Last night at the guest house and beyond....

Ok, so in an effort to update on our trip... The Vatican visit was super cool for the kids, but it was pretty crowded and stuffy at times. They got to see the Sistine chapel and St. Peter's Basilica. In comparison to lAst year, it was super crowded, but what a beautiful site for them to see. We squeezed in a delicious Italian lunch and then the students were able to go on a scavenger hunt throughout Rome. They had so much fun and did a fabulous job with it. I think it was fun for all, except one poor girl from the NY delegation who twisted her ankle and ended up on crutches... All is well with her now. From here we had dinner at a rest stop and headed back to our hotel. Ok... Onto day 10... Time for the Coliseum and the Roman Forums. The students couldn't believe how big it was and how much the forum was in ruins.... Unfortunately our tour of the Forum got cut a little short since it took students a bit longer than expected to use the bathroom, but they still got to see the massive span of all the ruins there. Hard to believe that is used to be filled with vendors, etc. once upon a time. From here we went to one of the prettiest places in my opinion... Assisi. Our first stop was a monastery where a friar from NEW JERSEY talked to the students about the church there and what is means to be a monk, a friar, etc. he talked about his family and how he is divorced from his wife, but not in the eyes of the church. It was very interesting and they got to see the tomb of St. Francis. The town/village of Assisi was magnificent.... A town on a hill is kind of how I would describe it. This is also where we stayed for 2 days and participated in a program called Full-on. The students had to work together as a team in small groups and go to repel off of a 100 ft castle wall. A few chose not to, which was a-ok... They were not forced to do anything they didn't want to do within reason. After an exhausting day doing Full-on we went to a Porcelein factory since this area is well known for for the production of it. The next morning we headed to one of my personal favorite cities in Italy, which is Florence. I soooo wish we had more time here each year... It is never long enough. We got to see the original statue of David, fit in some shopping time, and get a personal tour of Florence. It was super hot today especially since a good portion of Florence is covered in black stone. We headed to Pisa from here... On our way there our delegation manager told the kids a story about how there was a big earthquake here in Pisa a few months back and the tower fell, so now now people take pictures laying on the ground as if they are under the rubble instead of standing pretending to hold it. Yup.... The kids totally fell for it. Of. Ourse the leaning tower was still there and everyone was able to get their picture with the tower as far as I know. They had free time here to get pictures, shop, and some of them got to see the inside to the beautiful duomo church there too. Off to our hotel and bed soon after that. Day 13 was pretty cool. There is an American cemetery for soldiers of World War II. A lot of graves for unknown soldiers, but the rest were ones whose families were contacted about whether they wanted their loved ones shipped back to the US or buried there in Italy. It was a beautiful site and the man that was our guide was a retired American soldier. He did a fabulous job with the tour and I think the students got a lot out of it... They asked. Lot of great questions. The second half of the day was spent in a small town called Brecello where there apparently were a series of controversial political films made there... They got a tour of the town and some of the museums... Not sure the students really got much out of it and the town was super small and quiet... It was like a ghost town. But on a. Bright note we got to partake on some fabulous gelato. :-) well day 14 was certainly an event-filled one! Today was filled with train rides a LOT of walking and site seeing in Venice. It is such a cool city, but no majorly easy ways to get around other than by foot. The kids did a great job keeping up with the delegation manager and the tour guide... This was definitely another VERY crowded city... I think because this is a very popular time of year for Europeans to close up shop and go on "holiday" themselves. We got to go see a glass making/blowing demonstration at the Murano factory, ride a gondola, and they went on a lunch quest where they are given 7euros and have the find their own lunches and interact with the Italians to get it. After our afternoon tour, we headed to the train station for our overnight train ride. I do not recommend them if you are closterphobic in any way. Lots of stops throughout the night, but the kids did great. Me, on the other hand... Another story for another day...lol! Yay!!!! We are finally in France now and started off our time here taking a tour of the city walking around Notre Dame, getting to see some great street performers, watching the Olympics on a HUGE screen in the middle of a park, took pictures of the Eiffel tower, took a tour of the perfume museum, got a French lesson, and ate at the Hard Rock Cafe. The next three days we have been at the guest house, playing basketball, soccer, went on a scavenger hunt, got to make their own stained glass, shop, and had a talent show tonight. Two more days in Paris and then we come home!!!! Till then au voir.

