Italy Club 06

The Interview Questions

2006-05-11T15:49:00.000-07:00

Alamo/Crescent Elk and Parents in the Italy Club:

Please respond to the following questions. I weeded through my list to come up with the most "important" ones...

1. What is the best thing you took with you on our trip? Why?

2. What do you wish you would have taken more of? Why?

3. What do you wish you'd left at home? Why?

4. What do you wish you'd brought less of? Why?

5. 20 years from now, what will be the lasting image of our trip that comes to your mind?

6. Would you go on a trip like this one again? If I go again, wanna go with me???? =)

Ok, please answer completely. This will help me if I take students on a trip like this in the future...

Phots are Posted Now

2006-04-19T09:39:00.000-07:00

I've got the photos up. There is a small sampling here--scroll down to the link that says flickr. If you want all of my photos, send me your email address and I'll send you the link.

shooper@delnorte.k12.ca.us

I miss Italy, miss traveling with the kids. Miss the fast pace of our life there. It was an awesome trip!

thoughts of you all...

2006-04-16T09:42:00.000-07:00

What an incredible thing you just did! I'm stuck at the airport...they keep cancelling my ffights. Sorry for the typos--funky keyboard.

I won't be able to upload the photos today--looks like I won't get home for awhile. I'll do it as soon as I can.

Just wanted to tell you all thank you for the awesome journal. It is my prized souvenir of the adventure. I will never eever in my life forget what we just did and that YOU were the ones I did it with. Our first gelati, our first glimpse of the David, too many memories to say it all. I get all teary eyed when I think of it.

Each of you is my close friend--I will always have the warmest affection for you and will be waiting to hear of your adveetures in the future.

Ciao for now.
S=)

Nite 2 in Rome

2006-04-13T14:46:00.000-07:00

We spent all day at the Vatican today and we could have spent much more time there. I had no idea how many historic artifacts are housed there: Etruscan, Egyptian, Roman, Greek, African etc. All of the ancient and early pottery and scultpture must be priceless...

The Sistene chapel is incredible, but I have to confessç it is so crowded that it took some of the joy out for me. I was much more moved by seeing St. Peter's Basillica tomb of the popes. John Paul was there, and I was so touched to be so close, but we also saw the sepluchre of Peter. THE PETER... whoa... still shaking my head. The kids were blown away.

It was a beautiful day here in Rome. Perfect weather. I had the best gelato in the world tonight. Tartuffo (truffle) OMG...

Tomorrow, the Colosseum, the Forum and....the catacombs. The kids are really excited to see all the dead dudes.

Ciao!
Buon serra.

2006-04-12T21:43:00.000-07:00

Yes, we made it to Roma last night. Had a nice dinner. My room looks like a james bond flick...very quirky, but comfy. slept well. woke up ready to hit it hard today. After dinner last night walked to the Trevi Fountains and Spanish Steps from the Big Column ( Colunna Traianna). Our hotel is up in the way north east end of the city. There is a nice park there. It is cloudy and slightly coool. Wish I had brought another sweater vest, but oh well.

So yes, we are happy and healthy and happy. Today we go to the Vatican St. Peter Basilica and the Panthenon. We will see the Sistine Chapel and tomorrow we will go to the Colosseum the Forum and the circus maximus....

From Florence

2006-04-11T14:47:00.000-07:00

We have had an incredible 2 days in Florence. Today we saw the Medici Chapel a couple of beautiful cathedrals and did some shopping. We had to wait for 2 hours in line to see the statue David by Michaelangelo. Jessica was very moved by the beauty of it, Jacob said that he was "speechless" Severin says that she loved the detail, Ian says that it was definately worth the wait to see it. Teal did not say much to me about it, but she spent a lot of time looking. It was an incredible experience. I know that as the kids get older, they will remember the sites we saw today and it will mean more and more to them.

Of course though, they love the shopping! They are spending their money on gifts and getting a lot of joy out of selecting the treasures they are picking up. It has been fun to watch them do the currency conversions and look for the best rates.

We have eaten a lot of gelato. We are eating pretty good. When we miss home, we get some fries from Mickey D and we are good to go again.

I wish I could post photos, that was my big goal, but I just can not find a computer that will allow it....Definately when I get home, ok?

