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End of the tour

Leaving to go to the airport in about half an hour. That means the tour is finished. Sad to leave but still can't wait to see parents and friends in NZ. See you guys after the 3 day plane ride!

Dennis.

arrival in auckland

hi all,

well, a very successful trip is almost over! only a looooooooooong flight back to go after today.

please remember to collect your son from the airport!

we arrive on EK 0412 from dubai at 1pm sunday afternoon.

see you there,
warren b

arrival in auckland

hi all,

a fantastic tour seems almost at an end; just one looooooooooong flight back to go.

a reminder to please remember to collect your sons from the airport! the schedule is:

13 MAY 11      London Heathrow, United Kingdom to Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Flight	Depart / Arrive	Time	Airport
EK0006	Fri 13 May 11	22:15	London Heathrow (LHR)
	Sat 14 May 11	08:05	Dubai (DXB)
13 MAY 11      Dubai, United Arab Emirates to Auckland, New Zealand
Flight	Depart / Arrive	Time	Airport
EK0412	Sat 14 May 11	10:15	Dubai (DXB)
	Sun 15 May 11	13:00	Auckland (AKL)

Salvete from Nick Orr

Hi travellers,

I have been meaning to post something on the blog for a while now - pretty much since you left actually but these four weeks have flown by, it's amazing you're almost home! Sounds like the whole trip has been just incredible (not that anyone didn't anticipate that) and I would love to be there with you (I suppose wouldn't we all)! Glad to hear you have all been excessively self-indulgent, that you are stimulating your brains like wise old men, and that Sam has seen the glorious light of Catholicism. I hope that Jack was a splendid guide for you around Paris (I taught him everything he knows) and that he showed off his merveilleux French. Did you manage to get to Louis le grand or see any of the students there?

News from Auckland... ahm we had a sunny day today?

Actually life back here is not so bad. The exchange vs New Plymouth Boys High on Tuesday was pretty successful- won the rugby, cross country and football, tied hockey and narrowly lost basketball. Had a great prefects leadership training day all day today down on the hockey turf and in the hockey pavilion; heading into ball season (better get back quick 7th formers, date numbers are dwindling); obviously winter sport is starting up and resits are high (or in a few, very rare and completely extreme cases, rather low) on the agenda for some people. So plenty to look forward to after London!

Anyway, I hope everyone hugely enjoys their last couple of days and I wish you all a delightful 30 hour flight home.

Nick Orr

The Eurostar from Paris to England was surprisingly fast, taking just three hours. We took the London Underground to our hostel quite close to Hyde Park and sorted out our rooms. I am in a room with eleven other boys, the bunks are three beds high and its pretty cramped in there. That afternoon we did a bit of a walk around the centre of London, we visited Big Ben, the Parliament House. We went to Westminster for an evensong. The choir was very good and peaceful and it was only boys singing. To get back to our hostel we strolled through Hyde Park along the Thames. The Sun was just setting . We saw heaps of squirrels and the statue of Peter Pan. As it was Eddie Scoular's Birthday the whole group went out to an all-you-can-eat pizza buffet.

Jack Anderson

blogtastic

Paris! I believe the groups upmost apologies are due to the readers at home after the shocking lack of communication. The truth is that we absolutely had no time at all. Personally i found Paris equal to, if not more intense, than Rome in terms of stuff to see and how tired we all were. Paris itself is a lovely city. Beautiful walk down the Champs Elise and the Arch De Triumph which gave a spectacular view over the entire city and amped the boys up for the next few days. Paris definately had the highlight for the tour for me and many others which is the Louvre. David and Da Vinci were the most popular names in this museum, blowing all of our minds. Personally David's "Sabine Women" painting and "the coronation of Napoleon" were the highlights of the museum - the realism pretty overwhelming. With everyone's moods sinking due to the lack of sleep, Bucko the "ledge" (legend) took a group outing to the buskers at the Notre Dame. Fire shows were the main attraction and the group was awed back into excitement. What we saw was a great display of flying fire balls and fire works darting around his body and between his legs - a very skilled task. You cant begin to imagine how impressive it was until you actually see it. Sadly the roller bladers weren't in full swing as a crucial member of their squad broke his ankle the night before after jumping a 3 meter bar along with the rest of the team, but nevertheless it was a great night. And the next day we were off to London! Here we are now sitting in a youth hostel with VERY limited space but hey, there's free internet and a tv with footy on so we are basically having a ball. The work load is down and the each day finishes with free time at around 5'oclock. Parents, for calls for more money as this free time gives plenty of opportunities for a bit of shopping - the clothes are pretty nice. I already know that a bit of dosh was spent at the Camden Markets today but no names will be released. But to sum it up, London is great. Big Ben, the London Eye, Markets etc etc are great and its nice to be able to say "cheers mate" instead of some broken line of French that results in a strange look.

Pip pip, Cherio

Ben Gregson

London

Only two days in London so far and it is GREAT. Yesterday was the first tour of big sites such as Big Ben and Buckingham palace. Today was the British Museum and Camden markets. The British Museum is amazing, huge, and, very importantly, free. It contains many excellent items from around the world and really gives a great impression of the development of civilization. Camden Markets are interesting, although mostly overpriced. Then the expected trip to a show failed to occur due to the lack of seats, so a small(ish) group proceeded to a pub to have a nice dinner. The only downside so far is the accommodation, which has an average temperature of about 50 Degrees, and is small, cluttered, the breakfast has the same texture as a car tire, and I have to sleep with my head wedged in one corner of the bed and my feet hanging of the opposite. However, as we spend little time in the Hostel and we are in London, it is of little importance.

Nick Kay

New Zealand Calling

Thanks to all the boys & Mr Buckingham for the Paris update.

 

Sounded amazing...

 

Have fun in your last week in London and enjoy your shows.

 

Special thanks to Mr Buckingham, Mr Boyce & Mr Leeuw

 

Regards Jeffares

 

oh, the anticipation...

hi all,

sorry for the delay in the blog; we had no easy wifi in paris, and everything got fairly full-on, and it was actually nice to have a break from it for a while!!

but, i know you've all been waiting patiently...

we got to london fine, and the weather has been perfect since beaucaire — it had to be 24-27 degres in paris, and here in london it feels almost as warm. paris was lovely, and the boys had a great time, especially in the louvre museum where they really impressed me with their interest and perseverance. the visit to versailles went well, and the modern painting in the musée d'orsay was better received than i had anticipated.

everyone is getting a bit tired, but we are on the home-straight now, and london has started well; we all went out for dinner at a pretty cheap all-you-can-eat pizza place for eddie scoular's birthday, and sang 'happy b'day' to him, much to the amusement of the other diners.

the boys' behaviour has been superb, and we're constantly getting surprised comments from hotels and the general public as to their remarkable behaviour. i, of course, attribute this entirely to the hard work of the masters!

i heard a conversation today on the train to london turn to a discussion of art, different styles, and why certain boys preferred one genre to another. this for me is the real thrill of the tour — that moment when teenage grammar boys can intelligently discuss art and architecture, and their historical and cultural placing, based on their experiences.

i can't wait to go to the british museum and then les misérables tomorrow!

hope you are all well; the boys talk about you all the time...

