Madrid: Day 1
Arrival and welcome dinner. Transfer to accommodations, receive the Madrid Metro Pass, and gather for the welcome dinner. Placeholder for the first arrival impressions, first meal, and early group rhythm.
Spain 2025
Spain Recap
Madrid: Day 2
Orientation and city tour. Local orientation, neighborhood walk, guided Habsburg Madrid tour, and group lunch. Placeholder for notes on place, history, and the city becoming the classroom.
Madrid: Day 3
Free day or university activity. Independent exploration or a university-sourced activity in Madrid. Placeholder for whatever felt worth remembering: museums, meals, walks, and student observations.
Madrid: Day 4
Class meeting and vineyard visit. Faculty-led class meeting followed by a guided vineyard and wine tasting outside Madrid. Placeholder for wine, region, hospitality, and how tasting became a learning method.
Madrid: Day 5
Royal Palace. Guided visit to the Royal Palace of Madrid with free time afterward. Placeholder for architecture, monarchy, ritual, and the connection between spectacle and culture.
Valencia: Day 1
Train to Valencia and class. Travel by train to Valencia, receive a transit pass, check in, and meet for class. Placeholder for the shift in pace, scenery, and regional identity.
Valencia: Day 2
Class and city tour. Faculty-led class meeting followed by a guided walk through Valencia's old quarter and central market area. Placeholder for markets, city texture, and local foodways.
Valencia: Day 3
Paella cooking class. Farm-to-table paella cooking class and group lunch at Barraca de Toni Montoliu. Placeholder for cooking, rice, shared meals, and the way food turns strangers into a table.
Valencia: Day 4
Free day or university activity. Independent exploration or a university-sourced activity in Valencia. Placeholder for free-day wandering, small discoveries, and the moments that did not fit the official itinerary.
Barcelona: Day 1
Travel to Barcelona. Coach transfer to Barcelona with a cheese and wine tour stop, then hotel check-in. Placeholder for the travel day, the food stop, and the transition into the final city.
Barcelona: Day 2
Gothic Quarter and Sagrada Familia. Faculty-led class meeting, Gothic Quarter tour, and guided visit to La Sagrada Familia. Placeholder for architecture, tourism, sacred space, and Barcelona's layered identity.
Barcelona: Day 3
Penedes wine region. Full-day visit to the Penedes wine region with free evening time in Barcelona. Placeholder for wine region notes, landscape, hospitality, and group reflections.
Barcelona: Day 4
La Boqueria market. Faculty-led class meeting followed by a guided La Boqueria market visit with tastings. Placeholder for market sensory details, crowds, ingredients, and food as public life.
Barcelona: Day 5
Final class and farewell dinner. Final class meeting, reflection time, and group farewell dinner in Barcelona. Placeholder for the emotional wrap-up, what students noticed, and what the course left behind.
Barcelona: Day 6
Program ends. Check out and transfer to the airport at the most common departure time. Placeholder for departures, final impressions, and the aftertaste of the trip.