On Wednesday 3 April, 24 students travelled to Almerimar, Spain, to reunite with their SEK Alborán exchange students, for a week of new experiences and adventures.

We arrived at their school, after a full day of travelling, and we were greeted by our exchange partners and their families, before travelling to our new homes for the week.

On Thursday, we met at their school before driving on to  Granada. Whilst in Granada, we visited the Alhambra, a Muslim palace and fortress complex built in 1333. We were lucky enough to go into the Alhambra to see the beautiful infrastructure, and how the words of the Quran were crafted into the walls. After this, we went into the town of Granada to have lunch and visit some shops, cultural and trans-national.

On Friday, we travelled to The Nerja Caves, which were beautiful. We were told some interesting facts about the stalagmites and how they have formed. After the caves, we travelled into the town of Frigiliana, and had free time to have lunch and explore.

We spent the weekend doing different activities with our exchange partners and their families, eating paella, traveling to surrounding areas i.e. Almería, going to the beach, and a very popular activity – meeting up at the local frozen yoghurt place Ioogo!

On Monday, we spent the day with our exchange partners in their school, experiencing what lessons are like in Spain and having a tour around their school.

Tuesday was our last full day and we travelled to Almería to visit the Alcazaba, a palatial fortification and fortress, according to architect restorers is a prototype of military architecture. After we visited the Alcazaba, we took a short walk into a small town in Almería, where we explored for a couple of hours and found somewhere nice to eat. On the Tuesday evening, our exchange partners arranged a big party for everyone, we partied together and made the most of the little time we had left.

On Wednesday 10 April, we left Spain, some very emotional, because we’d had such a great trip. It was an incredible experience, and one I’m sure, no one will forget! On behalf of everyone on the exchange, I’d like to thank Mr Coupe, Mrs Meynell and Mrs Mellors, for giving up part of their holidays to take us on such a brilliant trip.

Taiya, Year 10