6 April: Rome, Italy

Our tour guide for the day, Terry Giansanti with Hands On Travel (HOT) showing us around the Forum.

Viewing the Colosseum

Us in front of the Colosseum

We got up, rode the metro and met Terry, our tour guide for the rest of the day. We walked to a church called St. Clementine. It has three levels. The bottom is a house where people used to live. Romans built a church on top of it and then they built yet another church on top of that! We walked to the Colosseum. In its heyday, it could fit 50,000 people in there and that's where the gladiators fought. Cool! We got hungry, ate pizza for lunch at a cool place. Why was it cool? We could tell them exactly how much pizza we wanted and paid by the gram! Cheap and cool! We walked and saw the first school for the Deaf in Italy. It was an oral school. Cool. We also saw a cat sanctuary (where old ruins are) for homeless cats. Cool! We then went to visit the Forum. an ancient Roman meeting place. We went to St. Peter's Basilica and saw La Pieta, the only sculpture that Michelangelo himself signed. Then, we walked to eat out at Piazza Navona , whoo!! We then walked to a place with delicious ice cream, much better than 31 Flavors! We gorged ourselves and walked to the Trevi fountain. Also, we will go to the metro soon and pack and get ready to fly back to America tomorrow.

America!!!!!!

Notes: We also learned that the Colosseum was also used for other performances, saw an ancient mall which had many floors, and saw City Hall among other things today. What a busy day!

5 April 2010: Rome

Hello from Rome. When we got up today, we went to the catacombs where many Christians were buried. Approximately 400,000 Christians were buried in many layers of tunnels. We were able to see some of the tunnels and after that, we took the bus to meet up with Kate Groves, a former teacher at NMSD. We looked around for a bit and found a place to eat. After we ate, we finally got to see the Trevi Fountain. All the kids threw at least one coin into the fountain, ensuring their return to Rome. After we finished viewing the fountain, we went to see a crypt which was a little different than this morning's catacombs. We saw actual bones and skulls of 4000 different monks that decorated the rooms. After seeing all this, we walked past the "Four Fountains" which is also another famous fountain. We did a little bit of shopping before returning back to our hotel after 7:30 (and we hadn't eaten dinner yet). We are all exhausted and back at our hotel.

3-4 April 2010: Rome, Italy

Hello from Italy. Now, I will summarize and report upon what has been happening with our trip so far. After saying good-bye to Florence yesterday morning, we got to Rome and checked into our hotel. We zoomed to the Vatican City where the Pope lives. We had to rush to get there because we were almost out of time. We wanted to see the Sistine Chapel and were shocked to see how many people were there. People pushed each other and we were pushed from the back causing us to push people in front of us. We nearly felt claustrophobic. We finally got into the Chapel and we were in awe to see many beauitful paintings and the Final Judgement painting by Michelangelo. After that, we went to the Spanish Steps where people tend to hang out, chat, and generally have fun. We ate dinner then went back to the hotel.

This morning, we were disappointed to find it raining and cold. However, we would not let the rain ruin our trip. We saw the Pantheon, old ruins (Circus Maximus) where there used to be chariot races. Hmm, I'm trying to remember what else we saw. The rain has clouded my thoughts... We also saw a nice plaza (Navona) where people hang out and chat. However, this time, there weren't many people there. An added reason for the lack of people was the fact that today is Easter Sunday and people were probably spending time with their families. (We also saw the Jewish Ghetto where Jews were placed during WWII and a hospital on an "island" in the middle of the Tiber river. We shopped at the train station which had some nice stores.) We decided to get back to the hotel a little early to get some rest.

