Click here to watch a film of the highlights of the trip.
Larry sets off on a new adventure
So good morning everyone!
What an early start for me this morning. Myself and Mrs. Murray arrived in Dublin airport at 4.30am this morning for our 6.30am flight.
We met Mrs. Hanniffy and we checked in our bags. We have lots of presents ready for our Comenius friends in Valencia in Spain. We are visiting four school that all work together called La Serrania Losa Del Obispo. I’m sure all of the boys and girls are looking forward to meeting us.
We are bringing the lovely St. Patrick’s Day cards that Ms. Scott’s room made last week. I’m sure everyone will love them. We also have the DVDs that Amelie helped us to make of our World Book Day book readings and our Bird Art film! Wow! Well done to everyone!
Find a picture of Spain. Can you tell me where Valencia is in Spain? North/South/East or West?We are flying from Dublin to Madrid and then changing planes in Madrid. We arrive in Valencia airport at 1.40pm. Can you find out the distance between Madrid and Valencia?
Here you can see me giving my passport to Mrs. Hanniffy as we are about to get on the flight!!
Look at the cool planes in Madrid airport. We are flying with Iberia airlines to Valencia.
REPLIES TO LARRY:
PUPPY: Valencia is in the East of Spain
LARRY: That’s right! Well done! From Larry!
DAY 1: COMENIUS TRIP TO VALENCIA:
Dia dahoibh go léir,
Larry an Leipreacháin anseo!
We arrived in Valencia today at 1.40pm. Can anyone tell me what the time difference is between Spain and Ireland?
The temperature here is 19 degrees today.
I know that RedDevil is monitoring and recording the temperature in Clontuskert for the Greenwave project. What was the temperature today in school?
Last night we visited the historic centre of Valencia. Can you find out what special festival is on in Valencia this week?
Check out some of these photos..what will happen to these models over the week?
Historic Valencia once was surrounded by walls to protect the town in medieval times. These two doorways to Valencia are all that are left of it now. Look how big they are.
Can you find out how high they are?
Check out this amazing structure. It will be filled with flowers during the week.
Mrs. Murray and Mrs. Hanniffy are behaving very well. This morning we are travelling to visit two of the Spanish schools. Here are two of the Spanish teachers; Mireya and Adore who collected us and brought us on ye subway yesterday. Do you know what a subway is? Can you find out about the one in Valencia for me?
Looking forward to reading all your comments!
Slan o Larry!!
REPLIES TO LARRY:
O la, Greetings from Junior, Senior, 1st and 2nd Class.
Thankyou for sending us all the lovely pictures.We hope Larry is behaving!
The Weather in Clontuskert is 9 degrees today.We are sowing seeds after lunch.
The 2nd Class are preparing for 1st Penance.Please send us some more pictures of beautiful Valencia.We found out that Valencia is in the South East of Spain.We now know that the capital of Spain is Madrid. They are in the Euro zone also.
Slán anois,
Miss Scott’s Room
Submitted on 2012/03/13 at 1:22 pm
Hi from Clontuskert !
How are you doing ? Here everyone is fine.
We looked up the questions you asked us and here are our answers : Valencia is in the South East of Spain, 302km away from Madrid. The festival is called Las Fallas, it’s a bull fighting festival. During the festival, tomatoes will be thrown at the models you showed us.
About the time difference between you and us : Spain is an hour ahead of Ireland.
Here in Clontuskert the temperature is 11 degrees, and it should be 18 degrees in Valencia. Lucky you !
The subway (underground train) is Valencia is called U-gouge.
As for the gates ( Torres de Serrano and Torres de Quart), we were not able to find out how big they are.
How is Larry ? Is he behaving himself ? What are the schools like ? Are they the same as ours ? How many breaks do they have and how long are they ? What time do they start school at ?
We will hopefully talk to you soon.
Au revoir et merci !
PS : we did a quizz in French yesterday and it was fun.
PPS : The spikeball team has not returned yet, which might be a good sign… or not.
Well done to everyone in the Junior Room! I am looking after Mrs. Hanniffy and Mrs. Murray well here in Spain! I have loads of news for you all!! What seeds have you sown today?
Love Larry
Well done to everyone in the Senior Room. You have been working very hard to answer all my questions..Check out the new post of my adventures today in Sot de Chera and Chulilla schools. Most of the questions have been answered in that post. The students in these schools start at 9am and they finish at 1pm because it is so hot. At 3pm they come back to class until 5pm. Would you like to try that out?!
Congratulations to the Spikeball team. I heard that they are Connacht Champions for 2012!!! Ms. Burke told Mrs. Murray that the standard at the finals was really high this year and that everyone played so well! GO CLONTUSKERT!!!!!
