There's lots to see and do in Europe!

The holidays were went too quickly!

During the school Easter break, a group of 22 Cowra and Canowindra students, with 3 lucky adults, spent two weeks traversing Belgium, Germany and Italy as part of a European History excursion.  Flying out late Sunday night, we arrived into Brussels, however, this was merely a pitstop on the way to our first destination, Ieper.  This small town is home to the Menin Gate and became the base from which we explored sites linked to World War One.  As a group, we toured the site of Hill 60 and 62, Polygon Wood, Caterpillar Crater, Tyne Cot, Langemarck German cemetery, and the Passchendaele Memorial Museum.  One of the highlights of the trip was our participation in the Last Post Ceremony at the Menin Gate, where we were represented by a Cowra and Canowindra student in the wreath ceremony.

From Ieper, it was a short flight to Berlin.  Here, students explored sites linked to Nazi Germany, the Cold War and the Golden Age of German cinema.  Highlights included the Reichstag, the Brandenburg Gate, the Holocaust Memorial, Checkpoint Charlie, Sachsenhausen (a concentration camp), and the Berlin Film Museum.  Students also got to try out their German with a trip to the Mall of Berlin, and small amounts of time each day to do some souvenir shopping and getting lunch from the local cafes.

Our final stop was to Italy.  We flew into Naples for a guided tour of the Naples Archaeological Museum to view the treasures of the Roman city of Pompeii.  From there we travelled to Sorrento, which became our base for exploring the Bay of Naples.  Students were treated to trips to Pompeii, and the Villa of Oplontis.  Couple this with strolling the streets of Sorrento and it is not hard to see why the students fell in love with Italy. From there, we travelled to Rome for the last leg of the tour.  We visited the Colosseum, the Trevi fountain, the Spanish Steps, the Capitoline Museum, the Vatican, Mussolini’s Bunker, and Ostia Antica (the ancient port city of Rome).  The surprise stand out for this leg of the trip was visiting Mussolini’s Bunker, where one of the shelters had been fitted out to simulate what an air-raid would have felt like.  

Whilst it was a whirlwind tour that seemed to end far too soon, all the staff involved would like to thank the students for being truly exceptional.  It became common to receive compliments from the site staff on the excellent behaviour our students demonstrated.  It is a credit to both Cowra High School and Canowindra High School that we were represented by outstanding students who dived into every activity we participated in.