ELENA
If I have to point out a memorable trip it would be the one I made to New York City. It was the first time I took a plane and the experience was awesome but a little bit long. During a week I saw lots of things but one of the most remarkable was when I went up to The World Trade Center. I had never been in a building so high and the views were absolutely breathtaking.
Also I visited The Metropolitan Museum of Art. It was enormous, so I had to choose what period of art I was going to see. Finally, I chose the Ancient Egypt. The masterpieces were fantastic, all of them: statues, coffins and temples were magnificent. Another day, I decided to see the famous musical “Cats” which was overrun with tourists every night. I really enjoyed the show even I couldn’t understand it very well.
In hindsight, I blew a lot of money on this trip but it was beautiful. I visited the most popular places like Central Park, Empire State building or Times Square, but if I come back again, I would like to wander off the beaten and look for unknown places.
BEGOÑA
When I was young I used to rough it in each travel I did. That's way the trip to the Riviera Maya, in Mexico, was one of the best I've taken, as we were lodged in a 5 stars beach resort, and that was completely new for me at that time.
We took a nonstop flight, from Madrid to Cancun. When we arrived to the hotel I went directly to the beach. The sightseeing over the turquoise sea was magnificent. We could dive several times during the week and see so many different multi-coloured aquatic species. It was really incredible.
We also visited several Maya archaeological sites, so we learned a lot about this culture. Some of the sites were in the middle of the jungle, hence we had also some of adventure in our trip : we passed a valley by a cord (tirolina) and we could swim inside a cenote. It was really great.
We had also time to visit some cities, as Merida and Valladolid, and shopping the autochthonous crafts.
HECTOR
My favourite travel (paradoxically) was in september 2001 (tragic date). Three friends and me traveled round Europe in 21 days in my first (and only until now) Interrail experience, and were a memorable days. We started on Switzerland, and visited Austria, Hungary, German, Czech Republic and Dennmark later. I think it´s the best way to know Europe if you are a student, don´t want blow money on and don´t care rough it. We booked one month before to start, but decided in each case how time we were in countries choosen.
Obviously, the biggest moment was when we knew what happened something terrific in New York. We were on Switzerland, near to come Zurich, and our cellular phones started to shine with sms. Nobody in Spain knew what was there, so we tried to take it easy (we were in the best country in the world to place if a war started). My friends and me were in these times seasoned traveler, and loved rough it and bum around, so we decided to go on and to see how different people faced up to something that nobody lived before.
Maybe some people think that this kind of to visit remote places is to blow money on, but to life a turbulent experience has some of adventure; you have fend for oneself because you can´t to phone a agency travel if there are some kind of difficults; and, like is not a organized trip, you don´t need to go to overrum places, where everybody knows.
DAVID
It was a weekend that my friends and I went to practice risky sports. We exit from Madrid on Friday afternoon to a remote town in Pirineos, near river Noguera-Pallaresa. We had planned to practice rafting, canyoning and riding horses, all in one day! After eight hours driving our cars we arrived al that place. As it was a dark night, we felt that we were wandering off the beaten path. The next morning we realized that it was overrun with people expecting to do the same as us.
First stage, rafting. We were excited for sailing the turbulent waters of the river. It was breathtaking when we passed through some dangerous rapids without falling off the boat. It was a very good start for the weekend. After a quick lunch, we went to our next challenge, canyoning. It seemed to be a run-of-the mill activity. But we didn´t take into account the weather factor. We started walking by the river. It wasn´t very deep. But, suddenly, a turbulent storm began to fall over us when we were at the middle of the activity. The water raised and we were trapped in a whirlpool. Our monitors tried to be cool. They began to take us out of the river and when all of us were out they told us we had been in trouble deep.
In hindsight, I would never repeat a plan like this. A lot of hours driving, a lot of activities in a day,... From this time on, we planned our trips better. We didn’t rough it anymore, and we book comfortable hotels even we have to blow our money on it. Despite of all, I think this was one of the most memorable trip I have ever had.
JOSE
This memorable travel was in 2007, it was an american west tour. I visited many cities, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, San Francisco and the Grand Canyon in Arizona.
This travel didn´t begin good, I had my passport in order, but It wasn´t an electronic passport, when I tried to enter the airplane, They said me that I must changed my
passport, I had to return to the police station in the airport and pay the urgency passport. I think I haven´t run more in my life.