2 April 2010: Florence

The group discussing Michelangelo's David

Bonjour, everyone. This morning, we ate breakfast and went to a place called "Bargello." It used to be a prison but is now a museum for various statues. We looked around and its a beautiful museum and we saw different things. I was impressed with Donatello's David. It's a smaller statue and we found it interesting. After we left the museum, we went to Florence' famous cathedral, the Duomo. It's a beautiful place and really really big. It's famous for its arc (the dome). We looked around and saw different things. When we left the Duomo, we had a little bit of free time to look around and shop as today is our last day in Florence. We shopped, ate lunch, and did different stuff. We met up at the hotel at 1 pm and went to a museum called the Galleria del Accademia. The museum is famous and has a lot of good art inside. We got to my favorite part of the museum that holds what is known as the world's finest statue: Michelangelo's David. It's a big statue that stands 17 feet tall. I was fascinated and we studied it from different angles. It's truly a fascinating statue. After we enjoyed that museum, we went to one of the homes of the Medici family nearby. It's a big home and I think it was somewhere between three to five stories tall. We just looked at it from the outside and did not enter. Florence has been rainy, but we continued to look around and shop and get to know the town.

I also need to note that our story from yesterday about Paige's falling out of the leaning tower of Pisa: Paige never really fell and hurt herself. She's just fine and we were just "April Fool"ing you. Did we really get you? (note: click on the link provided in the April 1st blog). Have a good day.

1 April 2010: Florence-Pisa

The leaning tower of Pisa... really leans!

You can see how curvy and precarious the steps were!

Can you see us?

Poor Paige!

Ponte Vecchio- Find us!!

Today, we took the train and arrived Pisa and walked to see the Leaning Tower. We were lucky to be able to reserve a time slot to go up the tower. Right at the beginning, somehow Paige lost her balance because the Tower was pretty crooked and the steps also and she fell out a doorway ( a few feet from the ground). We all went back out to see if she was ok (and there was quite a little crowd out there also!). She was fine and some of us went ahead and went up the tower. Later that day, Paige felt her shoulder was bothering her. We brought her to a clinic (error stated in vlog says hospital- it was a little clinic). They checked on her and said it was just a little sprain. (Paige: Hi- it kind of hurt a little but I'm fine now). When we got back, we went to Ponte Vecchio bridge. We looked around a little and it was interesting. Then we went to see the Medici family's home. We just saw the outside but it was a really big castle. We wanted to see the gardens but found out it was closed. It only opens during June, July and August. We ate dinner and shopped a little bit. That's it!

Side note: We just learned that Paige's little fall actually made it to the local news in Pisa and found the link (it's in Italian but use google translate)- click here.

31 March 2010: Florence

dThis morning, we took the train from Venice to Florence. When we arrived at 11:30, Caldonia, Mia and I took responsibility of guiding our group in this city. However, our group got confused and we went in a couple of wrong directions. We got a bit lost but we finally arrived at our hotel. It's a nice hotel and we went out to eat lunch after getting settled. We walked through town and saw the Mercato Nuovo. It's a marketplace for clothes. It used to be for food but they changed it to clothes (Correction: they had a separate market for food and designated the new market for clothes. The one for food is now defunct). We planned to go to a bridge named Ponte Vecchio but it was cold and windy so we agreed to go there tomorrow or Thursday. Instead, we went to the Uffizi Gallery. It's full of cool art. We got back to the hotel and we're chilling now, that!

30 March 2010: Venice-Murano

When we woke up at the hotel, we walked and ate breakfast then went on a boat. It had many stops at different places and we finally got off at Murano. It's famous for hand-blown glass factories. We saw thousands of beautifully made glass. We went in a store that showed us for free how they make glass. We thought it was interesting. After that, we walked around the island then took the boat back to Venice. We went straight to Doge's Palace. It was pretty, nice, not too bad. We saw a lot of statues, and some were fascinating, some were ok-ok. We all had different opinions about the place. Then we went down to the prison which was very interesting. It's very different than prisons today. The bars were thick and the accessways were very short. The cells were smaller and it was cold. We had to imagine prisoners living there and being cold. After that, we saw St. Mark's cathedral. It was really big and nice. Honestly, I think Venice is a nice place to see. The houses are so beautiful and everything. The only thing that drove me crazy was the maze of streets. It was so confusing but after a while, we worked out a route that we used so we wouldn't get lost. If we tried another one, we would have surely gotten lost!

