A Note

Dearest loved ones, our hotel's wifi has blogger.com, this website, blocked. Therefor we cannot post pictures from today to the blog! However, I want to keep my promise to post daily and keep those at home in the loop. This morning we flew into Amsterdam. Slugglishly, we deplaned to AMS international, where we were informed we must go through passport control and a secutity re-check. Amsterdam is a lovely, environmentally friendly city. Or, it seems it from inside the airport! Some students, like Hannah Fitzgerald remarked that they would love to visit there as well. We droned through the passport control where they seemed not to care about what we were doing.  A stamp was added to our passports and no questions were asked. At least, not to myself. Immediately following this checkpoint was security. As I stepped through, the metal detector beeped! Again, suprisingly I was waved on with a laugh and a nod by the security worker. Needless to say, they were very thorough in this airport! However, Ms. Fialko, our teacher, was stopped for nearly ten minutes because of earings that were in her bag! Hmmm, that seems a little inconsistent? Maybe its her flaming red hair that instills fear in others. We journeyed on in search of our gate, for our hour and a half flight to Berlin, our destination! With some stops for breakfast, we hurried on to our flight. I myself slept this entire flight and cannot comment on how it went. Arriving in Berlin, we were pained by the sting of the red eye flight. I think I can safely say that most people were very exhausted for our first day in Berlin. We grabbed our baggage which came quickly, a nice change for airport baggage claim! When does that ever happen? Finally, we took our first steps in Berlin! A coach bus took us to our hotel, Tryp, by Wyndham. We left our bags and set out for the Berlin wall!!! We took the local train straight into town which was a nice way of getting around. Amila said that it'd be beautiful to live here, and Mikaela agreed! The architecture is stunning. Seeing the Berlin Wall truly is an experience in itself. A barrier is such a powerful thing, emotionally as well as physically. With tired legs and hungry stomachs we arrived at dinner via the underground metro. Dinner was salad, bread, beef, and a pancake-like desert. There was also a vegetarian option for students that were vegetarian. With our stomachs full and our eyes drooping we headed back to our hotel for sleep. Which, is where I am now very excited to be headed. Tomorrow we will be on another tour of Berlin! Pictures to come.

Thank you! Danke!

Goodnight!

We made it!!

We just landed in Berlin - 12pm and about 50 degrees Fahrenheit (brrrrr!). 

Off to the Races!

And we're off to the races! 

At the airport, Hannah poses for the camera. What a star!

Here is a group picture we took after crossing the Canadian border! The crossing was simple. We got off the bus and headed indoors where we were asked what we were bringing. The border was swift and proceeded without problems.

Passerby's looked as we posed for a shot at our gate (Gate 55)!

Ms. Villella eats an (overpriced!) snack.

Ms. Fialko talks logistics. We board our flight at 5:45 PM. At this point it is 2 PM and we must be back at the gate by 5:15 PM for an on time departure.

I asked Hibo about the trip and what she's experiencing. This is what she said, "I've met a lot of people I never knew! I'm making friends which is really cool considering we're only like 5 hours into the trip."

As I am writing, we are preparing to board in 5 minutes. It is currently 5:40 PM and we will be flying to Amsterdam where we will stop for a three hour layover before flying to Berlin! The flight to Amsterdam is approximately 8 hours and we will arrive at 1:30 AM Eastern time (in Burlington) or 7:30 AM in Amsterdam. The connecting flight to Berlin will subsequently be in the air for 3 hours. We will be on a tour the whole day, starting when we arrive so we are going to be sleeping on the plane!

Good night!

We made it to the airport!

Here we are, waiting to check in. Luckily, it was a quick process to get the 25 of us through. Now, we're hanging out in Gate A. We have two hours to kill.... But it's better than being late! Until next time! 

Less than a week until Departure!

Dear parents, students, loved ones, people with generous hearts and open wallets, or anyone otherwise viewing this blog: THANK YOU! We are just six days (!!!) from departure and are excitedly awaiting our shove-off. We have some ideas of what we will experience, but I think most will be a surprise when we arrive. This blog will be an account of our experiences. I hope to update this blog once daily, at the very least. Every update will include pictures taken by students, as well as testimonials and comments, so as to let you see what your loved ones are experiencing!

I asked Brie, one of our travelers, to comment on what she's excited for. She said, "I am excited for going to a new country and adding it to the list of places I've visited. It will be the first time I've been to Europe. I'm going on this trip with my friends to share this moment with them." Well said, Brie.

Next, I approached Amila, another student traveler, to ask her what she's doing to prepare herself for the trip. "To get packed, I have had my suitcase open on my floor and have been adding to it all week. To mentally prepare myself, I'm looking at the extra excursions and some maps of the cities we are going to be visiting. I want to make the most of my free time so that I'm not wandering. I want to know my way around to the best sites." I'm thinking of doing some of the same things now. Thanks, Amila!

During lunch I saw Jeremy and asked if he wanted to contribute anything he was really looking forward to. His response was, "I'm obviously excited about traveling to this area for the first time, and I'm most excited to see Kraków because I've heard the architecture is beautiful and world renowned. I want to go sight seeing." Preach, Jeremy!

Ziva added, "I'm making sure I have all my identifications and passport!"

With that in mind, we will see you Tuesday, May 26th at BHS. We can't express how incredible this opportunity is, and how lucky we consider ourselves. The next post will be made when we are en route! Until then...