Our musicians enjoyed a special trip to Barcelona and gave a fantastic concert at La Sagrada Familia. The following report has been written by our Upper Sixth pupils, Charlotte, Josh, Rachael, Sophie and Wilf.
"Our trip began at 1.30am on Monday 18 July at St Peter’s and there was a palpable buzz of excitement among all of us despite the time. After a slight rush at Manchester airport we arrived safely on our flight. We had a brief stop in Frankfurt before travelling on to Barcelona. After nearly 14 hours of travel we were very grateful to be greeted by both the gorgeous weather and our courier Marianne, who looked after us for the whole trip.
After a well deserved lie-in, we enjoyed a guided tour of Barcelona. It gave us a great appreciation of the city and its history before we were let loose on Las Ramblas for lunch. We also got to visit the Olympic stadium and admire the incredible sights of Barcelona from above. Our first concert was in Blanes and there was a feeling of eager anticipation over the paella at dinner. The concert featured impressive solo work by the Sixth Form pupils alongside the ensembles, and we came away feeling relieved and excited for the coming week.
Day two saw the tour party travel out to Figueres, where we had a memorable morning in the Dali Museum and were in awe of the outstanding creativity on show. We found a special connection to our second concert location as it was a church dedicated to St Peter.
Thursday was a day full of well earned rest and relaxation. The morning was spent soaking up the sunshine at Caldes D’estrac beach. Shortly after, a short trip was made back into Barcelona to visit the Arenas de Barcelona shopping centre. The top floor provided us with stunning panoramic views of Barcelona and many photo opportunities! Dinner at La Tagliatelle was shortly followed by an impromptu visit to the spectacular fountain show at the Magic Fountain of Montjuïc.
On the penultimate day of the tour we were treated to the morning at Illa Fantasia water park - one of the best water parks in Spain! This was followed by a concert in Reus, which was a special one, with more outstanding Sixth Form solos and the ensembles really pulling together to produce one of our best concerts so far.
As the week came to a close, Saturday evening finished our Barcelona tour with a final concert in the Crypt of the Sagrada Familia. Our previous guided tour of the nave in the morning highlighted how special the building is, and inspired us to play our best in such an iconic venue. It was an incredibly emotional evening for everyone involved, and was a chance to showcase not only the music but friendship and community developed throughout the week.
Travelling back through Frankfurt airport on Sunday was a rather sad affair, perhaps made better by the abundance of German pretzels and duty free chocolate. It was indeed a surreal experience to bid the teachers farewell at 1.30am on Monday, and concluded the most memorable and enjoyable school trip we have ever had the pleasure to take part in."
We would like to credit the photos to our courier Marianne Swienink-Havard.
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