29 March 2010: Verona-Venice

When we woke up, we (our room) realized we were late and we had to hurry and pack and get to the train to get to Verona. We saw the Roman Arena. It was big and made of pink marble. Then, we saw Juliet's house. That house is bogus but it was cool anyway. We also saw a whale bone hanging from an arch and if the bone falls, it will tell whether you're a liar or not (it will only fall if you are not a liar). We are all liars, obviously. Then we went on the train to Venice. We took one look at the city and thought, "Oh wow, it's a maze here!" But luckily Rosina is very good with maps, thank God. Then we visited St. Mark's square. We looked around for a little bit then went back to the hotel. The next day on March 30th... (Note- dates are wrong in the vlog- see next blog).

We're here in Venice!

Yesterday, we visited Verona and then arrived Venice. We love the city but our Internet access is rather limited. Our blog will be updated sometime tomorrow (afternoon, NM time).

We're alive and well and enjoying Venice very much.

Regards,
Jennifer & Gary

28 March 2010: Paris-Zurich-Milan

Bahnhofstrasse, Zurich (and rain, rain and rain!)

Today, we went to Switzerland and met Jennifer's friends. They took us to a restaurant where we had a special kind of food (Foundue) and we talked and communicated. After that, we went to a fancy street (Bahnhofstrasse) and saw many things includuing churches, a clock (Europe's largest outdoor clock), heard its bell and now we are on the train again going to Milan, Italy (where we will spend the night before heading on to Verona and Venice tomorrow).

27 March 2010: Paris

Versailles

Eating crepes! Yum.

The Arc d' Triomphe

Sacre Coeur at Montmatre

This morning, we went on the train to Versailles. We saw the Kings' home there and the home was very interesting. There were lots of sculptures, painting, and the hall of mirrors I think it was very different from what I expected. Huge for a family of five! It seems very greedy and they used a lot of money from poor people to build it.

We took the train back to Paris and visited the Arc d' Triomphe. We went under a tunnel to get to the Arc because there were too many cars and we couldn't cross the road. We went to the top of the Arc. It was fascinating and we could see the Eiffel tower, where Napoleon was buried. Really, we could see all over Paris. We were also surprised to learn that the world has a lot of arches like the Arc.

We took the train to Sacre Coeur and saw the big church. They didn't allow pictures or video cameras inside and it was very quiet and interesting. When we went out, we went to a plaza and saw artists selling their work.

After we ate dinner, we shopped on our own for an hour. We rushed to see the Eiffel tower's light show but we failed. We saw the ending of it through the train, though. It was a fun day.

26 March 2010: Paris

Hello. What did we do today? After we ate breakfast, we went to Napoleon's tomb and visited the school for the Deaf. After that, we went to see the Notre Dame Cathedral that was built in 1163. It had many beautiful glass windows. We ate lunch and then shopped a little bit. We wnet to the Louvre and saw the Code of Hammurabi and Napolen's apartments (Note- Vlog said King Louis XIV in error). We also saw the Mona Lisa painting. We stayed at the museum for more than three hours. We ate dinner very late and now we are back at our hotel.


Special note: Our group was deeply saddened to learn of the passing of our friend, peer, and student, Samia. She will remain forever in our hearts.

25 March 2010: Paris

(Photos: Us at the Eiffel Tower and our AirFrance Airbus 380 plane)

The plane we rode on to France was HUGE! It was nice because everyone had their own tv, could play games, watch any movie or tv show we wanted. Some of us managed to nap a little bit. There was a camera outside the plane that broadcast to our tv screens and we could watch ourselves take off from the perspective of the tail fin.

It was a long journey to Paris but we finally arrived. We were exhausted but we thought positively throughout the day.

