As soon as we stepped off the coach, we were bombarded by a gust of wind. We stood shivering, waiting for everyone else to follow, and once all twenty-eight of us were on the pavement, the teachers offered those who had less layers some jumpers they had brought along. We set off at a quick pace, Mr Copsey and Mr Meekin at the front and Mrs Anderson at the back. Once we got to the cathedral we were dispatched for an hour's free time (most of which was spent sprinting between the warmer shops in an effort to keep warm) and finished off the last of our money. As we speed walked back to the cathedral we noticed a few flakes of snow. We found this amusing as we are meant to be in a hot country, as it was a few days ago.
In the cathedral's locker room we sat around for about ten minutes waiting for people to turn up and speculating on whether the volcanic ash would affect our flight. Once the guide turned up we entered the cathedral. Though on the outside the cathedral was breathtakingly beautiful, the inside was better. Huge stained-glass windows shone their light on marble statues and paintings and our guide described the ancient history of the artifacts with knowledge and enthusiasm, including vigorous hand movements in her descriptions. We trooped around the cathedral, gaping at the incredible handiwork displayed. There were several chapels gifted by various benefactors and a clock nicknamed the 'flycatcher'. We just missed the hands strike the hour, which was annoying as we had been informed that the mouth on the stone man holding the clock would open.
Once we had done that we were presented with another couple of hours free time, much to our delight, which we spent visiting cafés to eat in and a few shops, though we had no money left to spend. We all met up at three and discovered that there were only twenty-seven of us. After a few minutes panic we found the missing person who had been taking a phone call. A group of us, who the previous day had collected money together in secret, called the teachers over to present them the gifts bought with the donated money. They opened their presents with much applause and were delighted with the chocolates they found there.
Overall our trip so far has been a very good experience. We have seen a lot of varied sights, most of which were more beautiful than we could ever have imagined. We are definitely going to stay in touch with our exchanges as we really enjoyed the trip.
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