Hello, this is Lindsey the English Tour Director.  I have hijacked this blog, normal service will be resumed shortly.

Well, daaaaaaaarlings (I have been teaching them all how to speak in a ‘posh’ accent), it has been a smashing trip!  It really meant a lot to me to see the students’ reactions to all we have seen, they are super kids and I wish them all the best for the future.  I shall feel very strange when I’m at the airport after everyone’s gone - when I look behind me and no-one’s there!

I’d like to thank the teachers for their enthusiasm and care of the students during the tour, and of course a HUGE thank you goes to Mrs Ziessler for all her hard work preparing for the tour, and for her great attitude and desire to introduce the students to the world of travelling in Europe.  They will always have their memories, their experiences, and the knowledge that they have coped with new languages and situations - and enjoyed them!

I hope you are all well back in California. I hope to visit your home-town one day.

All the best…Arrivederci!  Au revoir!  Auf wiedersehan!  Toodle-oo!

(By the way, I am still flipping out about that rainbow…it was the most beautiful rainbow EVER!  Double!  Circular!  From one side of the river to the other!)

Lindsey

After a couple of magnificent days in London, we are working out the details of our flight home.  The larger group of us has an 8 hour lay over in LAX! Some kids are scampering around trying to avoid the boredom of sitting around the airport all day. Others are resigned to their fate.

Today seemed like it took just a couple of hours, but we really fit in a lot.  We started with a incredibly informative tour that lasted a couple of hours.   The London Tour Guides have to take “Blue Badge” Exams in order to do their job.  After listening to him, I would be very worried about passing that test.  It is British History x 10!  We got a little free time to explore the British Museum, shop on Oxford Street, and around Piccadilly Circus.  After a delicious dinner of Fish and Chips, we celebrated Kody’s Birthday.  To top it off we took a misty walk over the Millennium Bridge over the Thames.  What a view! On the other side, we got the chance to snap a few photos of Shakespeare’s reconstructed Globe Theater.  On the return over the bridge, we were treated to a rain shower.  It stopped just as we crossed the middle and an incredibly vibrant double rainbow appeared over our heads.  It was magnificent.  It looked like the end dropped right through the hole in the Globe.  A select committee among us agreed that “it was the most amazing rainbow ever seen since the dawn of man”.  We all jumped on a double decker bus and rode it to our Underground station for our trip back to the hotel.

It was a great finish to an incredible trip.  We want to thank you for letting us take your kids to 2 continents and 6 countries.  See you soon!

This has been an enlightening trip.  To think that a few short weeks ago, some of us had set foot in a strange land as novice travelers.  We have now entered our 5th country.  We have sacrificed countless power adapters, a few socks, a couple of camera battery chargers, and a credit card here and there.  Today, you can look at the faces of these young people and you can see how majestic domes, stunning sculptures, views that took a little work to see, and the tastes of le internationale have planted the seeds of experience.
Our trip to Paris was the longest of our journey.  Truthfully, it didn’t feel like it.  We have grown accustomed to the bus rides.  Many of the kids have learned how to occupy their time with stories, cards, books (Cody read 7!).  But is our trusty guide, Lyndsay, that knows how to ease the burdens of traveling.  In between her incredibly insightful realizations about travel and her small lessons on how to survive while exploring the beauty around us, she has us get on the bus mic.  We had been given an assignment a few days ago to interview a person chosen  from a hat.  On this ride, we were treated to a little story about each member of our team.  Some stories accurately recounted from the interview, some made up, and some interviews were done on the spot.  Good times were had by all.

Our arrival into Paris was met with cool weather and looming storm clouds.  Believe me when I say that it was a welcome respite from the consistent heat of the trip.  Additionally, it validated the fact that we have been hauling around these umbrellas for weeks now.  After dinner, we headed up to the dark and cool area known as Montmartre .  Here we walked among the artists sipping their espressos in cafés.  We gathered at the base of the steps to Basilique du Sacré-Cœur, Paris’ hilltop church overlooking the entire city.  The climb was tough at the end of a long day, but well worth it.  With azure skies and dark clouds racing by, we could look down on our new city among the hundreds of people.  We spent some time on the hill eating crepes, having portraits done and just following the tiny roads while exploring the shops.  It was a late night (after midnight) before we returned to our welcoming beds.

Our only full day in Paris started off with a short bus tour past the Eifel Tour, around the Arc de Triomphe, down the Avenue des Champs-Élysées, through the palace now home to the Louvre; stopping only to take a few pictures once in a while.  We finished at the Notre Dame de Paris, the gargoyle draped cathedral.  Here we were given a few hours to explore this magnificent city on our own.  Some chose to explore the shops of the Latin Quarter, climb the towers of the Cathedral, visit art museums, and for the weary, head back the hotel for rest.

Our incredible day was capped with a trip to the top of Tour Eiffel.  There were a few nervous ones in our group, but we all went up.  Almost all of us made it to the very top for an extraordinary view of the city.  Afterward, we boarded a boat and toured Paris at night via the Seine.  After a special bonus, our bus dropped us off in front of the Moulin Rouge.   It was a quick stop for pictures and a crepe.  

