Before another spike in COVID numbers I was lucky enough to book and visit a few countries in eastern Europe. Some places I visited just for a weekend, others for a longer puente, or bridge, long weekend. First up was Sofia, Bulgaria. This compact Eastern European city is the perfect size for a weekend getaway. A Friday night flight got my friends and I in around 11pm, which was still enough time to grab some snack foods from a small convenience shop. Stocked up with local wine, chips and crackers, we were happy to get back to our warm apartment […]
Portugal
It’s been a tough few years for travel. Having said that, I have managed to squeeze in some pretty incredible trips using Barcelona as my launching point. While I have found a will and a way to travel, I have been less enthused to write about it. My latest trip home to Massachusetts has given me the spark I needed to share my summer jaunts with you all. First let’s talk Portugal. Portugal has been on my list of places to see for quite some time. At one point last summer I almost got there when I took a trip […]
Just a Train Ride Away: Girona
Up until this past weekend there have not been any weekends away in quite a while. And while borders are slowly beginning to open again, I won’t be traveling to the far flung places I had envisioned for myself when I moved to Europe. This strange time we are living in has altered, at least for the time being, travel and all that it entails. While I long for a weekend trip to places far and wide I am just going to have to practice some patience and exercise caution as I stay closer to home. This summer I will […]
Budapest Long Weekend Getaway
I am a bit behind in posting about my time in Budapest. I went for a long weekend in November for our school’s Thanksgiving break. The driving force behind the choice of Budapest were, as I am sure no one will be surprised if you’ve read my last post, the Christmas Markets. When I saw we had a few days off for Thanksgiving I immediately started searching for places in Europe that would have their Christmas Markets up and running. The choices were limited, but I was thrilled to see Budapest was on that short list. It was a place […]
Travel Spring STEM Challenges
With a week off, I had a lot of time to think about ways to incorporate more travel into my teaching in the coming term. Recently I have created several STEM lessons that connect animals and their habitats and the seven continents, but I was thinking, there has to be more! It was as I was pouring over old photos from previous trips, to create a gallery wall over my couch, that I was struck with inspiration. Earth Day STEM challenges! Spring is right around the corner, and with it comes Earth Day. Many of the places I have seen […]
Student’s Seven Continent Bulletin Board
We have been studying the seven continents for quite a while now. In fact, we have finally made it to our last continent for in depth study, Australia. During our continent study, students picked a country to research. The whole second grade is participating in this research project and in June parents are invited to a continents performance. We have representation from each of the seven continents, with the exception of Antartica, for obviously chilly reasons. Since most students are close to finishing their research on their country, I thought it might be fun to do a little side project. We […]
Let’s Explore Europe
Our classroom travel through Europe started out much the same as with North and South America. If you haven’t had a chance to read those posts, you can check them out here: North America, South America. But now, back to Europe. First we had to identify Europe on a map, read a fact sheet, and highlight important information. At this point, students knew the drill, and what to expect for the first day studying a new continent. The rest of the week brought a few new activities. First, I stumbled across a YouTube series called Travel Kids. It was a great fit to include in lessons […]
Market Squares
One of the things I loved most about my time in Europe this past summer was spending time in markets. Abuzz with activity, sounds and smells, open market squares were the perfect place to soak up culture and do a little shopping at the same time. When I returned home to the states all I could think was how much I missed the open markets I had visited. Why can’t we make a go of permanent open air markets here? I mean if Helsinki, Finland can have one year round then towns in New England certainly could make it […]