See you soon!
Larry.
The Fallas festival is actually a Festival of Fire; find out about it here! http://www.valencia-cityguide.com/touris…
Love from Larry!
DAY 2: COMENIUS TRIP TO VALENCIA:
Good morning everyone!
Conas ata sibh go leir at maidin?
Today has been a very busy day in Valencia. This is our timetable for the day.
09:00h Transport to school
10:00h Visit to the school in Sot de Chera & activities with pupils
11.00h Coffee break
11.30h Presentation ceremony
13.00h Visit to Sot de Chera (village)
13.15h Transport to Chulilla
14.00h Lunch in the scholar dining-room
15.00h Visit to the school in Chulilla & activities with pupils
15.30h Comenius meeting
16.15h Visit to Chulilla (village)
17.00h Transport to Valencia
18.00h Visit to “Ninots” Exhibition (Ninots are the figures which form the “Fallas”) & Hotel
I am really looking forward to meeting all of our Spanish friends. We will be playing some traditional sports in Sot de Chera this morning. Here I am with Mrs. Hanniffy on the bus this morning.
Can you remember the names of our Conenius friends I am with in these photos?
Can you work out how long it took us to get from Valencia to Sot de Chera?
They have four schools here called CRA Serrana and they are a federation under the banner of one school. There is a Director, Mila and she has responsibility for all four schools. In Sot de Chera there are two classrooms with 12 students in total. Here you can see a picture of me with the senior students.
They taught us some of their traditional games. One is like dodgeball and is called cemetery. When you are hit by the softball you have to go to the cemetery at the other side. We also played hopscotch. I was really good at this because I have practised it in Clontuskert.
Afterwards we had some oranges and lemons from the tree in the school yard..how cool is that? Mrs. Murray really loved the oranges.
The students have prepared many projects about each Comenius country. You can see some of their work below
After the school visit we were invited to the Town Hall where we found out about the Spanish education system and met important people from Comenius Spain and the School Inspector from Valencia. They presented us with many gifts to bring back to you all in Ireland. We presented them with a plaque with the four provinces of Ireland, symbolising the unity of Ireland. This represents the unity of our schools in the STAGE Comenius Project. Can you remember what STAGE stands for?
We also presented the St Patrick’s day cards made by Ms. Scott’s room and the DVDs made in the Senior Room with the help of Amelie. We included the latest version of the Clontuskert Tribune for each school.
Afterwards we had some lunch. Can you name the foods you see in this picture?
In the second school we visited today
Chulilla, we saw this poster about the food they eat in Spanish. Practise saying the names.
The students in Chulilla have also prepared amazing work for us to see. Check out this St. Patrick’s Day art.
Well done!
The students sang some songs in English for us and afterwards we had a meeting of all the partners. Here you can see me working hard, taking notes for Mrs. Murray.
Tomorrow Mrs. Murray is going to talk to everyone about the Comenius blog. All the teachers will be learning how to use it. They will also learn from Cedric about the European Shared Treasure and how to upload info about the project on to it Check it out on www.stage.scoilnet.ie and let me know what you think!
I’m going to sign of now..I am a tired leprechaun after my long day and am looking forward to an early night.
Looking forward to hearing from you all!
Slan go foill,
Larry
REPLIES TO LARRY:
EGGBURT: The blog looks great,well done!what tempeture is it?
LARRY:Hi Eggburt!
It has been between 18 and 25 degrees Celsius every day this week here in Valencia! Mrs. Murray put lots of Factor 50 sunscreen on me to stop me from burning! Red headed leprechauns have to be careful you know!
Ta suil agam go bhfuil tu that barr inniu agus ag tnuth le La Fheile Padraig!
Feicfidh me thu ag an Mhairt,
Do chara,
Larry.
DAY 3: COMENIUS TRIP TO VALENCIA:
Dia dhaoibh ar maidin,
Táimid go léir anseo i Valencia thar barr at maidin. Féach ar an clár áma atá againn inniu:
09:00h Transport to school
10:00h Visit the school in Calles & activities with pupils
10:30h Comenius meeting
11:30h Coffee break
12:00h Visit to Calles (village)
13:30h Transport to Losa del Obispo
14:00h Lunch
15:00h Visit to the school in Losa del Obispo & activities with pupils
16:00h Visit to Losa del Obispo (village), “cremà de la falla” (“falla” burnt), chocolate & “globotà” (simulation of fireworks but using balloons)
Here is a map of this region. Can you find the four villages we have visited that make up the school of CRA la Serrania? You should also be able to see the road to Valencia on this map
We have had a fantastic morning in Calles. The school here is very similar to Clontuskert. They have two classrooms here in Calles (a Junior Room and a Senior Room.