When we first got to Paris, we stayed a while in the Paris Est train station because Jennifer and Gary had been told at the train station in the airport that all trains were full. Luckily, the man in the Paris Est train station didn't get the memo and there were no problems with the reservations. Because of the delay, we didn't go directly to the hotel as planned and stored our bags in lockers at the train station.

We decided to go to the Eiffel tower with me (Emilio) as our tour guide. When we got there, some of us went use the stairs to the 2nd deck and some of us went on the elevator. Most of us went to the top. The tower and the view were fascinating. We liked the fact that the tower is not always the same color- depending on the year. Also, it's a radio tower that was built in1889 for the World Fair. We could see many places in Paris from the tower. We were very lucky as it was rainy. However, when we got to the tower, it cleared up for a while. Immediately after we got our pictures taken in front of the tower, it poured! We had to find shelter at a fish market and a cafe.

We ate dinner, found our way to the hotel and SLEPT! We are currently looking forward to another long day.

Entry submitted by Emilio and Jennifer

24 March 2010: Baltimore

Au Revoir ~ Auf Wiedersehen ~ Arrivederci!

(Back Row: L-R: Gary Hand, Emilio Garcia, Paige Foreman-Smith, Myra Sandoval, Krystle Stewart, Caldonia Wilding, Jennifer Herbold)
(Front Row L-R: Rosina Garcia, Mia Fernandez, Alex Gamboa)

What are we looking forward to the most?

Mia: I want to see things I can't see here in America.

Emilio: What I'm looking forward to the most: Going to the top of the Eiffel Tower.

Rosina: I'm mostly looking forward to Rome because it has a cherished history with Greeks and Romans, different battles, different conquerors and the buildings. It's impressive and I'm curious.

Caldonia: I'm mostly looking forward to seeing Versailles. It's a fancy king's palace with gardens and a king's home. I'm curious.

Myra: The thing I'm most looking forward to is to actually "touch" Europe, experience the trains, go to different cities like Milan, Florence, Rome, Venice, and Paris, of course.

Krystle: What am I looking forward to the most? Shopping!

Alex: I'm mostly looking forward to Paris because I'm curious about its history.

Jennifer: What am I looking forward to? Two things: 1) The scrumptious French and Italian food. 2) Watching the students learn through their frustrations and understanding, enjoying, learning and seeing.

Gary: I look forward the most to seeing students' faces when we arrive Paris with their gaping mouths. I'll have to hold up their jaws! I'm also excited to see things for myself.

International Studies 2010 Travel Itinerary

International Studies 2010

Travel Itinerary

Where in the world are our NMSD International Studies students?

23 March 2010: Albuquerque - Baltimore (Marriott Residence Inn)
24 March 2010: Baltimore - Paris
25 March 2010: Paris (Hotel Parc Even)
26 March 2010: Paris
27 March 2010: Paris
28 March 2010: Paris - Zurich - Milan (Hotel Demo)
29 March 2010: Milan - Verona - Venice (Hotel Al Vagon)
30 March 2010: Venice
31 March 2010: Venice - Florence (Hotel Bellettini)
1 April 2010: Florence (Pisa)
2 April 2010: Florence
3 April 2010: Florence - Rome (Tiburtina Bed & Breakfast)
4 April 2010: Rome
5 April 2010: Rome
6 April 2010: Rome
7 April 2010: Rome - Baltimore (Marriott Residence Inn)
8 April 2010: Baltimore - Albuquerque (and home!!!)


Flight Information:

23 March 2010:
Southwest Airlines: Albuquerque-Baltimore / Departing 3:25 pm / Arriving 11:20 pm / One stopover in St. Louis.

24 March 2010:
Delta Airlines: Baltimore-Paris / Departing 4:14 pm / Arriving 8:35 am / One stopover in New York City.

7 April 2010:
Delta Airlines: Rome-Baltimore / Departing 10:00 am / Arriving 7:41 pm / One stopover in Atlanta.

8 April 2010:
Delta Airlines: Baltimore-Albuquerque / Departing 10:00 am / Arriving 1:30 pm / One stopover in St. Louis.