Following the Equator

Moving across the ocean

Tomorrow is the big move. Again.

For the fourth time in eight years, my wife and I are changing countries. Our first joint endeavor was in 2000, when we moved to the Netherlands. Then in 2002, we moved to Switzerland (but not before searching through a house-sized moving container looking for a passport we forgot to set aside). In 2006, we moved to Spain. And tomorrow, we move to the United States.

For me, it's a move home. For my wife, Spain native that she is, it's a move to the tundra.

The Spain Train to Boston

I've lived in Spain for the past two years, and I'm about to move back home to the United States. I'll be leaving behind the sun-baked terracotta roof over my head, and in exchange, I'll get snow-dusted asphalt shingles. 

I'll be leaving behind the local southern Spain accent (drops "s" wherever possible), and in exchange, I'll get Bostonian (drops "r" wherever possible).

I'll leave behind olive oil, and in exchange, I'll get … well, thankfully I'll still get olive oil.  My wife, who is Spanish, would likely cook with motor oil before accepting a can of Pam cooking spray.

But there's one thing I'll be leaving behind that may surprise you: some of the sleekest high-speed trains in the world. And in exchange I'll get this.

Madrid's bullfighting ring gets makeover

Tennis takes center stage this weekend in Madrid. But the stage will be like none other.

The Davis Cup semifinal between Spain and the United States, which begins Friday, will be held at the world's most famous bullfighting ring, Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas.

Las Ventas has been considered the home of Spanish bullfighting since it opened in 1931 in Madrid's Guindalera neighborhood. This will be the first tennis match ever held at venerable Las Ventas, which has hosted a motorcycle jumping competition and an AC/DC concert.

According to Reuters, workers built a clay court in the middle of the sandy arena in just 10 days, creating "the world's second-biggest tennis venue" behind New York's Arthur Ashe Stadium.

"It's just cool," U.S. player Andy Roddick told Reuters. "When you walk in, it's unlike any other stadium that we've ever played in."

Transatlantic Time Travel: 2007

This is the final edition in the Transatlantic Time Travel series.

Last week, in Transatlantic Time Travel: 1994, I wrote about my perspective as an 18-year-old student on tour and in Europe for the first time.

In 2007, I was on tour in Europe again—as a 31-year-old EF Tour Director. Below is my perspective 13 years on from my first landing.

Transatlantic Time Travel: 1994

This edition of Transatlantic Time Travel doesn't refer to a news article, because it wasn't in the news. In April 1994, I went abroad for the first time.

I was 18, a senior in high school, and one of seven students from Fitchburg High School to go on an educational tour to Spain. Our group leader was our Spanish teacher, Miss Breau. (Full disclosure: That tour was with a competitor. Since then, I've been thrilled to work with EF Educational Tours.)

So, here are the impressions of an 18-year-old being abroad for the first time, as remembered by that 18-year-old who is now 32:

Friday Fun Fact: Future Olympics

When the Closing Ceremony of the Olympics concludes Sunday, the world's attention will turn from Beijing to London four years hence.

London will host the 2012 Summer Olympics, becoming the first city to host the Games three times (also 1948 and 1908). The 2012 London Olympics will run from July 27 through August 12, 2012.

The site of the 2016 Summer Olympics will be chosen October 2, 2009. The four finalists are Chicago, United States; Madrid, Spain; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and Tokyo, Japan.

Meanwhile, the 2010 Winter Olympics will be held in Vancouver, Canada, and the 2014 Winter Olympics will be held in Sochi, Russia.

Maple Leaf Monopoly

Montreal is the new Boardwalk.

Monopoly finally revealed the winning cities in its new World Edition this week, and the Canadian city earned the global game's most prestigious position, as we predicted in February.

In fact, Canada monopolizes the new Monopoly board. In addition to Montreal, Vancouver and Toronto also earned spots. The other dominant country is China, which placed Beijing and Shanghai, plus Hong Kong, on the board. Only one U.S. city (New York) made the game.

More than 5.6 million votes were cast to select the 22 cities in the new edition, which goes on sale next week in 50 countries.

Blogging on tour

If you're looking for a good example of blogging while on tour with EF, check out Jeremy Van Hof's group blog, Italy and Spain 2008.

Jeremy, an EF Group Leader whom we profiled back in March, is on an EF tour to Italy and Spain this week with his students from Michigan, and he's posting updates and photos nearly every day. He's already written about his group visiting Rome, Vatican City and Assisi and Florence, and he's posted photos from along the way, starting at the airport.

Park Guell in Barcelona

EF Group Leader Jeremy Van Hof, whom we profiled back in March, writes the best group leader blog that we've come across.

Jeremy, an English and newspaper teacher at DeWitt High School in DeWitt, Mich., is prepping his students for their EF tour this summer to Italy and Spain. His blog does a great job of providing not only tour-specific information to his travelers but also interesting insights about their destinations: Rome, Florence, Barcelona and Madrid.

In the past week, Jeremy started a series of posts called "What We'll See" to "detail some of the amazing things that we'll see on this trip." Today, Jeremy posted this video about architect Antoni Gaudí's famed Park Guell in Barcelona:

If you have a blog for your own EF group that you'd like to share, we'd love to know about it. You can post it in comments below or just email me.

More on Plaza de España

Want to see more of the Plaza de España in Seville? Check out this nice panoramic video:

You also can see the plaza star in Star Wars: Episode II — Attack of the Clones on YouTube.