Here is the name plaque of the school.
This is their playground.
When we went into the school we met the Senior students and they performed in a concert for us. Can you name the different instruments they are playing?
Here I am playing the keyboard for the students. I played the Fields of Athenry..they were so impressed!
This poster was on the wall in the school. Do you recognise this bird that also lives in Ireland?
Afterwards we had a meeting of the partners to learn about the European Shared Treasure. We will be uploading our project details to this space. Click on http://www.europeansharedtreasure.eu/ and do a search for Paper Recycling and see can you find our project. Thanks to Les and Cedric for teaching us so well.
Then Mrs. Murray helped everyone to learn about our project blog on www.stage.scoilnet.ie
On the way out I spotted this bird’s nest in the wall. The students are very lucky to have lots of birds living in their area.
In the afternoon we moved to Losa del Obispo village for our last school visit. While we were here we met the three classes. The middle room has a budgie in their room to help them learn about birds as part of our Comenius work.
Do you know what these are on the tree?
The students were dressed in traditional costume and I was given a special scarf and petardo to dress up in too.
The community in Losa del Obispo had organised a special welcome for us. We travelled through the streets together as part of the fiesta, singing and dancing.
We all shared special chocolate and cakes to celebrate together. The community had made this for everyone!
The students made a special offering to the Virgin Mary.
The community had built fallas for each of the Comenius partners. For France; the Eiffel Tower, a red telephone box for England, a Swedish coin for Sweden, the town hall in Tallin for Estonia and for us in Ireland; a giant pint of Guinness!!!!
The students burst balloons to represent the noise of the fireworks and then some of the dads lit fire crackers and set the fallas on fire.
How exciting! Afterwards there was much dancing and singing! I was so tired but happy after all of the fun! Ms. Hanniffy and I led the conga line! Ole!!!!
Can you tell me a bit more about the Fallas Festival..when is it run? Why do the Valencians hold this festival.
In Valencia they speak a special language called Valencian. Can you find out how many language variations there are in Spain?
Go raibh míle maith agaibh as ucht an freagraí go léir ata curtha suas ar an blog. Tá suil againn go bhfuil gach duine ar mhuin an muice i gCluain Tuaiscirt! Feicfidh me sibh arís amárach.
Le gach dea ghuí,
Do chara,
Larry.
REPLIES TO LARRY:
LITTLE STAR:
Hi Larry.
How are you doing today?
Nice scarf Larry.
DAISY FLOWER: Hi Larry
good scarf Do you like it?
we made Mothers day card today
Hi Daisy Flower!
I love my new scarf! I will show it to you on Tuesday! Mrs. Murray says hi and to tell you that she is working on a film to show you the highlights of our trip!
See you soon!
Larry.
STAR: Dia Dhaoibh go léir Larry,
Here are some of the answers from the questions you asked us earlier:
The Villages we found on the map:Losa de Obicpo,Sot de Cherra,cliulla & calles
The names of the insterments are the:Glogenspeal,zilapone,recorder & the whistle
The name of the bird is the:mistel thrush
Fallas:Starts on the 1st of March & ends on the 19th of March also there is fireworks on the last day where they put all the Ninos into the fire.
Slán leat agus go raibh maith agat Larry!!
Ta sar-obair deanta agaibh Star! Fair play agaibh!
We are looking forward to seeing you all in Clontuskert on Tuesday and we are bringing some nice presents for you!
I took some great photos today of birds on the lagoon..check them out on the new post!
Slan agus beannachtai!
Larry an Leipreachain beag!
MS. SCOTT’S ROOM:
O la Larry,Como esta usted?We looked at all the pictures that you sent us on the blog.The festival looks fantastic.We found out a little information about Las Fallas. The festival started as a feast day for St. Joseph, the patron saint of carpenters and also marks the start of Spring.Las Fallas means “the fires”. The focus of the fiesta is the creation and destruction of the ninos i.e puppets and dolls. These will be burned on the 19th of March.We are having a céile today in the halla at 1:00 p.m. We can’t wait! ya-hoo.
Ser bueno,adios Larry
Junior, Senior,1st and 2nd Class
Nach bhfuil sibh ag obair go dian i gCluain Tuaiscirt?! Ba maith liom a bheith ann don ceile. Beidh oraibh damhsa a dheanamh dom ar an Mhairt!