The next morning, we packed out bags and stored them in the hotel while we took the subway to the Louvre.  Without going into details, we needed more than a few years to tackle that museum.  Afterward, we jumped a bullet train to London.

We drove out early the next morning to Switzerland and with that came another language lesson.  Now it was German.  Our two nights in Switzerland were spent in the small town Andermatt. Our hotel was run by a lovely family who were smiling from the moment we arrived. Each room was decorated with bright colors…and space beyond what we have seen in Europe. The students and adults alike were running from room to room amazed and delighted with the enchanting rooms. From the windows were views of cows on the hillsides, a small red train coming through the tunnel on the hill behind us, and windows filled with students sitting in the window sills beaming along side the beautiful flowers. The meals and service was the best we have had since the cruise, especially the coconut cream desert!

Lucerne, or as the locals call it, Luzern, was our destination for the day. We first settled in to our top priority…shopping! Some of you have special gifts in your near future…perhaps Christmas! Then everyone got a bit to eat and most of us forced down yet another gelato, oh yes, the sacrifices we all must make. The sights in Lucerne are many, highlighted here are just three. First there are the beautiful covered bridges,: Spreubrucke which dates from the 15th Century that highlights paintings of the plague that hit the city wiping out three-forths of the population. The second is the Chapel Bridge, built in the 14th Century. To walk beneath such beauty and history was a delight for all. But the best was yet to come…

We boarded yet another boat enjoying a leisure ride along Lake Lucerne for a wonderfully relaxing two hours to our final destination in Lucern, the mighty Mt. Pilatus. Soaring over the city at a height of 7,000 feet, our aim was to conquer the mountain! We forgo the mules of Rhodes and boarded  the steepest cogwheel train in the world. The views were spectacular, although some were seen looking only at the mountain refusing to believe they were beyond their previous record of the 39th floor! Ahem…Mrs. T.  On our decent, a few of us stop halfway to ride the tobogan run.  It was an exilerating ride down the side of the mountain with views that were enough to destract you from pulling the break!

The short trip to Die Schweiz outshined the Florentine Nightclub as a favorite stop for some of the kids.  You could almost hear the yodelers from the mountain tops…or was that one of the students?

We had a long day on the bus toward Florence.  So to break up the monotony we made a stop in the beautiful hillside town of Assisi, home to St. Francis of Assisi.  Not many of us knew about the famous Saint, but the evidence of his extraordinary work is all over this medieval town.  Our guide, Lindsey, gave us four hours to navigate the windy cobblestone roads along side countless pilgrims.  A few of the students had finished touring within the first 30 minutes, but some others were able to take time to visit the many shops, restaurants and the famously fresco decorated church containing the crypt of St. Francis.

After our visit, we made the trip to Tuscany and the incredible city of Florence.  Much to the joy of our students, Lindsey gave the chaperones the night off and took the kids to the Disco.  Many of the kids cite the night at the two-floor club with international mix of young people as their favorite moment of the trip.  Our full day in Florence was kicked off with a guided tour of the city.  Our guide walked around some of the most important sites of the Renaissance.  The highlight came at the Duomo.  It was an amazing site; to turn the corner of the narrow streets only to have it open up to the famously domed church.  Even though we arrived before it had opened, we still had to wait in the early morning heat.  We finished our tour at the Medici Castle in the Piazza della Signoria.  The square was once the home to Michelangelo’s original David and the site of the burning of the fanatical monk, Savonarola.  Today, incredible original sculptures still decorate the square.  Since Mondays are the day that the most famous museums like the Uffizi are closed, we had to settle for the copy of the David.

We after 11am, we had the rest of the day off to wander the streets, check out the few museums that were open, do laundry, or just rest.  A few chaperones and students were caught napping by mid day.  It was a rest that we all needed.  After dinner, we were on our own again.  A couple chose to go back to the Disco, some chose to go after yet another Gillato, and a few adults made the trek to Michelangelo Square for a sunset over Florence.

(written on 8/03)

You know when you have an idea in mind about a certain thing?  You know how you build up your expectations based on what you read or heard?  Yesterday, many began to realize that they had set their expectations too low for this trip.  Rome is far greater than imagined.

Yesterday morning started with a 7:30 bus to Vatican City. Our bus parked us down the hill from its great city walls.  When we walked up the steps (Note: we walk up a lot of steps over here!), we were met with what looked like thousands of people waiting in line to get in.  Turns out the Vatican opens at 8:30.  We met our tenacious guide, Maria Gracie.  You see, in addition to Lindsey, we get a local tour guide for every site.  Some are incredible, some not-so incredible.  Maria was the former.  Asking her questions was like unlocking a door to more knowledge and she thanked you for it.

Without going into to detail about the enormous number of precious art that we saw walking through the museums, I should just say that with each room came more grandeur.   You could tell that some of the kids were less than interested in touring artwork as we entered.  By the end of the long hall way, kids were snapping pictures and admiring sculpture like they art history majors in college. Many exclaiming they were out of memory.  What on brain overload from soaking up all that is around them?  NO-they have used up the space on their camera’s memory cards!

