozuelo.

10 years time: He would like to be a judge in Pozuelo with no kids or being married. 

Gavin (the boss)
He is old but feels young. He has two brother and one sister but he is the youngest. He is from Scotland, was born near Glasgow. He spent his primary years near Dundee.

Pets: He doesn’t have any pets but would love to have a dog again.

Hobbies: His two favourite hobbies include DIY´s and reading, he has read hundreds of books, but his favourite genre is fiction based on facts. He like all types of music but his most preferring is heavy rock.

Sports: He likes watching motor sports, football, tennis and golf. Likes to ski, play golf and play tennis.

Films: Favourite movies are Empire of the sun and Shawshank redemption. Non- thinking films are is favourite.

Facts: He drinks everything, but he mostly prefers tea, a good beer or wine. He doesn’t like rude people. His future job is to be retired.

Why Scotland: Because he thinks it’s a great place to visit!

Clara

Her birthday is on the 27^th of July. Has one brother and one sister but she is the younger; ´baby´. She was born in Vigo but she lived in Greece for a year, Mexico for 3 years, Switzerland for 4 years and Barcelona for 5 years. Now she lives in Madrid.

Pet: She has two dogs, a Labrador and a Border Collie cross as well as two horses.

Hobbies: She doesn’t have enough time to have many hobbies but she enjoys taking photographs in particular landscape.

Sports: Her favourite sports include horse riding, playing football, watching horse riding competitions and she used to swim.

Films: Favourite films are Fast and Furious, transformers… action movies in general.

Facts: She doesn’t like fake or rude people. Her favourite drinks are cola-cao and coke- zero.

10 years time: She would like to be a nurse.

Why Scotland: Improve her English and have a new enjoyable experience.

Kira

She is 19 years old; her birthday is on the 21 of November of 1999. Has an older sister, Fiona. She was born in England but moved to Spain when she was 1 year and half. She lived their until she was 12 years, then she moved to England. Now, she will study in Dundee, Scotland.

Pet: No but if she could she would have at least 10 dogs and a donkey.

Hobbies:   She reads a lot. But she wishes she had more time to do more.

Sports: She plays tennis. She used to do gymnastics and played netball.

Films: She likes psychological, thrillers and social experiments documentaries.

Books: She likes the classics. But her favourite types are the ones which include history, for example related to world war.

Music: She likes classics, 80s, rock music and street music.

Drinks: Her favourite drinks are Aquarius, Vodka Coke, tea, coffee and squash.

Future job? Study?: She is going to study Biochemistry. In 5 or 10 years’ time she wants to work in a lab research conservation of animals.

Alfredo

Personal info: 16, 2 sisters (13,8) born in Pamplona but living in Logroño. Prefers Pamplona

Hobbies: Likes to play video games and swimming

Favourites: His favourite food is ajoarriero (Spanish food made of cod, red pepper, potatoes and tomato sauce), his favourite music is Arctic Monkeys and his favo6 of Crows. If he could travel anywhere in the world he would like to go to Australia because it is a different culture which he would like to get to know.

Future: In ten years’ time he would like to be an astrophysicist working in either Madrid or Pamplona

Trip: He came to this trip because he wants to improve his English and learn more about Celtic culture and history

Isabel

Personal Info: 16 (17 on July 20^th) born in Zaragoza but living in Logroño. 1 sister, Maria, 20

Hobbies: She likes being in contact with nature, so she loves going for walks in the forest. Playing basketball and going to the gym are also activities she enjoys doing.

Favourites: Likes pop music as well as reggaeton; Chinese food is her favourite; she really enjoys reading novels as well as watching science fiction or comedy movies. If she had the chance she would love to go to Austria or Denmark because she has heard that hey are beautiful places but has not seen them for herself.

Does not like: Her most hated thing in the world are pigeons because they scare her, and she also doesn’t not like drinking alcoholic beverages or energetic ones.

Future: Although she is not sure at the moment, she would like a job doing something related to science and biology

Trip: Her main reason for being here is that she wants more independence from her parents, but she also wants to improve her English.

Judith

Personal Info: 17, she was born in Alcorcon (Madrid) and has a brother who is 17 and a sister who is 13.

Hobbies: She likes to dance, in particular, ballet and contemporary dance; she loves hanging out with her friends and listening to pop music.

Likes: Her favourite food are beans, says that the ones her grandmother makes are the best in the world. She is really interested in history, specially The Spanish Civil War so she mainly reads books about this time. She is also really into movies, she goes with her family to the cinema at least three times a month.

Does not like: She is against wasting time, she wants to be constantly doing something. She doesn’t like cats either as she is scared of them

Future: She is still unsure about what degree to study, but she does know that she will be doing it abroad as she wants to experience other cultures

Trip: She is here because a friend who already went on this trip recommended it to her and she also wants to improve her English

Nacho

Personal Info: 17 born in Madrid and living in Pozuelo (Madrid). Has two sisters the same age as him, their names are Cristina and Almudena

Hobbies: He really enjoys playing sports, even more if he does it with his friends.

Likes: Likes comedic films, the main one being the Torrente saga. If he could he would travel to Brussels to see the European Parliament as he is really interested in politics. Likes drinking beer and coke and his favourite type of food is Chinese food; although he is not really into reading, he does enjoy philosophical author such as Ortega y Gasset.

Does not like: Ignacio is not really interested in music but he does listen to reggaeton and, as said before, he does not particularly enjoy reading. He also does not like English, in fact, it was his least favourite subject in school

Future: Once school is over, he would like to get a degree in Law and, if possible, get into politics.

Trip: As is the case with most students, he came to Dundee to improve his English but also to leave Madrid which, at this time, is one of the hottest places in the world.