Italian Tour 2018

The Italian Study Tour 2018 - Where do I begin? The amazing cities and sites we visited, the people we met, the memories we made as a group, the food we ate, the list goes on. From the moment we got to our hotel in Rome, the journey began. We got ourselves ready and made our way to the Spanish Steps, which was beautiful. We then headed to the incredible, Trevi Fountain and it is just as amazing as it is in photos.

The following day we had a guided tour of the Colosseum and the Roman Forum and what a day it was, the Colosseum was absolutely amazing, definitely a moment to remember. On our last day in Rome, we spent our time in a ridiculously long line to get inside St Peter's Basilica, and sadly, we did not make it in. However, it was quickly made up by going to the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel.

After Rome, we were off to the beautiful city of Florence. Definitely one of my favourite places of the entire trip. We went to the centre, where many of the sites are, such as the Cathedral and the Baptistery. We also visited the famous Ponte Vecchio and had some delicious gelato. The next day, we took a two-hour train ride to Pisa, to visit, of course, The Leaning Tower, which was really fun and we had a great time taking the popular tourist photo. Our last full day in Florence was filled with great fun. We had a guided tour in the centre and also of the Galleria dell’Accademia to see, of course, the main attraction, Michelangelo’s David. To complete our adventures in Florence we headed to Piazzale Michelangelo, which is a square, which is up in the hills overlooking the city of Florence. It is just beautiful!

After Florence, we were back on the road heading to Assisi, the home of St Francis. We visited the incredible Basilica of San Francesco and slowly made our way out of Assisi to continue our journey to Pesaro, where we would be staying for the next five days with our host families. The family stay was packed with things to do every day. Each day we would have school where we would learn about everything Italian, including food, history of Pesaro and how to use Italian hand gestures. We would also go on excursions to either a nearby town such as Urbino or places in Pesaro. However, the highlight of Pesaro was spending time with our family. We spent a lovely day at the beach where all of the families came together and had lunch and we all had fun on the beach and talked to the other families as well. Leaving the host families was really sad for everyone. We all made great memories with them and grew strong bonds. It's definitely something that I will never forget.

After saying goodbye to our families, we made our way to our last stop, the “City of Water”, Venice. It was really nice! We were able to go on a gondola ride through the canals. We visited Murano where we saw glass blowing and we also visited St Mark’s Square. We went to the Rialto Bridge and the Bridge of Sighs. It was a short stay but we did a lot of things in the amount of time that we had.

Overall, it was an incredible experience to remember and cherish forever!

Stefanie Pentogenis MO7

During the Easter holidays, eight students went on the Italy Study Tour for two weeks. We visited Rome, Florence, Pisa, Assisi, Pesaro and Venice! Whilst we were in Rome we saw the famous Trevi Fountain, The Colosseum, The Vatican City - on Easter Saturday which meant we had to line up for almost 3 and a half hours in St. Peter’s Square!!

Florence was my favourite out of all the cities. We walked along the famous Ponte Vecchio, saw the statue of David, the Leaning Tower of Pisa and lots more. 

In Pesaro, we had the opportunity to stay with a host family for five days. Before we met them, I was really nervous and didn’t know what to expect but they welcomed us into their home and made our stay in Pesaro so fun. During this time we went to school for a few hours each morning and met students our age. It was so cool to learn about them and the differences between Italy and Australia. We formed a close bond with our families and we still talk to our homestay brother all the time.  

Venice was our last stop before heading back home. We went on a gondola ride, visited the island of Murano and much more. Besides seeing all these beautiful cities and landmarks, the highlight of this trip was definitely all the friends I made. Not only did I become so close with the seven other students, I met people from all over the world and I am so happy that I chose to go! It was definitely an incredible experience and I would recommend this trip to everyone at St John’s.

Isabella Raso,  CO4