All this was a prelude to the Sistine Chapel.  Most everyone has seen Creation of Man a million times; sorry to let you know but nothing has the color of the real thing.  It was a room that beckons you to get emotional.  It is a place that has special meaning to the Ziessler’s because it was in the Sistine Chapel where David proposed to Robyn many years ago…a story she shared on the bus with the students before we arrived.

We moved on to the crypts of the popes.  There were a half dozen people in tears, kneeling in front of Pope John Paul II’s tomb.  We passed in front of St. Peter’s tomb…the Apostle Peter!  Incredible.  We finished our tour with the Cathedral.  Massive!

After a short break for pizza and gellatos, our bus wound its way to the Colosseum passing incredible sites with only a mention.  This is certainly a city that needs to be toured on foot while digging your spoon into a mound to ice cream and not sitting on a bus.  The Colosseum was a special place for some of the kids in our group.  Everyone had seen “The Gladiator” and has heard the stories of fighting to the death.  Standing there you could hear the crowds of thousands of people cheering for their favorite warrior.  There was a balcony that overlooked the Forum; it was easy to picture people from all over Rome filing to their respective entrance.

Our next stop was a small walking tour through world famous Piazzas with our final stop at the Pantheon.  At risk of sounding repetitive, it was awe-inspiring.  It looks like it did almost 2000 years ago.  Until the 20th century it was the largest concrete building in the world baffling modern builders to this day. Thinking about it now, we wish that we had worn robes and tunics all day.

After dinner, we were free to roam and eat more gellatos  Some kids returned to hotel exhausted, some stayed out to shop.  Mr. and Mrs. Sill set out on an ambitious walking tour ending with the Colosseum lit up at night.  They found themselves overlooking Rome at sunset, climbing down into the Forum and finding the Mamertine Prison.

We hope that your child tossed a coin over their shoulder into the Trivi Fountain.  The first for a return to Rome, the second for a wish.  However, we are hoping they restrained themselves from throwing the third, for that is a wish for marriage…they can return in a few years for that coin toss! This is a place that must be visited with more time and with someone you love.

Ciao for now.  We are on the way to Florence with a stop in Assisi.

Mrs. Ziessler and Mr. Sill

Hello all,

Here is a little video of our trip to Mykonos.  Incredible place.  The video doesn’t do it justice.  Sorry for the rough sound and edit.  I did it on the bus.  That’s a first for me!

Enjoy,
Jim Sill

Hello America!  You are missed.

The last couple of days have really been a whirlwind!!  After our lovely ferry from Greece, we landed in Bari, Italy.  Bari is just below the ankle of Italy.  It is a very busy port town.  Our early morning landing was followed by a 3+hour drive across the Italy.  The trip was filled with massive boredom and a few “physical comfort” stops.  Upon arriving at the staggeringly beautiful Sorrento, we were immediately revived.

The town, known for their delicious lemons, is carved into the hills.  Upon arrival, many of us took the winding roads down to the Mediterranean Sea for a chance dip.   Without going into details, Italian boys love American girls.  Don’t worry, all swimming activities were supervised by Mrs. Patton, and the Sill’s.

We left early yesterday morning for Pompeii.  The trip started off late because the bus was almost an hour behind.  I guess there one small road in and one small road out.  Pompeii was hot, really hot.  According to Morgan, it wasn’t gladiator hot…just hot.  When I imagined the city it was big in my mind, but it was really a huge city.  The kids were saying that they thought that we would be seeing people all over the place covered in ash.  Truthfully, there were just plaster copies of a few bodies behind some gates.  To me, the city has to be the best stop on the trip.  It was huge and had all the elements of a city that we would see today. With our delay, we only had about 2 hours to see explore with our  tour guide, Marco “Polo”.  To illustrate what it must have been like, he took Mrs. Z as his bride for the day.  We left the city exhausted.

We arrived in Roma around 5pm last night.  According to Morgan, it was the longest bus ride ever.  iPods were dead, the sun was hot, and everyone was starving!  Our hotel, The Metro, is on the outskirts of the city but right on the “metro”.  We dropped our bags and headed into town to visit the Spanish Steps and (according to Kelsey) the “Chubby” Fountain.  Romans (and everyone else) calls it the Trevi Fountain.  We had some free time to roam Rome and eat some Gillattos.  Erin has broken our guide, Lindsay’s record of 5 in one day.  She and a couple other have taken the lead with 7.  When in Rome….!   Back at the hotel, the kids were happy to finally get a two night stay.  From an adult perspective this may not be a good thing since everyone seems to have unpacked!!

Today, we had a guided tour of the Vatican, the Colosseum, the Pantheon and more.  I will save that for another entry.

Ciao!

Sill (with help from Morgan and Kelsey) @ midnight

Brandon narrates our second day in Greece.  The boarding of the cruise ship…

Look for the next one about Mykonos!