The first city that we visited was Los Angeles, the first day I was very tired, I remember I felt the jet lag, this was not my first travel to USA but I visited the east of
America and It was different for me. In Las Vegas We knew the casinos, the attractions, I didn´t play but I enjoyed a lot with this visit. In Las Vegas the last day my
mother and my sister went shopping, my father and me tried to find a comic shops, we finished this search in a remote place, and when We found the shop it was
closed, my father wanted to kill me, but I think it was like an adventure. For the next cities we chartered a funny person, he was a seasoned traveler, the sightseeing
with this man was very good. In the Grand Canyon we hired the helicopter visit but my sister forgot to recharge the camera, the view was breathtaking. The last city
was San Francisco, I think It is a good city but for me I think It´s a little sad.
In hindsight I had to know better the new conditions of travel for America, because my mother suffered a lot the first day, but I remember this travel how a great
experience, I knew a lot of places, people. The only bad experience that I suffered was a robbery in my room of a hotel in Santa Maria , they stole me a mp3 player.
The only thing that I couldn´t do was wath a Nba match.
This travel didn´t begin good, I had my passport in order, but It wasn´t an electronic passport, when I tried to enter the airplane, They said me that I must changed my
passport, I had to return to the police station in the airport and pay the urgency passport. I think I haven´t run more in my life.
The first city that we visited was Los Angeles, the first day I was very tired, I remember I felt the jet lag, this was not my first travel to USA but I visited the east of
America and It was different for me. In Las Vegas We knew the casinos, the attractions, I didn´t play but I enjoyed a lot with this visit. In Las Vegas the last day my
mother and my sister went shopping, my father and me tried to find a comic shops, we finished this search in a remote place, and when We found the shop it was
closed, my father wanted to kill me, but I think it was like an adventure. For the next cities we chartered a funny person, he was a seasoned traveler, the sightseeing
with this man was very good. In the Grand Canyon we hired the helicopter visit but my sister forgot to recharge the camera, the view was breathtaking. The last city
was San Francisco, I think It is a good city but for me I think It´s a little sad.
In hindsight I had to know better the new conditions of travel for America, because my mother suffered a lot the first day, but I remember this travel how a great
experience, I knew a lot of places, people. The only bad experience that I suffered was a robbery in my room of a hotel in Santa Maria , they stole me a mp3 player.
The only thing that I couldn´t do was wath a Nba match.
NATALIA
The best travel I had ever taken and which will be always memorable happened when I had the opportunity to accompany the Spanish National Youth Orchestra in a fifteen day musical tour across Spain. This trip was not a run-of-the mill experience but an extraordinary and special one considering that I followed the Spanish National Youth Orchestra, with its current artistic director and composer José Luis Turina and all the crew working in the musical archives of the National Auditorium, and that was the celebration of the twenty five anniversary of the constitution of this young orchestra which includes the most brilliant Spanish musicians. Besides for this unique commemoration many music teachers, musicians and composers, who belonged in the past to that orchestra, and who work now in prestigious national and international musical orchestras, were also invited in conferences and meetings during the trip. The travel was booked and was planned that I assisted in the musical proofs of the younger composers, that I was in close participation with the musical archive team and I attended the final fantastical musical performances in the diverse Auditorium of Oviedo, León, Asturias, El Escorial and Madrid.
Moreover we passed through breathtaking landscapes and had the sightseeing experience to contemplate cathedrals and monuments, even if was summer and was overrun with tourists, we stayed not in remote places, neither we roughed it, as the hotels were very nice and comfortable. I had not in mind blowing a lot of money, because the travel and food costs were included in it. This didn’t a not stop travel, as we stayed a few days in each city. That trip was full of many surprises, as when they put me in charge of taking pictures of the young musicians during the musical proofs in the auditoriums and of the Spanish conductor’s orchestra Pablo González, also I was delighted with the conversations with other composers as Juan José Colomer and it was a real privilege to be present in all the ovations the orchestra received. It was also unforgettable, when the musicians played in the hotel rooms until midnight, when they participated in a costume night party creating original clothes of la fabada, or when in a whirlwind afternoon in front of La Catedral de Segovia, a very strong wind force us to find all round the city clothespins to grip the scores in the lecterns that the concert could take place full of enthusiastic public and didn’t transform into a desolated reception.
In hindsight, the travel was an exceptional chance not only to visit emblematic cultural and historical locations of the Spanish cities we saw but overall the experience to live close with the musicians and his way of learning music. I discovered different musical symphonies, the life and perspectives of renowned composers and the interaction between the musicians and the public in the astonishing performances in these magnificent auditoriums.
