HORIZON
DECA
Europe
2008
London-Paris-Florence-Rome
The
Ultimate Field Trip II
Over
Spring Break of 2008, eight Horizon High School DECA Members and Mr. Samora embarked on
a ten day whirlwind tour of London, Paris, Florence, and Rome!
On
March 22, 2008, the group departed Denver via United Airlines and flew to
London, England (connecting through Chicago). After
arriving in
London
on March 23, we traveled through
London
en-route to our Hotel in Vauxhaul. The rooms were nicer than expected, very
comfortable, modern, and roomier than normal. After dumping our luggage at the
hotel, we were off on the Tube to Central London and
Westminster
for our walking tour. We covered a lot of ground and had a couple hours free
time to explore Piccadilly Circus and the area around Trafalgar Square, then it
was back to the Hotel to check-in, freshen up, then back on the tube into the
center of town for dinner at Wagamama (a trendy Japanese place). After dinner we
had some free time to check out
London
by night.
Monday,
April 24 it was breakfast and off by coach at 9 a.m. for our guided tour of
London
with our local tour guide Shirley. Our guided tour took us to all the major
sights in
London
, with a couple notable stops at the Castle and
Tower
Bridge
,
St. Paul
’s Church, as well
Buckingham
Palace
to witness a rather scaled down changing of the guard. After our guided tour,
everyone had about four hours of free time in town to do whatever we wanted.
Some shopped, some spent time in one of
London
’s many free museums and galleries. We ate dinner at a Chinese Restaurant in
Chinatown, then a couple more hours of free time on
London
. The weather in
London
was very cold with snow a lot of the time.
On
Tuesday, March 25 it was a 6:30 a.m. breakfast tomorrow, on the bus at 7 a.m. to
the train station to board the Eurostar high speed train to
Paris
.
The trip from
London
to
Paris
took just a little over 2 hours. We arrived in
Paris
at Gare de Nord train station and hopped on a coach to our hotel outside the
city center. We dropped off our bags, grabbed a quick lunch and headed on the
Metro (
Paris
's Subway) to the center of town for a walking tour of
Central Paris
. Unfortunately the weather was cold and overcast, with the wind blowing most of
the time. Everyone has an opinion about
Paris
. Yes it is dirty, and not the friendliest city, but magnificent as no other
city I have been to! We saw the Louve, Notre Dame, the opera, the chic shopping
streets, the Ritz, and much more! When EF says walking tour, they aren't
kidding! We must have walked 10 miles across
Paris
on our walking tour. We ate at a Moroccan Restaurant (a little exotic) our
first evening, and then back to the hotel.
On
Wednesday, March 26, our second day in
Paris
we got an excellent guided tour of the city via a nice motorcoach. We got to
see all the important sights of
Paris
and learn the history behind them. We ate together for a quick lunch then off
to
Versailles
. The palace at
Versailles
is simply extraordinary in its beauty, opulence, and grandeur! Then it was back
to
Paris
for French Pizza (very delicious, very thin crust, a white sauce), a regional
specialty. After dinner, our DECA group headed on the Metro to the
Eifel
Tower
by night. Pictures cannot capture the incredible size and wonder of the
Eifel
Tower
, we experienced it.
Thursday,
March 27 our last day in
Paris
began with a visit to the greatest museum in the world, the Louvre. After the
Louvre, most everybody headed for the stores we passed on our walking tour since
this was the only time to shop in
Paris
. Some headed for the
Orsay
Museum
and spent a few hours in front of the masterpieces of Degas, Renoir, Manet, Van
Gogh, and Monet (the greatest collection anywhere)! After our free time it was
back to the hotel to collect our luggage and then hop on a coach for the ride to
the train station where we caught our night train to
Florence
.
We
arrived in
Florence
on Friday, March 28. We had a guided tour after breakfast with an excellent
local tour guide that taught us about the history of Florence and some of her
renowned citizens like Michael Angelo, Leonardo DaVinci, and more) and included
a visit to the magnificent church (Duomo) of Florence. After a lot of free time
in chilly
Florence
, we had a great dinner then off in the coach to our Hotel.
It’s
Saturday, March 29 and we are off by deluxe motor coach, travelling the
unbelievably gorgeous countryside of
Italy
all the way to
Assisi
. We stopped for a couple of hours in
Assisi
, and what a pleasant surprise that ancient town is! It is very medieval and
sits at the very top of a hill overlooking the countryside. It is beautiful,
like walking back in time five centuries. As one of those who chose to tour the
Church, it is one of the most impressive churches I have ever seen, and rivals
anything I have seen in
Europe
. Frescos everywhere and when you thought you had seen it all, below the
unbelievable main dome and sanctuary is another chapel with high ceilings and
frescos, incredible! We lucked out and were following a choir from
England
singing Ave Maria and other selections, very cool! From
Assisi
we continued on our trek to
Rome
through what has to be one of the most beautiful countries in the world. We are
staying beautiful hotel outside
Rome
, overlooking a volcanic lake, and across the lake we can see the Pope's summer
residence. From a spot near our hotel, we stopped and looked out over Rome and
could see all the way to the sea. Tonight we relax, have dinner, and get some
rest for tomorrow when it is up at 5 a.m. (and we lose an hour as Europe goes on
daylight savings time), breakfast at 5:30 a.m., then on the bus at 6 a.m. to be
at the Vatican by 7 a.m.
Sunday,
March 30, our last day in
Rome
was a memorable one. We were in line at the
Vatican
by 7 a.m., and a good thing, before long there were hundreds of people behind
us in line; good call by our tour guide on the early start! Our outstanding
local tour guide met us around 9 a.m. and the
Vatican
was well worth the wait. The highlights of course were the Sistine Chapel and
St. Peter's Church. I could have spent a half a day in the Sistine Chapel alone
admiring the genius of Michael Angelo who spent 3 years of his life painting the
ceiling. Also on one of the walls was Michael Angelo's masterpiece, the Final
Judgment (which he painted years later to complete the Chapel). We also saw some
incredible hand woven tapestries of silk and gold woven by hand, centuries ago
as well as many other artifacts from ancient
Rome
in the
Vatican
Museum
, which is as ornate and splendid as you would expect. I couldn't believe
St. Peters
Church
, the largest in the world and the showpiece of Roman Catholicism. It is
incredible! Fifty-two altars in the church, marble, sculptures (including
another Michael Angelo Masterpiece - The Virgin Mary), magnificently painted
domed ceilings, etc. Our tour guide said you could fit 10,000 people in
St. Peters
!
St. Peters Square
was huge with massive with great columns, and yes we saw the Swiss guards,
still wearing the uniforms designed by Michael Angelo.
How
do you top
Vatican City
? By touring the Roman Coliseum and the Forum ruins. It was a thrill to walk on
the
Appian Way
and stand where the Roman Legions marched after their victories, where the
chariots would parade before the Senate and the Emperors of Rome. We saw and
stood in the Senate Chambers of the Roman Senate, just as they were almost two
millennia ago! We saw the Pantheon, the very altar in which Julius Caesar was
cremated, the palace of the emperors, and more.
Monday,
March 31, started with an early trip to the airport in
Rome
(4 a.m.) where we caught a flight to
Zurich
, then on to
Washington
D.C.
, then finally home to
Denver
.
Our
EF Tour Director - Fabio Ariosto
Click
the European Union Flag above to see a photo slide show of our trip to
Europe in 2008
Please
be patient, it takes a minute to load and play!
The
pictures begin in London, then progress to Paris, Florence, Assisi, Rome,
then end with Zurich.
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