— mr buckingham

Paris

It's a shame to be leaving Paris so soon, I feel like we still just arrived in France yet somehow ten days have flown by. Nonetheless, I'm very excited to be on an underground train to London as I'm writing this: after hearing so much about a place which is one of the greatest cities in the world, it's hard to not feel such a sense of anticipation.

That being said, it'll be near impossible for London to surpass Paris in my mind. By far my favourite place we've been to so far, the 'city of love' has such an incredible atmosphere about it. I can't help thinking of Paris as a better version of Rome: the streets feel uncrowded and spacious, the Moroccans, as amusing as they were, are far less common, and the architecture is an improvement of Roman ideas. The greatest highlights of Paris for me were the Louvre, Notre-Dame, the Arch-de-Triomphe and the Champs-Elysees. Most impressive was the artwork inside the Louvre, of which we apparently only managed to see around a fifth of, but all of which was mind-blowing, to say the least. How sculptors managed to make marble look like flesh is a mystery to me, and I can't count the number of times I was made speechless by the sight of a painting that looked like a photograph. Alongside this, in the square outside Notre-Dame, I was blown away on three nights by the same incredible buskers, who did such tricks with fire that I cannot expect to describe and do justice to.

Although it's a shame to be leaving all this behind, we've just come up on the other side of the tunnel and I'm now looking out over the English countryside, ready to make the most of the last week of the tour.

— Joel Bateman

Paris

It fills me with a sense of excitement and satisfaction to be on my way to London. We are returning to familiar surroundings at last (I've seen London, and it feels pretty much exactly like Auckland), after spending so long in foreign lands. No longer will we have to worry about communicating with the locals, or ask Mr Buckingham what that sign means; no more struggling to remember vocab or pondering pronunciation – the default expectation can be reset to comprehension and convenience, where it belongs.

Thinking back, however, I don't recall any particular hardship with language in Athens. Or Rome. Or Florence. Or Venice. Just a lot in France…

Whatever the cause, my anticipation of England feels like an early homecoming. But at the same time, our experiences in Greece and Italy already seem so distant and removed. Where has the time gone?

— Howell Fu

Paris

Yesterday we had a relaxed start and headed off to the Pantheon, a short walk from our hotel. The Pantheon is where the most famous French citizens are buried, including Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas and Marie Curie. Modelled on the Roman equivalent, it was originally built by Louis XV and dedicated to St Genevieve after he recovered from illness.

From there we went on the ironically named Place de la Concorde, the site of a guillotine during the French Revolution. Guillotines were very efficient killing machines, capable of one death every 30 seconds.

Directly in line with the Place de la Concorde is La Madeleine. This church was fairly underwhelming, but on the way there we saw a large political demonstration which seemed on the verge of starting a riot.

Paris closes up on Sundays for the most part, and had a relaxed air about it. We walked through some very expensive streets, lined with shops such as Gucci, Patek Philippe, Chanel etc., and passed the Place Vendome, home of the Ritz.

In the afternoon we caught a train out to Chartres to see its Gothic cathedral. Once we had returned to Paris, we were given free time until 9 o'clock. Some of us went shopping on the Champs Elysees.

At 9 o'clock we assembled at the square in front of Notre Dame Cathedral and watched an impressive display of fire-breathing and extreme roller-blading from street performers.

Finally we returned to the hotel via metro at 11 o'clock to catch some sleep before heading to London in the morning.

— Conall Brennan-McMahon

Paris

Paris has to be my favourite city. It is amazing to simply walk around, with wide roads which you can look down and see a famous monument in the distance. A welcome difference from Rome is that it has a lot of trees and grass, things that cannot be found in Rome wherever you look. My favourite area is the Champs-Elysees and Arc de Triumph. This road is a direct line through the middle of the Louvre, through an arch outside it, an obelisk in the Concorde square, through the Arc de Triumph, and finally through the staggering monument La Defense, which is a colossal modern arch doubling as an office building. The shops along the Champs-Elysees are only the most elite, with the rent reaching 1,100,000 per annum for some shops. I was fortunate enough not to be bounced as I queued to get into Louis-Vuitton, where the cheapest item was a key ring for 200 euros.

Highlights were the Louvre, Notre Dame and Chartres Cathedrals, the Eiffel tower, the Arc de Triumph, Versailles and the Musee d'Orsay which housed most of the impressionist paintings which marked the beginning of modern art. Versailles was incredible; the opulence of the small part of the palace that we saw was mind blowing, as was the extent of the palace gardens with over 1000 fountains. Sam, Bernie, Dennis and I hired bikes which were a great way to get around the grounds and explore, while others took dinghies out on the grand canal, stretching from the steps in front of the palace into the distance. A nice touch was the classical music emanating from speakers hidden among the shrubbery.

It is hard to write about the Louvre, which houses most of my favourite artworks I saw on the tour. Even though we spent almost 6 hours in the museum, we kept up a very fast pace and had to skip over works that would have been the centrepiece of other collections. Mona Lisa was all it was reputed to be, but more amazing to me were the giant, incredibly realistic epic paintings by the likes of David, depicting scenes from myths or other events.

The Musee d'Orsay is less famous, but still definitely worth a visit. Although the more extreme impressionist paintings did not appeal to me, they were certainly striking and I saw some amazing pieces in there as well.

In Paris we saw a different variant of the highly decorated, opulent and almost garish churches of Rome. The Gothic style, exemplified most prominently in Notre Dame and Chartres Cathedral, is far barer, with little decoration inside, but makes up for it in incredible architecture. Inside, the walls extend up and up, far higher than those in Rome, with amazing stained glass between the thin pillars. The secret that allows such high walls to remain thin and to have space for the windows is the flying buttress: an arch that transfers the weight of the roof out away from the main wall to huge, heavy towers which in turn transfer it to the ground. These allow the architect to make the walls very thin without the whole structure collapsing outwards. Other elements of gothic style are gargoyles, high bell towers flanking each side of the main entrance, and crockets which give the building an almost spiky look.

