At the end of the school year, our Music Department and students headed to the airport to travel to Barcelona for the 2025 Music Tour. Students had the opportunity to perform in multiple performance venues across the city and explore the local area and landscape. Highlights included performances at Monserrat Monastery, Barcelona Cathedral and Plaça Major.

Here, Sixth Form students Alex, Rose and Lara share their trip diaries from the tour:

Bleary eyed we arrived at school, suitcases in hand and raring to go for the adventure ahead. A smooth coach journey to the airport and we bid our coach drivers goodbye as we headed to departures and boarded the plane towards Girona. Our security experience was smooth apart from Izzy having to be escorted to get her luggage checked in. Some eyebrows were raised. During the plane ride, some sweet and sour jelly snakes were devoured and one bumpy landing later we were greeted by the warm air of Girona.

Arriving at the hotel, we managed to find the only English TV channel which was playing Wimbledon ladies semis. (We really were Brits abroad.) We then headed down to the poolside where we plunged into the cool water and ate a Margarita pizza in the sun.

Several hours flew past, and it was soon time to head out and prepare for dinner. We were greeted by a wide array of dishes and delicacies and in the words of Mr Wistow, “it was like Christmas.”

After dinner it was a swift walk, via the supermarket where we all invested in some sweet treats for the evening, and we were at the beach. Much to everyone’s dismay swimming was not allowed (Mr Hall banned sea swimming!), however we still enjoyed a game of frisbee in the sand. As the sun set on the water we headed back to the hotel and bid everyone goodnight and settled in for the night. Day one was complete and it was all we could have wished for and more.

After enjoying a breakfast including an array of pastries and cooked breakfast, we packed up and headed to the coach, ready for a long journey to Montserrat Basilica. 

Once at the Basilica, we spent some time handing out leaflets to encourage a crowd to come to our concert before performing to a meaty audience. The performance was well received and one American lady said the performance “made her stay.” 

After that we took a tram to the top of Montserrat National Park where we enjoyed a hike up to the churches dedicated to Saint Joan and Saint Magdalen, located around 1050m above sea level. This was a perfect picture opportunity and left us with many memories to cherish. Following that, we hopped back on the bus and drove to Park Guell located in the city of Barcelona. An hour was spent looking round and admiring the amazing architecture before everyone tucked into an ice cream. 

We then drove back to the hotel where we plunged into another one of the amazing swimming pools available to us. Much time was spent diving down and waving at the people having dinner through the swimming pool window, all under the safety of our resident pool lifeguard, Mr Hall. We ourselves began feeling peckish so we headed down to dinner where we were greeted once again by the aroma of an amazing Spanish buffet. 

We ended our day with a stroll down to the beach where we devoured our second ice cream of the day and headed back to the hotel looking forward to the days ahead. 

We headed down to breakfast tucking into some fried eggs and watermelon, before loading on to the bus and heading towards Barcelona Cathedral for mass. The mass was a success and Lara’s organ skills were greatly appreciated by all the nuns. Using Izzy’s translation skills, a discovery was made: a member of the mass was less than pleased that we were not all Catholic, but all was okay because the principle organist, Hector, took us under his wing and ensured the performance was a success.

We then had an on-the-go lunch whilst Mr Wistow had to resist the temptation to buy a dancing SpongeBob from a street vendor – to this day we still have no idea how it worked. We arrived at our Flamenco lesson and were warmly greeted by Cristina, who guided us through a stunning performance of a traditional Spanish flamenco dance. Mrs Stephen, Mr Wistow and Mr Hall all blew us away with their enthusiasm and finesse despite the slight interruption of an amber weather warning that forewarned us of the floods to come in Barcelona.

The warning meant we had to leave the stunning city slightly early but we still had time to stop for a few bits of souvenir shopping. We hopped onto the bus and went back to the hotel where we immediately plunged into the pool and enjoyed the next few hours soaking in the water and diving down to wave at people having their dinner – for clarity, it wasn’t just us doing this. The pool very much resembled a human fish tank and fortunately no sharks were spotted.

After that we tucked into sausages that were ‘out of this world’ and a chocolate fountain that reminded Mr Hall and Mrs Stephen of a famous episode of the Vicar of Dibley. Following that we headed down to the local supermarket to stock up on cherries, blueberries and most importantly of all (in Alex’s opinion): carrots. We then spent some time browsing the knick-knacks available and tried very hard to resist the urge to buy one of the many I ❤ T-Shirts.

We headed back to our rooms, and settled in for the night, watching the lightning overhead and looking forward to another great day tomorrow.

Excitement filled the air as we headed down to breakfast knowing the day of fun which lay ahead – the Water Park!

Arriving at WaterWorld we eagerly applied sunscreen, listening to Mrs Stephen’s tips in preparation for the doors to open to the park. A short hike followed as we headed to the family lagoon. We were given 6 hours to explore all of the rides in the park, which we spent by zipping down slides and whizzing through tubes of delight. 

A short bus ride back and we were speedily changing getting ready for our final concert. 

Upon arriving at Platja d’Aro we had 2 hours of free time, in which we all tucked in to some authentic Spanish tapas by the sea. More souvenirs were added to the collection as we headed back to the arena to perform. The concert was another huge success and the audience was bubbling with enthusiasm to hear our angelic voices and the night ended on a high note (pun intended).  

There was a sombre feeling in the air as we headed down to our final breakfast. We tucked in to some juicy grapefruit, eggs and pastries before speeding down to the pool for what we thought would be our final plunge. 

Several hours flew by as we swam and even learnt how to lifesave (courtesy of Mr Hall). Mr Wistow tried to stun us with his underwater skills but ended up having to be rescued by the chief lifeguard, aka Mr Hall.

The hotel provided lunch starring veal as the main dish, there were mixed opinions however Alex and Lara enjoyed it once they managed to wrestle it off the bones. 

Post lunch, a short walk to the centre Ville left us with some much needed retail therapy before a promised short walk (which ended up feeling something like a DofE hike) to the beach. Unfortunately due to the heat, the beach was packed with Brits abroad, some rather crisp due to the scorching sun. We were treated to an ice cream and glugged down several bottles of water – safety first! We then went back to the pool and once again dived into the refreshing water.

A speedy shower brought us to where we are now, in Girona airport. Our heavy hearts are laden with happy memories that we will reflect on in the future as the years go by. With the long journey ahead, and the 3am arrival, we already miss the trip, which has since overtaken Austria in the charts as the best school trip to date. We can only thank the teachers for their kindness and support they have put to make the trip happen.