Saturday 14th May

After three hours driving, the coach driver stopped to rest and have something to eat and drink and so did the rest of the group. Then they continued the trip and about 05:10 they arrived at the airport. It was too early to check in, so everybody tried to sleep anywhere.

At 8:00 they were able to check in. That time only one student had problems with the weight of the suitcases. At 10:10 the plane took off. During the flight some of the students continued sleeping.

At 13:30, (Spanish time) the plane landed in Madrid. After all the legal steps, they left the airport and looked for a coach which was waiting for them. At 14:20 the trip to Jaén started. After about an hour, they stopped in a restaurant to eat something. Again on the road and about 18:30 they arrived in Jaén at IES Jabalcuz, where families were waiting.
Fortunately, everything was alright.
Now everybody is looking forward to October, when the English partners are coming to Jaén, although some lucky Spanish students will visit Norton this summer.

Friday 13th May

Yes, the last day in Norton. It began as usual. The Norton College was the meeting point for Spanish teachers and students. All the group and the English partners posed to have an unforgettable memory of the stay. Then, the Spanish group went to York to spend the morning sightseeing and buying the last souveniers for their families.
Several churches and picturesque sites in York were visited.

Then, time to have lunch and to continue buying until 14:30, the time to take the coach to go back to Norton. Before taking it, the Spanish group had a photograph taken with something very familiar for people from Jaén. Can you guess? Look at the photograph and you can see it.

At 15:10 they were waiting for their English partners in Norton College to go with them to their homes. A lot of them had arranged to have a party before packing. After dinner, everybody had to meet outside Norton College to start the trip to Spain. Everybody knew it was going to be a very sad moment. In fact, it was. At that time, English families with their children, Spanish students and teachers started appearing. Their faces showed the sadness of the moment that nobody wanted to happen. When all the English and Spanish students had arrived, a last photograph was taken

Falling tears could be seen in everybody's eyes and "I'll miss you" or even "I don't want to go back to Spain" could be heard everywhere. The saddest moment was coming: getting on the coach.

It was very hard to say goodbye but the Spanish group had to leave towards Gatwick airport. A long tiring night was coming near. At 11:05, the coach left Norton College heading to Gatwick airport. Everybody waved goodbye with tears in their eyes, tears which continued falling for nearly an hour in the coach until most of the students fell asleep.

Thursday 12th May

The penultimate day had come. As usual every morning, after having breakfast the Spanish teachers met their students in Norton College. The plan for this day was a visit to Whitby, a town on the coast, driving through the North York Moors, a National Park in North Yorkshire.
At 9:00 a.m. the Spanish group took the coach and started a trip which drove them through the Moors to Whitby.





Once there, free time to visit the town until 12:30.
















The Spanish teachers went up 199 steps to visit St Mary's Church, which is located next to the ruins of Whitby Abbey.

And finally they visited the ruins of Whitby Abbey.






At 12:30 they left Whitby heading to Grosmont, where they were going to take a steamer train to Pickering. This train is famous because in one of the stations some scenes of a Harry Potter' s films were filmed.








The group had a compartment booked in this train and everybody was very excited imaging themselves taking part in the film.








The most exciting moment was when the students were said that this bridge of this station appeared in the film. Everybody hurried up to take pictures.

At 14:35 the Spanish group arrived in Pickering, where the usual bus and its nice driver took them to Norton college to wait for their English partners.
In the evening, a Spanish girl celebrated her birthday and some of the English parents and their children together with other Spanish students organised a party in the famous Italian pizzeria restaurant Florios. It is said it was fun and they shared a great time.
In the same evening, Sarah and her husband Richard invited the Spanish teachers to have a excellent dinner in a very cosy restaurant in the countryside. It was a lovely evening. After dinner, Sarah and Richard took the Spanish teachers to their hotel Malton.