Roma!

Today was a long, hot day in Rome that was full of history! This morning, we toured the colosseum which was built by Flavius in 44 C.E. and was built to hold 55,000 spectators for the gladiator fights. I am so glad the students got to see the colosseum as it is a personal favorite of mine! After the colosseum, we went to the forum which was the center of town during the Roman Empire. 

We had a quick lunch before heading to Vatican city. The Vatican is actually the smallest country in Europe! We went through the museum which houses many sculptures from Ancient Rome and more recent pieces including Napoleons bathtub (made of red marble)! After the museum, we went into the Sistine chapel. You are not allowed to take any pictures in the chapel but nothing could possibly capture the beauty of the ceiling and the main wall painted by Michelangelo. We learned that Michelangelo was a sculptor and he felt he was too good to be a painter but the pope made him paint the Sistine chapel. He painted it over the course of 7 years while lying on his back on a scaffolding, and he almost went blind because of all the paint that dripped in his eyes. Then, we went into St. Peter's Basilica; the biggest church in the world. It is hard to believe how huge the Church is and how ornate it is decorated. There are writings at the top of the basilica and each letter stands 7 feet tall! But it looks so tiny from our vantage point!

We had free time after the Vatican tour and then we went to dinner which was pizza and gelato! All of the kids were excited! It was a long, busy and hot day and I think everyone is exhausted! The Vatican was especially crowded today which made it more difficult to pass through and hotter since we were surrounded by people. 

Tomorrow, we leave Rome to spend a night in sorrento! I know we are all excited about our last two days to see Pompeii and Capri! 

Some pictures

Whole group selfie from the last night with our tour director Peter (front, right in green) and our bus driver, Valerio (middle)

We're in Atlanta!

Our flight was 10 hours long but we finally made it to Atlanta! Everyone loves the smell of greasy food, the southern accents, and the "welcome home," greetings. We will see ya'll soon in RDU! 

Pompeii and Capri

Our last two days abroad were amazing. I'm sorry I didn't post earlier. I was so exhausted by the time we made it back to the hotel that I had to go to bed.

We left Rome on Thursday morning to head to Pompeii. The city if Pompeii was covered in ash by a volcano which preserved the city almost perfectly. When walking through the streets of Pompeii you could almost pictures the Romans there with their horses and chariots. I think all of the students were impressed by the ruins. After Pompeii, we continued to sorrento which is a beautiful city on a mountain overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. The views were absolutely incredible.

Here's our picture with the ruins and My. Vesuvius behind us:

On Friday, we caught a ferry to the island of Capri. I think this was the highlight of the trip and everyone really loved it! We took a guided tour at the top of the island and then a boat tour around the island before having free time. Most of the students went to the beach to swim while several others went shopping... To get their custom made sandals! Many came up to me and begged to stay in Capri! 

After a wonderful day, we headed back to Rome to prepare for the journey home! 

Florence

I'm sorry for the delay in positing. We spent 2 nights in a traditional European hotel outside of Florence, which had weak wifi. I am convinced that all of the students tried to get on the wifi at the same time which overwhelmed the network and I wasn't able to get on!

We left Nice on June 28 and headed to Italy. We stopped in Pisa along the way to visit the leaning tower and the basilica. There was a most creative photo competition next to the tower and I'm pretty sure Reagan, Emily P. Ana, and Mr. Zeboor won it by doing a cheerleading stunt to "hold up" the tower! Seeing the leaning tower was really neat and it was much bigger than I imagined.

After Pisa, we headed towards Florence and to our hotel which was in a smaller town outside of the city. We are dinner in the hotel and then we went to a music festival being held in the town. It reminded me of the music Wilmington has dowtown in Friday evenings, except the music was in Italian. Some of the students even danced along with the music!

The next day, June 29, we had a walking tour of Florence. Florence is the birthplace of the renaissance so a lot of famous artists are from Florence and many famous works of art are housed in the many museums in the city. Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Galileo are all Florentines. The city was beautiful and I was impressed with the unique decoration on their basilicas as they were decorated with a combination if white, green, and red marble.

Yesterday, we left Florence and travelled through Assisi to get to Rome. Assisi was a small town on a mountain and they are known as the city of peace. We drove past fields of sunflowers to get to the city on the hill. We toured the basilica of San Francesco in Assisi which is unique because of the combination of Romanesque and gothic styles of architecture.

After Assisi, we continued in to Rome where we had a brief walking tour to see the Trevi fountain (which is under construction) and the famous Spanish steps. We had dinner and then checked into our hotel at Hotel Vintage, which thankfully has wonderful wifi :) 

Nice is nice

This morning, we went to a traditional French outdoor market in Uzes. Everyone loved the market and many bought souvenirs as well as baguettes, fresh fruit and cheese. We drove to Avignon where we had a picnic next to a small field of lavender and the bridge of Avignon which is on the Rhone River. It was very cute and we all felt very French!

After our picnic, we toured the Papal Palace in the town of Avignon. The palace was built in the 12th century when Pope Clement decided to move the papal offices to Avignon instead of Vatican. The palace was neat and full of history! 

Then, we continued on to Nice. Unfortunately, we didn't get as much time in Nice as we originally thought. There was a bad tractor trailer accident on the highway which put us in standstill traffic for quite some time and then we got to Nice to find the town preparing for an Ironman race tomorrow morning. We only had a little over an hour to tour around and it was very busy since there were thousands of triathletes there. Some of our group went to the beach while others went on a walking tour of the city. 