My time is up. But I just want to thank you for loaning me your great kids! I feel so honored to share this experience with them. We are safe and healthy.

Our trip is more than half over. Tomorrow we leave for Rome. See you soon

We Are Here

2006-04-09T08:09:00.000-07:00

I want to let you know that your children are awesome travellers! We are all fine. But I seriously miscalculated how much free time I would have to work on a computer...I have to apologize but I will not be able to post a photo today. I am running late for dinner, and have to get everyone together. Consider this just a quick update. I also encourage you to call the hotel we stay at if you want to talk to the kids. We are usually in after 10 pm our time, so that is a good time to try. Will post photos soon I hope...

Wednesday before departure...

2006-04-05T14:00:00.000-07:00

Man, I am getting excited and nervous and anxious and happy all at the same time... I can't wait to hit the road tomorrow after work. I hope that you all are excited too. This is going to be incredible!

I also hope that you pay attention to the warnings to PACK LIGHT!!! If you buy souvenirs in Italy, you'll have to bring them home. Your total baggage weight cannot be more than 44 pounds, and your carry on bag not more than 15 pounds, so I hope that you pack very carefully.

The weather looks like it will be good for us, but we can expect a little rain the first part of the trip in Venice. I hear it gets more rain than Rome.

So sleep well these next two nights everyone! We've worked so hard to make this dream come true...Now it's time to ENJOY ourselves!

See you in San Francisco.

Trip Itinerary

2006-03-19T12:28:00.000-08:00

Here's the important information for this trip:

Flight

Date	Airline	Flight No.	Depart	Arrive
Friday, April 07, 2006	Lufthansa	455	San Francisco (SFO) 14:05	Frankfurt (FRA) 09:40
Saturday, April 08, 2006	Lufthansa	4084	Frankfurt (FRA) 12:20	Venice (VCE) 13:35
Saturday, April 15, 2006	Delta Airlines	149	Rome (Fiumicino) (FCO) 10:25	New York (JFK) (JFK) 13:55
Saturday, April 15, 2006	Delta Airlines	2020	New York (JFK) (JFK) 19:20	San Francisco (SFO) 23:17

Hotel

Check In	Check Out	Hotel Details	Dialing from the US	Overnight City
04/08/2006	04/10/2006	Hotel Riviera Gran Viale,5 Piazza Santa Maria Elisabetta Venice 30126 Italy	011-39-041-5260031	Venice
04/10/2006	04/12/2006	Hotel Mediterraneo Lungarno del Tempio, 42/44 Florence 50121 Italy	011-39-055-660241	Florence
04/12/2006	04/15/2006	Hotel Albani Via Adda, 45 Rome 00198 Italy	011-39-06-84991	Rome

Trip Highlights

Day	Date	Description	City
1	Friday, April 07, 2006	Departure from the United States.	Overnight Flight
2	Saturday, April 08, 2006	Arrival in Venice. Transfer to hotel. Arrival briefing. Afternoon and evening activities organized by group leader(s). Dinner.	Venice
3	Sunday, April 09, 2006	Morning city sightseeing of Venice, including entrance to Doge's Palace. Afternoon activities to be organized by group leader(s). Dinner and overnight.	Venice
4	Monday, April 10, 2006	Morning drive to Florence, stopping in Padua for a visit en route. Dinner. Evening activities organized by group leader(s).	Florence
5	Tuesday, April 11, 2006	Morning sightseeing of Florence with a local guide, including visit to the Accademia. Afternoon and evening activities organized by group leader(s). Dinner.	Florence
6	Wednesday, April 12, 2006	Morning drive to Assisi for a visit. Continue to Rome for dinner and overnight.	Rome
7	Thursday, April 13, 2006	Morning sightseeing with local guide introduces you to the history of Rome, including a visit to St Peter's. Your ACIS Walking tour will guide you through the Vatican Museums. A visit to the Colosseum is also included today. Dinner.	Rome
8	Friday, April 14, 2006	Optional excursion to Pompeii with lunch and a visit to Mt. Vesuvius. Return to Rome for dinner. Evening activities led by group leader(s). Free day for non-participants organized by group leader(s).	Rome
9	Saturday, April 15, 2006	Transfer to the airport for return flight to the United States.	Departure