Day 10 - JHS Europe Trip - Winter 2025-2026

Today we woke up, gathered all of our bags, ate breakfast at the hotel and boarded the bus to the airport in Rome. Once we arrived at the airport, we bid "Arrivederci!" to our tour director, Pietro, who made our journey an amazing experience.

From Rome, we flew direct to JFK Airport in NYC. It was a smooth flight, but a long one. Mr. Klecker talked to the entire group and encouraged to stay awake as much as possible and avoid sleeping during the day to help alleviate the effects of jet lag when we all return to school on Wednesday morning.

We landed at JFK on schedule and customs, passport control, baggage claim,.and baggage re-check all went smoothly.

Now we await our final flight from NYC to Chicago. Everything is on schedule and we are all looking forward to being home.

Overall, this was an amazing trip with an equally amazing group of travelers. We all had an amazing experience. The sights, the sounds, the stories and the time spent together taking everything in as we journeyed through Italy created memories that will last a lifetime.

Mr. Klecker, Ms. Dwyer, and Mr. E could not have been happier or more proud of how everything went and how well our group traveled throughout the trip.

Simply put, it was a great time spent with some truly amazing individuals!

Thanks for being a part of it!

Until next time!

Day 9 - JHS Europe Trip - Winter 2025-2026

We started our last full day in Italy by checking out of our hotel and boarding our bus and traveling from Salerno to Pompei to tour the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, the ancient city that was covered in up to six meters of volcanic ash from the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 A.D. 

Once again, our group was simply astounded by the level of sophistication of the ancient city of Pompei and it's architecture, it's sewer and water system, it's well-orgsnized layout and the original frescoes, carriage tracks, etc. and the preserved plaster casts of the victims of the volcanic eruption. 

After our guided walking tour of the ruins of Pompei, we had lunch as a group and then got on the bus to continue our journey to Rome. The drive from Pompei to Rome that typically takes three hours, took us nearly six hours due to extended periods of dense, gridlock traffic. Thankfully, our bus driver, Giovanni, who drove our tour bus throughout our entire journey through Italy handled it all with ease.

After we checked into our last hotel of our trip, we all enjoyed our last dinner as a group and then returned to the hotel to repack, reorganize, and get a good night's sleep for our full day of travel for our journey back to JHS.

More to come!

Day 8 - JHS Europe Trip - Winter 2025-2026

Today we loaded the bus and headed to a destination that was not on our original itinerary. After nearly an hour on the bus, we arrived at the Archaeological Park of Paestum. The park is a collection of ruins that go back to the ancient Greek city of Poseidonia, a city dedicated to the God of the Sea, Poseidon. 

The park itself encompasses an area of nearly 67 acres in total. With it being so large, our group split off and explored the vast archeaelogical park at our own pace. It's truly astounding that humans were able to produce such fantastic architectural feats with nothing more than simple hand tools and a basic understanding of mathematics and physics, yet were able to create something that has stood the rest of time for over 2000 years. Simply put, it was completely mind-blowing. One of the most unique aspects of the self-guided walking tour was that you were able to climb onto areas of some of the ruins and be amazed at the sheer scale of the temples and the massiveness of the large columns.

From ancient temples, houses, altars to even swimming pools, it was truly astounding. After touring the site, Mr. Klecker, Ms. Dwyer and I all discussed that we could not believe Paestum was not on our itinerary and that it's not a destination that EF typically includes as part of their group trips.

After the amazing experience at Paestum, our group headed to our next destination: Barlotti Paestum. Barlotti is a buffalo mozzarella farm in Paestum. We got a guided tour of the farm and many of our group members were excited that we were able to see cows! The animal lovers in our group were absolutely thrilled they could pet the cows. Our Barlotti guide gave us an overview of the milking process and then led us away from the mature milk-producong cows to the baby calves. This is where some of our group members lost their minds due to the overload of cuteness. One of the calves knew that it was her time to shine by mooing non-stop as each group member walked past. Another calf was smiling as everyone walked past. It was hysterical!

After we met all the cows, we headed inside for a cheese tasting. Our cheese tasting consisted of fresh ricotta, mozzarella, smoked mozzarella, and fresh baked bread and bruschetta. A few of us, actually just me, even tried the buffalo milk gelato and it was different in taste and texture than the countless other types of gelato I had throughout our Italian travels, but it was really good.

After our time in Paestum, we headed back to our hotel in Salerno and got a few hours of free time where we explored the sights and sounds of Salerno's City Center. From a street market along the beach, a trip to McDonald's, walking up and down the pedestrian promenade stopping at a wide variety of shops, bakeries, book stores, to a quick stop back at the hotel, and then another opportunity to venture out to see the renowned lights of Salerno, it was an incredible day. 

Our last stop of the day was dinner where we enjoyed a three course meal of salad, pasta, and tiramisu to end a long, fun-filled day!

More to come!

Day 7 - JHS Europe Trip - Winter 2025-2026

We started the day by checking out of our hotel and loading the bus to head to Salerno. We took a quick ferry (20 minutes) from Sicily back to the mainland and then continued our drive through the countryside of the Calabria region. It's important to note that our tour director, Pietro, is from Calabria and was very eager to regale us in how it's the best part of Italy. The constant view of the mountains did not disappoint. At the halfway point on our journey to Salerno, we stopped in the hillside town of Pizzo that overlooked the bay.