Because of the Ironman, we couldn't get a hotel in the city of Nice so we are staying in Cannes which is about 15km away. Cannes is the home of a major film festival. We had a dinner of steak and frites with creme brûlée for dessert before getting to our hotel. The hotel had an infinity pool and many of the students went swimming before heading to bed. Tomorrow, we have to leave France and head on to Italy!

Bonjour from France!

We are now in Uzes, France for the evening, near the Pont de Gard. We left Barcelona at 8am this morning and drove to Carcassone, which is a medieval citadel. We had lunch and got to walk around the city. Also, a fellow Hoggard student came to visit us! She is spending the summer in France with her family and was able to make the 2 hour drive from her house to meet up with us in Carcassone. It was a nice surprise!

After Carcassone, we continued on to Pont de Gard. This is a roman aqueduct that is still mostly in tact. We had seen a picture of it at a trip meeting but it was so much bigger in reality! It is amazing to think about the technological advancements of the Romans! The details and process to build the aqueduct is truly magnificent. 

Then, we settled into out hotel in Uzes where we ate dinner in the hotel restaurant. After our meal, we walked through the small town which was built in the Middle Ages. It was a nice walk but everything in the town was closed. 

As many of you have heard, there has been another attack in France which appears to have been carried out by terrorists. The attack was in Lyon which is about 3 hours north of us. Our tour director contacted the EF office and was assured that our group is not in danger. On a personal note, my mother is currently in Lyon on a business trip, so I was extremely concerned but I just heard from her and she is fine. 

Tomorrow, we are heading the Nice! 

We LOVE Barcelona!

The last two days in Barcelona have been wonderful. We arrived yesterday evening just in time for dinner at the chicken bar where we had a salad, chicken and fries (which many students were very happy about) and cake for dessert. Then, we walked along the ocean promenade and got to dip our toes in the Mediterranean Sea before heading back to our hotel.

After breakfast this morning, we went on a bus tour around the city. Our first stop was at Park Guell which is a park designed by Gaudi, a famous Spanish architect who died in 1926 and was known for his unique architectural style. The park was incredible with many great views of the city. There were various mosaics around the park made from broken cups and plates! It was beautiful.

We got back on the bus and went to Sagrada Familia; a church also designed by Gaudi. The church is still under construction and has been since 1882 because they are only using donations to build the church which is taking a long time to collect. The current plan is for the church to be complete in 2026 to mark the 100 year anniversary of Gaudi's death. Again, the architectural style was stunning and truly unique. The cathedral was just named the best tourist attraction in Europe. 

At the end of the tour, we walked down Las Ramblas where we stopped to eat lunch in a large market. After lunch, part of our group went to the beach and the other half went on a bike tour around the city. We met up afterwords for a tapas dinner to celebrate our last evening in Spain. 

Tomorrow morning we say adios to Spain and bonjour to France! 

Busy Day in Madrid

Our group had a very full day touring Madrid. After breakfast, we got on a bus and took a driving tour around the city in which we were able to get off the bus at various spots. We visited the Real Madrid Stadium (very famous soccer stadium) and the Plaza de Torres which is the bull fighting arena. 

The bus tour lasted for about 3 hours and then we had time to eat lunch. After lunch, we visited the Prado; an art museum housing many famous Spanish artists including El Greco and Goya. Our tour director organized a scavenger hunt for the students to complete in the museum.

We had a little free time for souvenir shopping before heading to the Flamenco evening. There, we watching a performance by traditional Flamenco dancers. After the show, we headed to dinner at El Jamonal where we ate paella!  For a second dessert, the tour director arranged for us to eat churros with chocolate at a local cafe. 

Tomorrow will be an early morning and we will be driving by bus to Barcelona. FYI, I have tried to post pictures but they do not seem to be working with the wifi capacity that I have. I will post pictures as soon as I can! 

First Day in Madrid

After eating lunch in the Chamartin train station (which is similar to a mall with shops and eateries), we met our tour director, Peter, who gave us a brief safety orientation before taking our group into the center of the city. We all made it on and off the metro just fine when we rode from Chamartin to Puerto del Sol. We walked around the city to various plazas and the Royal Palace. Our walk ended at dinner which was at a quaint restaurant called Cornucopia. There was a delicious lentil stew to start, pork loin and potatoes for the main dish, and lemon sorbet for dessert. I think we all ate plenty but became very tired during dinner. After dinner, we walked back to Sol where we got a metro ride back to our hotel. We got back to the hotel around 9:50pm and  all of the students were begging for quick room checks so they could go to sleep! :)

In Plaza Mayor

Despite the stress of getting here, our trip is off to a great start! We have a very long day ahead of us tomorrow, so I think we are all looking forward to a good nights sleep in a bed! 

We finally made it!

After a long and stressful journey, we have finally made it safely to our hotel in Madrid. Unfortunately, one person has not gotten their luggage but should by tomorrow morning. We are all hungry, thirsty, and tired after our journey so we are making a quick stop in our hotel rooms and then we are going to get a bite to eat and strata touring Madrid! 

Finally on our way

Our flight from RDU was delayed causing us to miss our connection but we were able to get all 27 of us on another flight to Madrid. I will have more details when we arrive in JFK which I will post, but for now, it looks like we will be taking the 10:05pm flight on Air Europa to Madrid which will put us there at 11:50am. We are all safely on board the plane at RDU and are about to leave. 

Our Adventure Starts Tomorrow

After nearly a year and half of planning, our trip to Spain, France, and Italy is finally here! It is hard to believe that we are leaving tomorrow and I'm sure everyone is very excited to get this adventure started. I look forward to seeing everyone on time at the airport tomorrow!