—Ben McArthur

Paris

The first night in Paris was so amazing. We started with a train ride to the hypermarket, where I almost got lost on the second floor of it. After dinner we went for a nice evening stroll which turned out to be at the perfect time, because as we headed through the Louvre to the pyramid, we were struck with the most intense sunset I have seen in my life. Not only were we right there by such a famous icon, but it was made so much better by the orange glow of the sun. We continued our walk all the way along the Champs Elysees up to the Arc de Triomphe. We had the most spectacular view of the Eiffel Tower from the top of it. The next few days are a blur, we saw so much. The Louvre was definitely a highlight, although I must say the Mona Lisa isn't all that it's said to be. Going to the top of the Eiffel Tower was also so amazing, as was the race down the stairs afterwards.

The buskers we saw last night were the perfect way to end our Paris adventure, my mind is still blown by the way one of them manipulated a crystal ball (photos and videos of this will help you understand), I also loved everything they did with fire, so cool. So now we are on your way to London for the final leg of this amazing trip.

— Bernie Koome

Happy Birthday Edward

Poor Ed having breakfast in Paris and dinner in London on his 16th birthday.

Happy birthday from everyone at home. Have a great day.

Looking forward to the round II “dance off” blog (Moulin Rouge edition) any takers ? Ryan ? Harry ??

Beaucaire

So now we say goodbye to Beaucaire. It will be missed hugely, with the relaxed (almost sleep in) wake ups and amazing breakfast buffets before departing to our sights for the day. The early returns to the hotel for a "refreshing" swim in the hot sun and, for anybody willing, an afternoon run were probably my favourite things to do while here (not the running part so much, but the feeling of satisfaction after the run). The four course dinners were unbeatable too and I thoroughly enjoyed trying the snail, and thoroughly didn't enjoy trying the various cheeses they offered us. All in all, Beaucaire has been a perfect, relaxing place, and i now look forward to Paris.

— Kenrick Rosser

Beaucaire

We're leaving Beaucaire today and I'm actually quite sad to leave. It's been so nice here. The hotel's really nice, only two to a room (compared to seven in Florence), the buffet breakfast and the nice dinners. Oh and of course a pool in which I could finally have a nice swim.

Again it feels like it's been ages since we've been here but it's only really been five days. Highlights of Beaucaire were the Pont Du Gard and the Tarascon Castle which we visited yesterday. Overall Beaucaire has been kind of a relaxed stop compared to the previous cities.

The best thing about being here is the food which they serve. My stomach has been filled with foods which I have never even seen before over the last few days. Everything from pasta and chicken to escargot to ICE CREAM cake has been served. Definitely a shock to my taste buds compared to what we usually eat. Since I'm already talking about it and I just can't get enough of it, I would just like to say that the ice cream cake thing was soooo delicious. It's probably the yummy-est thing I've ever tasted. It was so good and I want more.

Anyway we're off the Paris in a few minutes and I don't really know what more to say since I'm kind of unprepared and have been forced by Bucko to blog and I've forgotten all the (wonderful) things which we have done in Beaucaire.  I'm really looking forward to Paris and hope you guys in New Zealand who are reading this are having fun and hope the weather improve.

— Dennis Zhang.

FW: .......up to Beaucaire

Hi All

Lucy and I found the itinerary for the WH T most impressive when initially received and it it sparked personal memories of some of the destinations – however the manner in which you have been maintaining the blog has for us lifted the Tour to another dimension allowing us to enjoy and to experience (albeit by proxy) your daily thrills and to also benefit by this excellent education experience. The first descriptions of your experience of the wonderful French cuisine sent us to our “local” for coffee, baguette and roquefort - diet preventing a lunge for the pastries (notwithstanding Lucy’s love of desserts and Josh’s description of the apple and rhubarb slice

Keep it coming. We are enjoying every moment with you.........AND thanks again to the Teachers who are the “real deal”.

Regards

Clive and Lucy Neifeld

Beaucaire

Since we have arrived in Beaucaire the weather has been fantastic. We went to hotel and sorted out who we would be sharing rooms with. The accommodation is great, there are baths and some of us even have double beds. On the first night we got there we visited the very nice town of Beaucaire. The next day we went to the Pont du Gard, the second most visited monument in France and I can see why. It was an amazing structure set in the most beautiful valley. After that we took the vans to Nimes where we saw the very well preserved temple there, the Maison Carree, and the amphitheatre. During our third day in Provence we went to Avignon. It was a cool place, we saw the Palais des Papes with its adjacent chapel and then we had to see the famous Pont d'Avignon of course. Later that day we went to Arles where we saw another pretty good amphitheatre and theatre. At Orange we saw probably the best preserved Roman theatre in the world, it was really great because it gave you a pretty good idea of what going to the theatre for an ancient Roman was actually like. Today we saw another ancient Roman town called Glanum after that we went to a medieval city, Chateau des Baux-de-Provence. Then we drove back to Beaucaire to visit the awesome Tarascon Castle that used to be a prison and we saw some really old graffiti. Our last thing we did in Provence was experiencing Roman wine, it wasn't too bad. The food in France is delicious as well as a bit strange. We have eaten very well, ranging from dishes like snails, caviar and rabbit. Our time in the south of France has been really enjoyable and relaxing. 

Jack Anderson.

Beaucaire

Our first taste of French culture has come as a complete change from what we were used to in Italy and Greece. A change from the mad scramble around cities trying to cram in the plethora of sites and buildings there were to see was greatly appreciated. Another bonus is that we do not have to supply our own dinner, meaning that instead of meagre portions of pizza or kebabs we have full four-course meals allowing us to sample the wonders of French cuisine.

An unique aspect of our time in Beaucaire is the vans. Because the places we visit here are not as concentrated as they are in Athens, Florence or Italy, we have hired vans to get around. Naturally, each van has developed its reputation, with Mr Boyce's "Party Van" being the prime spot. Also critical to the enjoyment of these sometimes hour long trips are the DJ's, who sit in the middle seat in the front and have full control over the radio. They have to switch between the different channels, finding songs that fit the van's mood as well as stations with good reception. Various DJ's rose to the fore, such as DJ Kayos (Nick Kay), DJ Macca (Me), and DJ Chronic (Conall).

Each evening there has been a group of boys going out for runs before dinner, taking advantage of the spare time to burn off some of the previous night's four-course dinner. They have been very interesting in terms of route, as Mr Buckingham makes it up as he goes. The first one was a great run up a series of hills to a vantage point where we could see the countryside all around and a huge distance up and down the Rhone, which was an abandoned monastery. Other trips have followed non-existent paths from which we soon turned back when we painfully learned that France hosts a great variety of stinging nettles and spiky plants, and the final one went all the way to Tarascon Castle and back, at the end of which Josh Neifeld collapsed onto a couch after getting a bit more than he bargained for.

