Hawthorne Valley Waldorf School Spain 2024

Thursday, April 25

Flew to Madrid and met our leader, Carlos!
Drove bus to hotel, then went on a walk and exchanged money. We visited plaza del Sol and the Km.0 of the old roads in Spain.
Got churros con chocolate. Spanish hot chocolate is thick, very sweet and fullfilling!
Walked around barrio de las letras, the district of poets and writers of the Spanish literature golden era. Got menú del día for lunch under the sunny sky at beautiful Santa Ana square and then went back to hotel to unpack and change.
Went on a walk to Retiro Park and played some games.
Took a tour through the Prado Museum with our guide Marta. We got to see the Bosch’s garden of delights and other masterpieces of the collection.
After the museum we visited some gift shops.
Got yummy dinner at Cathedral restaurant and went back to the hotel for our night meeting.
Lots of walking today!

-Grace-

Friday, April 26

We began with a tour around the city and cookies from underground nuns. We then saw a beautiful garden of the old city, very pretty with flowers and great views. We heard lots about the origins of Madrid. Which is actually the only capital city of Europe founded by Muslims. Our guide Sebastián is really knowledgeable and fun! We enter in the Cathedral, the most modern Cathedral in Europe, was finished in the 2000’s. Then went for delicious “menú del día” lunch and we had some time to rest in the siesta break. We then went on a relaxing walk to Parque del Retiro and we made a group contract reflecting on our concerns, our goals and values as a group, that we have captured on a traditional fan. We got to row boats in the pond and saw the Crystal Palace. We then saw Picasso’s Guernica anti war paint and some Dalí works in the National Modern Art Museum. We then had dinner in a cave “El Mesón de la tortilla”. We had lots of yummy tapas to try and had ice-cream and free time in Plaza Mayor before our night meeting. What a perfect day!

Buenas noches,

Keira & Mateo

Saturday, April 27

We started the day off with breakfast at 7:30am and then packed the rest of our things and loaded up the bus at 8:30am and headed to Segovia. We arrived around 10am and admired the gigantic Roman aqueduct that has been there for two Mileniums. We walked though the beautiful city to the Alcázar (the palace). Marina, our guide explained us all the stories about this palace, that actually was the inspiration for Disney Castle! We climbed the main tower and had a 360’ view of the area with wheat fields, and small churches and houses.
Then had lunch in a Sephardic restaurant and shopping time in Segovia Main Street.
After that we boarded the bus and around 5pm we arrived in Amayuelas and met Melitón and María José, our host for the next two days. Melitón shared with us the story of this sustainable village and the impressive seeds museum they have. Now we are in the cozy living room getting ready for dinner.

Roan & Grace

Sunday April 28

It was a very chilly morning when we woke. The rooster could be heard in the distance. The scent of a wonderful breakfast was in the air. Thus began our first day on the farm. We spent the morning in the greenhouse working the soil with Melitón, our host. We pet the animals: the donkey, Senda (the dog) and cats. María José explained us all about medicinal, aromatic and ornamental flower plants she cultivates. By lunchtime we were all dirtied up and ready for a hardy lunch. This consisted of two options: lamb and vegetables stew or chickpea and vegetables stew.

We spent the afternoon learning the ancient art of tradition bread baking and the grants and methods used. During this process, we made our pizza for dinner, with cookies for dessert.
After a rewarding supper and some very heated games of foosball, we ended our evening with a stunning walk under the stars.
Today was a full filed and rewarding day.

Rosabel and Sage

Monday April 29

When we woke up this morning it was slightly chill with a hint of spearamint. We then had a light breakfast and began to get ready for a hike. We went to San Cebrián, a close town with an ancient church from the 13th-16th century. Begoña, our guide explained us all details about the art of this church. We had coffee and began walking across the Canal de Castilla: 18th century canal 200km long consider the greatest engineering work in the country at that time. Made for transportation of the grains of this are to the north coast. We walked in silence to experience the true Camino de Santiago, as Carlos explained us, and it was a spiritual experience of reflection in order to find meaning and ourselves in this infinitely expanding universe.

We saw owls and deers. We then had lentils, and pork steak with caramelized onions from the farm and bread that we baked yesterday.
Siesta was time for games and journal reflections. We saw the local church (12th century) witch “was creepy/ funky as heell” – Rosabel Mongan interview-

We then did a group reflection activity with Carlos and saw the beautiful sunset.
We had white beans in sauce and Spanish potato omelette with early lights-out to wake up early tomorrow.

Tiger & Keira

Tuesday April 30

Today we woke up in Amayuelas at 4:45M in order to catch the train from Madrid to Barcelona. After a long drive we finally made it to the train. After arriving in Barcelona and dropping off our luggage, we went to a very touristy area know as Las Ramblas. We enter into Boqueria Market, it was very crowded and hectic and the stench of fish was very strong. After eating some yummy tapas we went with the metro to Park Güell, a huge and amazing park created by Antoni Gaudí. There were many interesting structures paths where we took walks. Many pigeons and parrots. After the Park we took the metro to Catalunya square and spend time in Paseo del Ángel avenue, a shopping district near our hotel. As a closure of this day we had Pintxos dinner. A traditional Basque Country tapas style consisting on a spice of bread topped with delicious combinations and hold by a stick. Typically you pay according to how many sticks you have in your plate.

Everyone had a lot of fun and it was a great day of bonding. Although we got pretty crazy at times which I apologize for.

-Tor + Eli-

Wednesday, May 1

Today we explored Barcelona, in its entirety, we went on a bike tour learning about the city and its history.
Adjacent to this, a group went on a photography excursion to Palau de la Música Catalana. It was beautiful!
After our bike trip, we went to the legendary skate spot MACBA. After that we went for lunch at a paella place, one of the best meals we had in this trip.
We walk streets of the city center and then explored the beautiful Gaudí architecture in La Casa Batlló and La Sagrada Familia. With beautiful colors fluctuating from the stair-glass.
The different tiles and the amazing craftsmanship put into the multiple parts of the building.
At the end of the day we took the subway back to the area around the hotel to eat Chinese food, which was delicious.

-Final blog post written collaboratively among the entire group