Comenius Meeting in Massafra ..... 1st day

Last Thursday, Lali, Cari, Salva and I, started our journey to Massafra. There, was going to take place the 5th meeting of our Comenius Project about reading improvement, "Reading for travelling through the paths of life". In fact we were not alone, three students who had won the trip as a prize came with us: Estefanía, Almudena, and Sara. We left Cartagena at 5:30 in the morning and went by train to Madrid. We arrived there at 10:30 and we left our baggage in the left-luggage office. Then, we had breakfast in a bar near the station, and walked for a while enjoying the sights. After that, we picked up our suitcases and went to Barajas Airport by underground. It took only 30 minutes. There we checked-in and waited for the flight. Everything was perfect: the flight, the weather, the baggage, people, the landscape and the views from the plane...
We landed at Bari airport at about 7 o´clock in the evening and we looked for a way to leave our luggage and go to visit the city. In the end, we sent our suitcases by taxi to Massafra - this was a wonderful idea of Margherita, the Italian coordinator - taking advantage of the fact that there was a taxi going there with some partner teachers. That way we were free to go to Bari and walk around the narrow streets, to see the historical centre of the city, with many wonderful old churches like St Nicola, the port, the special religious images and pictures at the front doors of many houses...And one of the best memories: the dinner in a typical small trattoria where a kind Italian cook prepared us a delicious meal.
I can´t continue without mentioning the taxi drivers. The taxis we took at the airport to get to Bari, were unforgettable. We had to take two. They tried to ask us to pay more money but we got a better price, and they agreed to wait and take us to Massafra at 10:00, after our short visit in Bari. They picked us up and we arrived there at about 11:00. On the way, I asked them about the return and we agreed they were going to take us to the airpot again on Sunday. The taxis were old, the roads terrible and they drove very dangerously, but we thought it was a normal thing in Italy.

When we arrived at Massafra, everyone was waiting for us at the hotel. We met all the people - teachers, students, families where our pupils were going to stay -, and wef only said "Good night" because we were very tired and we wanted to go to bed. The next morning we had to get up early and to work hard.