— Ben McArthur

Beaucaire

Unfortunately our time in Beaucaire is coming to an end and today was our last full day. On the bright side however it was another relatively late start this morning as it always is here but then it was off to Glanum. I managed to nab a seat in the party van with Mr Boyce and having josh as well made the quick trip priceless. Our tour around the ruined Roman town started at a well preserved arch and cenotaph and progressed to a crystal clear well and the remains of a temple. We were then driven to a medieval town where we looked around the shops and stopped for lunch, however it was only a quick stop and we were soon arriving at Tarascon castle, only preserved because it was used as prison. The highlight of the day came when we went to our next destination , a vineyard, where we not only learned how wine was made back in the day but also got to try a Roman wine. To my taste buds it was not particularly appealing, but I am no wine expert. Luckily the alcohol didn't make the trip back to the hotel too rowdy and we made it in one piece and quickly proceeded to jump in the pool before the sun disappeared behind some clouds. Leaving for Paris tomorrow where we are once again pushed to see everything in the limited time we have, gutted to see Beaucaire go but also excited for Paris and London.

T.Adams 7A

The trials of travel...

It's unfortunate to have to inform those back in New Zealand that quite a few of the boys on the trip have become sick recently. Not that there's a bug going round or anything.  Just the chronic overeating that's taking place here in Beaucaire is very unhealthy.  I myself am guilty of harbouring this gluttonous illness I will admit, after destroying numerous pastries this morning and having more than my fair share of jus d'orange. It's lucky that I have time to recover from my sickess lounging poolside in the Provence sun.  Don't worry I'm sure Auckland is nice in its own way. So I'm really sorry I had to be the bearer of bad news to those of you back home, but someone had to do it.

— S. White

Orange

Well, today we visited the Roman theatre at Orange (which is pronounced in French as if you’re speaking through your nose). The theatre itself is the best example of an ancient Roman theatre in all of Europe, and was the site of the compelling duo of Kenrick Rosser and Josh Neifield performing a moving rendition of the School song. Later we moved on to the Arch of Augustus, built to commemorate Julius Caesar’s Gallic veterans, who formed the population of the Roman colony at Orange.

The afternoon turned interesting when a group of the most fitness-conscious (and most mentally-unstable) of us, including myself, chose to go on a run through the French countryside. The run consisted of crossing over the Rhone river, carrying on to Tarascon castle and then realising that there was not another bridge and that we would have to turn back via the ‘scenic’ route. Then, this ‘fun’-filled day was finished off by a brilliant dinner, which included a course of snails, (or escargots in French) which, to my surprise did not taste bad at all!

— Ryan Jeffares

Escargots: you saw it coming...

Yes, today we tried snail, and it was not too bad at all, although the texture was a bit interesting. If you go to France, you must try snail. If  you fear this, just imagine they're mushrooms and you should be fine. Apart from that, today we also went out to Orange. The theatre there has survived remarkably well, and is an impressive sight. We also saw the arch, which, much to my relief, was indeed the same one I had researched for my speech about it. Tomorrow is the last full day of relaxing in the south of France, then its ten days of non-stop chaos in Paris and London. Time is certainly flying...

Nick Kay

Beaucaire

The time in Beaucaire has been bliss. Seeing Avignon, Nimes, Pont du Gard and Orange over the space of 4 days instead of 4 hours has been spectacular. The sites have been great and the hotel even better. Never in my life have I been fed a 4 course dinner consisting of exquisite cheeses, deserts and meats cooked to perfection. Tonight the highlight on the menu had to be escargo - or snails for the Kiwi's back home. Consistency much to that of a scallop, with garlic butter eliminating any repulsive tastes they went down an absolute treat!! We can't really get enough of this place. "Mangere" (bomb) and diving competitions start poolside at 3:30 and finish at around 5:30 with star appearances from Mr Boyce, Bucko who's dives are olympic quality, and Mr Leuw who keeps the commentating eye poolside. Orange was the destination for today and after a long drive we ended up at the base of a remarkable Roman theater, blowing all others out of the water in terms of size and grandeur. Sadly, we will leave this summer paradise in a day - but not before one last quick swim.

Ben Gregson

Pure Joy!

Bonjour guys...just wanted to say it is 'pure joy' reading about all your
adventures and seeing the pics....most of it sounds utterly divine.

Thanks a mill-

Love from us 'Plebs'
(Aka The Batemans-beavering away in drizzly rain at home:)

Yes! your weather looks perfect!

Thanks once again for the photos.

 

Enjoy the sun and work on those tans boys!

Regards Linda J

 

 

You Poor Things

You are clearly having a dreadful time in the South of France, we are terribly sorry for all of you! Much better to be in Auckland where it’s rainy windy and cold.

Enjoy!

Heather W

Pont du Gard Photos

Photos of Provence

1. St Mark's Basilica in Venice
2. The Amphitheatre at Arles
3. The Maison Carrée at Nimes
4. The Pont d'Avignon (or what's left of it...)
5. In front of the Avignon Bridge (l'on y danse...)

Beaucaire

We arrived in Beaucaire after a malicious train journey. A couple of people in the group were sick, our tiny 6 person compartment stank and we got next to no sleep. Not to mention that we were delayed by almost two hours, meaning we were on the train for a full 12 hours. When we got off in Dijon, we had obviously missed our connection, and thus we had to travel 1st class to Avignon. Most of us spent the time catching up on diaries or on lost sleep. We rented vans in Avignon, which was a little disconcerting as the masters told stories of themselves habitually drifting to the left side of the road. Finally, we arrived at the hotel in the south if France. After sorting out rooms we were told to meet at the pool in 30 minutes. Luxury. With breakfast at 8.30, an amazing 4 course dinner everyday, a pool and so far perfect weather, Beaucaire is turning out to a great holiday from the hectic days in Italy.

-Alex Mercer

Another beautiful day in the South of France. We went to Avignon today
which I personally really enjoyed. It was an fantastic place. There
were so many amazing buildings and the perfectly calm river winding
it's way through, topped it all off nicely. Another major highlight
for team alpha was the discovery of the radio. The van rocked with the
group's futile attempts to dance while restrained by our seatbelts .
Unfortunately for our driver the seatbelts didn't stop us from
singing, which we did enthusiastically whenever we knew the
words. Josh Lloyd

Beaucaire

Today was another great day in the south of France. After a late breakfast at 8.30, we headed off to Avignon to see the papal palace and church, where we were fortunate enough to hear a full ten minutes of bell-ringing. The famed bridge of Avignon was another highlight. Afterwards we took a circuitous route to Arles, which has a roman theatre and amphitheatre, as well as some impressive medieval fortifications. Because these tasks were so taxing, it was necessary to retire to the hotel for a swim and downtime, followed by another gourmet dinner.

Conall

opps, out of order...

