Students return home after 20 day Europe trip

Students%2C+parents+and+teachers+traveled+around+Europe+and+saw+sight+such+as+the+Eiffel+Tower+and+Leaning+Tower+of+Pisa.+The+trip+last+twenty+days.+

Courtesy Photo

Students, parents and teachers traveled around Europe and saw sight such as the Eiffel Tower and Leaning Tower of Pisa. The trip last twenty days.

Spending 20 days away from the place you call home may be difficult for some, but those who participated in the Europe trip, taking place June 1 to 21, learned that it wasn’t too bad when they were having fun.

The group consisted of students, parents and instructor Lora Gallegos-Haynes. For the trip, they traveled to London, Paris, Florence, Rome, Sorrento, Pompeii, the Meteora region, Athens, and then ended the experience with a Greek island cruise.

“I like Florence, Italy,” upcoming sophomore Sierra Bryant said.

Bryant says that the hardest part was being away for so long, but meeting new people and getting close to those she was with, was the best.

“I got contact information from the people who were in our group and from different states,” Bryant said.

Others who participated include former seniors Jace Armstrong, Raina Basso, Brianna Brin, Angel Bryant, Alyssa Bryant, Jeremy Claude, Madison Crees, Nick Cox-Johnson, Madisyn Keller, Talyn Kleweno, Rachel Taylor, Hannah Thomasson, Daniel Lopez and Isaac Zimmerman; upcoming seniors Analyse Claude, Tana Herreman, Mikayla Koerner, Lucy Lin, Kaitlyn Schaben and Lisa Schoenberger; upcoming junior Lindsey Pfannenstiel; and upcoming sophomore Savannah Pfeifer.

The group toured different places including Big Ben, Mount Pilatus, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Vatican City, the Colosseum and the Eiffel Tower.

“I think the architecture of everything just looked so beautiful and unique,” Lin said. “Sightseeing was really fun and learning the history.”

To get around to these historical structures, different modes of transportation were used.

“We traveled by plane, bus, underwater train, trains, the metro, overnight ferry, and by a boat, on our cruise,” Bryant said.

The group did not travel by car as there weren’t too many of them, and the amount of people who used that as their preferred method of transportation was lower than America.  Other differences include the currency, how poor some of the people are, the smell and how open everyone is.

“They’re very expressive,” Lin said.

Pfannenstiel feels that the worst part was one of the differences, the smell.

“Oh, my gosh, the smells of some of the cities, especially Paris, it smelt like sewer,” Pfannenstiel said. “You know it’s bad when you see toilet paper and human feces floating down the street.”

While differences may have been expected, a terror attack could not. On June 3 at 10 p.m., a van crashed into citizens and those in it proceeded to exit and run toward Borough Market.

“The attacks most definitely affected me,” Pfannenstiel said. “I knew it was possible, but to be there, just miles away, it was very scary. Being only 16 years old and witnessing on the news that there’s been an attack, makes me feel lucky that none of the group was there.”

According to Lin, the group was out of harm’s way by the time they heard about the attack.

“I don’t think it really affected me all that much,” Lin said. “I think we were already back at the hotel, but maybe we were still doing the Harry Potter tour. Lisa told us at night, and we were all shocked.”

Though there was the attack and the event took students away from family and friends, the group got to see landmarks most their age cannot say they’ve seen.

“I would go back in a heartbeat if I could,” Pfannenstiel said. “This trip was definitely a good life experience. It made me aware of how different our cultures are and how anything can happen in a matter of seconds.”

19ibraun@usd489.com