A group of around 30 students traveled to Italy this past summer as part of an Education First (EF) Tours trip, organized by Assistant Principal Casey McMurray, retired French teacher Lisa Topping, and retired English teacher Dena Chavez, McMurray said.
Visiting St. Peter’s Basilica, St. Paul’s Basilica, the Roman Forum, the Duomo in Florence, the Sistine Chapel, and the Vatican Library, along with enjoying Italian food, were just some of the many memorable parts of Italy, McMurray said.
“Those are once in a lifetime experiences for many, and I’m glad we were able to actually be there and see, with our own eyes, those masterpieces,” McMurray said.
The trip balanced a planned itinerary and guided tours with the chance to explore the area independently with friends, sophomore Ushoshi Das said.
“If you had an hour with the tour guide, you would have an hour or two for yourself, so it’s a really good balance,” Das said. Regarding the tour guides, she added, “They were all super nice and friendly. It just felt like a really nice experience because there were a lot of jokes being made, a lot of smiles and laughs the entire trip.”
En route, however, flight disruptions set off a series of cascading events that resulted in a two-day delay in arrival to Italy, Das said.
“I would complain because we wasted a couple days of our trip just stuck on the airport floor, but also, it was like a fun little adventure as a group together,” Das said. “We made a lot of new connections and became friends through that because we all trauma-bonded.”
Senior Lisa Tucker wanted to stay home over the summer, but her dad convinced her to go on the trip, knowing it would be “a good opportunity to see the world” since she had never previously traveled outside of the U.S., she said.
“Although I didn’t want to go, I think it was really really worth it because not only was Italy beautiful, but I feel like I made … lots of close friends that I never thought I would have made,” Tucker said.
Seeing the Colosseum in Rome was an especially surreal moment, Tucker said. Browsing the shops in Florence was another highlight of the trip for her, she said, pointing to the outfit she was wearing, which she had bought entirely in Italy.
“(In Florence), they had a lot of cute clothing and they had so much gelato,” Tucker said. “Every corner you turned, there was a gelato shop, and it was all delicious … I ate gelato for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.”
Exploring the beautiful small town of Assisi was one of her favorite parts of the trip, Das said.
“It had that European summer vibe,” Das said. “I also liked going to Trevi Fountain — it was just such a fun experience throwing that coin over your shoulder, making that wish.”
When their plane landed in Montreal for a layover on the way to Milan, passengers remained on board for around five additional hours before they were allowed into the airport, Das said. After entering the airport, they received a notification that their connecting flight had been delayed from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m., then 12 a.m., and then 2 a.m., she added.
“We finally got on the plane, and then — I think it was ten minutes — we’re all sitting down, putting our things down, getting our stuff out, just relaxed and finally happy when the pilot makes an announcement,” Das said. “He’s like, ‘Oh, actually, the flight is canceled. We don’t have enough flight attendants.’ I think there was something about the weather, but there were still a bunch of flights getting sent out that were not from Air Canada.”
Once they got off the plane, the group had to sleep on top of their suitcases on the floor of the Montreal airport because they weren’t given hotel vouchers for the night, Tucker said. They booked a hotel for the following evening after their unexpected stay in Canada was extended by another day, she added.
“When we came back to the airport the next morning, we had to wait like another six hours to get a flight,” Tucker said. “That was actually terrible. It was kind of traumatizing.”
However, they showed “great resilience” and made it to Milan, with a group of four going with his wife through Madrid, Spain, and the rest of them going through Casablanca, Morocco, McMurray said.
“We had a little side excursion, so we could say we were in the continent of Africa,” McMurray said. “We were on three continents in one day: we went from North America to Africa to Europe. That was an unexpected detour, but we made it to our final destination, and we got to see a little bit — albeit inside the airport — of Casablanca.”
Despite everything that occurred during the first few days of their trip, the chaperones never lost their patience and remained calm through all the ups and downs, Das said.
“As a kid who had no clue what’s going on, … having such stable people we could rely on the entire trip was so helpful, and it made the trip actually a fun experience,” she added.
It all worked out in the end, McMurray said. EF Tours was communicative, responsive, and “truly available 24/7,” he said, and he was in communication with the tour director in Milan, who adjusted the itinerary as needed.
“It was unfortunate we experienced the delay, but that is one of those sometimes inevitable experiences when we fly,” McMurray said. “Moving forward, I’m hoping that this was one of those things that happens once, but not twice. All the other times that we’ve flown with EF Tours — and Ms. Topping has flown with them over 12 times, 13 times — and this is kind of the one-off experience is what I would say.”
School trips like this one to Italy can be some of the best experiences of high school, providing a much-needed balance to the stress of school, Das said.
“You’re traveling with your friends; you’re going to different places,” Das said. “It’s something I don’t think I’d ever imagine. I know a lot of schools don’t have this opportunity, so we’re so lucky to have it.”