Rome has been truly incredible: for each of the past three days everyone has
been returning to the hostel, stripping their shoes off and collapsing on their
beds in absolute exhaustion. Nonetheless, each morning we're refreshed and
rearing to go, knowing that the day ahead of us holds marvels and experiences
that will forever remain in our memories.
The highlights for me so far have been St Maria Maggiore, St John Lateran, St
Peters, Vittorio Emmanuelle, Bernini's St Teresa, the Pantheon, Caravaggio's
paintings, the Colosseum, Il Gesu's paintings, the statue of Laocoon and the
Sistine Chapel. Quite a long list but one which I seriously struggled to make:
it is near impossible to narrow down the number of sights we've seen into
favourites that fit the space of one sentence. The sheer creative genius behind
the creation of these wonders is what stands out the most for me; such works of
artistic brilliance provide a mere glimpse into these astonishing men that lived
so long ago. The word genius does not begin to do justice to these masterminds.
Today this was really put into perspective when we passed through the so-called
modern 'art' section of the Vatican Museum today. When put alongside the
creations of the Renaissance, contemporary art is reduced to what seems like the
work of toddlers. After being able to relate modern-day artists to these genii
of the past, your respect for such creative brilliance just grows and grows.
Along with all the sights, the culture and atmosphere of Rome is simply the
icing on the cake. The Italian language, the food and the very significance of
the city all combine to make you feel completely immersed.
All in the first week.
— Joel Bateman

blogs

Time just passes by sooooo quickly in this trip. 9 days have just gone by. This probably is because Rome, Florence and Venice  (not Naples unfortunately) were just amazing. St Peter's and Sistine chappel were definate highlights for me personally. Even though hostel in Rome was not as good as I hoped it would be but the beauty of the city more than made of up for it. Venice was just purely awesome, especially the cruise on the water taxi. Much needed rest at Beaucaire just makes this tour even better, not to mention Pont du Gard. To simply put it, PURE AWESOME.

George Ham


Spent a few nights in Beaucaire and it is simply awesome, but before that we spent some awesome days in Rome and then Florence.  Seeing all the amazing ancient stuff in Rome such as the Colosseum was brilliant and seeing all the cool art in places like the Vatican museum was brilliant.  From Rome we went to Florence which I thoroughly enjoyed, the food, the atmosphere, the buildings and the art were all absolutely spectacular. We have now stopped off in Beaucaire for a much needed rest after the madness of Rome and Italy as a hole, and have now had a nice refreshing swim by the Pont du Gard.

James Ringwood

So far we have spent 2 days in Beacaire and I'm loving it so far, good food, clean rooms, showers that actually work and beautiful scenery are only some of the definite improvements from the Hostel in Rome. Today we saw the extremely well-preserved Roman ruins around the city of Nimes, such as the Pont Du Gard, a Roman aqueduct which we were lucky enough to swim under, the intact Roman temple known as the Maison Caree and the Amphitheatre of Nimes. These inspiring sights were a great step up from the boredom of the 'day of trains' which was yesterday.

Ryan Jeffares

Wow, Beaucaire is just amazing. Whether it is the sleeping in, the delicious meals or the amazing sites which after 2 weeks still can take your breath away, i feel like we are having a mini holiday with the trip. And this is all after Florence which i thought wouldn't be surpassed as one of the most stunning cities we will visit. The swim in the Pont Du Gard today was such a highlight, which was followed by yet another swim in the hotel pool... yeh life is good.

Bernie Koome

France

Beaucaire seems to be amazing, swimming next to ancient roman aqueducts with tiring runs finishing with a swim in the pool is always a promising sign... And I am sneakily doing this while eating some amazing food at the dinner table, har har!

Kenrick Rosser

Venice

The last few days can be succinctly summed up for me with one word:
"revelations". A day on trains and shopping around Venice, then a night in the
"coffin-like" couchettes, followed by rising at 5 and riding more trains and
vans until 3 in the afternoon, showed me why some peoples worshipped sleep as a
god. The ride on the TGV - which I learned can travel faster than the famous
Shinkansen and Maglevs, but only the later generations, and only on the
dedicated TGV tracks where they have priority - gave me a taste of first class
transport (we were bumped up there on the next train when we were delayed and
missed our connection) and a visual understanding of why France is famous for
its wine. On the drive in the vans, which was our first time really using the
roads here, the realisation that they drive on the wrong side of the road here
properly sank in, in a way which was impossible when relying on walking and
metros; at the same time, the sudden transition from brilliant sun to rain and
lightning - although not, to my bemusement, at the same time - taught me that
French weather can be as fickle as Auckland's. A trip to the supermarket opened
my eyes to the amazing fact that it actually IS possible to make potato chips
which taste like cheeseburgers, gherkins and all - and the entree to our luxury
dinner in the hotel restaurant (and only 3 star!) allowed me to discover why
rich people love caviar; that it can came in different colours and sizes than
the tiny black dots I've seen in the movies; and why the French are famous for
their cuisine - though the secret of their wine, sadly, was left a mystery to me
- but not the Mr B's!

— Howell Fu

Southern France

After our hectic time in Rome our little holiday inside our holiday is off to a perfect start. The overnight train out of Venice was a nightmare, requiring a line change in Avignon at 5:00 in the morning, which was 2 hours late. Despite the delay we had no sleep-in leaving only about 4 hours for sleep. Poor Bernie, who was in my room on the sleeper train, was sick with a tummy-bug and I don't reckon he got more than an hour's sleep all night. Nevertheless once in Beaucaire things improved massively, Bernie was feeling better, the weather was amazing, the hotel fantastic. That night we went for a night stroll through Beaucaire before an incredible 3 course meal and bed feeling thoroughly. Today we went for a swim beneath the Pont du Gard, which, although the water was quite crisp, was certainly worth while considering it was about 30 degrees outside - in spring!

Harry Kleyer.

blog 300411

Pont du Gard was another amazing sight, still mostly intact right down to the details of numbers on the stones. After seeing this we swam across the Gard river, which was rather cold (and I don't often say hing are cold!). We then travelled to Nimes an saw the ampitheatre and Maison Caree (NB: I know there should be accents, but I can't find them).
France has been great so far, with excellent weather. We have been informed of the risks of wearing socks high in these conditions, namely tan-lines. We arrived in Dijon about two hours fifteen minutes late, after an uncomfortable overnight train ride. The delay seemed to occur while leaving Switzerland, and it probably didn't help that someone pulled the emergency stop after leaving Venice. At least on the later TGV we were able to travel first class.
As for Italy, it is a country definitely worth visiting if you haven't already. Highlights for Rome were the Colosseum and Ostia, Florence was great, and Siena is well worth the 14.20 Euro bus tickets. Venice, again, definitely worth seeing. Just watch out for Moroccans trying to sell you stuff, and be prepared to not have a seat on the train, although the Eurostar is comfortable even without one.