I love all your new Spanish words! Molto beuno!!!! Thank you for all the information about the ‘Fallas’ festival. It is pronounced ‘Fih-as’. I am so excited to hear that you have made Mother’s Day cards for your Mams. They will be so happy on Mother’s Day! Don’t forget to be super nice to your Mams on Sunday! What a busy weekend you will all have with St. Patrick’s Day on Saturday! It has been an exciting week all round especially with the fantastic news about the Spikeball Team!
Go dti an Mhairt!
Do chara buan,
Larry!
ANGEL: how was the guinness larry?
Hi Angel!
Great to see you working at home on the blog! Maith thu!!!
We didn’t get any Guinness as I am a very young Leprechaun but I did get to taste lovely homemade drinking chocolate made by the parents in Losa del Obispo school! Yum!!!
Feicfidh me thu ag an Mhairt!
Do chara,
Larry.
DAY 4: COMENIUS TRIP TO VALENCIA:
Dia dhaoibh a phaistí,
Inniu an lá deireanach anseo i Valencia. Beimíd ag teacht thar n-ais go luath maidin amárach.
Today we have visited the “Albufera” (lagoon) outside Valencia.
We got a special bus near our hotel that is giving us a tour of the city.
Here is a photo an amazing building. Can you find out about it? (I will give you a hint about it..if you wanted to see fish, sea life, find out about science of the planets, you would visit this place. )
There are over 25O varieties of birds on the lagoon. The grey heron and the stork all live here. During the winter the robin can be found here. Can you find out some information for me about it?
These are the birds that can be found on the lagoon? Which of these birds do we have in Ireland?
Here I am on a boat around the lagoon.
Can you spot the bird in the long rushes? What type of bird is it?
This is a traditional fisherman’s house. What type of roof is that? (Hint- you can sometimes also see them in Ireland.)
They also grow rice in the marshland in this area. The lagoon water is flooded between October and November to help the rice grow. This is a picture of the rice patties. The small huts hold hydraulic machines that pump water onto the patties. Rice is harvested here in September. What country is the biggest producer of rice?
This is the industrial part of Valencia port. 600 tonnes of goods are exported though the port every year.
Afterwards we travelled back to visit the “Mascletà” (fireworks). At 2pm every day during the Fallas festivals this takes place. It is a noisy explosion of fireworks in the main town hall!
Ta suil agam go bhain sibh taitneamh as an dialann go leir a dhearna me an seachtain seo. Comhghairdeachas aris don foireann eitpheill. Taim an-bhroduil asaibh.
Bain sult as na Féilte Padraig agus
feicfidh me sibh ar an Mháirt,
Go dtí sinn,
Slán agus beannacht,
Larry (agus Bean Uí Mhuirí agus Bean Uí hAnnfaidh)
REPLIES TO LARRY:
Dia duit Larry! These are some answers from the questions you asked us today:
The birds that were in the pictures; The Stork,Ducks,Sea guls were some Irish birds.
The bird that was in the rushes was a Stork.
The roof that was on the old house was a Thached roof.
China are the biggest producers of rice.
And here is some information on Albufera(lagoon):It is suituated 12km south of the town of Valencia.It’s surrounded by rice fields and popular for its fishing .It has a surface area of 21,120 hectares -(52,200) acres.
Here are some names of the birds that can be found in Albufera (lagoon) :
Shag
Night Heron
Little Bittern
Squacco Heron
Little Egret
Cattle Egret
Great White Egret
Purple Heron
Glossy Ibis
Shelduck
Red-crested Pochard
Garganey
Marsh Harrier
Osprey
Eleonora’s Falcon
Crested Coot
Purple Gallinule
Stone Curlew
Collared Pratincole
Black-winged Stilt
Kentish Plover
Little Ringed Plover
Curlew Sandpiper
Temminck’s Stint
Marsh Sandpiper
Spotted Redshank
Audouin’s Gull
Gull-billed Tern
Whiskered Tern
Black Tern
White-winged Tern
Hoopoe
Bee-eater
Red-rumped Swallow
Short-toed Lark
Yellow Wagtail
Bluethroat
Cetti’s Warbler
Fan-tailed Warbler
Moustached Warbler
Great Reed Warbler
Penduline Tit
Woodchat Shrike
Slán agus go raibh maith agat Larry!!Tá súil a fheiceann tú go luath!
Thank you Star and Bobbles for all the information you found! Well done! We really enjoyed the trip to the lagoon and observing all of the birds.
The bird in the rushes was a type of heron and you have found lots of the different types living on the Albufera yourselves! Wow!
Mrs. Murray has taken lots of video of the various places we visited and will show everyone on Tuesday!
Beannachtai na Feile Padraig daoibh go leir!
Slan o,
Larry.