Last day in Italia

Sorry I haven't written in awhile... By the time we eat and get everyone settled in their rooms, I am wiped out, so I apologize. We are enjoying our last Italian meal in Italy right now and about to get ready to head to the train station to catch our overnight train to Paris. We have had a fabulous time in Italy this past week or so. The kids have been doing so well and I hope and expect Paris will go the same way. I will blog more detail about our time in Italy as soon as I have Internet again, but otherwise know that things here are a-ok. I'm loving traveling with Ll of them and some of them now officially have the travel bug and are talking about wanting to come on the high school trip with me next year to Australia, new Zealand, and Fiji. I'm giving you. Heads up now! :-) Till then... Ciao.

Loving life in Italy

Hello again. Sorry it has taken me so long to post again... We have had some fabulous but exhausting days. Our time at the turtle sanctuary was amazing. The students got to see some of the injured turtles, water some plants, and adopt some of them. I think we broke a record for most turtles adopted that day for all the People to People groups. From there we went to lunch at a Greek woman's apartment in the middle of Athens. It was wonderful. She squeezed us into her place and set up tables on her balcony, living room, dining room, and den. She is a teacher in her 60s and was a fabulous host. After this we headed to a beautiful ancient theater where the students got to see how you could literally hear a coin drop on the stage alllllll the way in back seats. It was off to our new beautiful hotel from there. It was right on the beach, so the students had a chance to take a quick dip in the salt water pool before dinner. The next day we headed to Olympia and had an hour long tour. I know I learned a lot about the original games, so I hope the students did as well. They got to run some races on the original Olympic field, which was so cool for them. They also got to see where the Olympic touch is lit for every Olympic games. It was pretty hot, but they handled things really well. I know I was really shocked at how little was left and the. The ones that were standing were ones that were put back together by the excavators. From Olympia we departed for our overnight Ferry ride. It was a pretty decent sized boat... Almost like being on a mini cruise. They had a helipad on the top floor so the kids were able to run around, dance, do whatever... Basically blow off some energy. :-) When they woke up... We were in ITALY!!!!! :-) we headed to have a late lunch in Pompeii and then had a personal tour of the excavated city of Pompeii. Our hotel was RIGHT NEXT TO the excavation site. So cool!!!! Today we were off to Mt. Vesuvius!!!! A-MAZING!!! Everyone seemed to really love it and some even said it was their favorite part of the trip. They got to go all the way to the top and walk around the crater... I know a lot of them go some great pictures. We made a quick stop in Naples to see a beautiful church and are now at another beautiful hotel in Rome. We are off to the Vatican tomorrow... I think the kids will be in awe of what they are about to see. The students keep misplacing a losing things from time to time so I am trying to limit them on what they bring with them day to day to avoid losing anything further. :-) I'm going to go try to upload some more photos tonight and tomorrow. Till then....

Hanging in Greece

Hi everyone. Things are going really well here in Greece. This is our last night in our first hotel and we had a nice long day today hanging on a beautiful beach in Greece and doing some shopping. The kids had the beach practically to themselves with a snack bar and then our restaurant for lunch was right there as well. The island was a beautiful place to get to walk around and the ferry we took was a great chance to be on the water for about an hour or so and see the amazing mountainside. Yesterday we got to see Athens. Our first main stop was the Acropolis where the Parthenon stands... Well, barely stands. It is a fun walk all the way to the top, but boy is the rock pretty slippery. I know I slipped on the way up, but the kids seemed to do better than I did. :-) I have no words for the Greek dance lessons... They had so much fun with this. I have some video and pictures. I'll let them speak for themselves. The kids are constantly making me laugh and they are doing nothing but smiling the whole time. I know I'm biased but it think I have the best group here!!! Kudos to all of you parents... You would be proud! We will be at the turtle sanctuary tomorrow. :-) I am going to start posting pictures as soon as I can on my photobucket account. I will email you the login and password. Good night from Greece. :-) Lisa

Hello everyone! I will be using this blog and TRY TRY TRY to keep it updated as much as I can while we are traveling. I am hoping some of the students will participate and blog on the site themselves as we go as well. I can't wait to get to GREECE!!! WOO-HOOO!!!!