Nick Kay  

Ostia

Ostia – A good day all in all. Yet another tiring day with the magnitude of
walking overwhelming us and the dehydration kicking in. But this feeling is
easily overcome by the excitement of trying to find ancient toilets in few good
hectares, scorpions, and anything to capture our interests. Highlight of the day

had to be the secret tunnel leading to a well preserved clean polished marble
statue with a fairly supernatural beam of light shining onto it. A pretty creepy

sight for the underground in such a ruinous place. With everyone tired and still

on the buzz from the amount of free-running up walls and over ledges, we
embarked the metro to St Paul's Without the Walls – which sadly actually had
walls. This was yet another stunning example of a church. To my astonishment
there was even a priest who could perform confession in five languages. The end
of

the day was well welcomed with a stroll up the central shopping district of
Rome.

And what good fun those Moroccans are. Ray-Bans, Gucci, Luis Vuitton all up for
grabs – so tempting that just had to treat myself.
— Ben Gregson

Eurail travel

Question 1. If an Italian train leaves from Venice at 8pm and travels at a
wildly diverging range of speeds for 11 hours, when will it arrive in Dijon? (5
marks)
Answer. At least two hours late, probably more, for no apparent reason.
Question 2. If a French train leaves Dijon from Dijon at 9.12am and travels
swiftly and sleekly through the beautiful countryside to its destination in
Avignon, when will it arrive? (50 marks)
Answer. Perhaps two to three minutes late, but probably no more than that, AND
you get to travel first class because the Italian train was so late.
Question 3. Which country has the better train service, Italy or France? (.5
mark)
Answer. Will let you know right after I eat this snail.

Venice

Seeing Venice before I die has been ticked off the bucket list. As we stepped
out of the train station, the sight of canals filled with gondolas was
intriguing. Even though the city looked quite run down, imagine the grandeur of
this city in its prime as the main port in Europe. After seeing St Mark's
Basilica and the Piazza in front, the team took a vaporetto (the ferry) around
Venice. The sight of the Grand Canal with the splendid palaces on both sides
will never be forgotten.
After a not so comfortable overnight train ride from Venice to Avignon, what
more can you ask for your first authentic French dinner! First course was
avocado, shrimp with smooth hollandaise sauce. The Main, beautifully slow cooked
beef followed by a great selection of French cheeses and breads. But to cap it
all off apple and rhubarb slice! After two hectic weeks, this stint in Provence
could not have come at a better time.
— Josh Neifeld

Training...

the overnight train wasn't great. the compartments were tiny and supposedly we
were supposed to be able to sleep six in each one. Ben was really annoyed and
kept saying that he would prefer to have his bed at the hostel any day. soon
after the train left the station it stopped suddenly and we found out that some
Indians a few compartments down had pulled the emergency break (we don't know
why). Just after we had gone to bed we were woken up by josh who thought that we
were supposed to have our passports for some reason. After we had convinced him
that we didn't need to have them we were all awake and none of us got much sleep
after that.

Scoular

Venice

My mum told me that you will never believe that Venice is exactly what it looks
like - and reluctantly, I have to say that once again she was right. Gondola's
and bridges over little water ways gave the cliche romantic feel. We came in on
a relatively choppy day but that didn't detract from the experience. First up on
the list of attractions was Saint Marco's Basilica which had an amazing 4000
meters squared of pure gold mosaic depicting religious scenes. Everyone in the
group was awe-struck and despite the obvious warnings, many sneaky pictures were
snapped. I learned quickly that porcelain masks and capes, Phantom of the Opera
type stuff, was what Venice was famous for after not being able to walk down the
narrow streets and bridges without seeing thousands of the things. Personally
the highlight was just seeing how the people live. People tying up their boats
to their front doorstep and stepping into their house or motel about a foot
above sea level, and an old man in a vintage sports boat out to do the daily
runs. An amazing experience and I'm sure everyone was disappointed not to spend
a little longer there.

Ben Gregson

Florence

Florence has been another fantastic city. Our hotel far surpassed all our
expectations (the showers worked this time and you actually came out cleaner
than when you went in). We also really enjoyed our free breakfast, especially
the hot chocolate. Our night tour of Florence made us realise that we were in
yet another beautiful city. Particularly impressive highlights were
Brunelleschi's dome "Il Duomo" and the busker outside the Uffizi Gallery. Mr
Buckingham raced us up a hill (a race we disappointingly lost) where we got an
amazing view of Florence, and again Il Duomo stood out completely.

During the day we saw the Uffizi gallery, which turned out to be worth the
two-hour queue. The artwork was amazing, particularly that of Caravaggio and
Michelangelo. We also saw the inside of Il Duomo. Unfortunately we didn't get to
go up it, but the painting on the inside of the dome was outstanding. Our
excursion to Pisa brought out the immaturity in all of us as we did various
poses next to the leaning tower, and also enjoyed the company of our very good
friends the Moroccans.

The leather markets lived up to their reputation; there was really good quality
stuff that was relatively cheap. It seemed to stretch on for miles so we didn't
get to visit all the stores but everybody seemed happy with their purchases.
Many boys finally did their laundry too, and Lloyd washed his socks much to the
pleasure of everyone on the tour.

Overall Florence was incredible, the only flaw being the fact that we had to pay
to see churches. Now we are en route to Venice and then to Beaucaire for the
relaxing leg of the tour.

— Kenrick Rosser and Josh Lloyd

Photos... and more...

Thanks for new photos – keep them coming!

You are only missing the rain in Auckland at the moment!

Regards – The Jeffares

And more...

1. Hadrian's Villa at Tivoli, Rome
2. The Lions' Gate at Mycenae
3. Ostia, the ancient port of Rome
4. Pompeii, just out of Naples
5. Trevi Fountain, Rome

Photos...

1. Top of the Acropolis in Athens
2. Colosseum at night in Rome
3. Theatre at Delphi
4. Theatre of Dionysus in Athens, below the Acropolis
5. Fiesole, a little town overlooking Florence

Florence & Sienna

After a great tour of the Uffizi where Caravaggio, Botticelli and Giotto showed
their class, a small subset of the tour group chose the option of an afternoon
in Siena. Siena is a medieval town, one hour drive from Florence. This town was
magnificent as it consisted of narrow streets shadowed by high Tuscan styled
apartment blocks and overbridges. Some sights there were The Duomo (The
Cathedral), the Piazza del Campo with its great bell tower and a special mention
goes to the gelateria which I firmly recommend. Now I know why my dad firmly
recommended me to go as in my opinion Siena is the most beautiful town I have
visited so far. However we are on our way to Venice tomorrow where I finally get
to see where James Bond and the team of the Italian Job have featured in their
epic scenes. Florence has been great for many reason especially its style and
girls. I will miss Florence.

