I’ve always enjoyed history. Learning about how old certain things are has always interested me. When I went on a choir trip to Spain in high school, I got to see a whole lot of old.

Every couple of years, the Neuqua Valley High School choir department organizes a tour of a foreign country, where students can perform concerts in old cathedrals and visit historic landmarks. From June 6-14, 2013 I went on a trip to Spain, visiting landmarks and performing all around the country.

On the morning of June 6, I remember waking up from barely being able to sleep. I had never been out of the country before, and I was very excited to see a different part of the world. A couple of hours later, I was sitting in a coach bus with my choir on the way to the airport, my excitement getting larger each mile.

Upon landing outside of Madrid, I was excited to get off the plane and start seeing the country and performing. After checking into the hotel, we soon took a walking tour of Madrid, seeing sights such as the Retiro Park Lake.

One thing I was most excited for was seeing cathedrals. I love cathedral architecture, and I wanted to see some very old ones. Thankfully, these were where most of our performances were.

Singing in an old cathedral for the first time was an amazing experience. Finishing a note and then hearing it reverberate for 10 seconds is an amazing thing to hear. Some of my favorite times performing in a choir were on this trip thanks to the amazing cathedrals of the country.

The trip also pleased my history buff side as well. One moment that sticks out to me the most happened during our stay in Valencia. This was one of the oldest cities I have ever been in, being founded in 138 B.C., but one thing we did in the city completely blew my mind.

We visited an excavation sight under the city where they had found the ruins of an ancient Roman civilization. Knowing that this was older than the already incredibly old city sent shivers down my spine.

These are just two examples of a whole nine days worth of travelling the country. It was one of the best weeks of my life.