Thursday, June 18, 2015 - Page 16

Italy, Greece, and Turkey: A trip of a lifetime

Story and Photos
By Erica Taylor
According to the website of
the organization, Education
First, EF was started over
50 years ago by a Swedish
student named Bertil Hult.
He had spent years struggling with dyslexia. Unsure
of his future, he moved to
London for work. After only
a few short months, he was
fluent in English - a feat he
never thought possible. That
discovery inspired Bertil to
launch Education First in
1965 - a company built on
experiential learning, cultural immersion, and authentic connections.
With the help of EF, Winter Owens (Business/Technology Teacher at Tarkio
R-I) and Lisa Clement (Title
Reading Teacher at Tarkio
R-I) sponsor a trip abroad
every two years. Two years
ago, they selected Italy and
Greece to be the trip for
2015. On Wednesday, May
27, 2015, a group of 13 students and adults embarked
on a trip that would take
us a half a world away from
everything we knew and immerse us in history, culture,
language, local cuisine, and
give us experiences we will
cherish for a lifetime.
First stop, Rome. Rome
would take us to Vatican
City, its museum filled with
centuries of sculptures,
paintings, and tapestries
created by some of the most
famous artists, the Michelangelo painted ceiling of the
Sistine Chapel, Saint Peters
Basilica, and Saint Peters
Square. We would visit the
Trevi Fountain and throw
a coin in its waters, which
legend has it that such an

act ensures a return trip to

Rome. We saw the Pantheon, shopped in the Piazza
Navona, and stood on the
Spanish Steps. We learned
of life as a gladiator inside
the Colosseum and walked
through the Roman Forum,
the oldest parts of Rome and
the center of commerce and
politics in ancient Rome.
We traveled by ferry to
the Island of Capri, with its
picturesque views and crystal blue waters. We visited
the Sorrento Region of Italy,
famous for lemons, and our
last stop in Italy was Pompeii, an entire ancient resort
city buried by volcanic ash
during the violent eruption
of Mount Vesuvius in 79
A.D.
On June 6, 2015, we flew
to Athens, Greece, and drove
to the village of Delphi. We
had an evening to relax,
enjoy dinner, and walk the
streets of this quaint mountainside village. The next
day, we walked through the
ruins of the sacred site of
Delphi, where ancient Romans would come to ask
the oracles at the Temple of
Apollo for guidance. Not only
was this a place of worship
to the God Apollo and Athena, but a thriving port city
hosting theater and stadium
games. The stadium lies at

the summit of the site, for

which we hiked a steep path
to the top to see, granting us
some beautiful pictures of
the valley below.
From Delphi, we transferred back to Athens to attend a Greek evening, filled
with authentic Greek cuisine, music, and dancing.
On day nine, we climbed to
the top of the Acropolis and
saw the Parthenon and Temple of Athena Nike, visited
the Acropolis Museum, and
walked the Plaka District
for more Greek souvenir
shopping and many handmade items as well.
Day 10 was the start of our
Greek Island Cruise aboard
the Celestyal Olympia; first
stop Mykonos. Mykonos is
also called Little Venice, because the shops and cafs
are right on the water, much
like the canal city of Venice,
Italy. We watched the sun
set over the Mediterranean
before returning to the ship.
The next day, our first excursion would take us to
Turkey and the port city of
Kusadasi. We toured the ruins of ancient Ephesus, a city
hub in the time of Alexander
the Great. We watched how
women make beautiful carpets by hand from wool and
silk and we were given a

The Colosseum

spectacular carpet demonstration in their show room

where we got to shed our
shoes and feel the soft, silky
fibers of the carpets beneath
our feet. We felt like we were
walking or sitting on magic
carpets. Then we were off
to Patmos, a small island,
where we spent our time on
the beach enjoying the sun
and the cool Mediterranean
waters. Day three of the
cruise took us to Crete and
Knossos Palace, known as
the labyrinth Homer spoke
of in the Iliad. Our final stop
of the cruise was the beautiful volcanic island of Santorini, which most recognize
from movies such as The
Sisterhood of the Traveling
Pants. The city of Oia is famous for its white hillside
homes and businesses, and
its blue domed churches and
chapels.
The conclusion of our
adventure had us staying
a few hours in Amsterdam,
Netherlands, where we reunited with Alba, a foreign
exchange student who studied at Tarkio High School a
few years ago.
We have had 13 full days
of sights, sounds, and tastes
of Europe. We cant wait for
the next adventurePeru
in 2017.

Delphi

Capri
The Spanish Steps

Saint Peters Basilica

The group at Pompeii with

Mount Vesuvius in the background

The Parthenon