— Josh Neifeld

Pisa

Yesterday was our first full day in Florence. We visited Santa Maria Novella and
then San Lorenzo where Galileo and Michelangelo are buried. We made a scenic
route to Fiesole that overlooked the whole city of Florence. On the bus ride
back to the hotel Dennis missed the bus but chased it down with great speed.
That evening we went to Pisa. Sam Brothers did his speech on the leaning tower
and he was going on about how the Americans saved the tower. We took heaps of
pictures with the tower. There were heap of Moroccans around who were claiming
that their watches and sunglasses had a five-year guarantee.

Today we stood in the line for two hours outside the Uffizi Gallery where Rosser
and Van Rijn gave a factual and funny speech. The collection at the Gallery was
amazing, the most famous of which were the Birth of Venus and the Allegory of
Spring by Botticelli, Lippi's Madonna and Child and Michelangelo's annunciation.

That afternoon a few of us went to the very picturesque town of Siena. Il Duomo
and the town hall with a huge bell tower were the main attractions that we
visited there. Before getting back on the bus to Florence we bought gelatos from
the most fantastic shop that had nearly thirty different flavours.
— Jack Anderson

Florence

Florence has been a great city to stay in. Highlights for me were
seeing the Uffizi gallery, our excursion to Pisa and seeing a
fantistic busker on our first night. I also enjoyed getting the
opportunity to wash my socks. I think a lot of people on the tour will
be happy about that! It is an added bonus that our accomodation was
fantastic. Roll on Venice

Florence

Hi All,
We are currently in Florence, experiencing 22-23 degree heat, and fairly fine
weather. Florence has been magical from the moment we arrived. We did a night
walk around the city, were entertained by the buskers and the glorious
sculptures in the main piazza, and since then have seen Il Duomo, Santa Croce,
Orsanmichele, the Palazzo Pitti, Santa Maria Novella, etc. After the very
average accommodation in Rome (don't think we'll be staying there ever again!),
the rooms in Florence seem palatially grand.
Today we're off to the Uffizzi Gallery for some great art, and then hopefully
through to Sienna for the afternoon if there's time.
We hit a bit of a snag in Pompeii, with the Circumvesuviana (the train from
Naples to Pompeii) closing at 12.30, even though the museum and Pompeii itself
were open all day. I imagine a number of tourists got well and truly stranded.
We had to return to Rome, but managed to get back to Pompeii the next day, then
get back to Rome, then fly through to Florence. We did miss one train trying to
get back from Pompeii to Naples in time, but we were able to jump on the next
one an hour later.
Naples was absolutely disgusting. There are piles of rubbish bags in the streets
all over the city, and they stink. There is litter everywhere, and it all looks
shabby and sordid. They need to clean up their act!
There is a wee bit of plague creeping through the group — sore throat for about
three days seems to be the commonest ailment, and it's spreading from room to
room. Hopefully it will be gone soon.
Tomorrow is Venice, and then southern France, which should be warm and lovely.
Hope you are all well,
Warren Buckingham

NZ review

Sup guys,

 

Found this blog and scrolled through it. Sounds like you are having a mean time! dont worry, the best is still to come- FRANCE! Yes I'm biased, but hey.

 

Thought you guys might appreciate some quick news from Aux (or maybe not...)

 

Don Brash has decided he wants to lead ACT or something... bit confused why. anyway, Rodney Hide ain't too happy.

 

Anzac day on monday-went well though absolutely bucketed down. Grammar service went well, Nick read his Ecclesiasticus passage (though we did miss mr dep's presence).

 

Adam Smith and Louis Van Velthooven made the NZ team for rowing. So basically they won't be at school for the rest of the year as far as I understand...

 

The Warriors beat the Storm in Melbourne (God knows how...)

 

The Blues won again... and the Highlanders beat the Crusaders(weird... I know...)

 

ANYWAY

 

Have a great rest of your trip. And in Paris, if you have spare time, go visit Lycee Louis Le Grand-5 mins walk from Notre Dame and right next to Universite Sorbonne. Grammar has an exchange with them, so I'm sure they'll be happy to say hi!

 

Catch ya fellas back in Aux.

 

Olivier Laugeray-Cleaver

 

In defence of Naples!

Eddie may already have (obviously unsuccessfully) tried to defend Naples to Harry. It is one of the highlights of Europe! The area around the train station is less than attractive and that around the archeological museum not exciting. Sadly the trip to Pompeii is even worse (makes Pompeii all the better though). But the upside is that those things scare most tourists away from the place... If you WERE to be stuck in Naples again today, you could, within a 500m radius:
1. walk down via dei Tribunali, the decumanus maior (yes, I'm taking risks moving out of English in current company) of ancient Neopolis. It remains the heart of what is now a noisy chaotic city of 3m. Are there any other cities where a good square mile of the original narrow Roman grid pattern is still in use?
2. visit the magnificent Duomo and go down to the remains of the Greek and Roman buildings on the same site, and back up at ground level see the oldest baptistry in Western Europe.
3. See Caravaggio's Seven Acts of Mercy, in a building where you'll be the only tourists (try that in Florence).
4. Go to Chiesa e Scavi di San Lorenzo Maggiore built in the 13 century and wander underground to see the excavations of the original Graeco-Roman city with roads lined with shops.
5. See Sanmartino's extraordinary sculptural depiction of Christ covered by a veil at Cappella Sansevero.
You could then look at some of the rest of the place, or just  have another pizza in the middle of the mad city that invented it.

Enough of a rant. Masters, you are doing a wonderful job leading these clever men! All please keep up the evocative blogs. (Hopefully this doesn't appear twice - I think my first attempt disappeared into the ether.)

Richard Scoular

On a raining Easter Monday

Hi everyone, Some great blogs to allow us to picture your trip very well and lovely to see the pics with the boys looking so happy and even slightly idiotic, which is cheeringly normal. I sense the disappointment about Pompeii and I do hope you manage to get there, but hey, if you don’t, it’s not going anywhere in a hurry, you can put it in your Bucket list... Enjoy Florence and be sure to take some pics of you all holding up that pesky Leaning Tower...

Heather W

Fw: Greetings from Auckland

It's great to see the photos!

Looks fabulous!

Happy Easter!

 

Karen Brothers

 

Rome

Today we took a two hour train all the way down into Naples, under the shadow of Mt. Vesuvius. Unfortunately little good can be said of Naples as I have seen rubbish tips cleaner and more organised. Despite itself Naples has a reasonable museum - the Neapolitan Archaeological Museum, containing many artifacts recovered from Pompey nearby. For most of us, the highlight was certainly the "Cabineto Secreto"(spelling?) - the secret room, a room reserved only for those with the utmost moral integrity on account of the explicit nature of its contents. Contained within were the icons of the ancient worship of the phallus, which were, in my humble opinion, ridiculously, nay ludicrously funny. Regrettably the train to Pompeii was cancelled and we were unable to get there but Mr. Buckingham reckons that we should be able to fit it in tomorrow morning

Harry Kleyer          

Happy Easter greetings to you all

Thanks for the photos – great to see all the smiles and some of the scenery.

