Recently Year 10 girls from Millais school took part in the Spanish Exchange to Madrid. The Spanish students arrived in England first earlier this year and stayed for 8 days. A few weeks later the girls went to Madrid and also stayed for 8 days.

When the Spanish exchanges came to England, they visited places of interest in southern England during week days with other members of their school. As well as this at the weekend the host families would spend the weekend with the exchanges.

The exchanges arrived on Tuesday 13th March in the evening at Gatwick Airport. During the week they went to London, Portsmouth, London again, Hampton court and finally Brighton. All the students had a great time exploring new parts of England and comparing life in England to Spain.

When the English girls went to Spain they had a phenomenal time. Although speaking Spanish with the locals proved to be hard at times, it was a great experience for them. All the families were kind and welcoming – exactly what you need.

On Tuesday 11thApril the girls went on a tourist bus around Madrid. Despite the weather being extremely chilly, it was a great opportunity to see the main sights of Madrid and see where they are in relation to each other. Next on the Itinerary was Toledo. It was a beautiful town that looked amazing from afar as well as being pretty in the streets. There were many shops ranging from cafes to clothes shops to souvenir shops. The cathedral was magnificent and the whole town was very picturesque. Another place of interest that was visited was the Monasterio del Escorial. It was so impressive but controversial as some Spanish people think nobody should visit it because of its tragic history. It then reached the weekend and each student did activities with their host family.

Once it reached Monday the students visited the Puerta de Sol, Plaza Mayor, the cathedral and the Palacio de Real. All delightful places to visit that are ‘must see’ sights. On their second to last day, all the students visited the University of Alcala and had a guided tour that was quite compelling. Also visited that day was the Casa natal de Cervantes. Here students got to see the birthplace of a famous Spanish writer (Cervantes). To end the day students got to relax in the Parque Europa.

Before flying home the students visited the Real Madrid stadium where they got to see the press rooms and sit in the seats of the players on the bench. During the week the Spanish partners took the English girls around Madrid and for meals with the other exchanges so everyone had a brilliant time.