While in Pizzo, Pietro scheduled us for attend demonstration to see Tartufo, a truffle made from two types of gelato with a molten chocolate centered rolled in cocoa dust, made by the gentlemen known the world over who invented it. A large portion of our tour group indulged and it was amazing!

While in Pizzo, a small group of us visited a local pizzeria where the owner could not have been more excited to interact with Americans, because he proudly shared that he had "been to the states 13 times!" He showered our group with his specialties, and made sure everyone in the group was able to try everything. A few of the girls in the group ordered a margherita pizza and lo and behold walked away with two pizzas and some fried potato fritters for an absolute bargain. The owner announced the second pizza was "For the teacher!" Honestly, it was a humbling experience for everyone in the group, because the shop owner's excitement and enthusiasm was so genuine! After our delicious pizza and fritters, and a shared calzone, some of us wandered off to explore and came upon a local produce market where we were blown away by the freshness and flavor of some of the best strawberries we had ever had.

From Pizzo, we continued our journey to Salerno. Once we arrived at our hotel, we checked in and gathered for dinner at a local restaurant where we enjoyed a three course meal of salad, pasta, and tiramisu. 

After dinner a few of us stayed up and played cards, talked about the highlights of the trip, so far and called it a night.

More to come.

Day 6 - JHS Europe Trip - Winter 2025-2026

Following breakfast at the hotel, we boarded the bus and due to the clear weather and limited cloud cover, we were all able to view Mt. Etna, the largest of the three active volcanoes in Italy, as we drove to Siracusa (Syracuse). Our group was initially supposed to visit Mt. Etna but we're unable to due to a recent blizzard at the top of the mountain. We also learned that Mt. Etna had just recently erupted on December 27th, we day we left JHS and flew to Rome. 

When we arrived in Siracusa, we met our local tour guide Elisabet who guided us through the Neapolis Archaeological Park, one of the most important archeological areas in all of Sicily. 

After our guided tour of Neapolis Archaeological Park, Elisabet took us to the island of Ortigia, the historical center of Siracusa. As we walked across the bridge from the mainland and onto the island, we passed a statue of Archimedes, the first mathematician to calculate the value of pi.

Elisabet took us to the city center where we were able to view the ancient ruins of the Temple of Apollo, the oldest stone temple in Sicily. Following a short walking tour, our group was given a few hours of free time where we were on our own to get lunch and spend our free time as we wished. Two students joined me in going to the Museum of Illusions which was one of the highlights of the trip! It was awesome because it was super interactive and put into practice concepts that I teach in AP Psychology, which really hit home for me.

After our time in Ortigia, we returned to our hotel for our last night in Giardini Naxos and several of us decided that we were going to venture out to find dinner on our own. Margherita Pizza has been a massive hit with our group and it's going to make eating any type of pizza back home super disappointing.

More to come.

Day 5 - JHS Europe Trip - Winter 2025-2026

Happy New Year from Taormina!

We started our day by taking our tour bus up into the mountainside of Taormina with our local guide, Angelo. Angelo took us on a walking tour that started at the Cathedral of St. Catherine, a 17th century Baroque cathedral that was built directly overtop an Ancienr Greek and Roman square.

Behind the cathedral, during an 1893 excavation, they discovered an ancient Roman Theater that dates back to the First Century AD.

We continued on our tour of Taormina and toured the hillside Ancient Greek Theatre that overlooked the bay. 

Then, our group got to spend a few hours of free time exploring the hillside town of Taormina. From great food and great sights, to fantastic people watching, it was a great day!

Day 4 - JHS Europe Trip - Winter 2025-2026

We started our day arriving in Palermo via our overnight ferry. It was an interesting experience all around for everyone. We all learned some very valuable lessons from the ferry.

1) We found out that cabins on the ferry are small. Smaller than you think.

2) Bunk beds!

3) If you are petite and small in stature, the rooms on the ferry are tailor-made for you!

The weather in Palermo was overcast and rainy, but we had time to time to get some pictures of the Teatro Massimo di Palermo. As we were waiting for our local guide to arrive, Mr. E decided thatbhe wanted to start the day off with some excitement to kick-off the last day of 2025 by slipping on a sloped edge of a curb and completing wiping out. Down, but not out, the day only got better from there! 

Our local tour guide, Laura informed us that this opera house, the Teatro Massimo di Palermo, played a prominent role in The Godfather: Part III. I don't want to spoil the end of a 30 plus year old movie, so you'll just have to do some research on your own.  Laura, who was absolutely fantastic and hilarious, and mad it easy to forget about the dreary weather.

Laura took us to the Cathedral of Monreale, a hilltop cathedral that featured mosaics throughout from floor to ceiling where no two were alike. The level of detail, intricacy, and sheer scale of the mosaic work was jaw-dropping. Following our tour of the cathedral, Laura took us on a guided tour of Palermo.

After our tour of Palermo, we boarded the bus to head to our hotel at Giardini Naxos. At our hotel, we enjoyed a New Year's Eve dinner and then, for those of us that were able to make to to midnight, we took in one of the most spectacular fireworks displays we've ever seen. Fireworks were being set off along the coastline, over the water, up in the hills of Taormina, and everywhere in between.

It was one of the coolest ways to ring in the New Year and kick-off 2026!

More to come!