 

Make sure you sample the Italian chocolate.

 

Regards - The Jeffares

Happy Easter!

Rome

The Roman week has been magic. The Arch of Titus, Hadrian's Villa and the
Colosseum at night are just a few. I have learnt the great skill of catching the
Rome metro and looking for a good restaurant. Finally after my five years of
Latin learning and imagining how the romans lived, walking through Ostia Antica
does not seem to be a bunch of ruins but an ancient port city buzzing with life
at the mouth of the Tiber. We are not even half way through the tour and I
already feel continental as pizza has replaced cereal as my breakfast. I have
already fallen in love with Europe.

— Josh Neifeld

Ostia

Ostia is amazing! No other way to put it. Hadrian's Villa yesterday was
excellent, but Ostia gives you a feel for what a Roman city was like, as you
could freely roam about the ruins, and see all he remaining mosaics etc. It was
a later start, leaving at 9am to metro to the former Roman port, but the time
spent a Ostia was exceptional, well worth the wait, finding all the tunnels,
statues, toilets and the general layout of a Roman city. Afterwards, we saw St
Paul's without the walls (which actually DOES have walls), another amazing great
church, and after, while trying to find Ryan a camera, saw St Paul's within the
walls. Tomorrow is the much anticipated visit to Pompeii and Naples, which I am
eagerly waiting for...

— Nick Kay

Ostia

Today was a fantastic day first of all we went to the ruins of Ostia. Ostia was
the port of Rome in the 600s AD and was very close to the sea so was a fantastic
thriving place with a large population. The ruins contained certain temples and
amazing mosaics that are still in good condition today, which were the most
interesting thing in Ostia. We also visited Saint Paul's Without the Walls which
was an okay church in the scheme of things.
Rome's paintings are phenomenal — especially the ones in the Sistine Chapel; the
intense and raw beauty was astounding and were definitely the highlight of Rome
for me. The churches are vast and glorious — all I could do is gaze at the
elegant sculptures and golden engravings which are nothing like I have ever
seen.
The city is a buzzing and vibrant place with a lot going on. The people are also
very friendly which is nice and different to other places, unless you're
bartering with Moroccans, as then some people can get rather annoyed, but that's
okay. Overall Rome was definitely amazing and the best city so far — just mind
blowing. It will be a city I never forget and a memory I will never forget
either.
— Jerome Van Rijn

Ostia

Ostia – A good day all in all. Yet another tiring day with the magnitude of
walking overwhelming us and the dehydration kicking in. But this feeling is
easily overcome by the excitement of trying to find ancient toilets in few good
hectares, scorpions, and anything to capture our interests. Highlight of the day
had to be the secret tunnel leading to a well preserved clean polished marble
statue with a fairly supernatural beam of light shining onto it. A pretty creepy
sight for the underground in such a ruinous place. With everyone tired and still
on the buzz from the amount of free-running up walls and over ledges, we
embarked the metro to St Paul's Without the Walls – which sadly actually had
walls. This was yet another stunning example of a church. To my astonishment
there was even a priest who could perform confession in 5 languages. The end of
the day was ell welcomed with a stroll up the central shopping district of Rome.
And what good fun those Moroccans are. Ray-Bans, Gucci, Luis Vuitton all up for
grabs – so tempting that just had to treat myself.
— Ben Gregson

Apologies

I would just like to make it clear that I had little/no input in the previous blog. It is true my thighs are itchy but I would never use the style of writing employed by ROSSER. I am sorry for anyone who may have felt nausous while reading that blog. It was incredibly cheesy.
— Josh Lloyd

Roma

Rome has been a beast city for us to visit. The hostel accomodation has been a little lacking of what we had experienced in Greece, but the rest of the city is massively different. So far the highlights have been The Statue Of Laocoon (mercer), the 'wedding cake' (lloyd), and the colosseum (scoular and rosser). a mild bug has been spread around to many of the members of the group and lloyd is very keen for us to mention to you all that he has itchy thighs (i'm clueless as to why) but anyway thats lloyd for you. The metro system is efficient but very hectic, and has seemed to swallow most of our loose change. Our food has mainly consisted of pizza and apples, with the occasional bar of chocolate or drink of pepsi twist, but lloyd (again) is insisting that he is only consuming healthy food (worried about his parents opinions i assume). The shopping has been quite an experience for all of us... especially with the morrocans (as we are so very politically correct) trying to rip us off as much as possible. a clear indicator of the quality of their goods is the fact that they scarpered at the sign of any authority. Lloyd is complaining (AGAIN) about me using beast as a POSITIVE description of Rome, i think he prefers words like dainty or quaint (again, thats lloyd for you). Wendell (the fluffy stuffed sheep who is our mascot) is having a beast time here in Europe, and he turns out to be seriously photogenic. and thats about it.

Rosser, Mercer, Scoular, and Lloyd.

Roma Day 3

It is now the third whole day we have spent in Rome, and so far it has
definitely trumped Greece. The churches are a personal highlight, with their
incredible sculptures, paintings and architecture. We have visited so many that
they have become a bit of a blur but the general impression is as follows. When
you walk in, you are first struck by the high, golden roof. Some churches have
the older, flat ceiling covered with square gold designs, while other newer ones
branch out with circular designs and even paintings. Down the side of each
church are numerous side-chapels, each dedicated to a certain saint, and topped
either by a dome or and arched roof. Here are housed the beautiful paintings,
such the Caravaggios in the church of the French in Rome. Others may have a
sculpture or relic as the object of worship. The high altars are the centre of
focus of the church, situated in the middle of the main room. They can have
beautiful canopy above them supported by graceful columns, or perhaps a dusty
crypt underneath housing dead saints.

Although Rome is far different from Greece, it also has it similarities. The
Moroccans, it seems, are everywhere, with their portable boards of sunglasses
set up on cardboard boxes. Eddie who was foolish enough to buy one of their
watches found out soon that it was impossible to adjust the time. There is still
the furious bartering with the shopkeepers and the tired feet at the end of the
day.

Highlights so far include the Sistine Chapel, 3 of the 4 churches (St Peter's
Basilica, St Maria Major, St John Lateran, and we didn't see St Paul's Without
the Walls), the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, Hadrian's Villa, the sculpture of
Laocoon and the gelato ice-creams.
— Ben McArthur