b'ITALY TRIPThe Year 9 Geography trip to Italy was an enriching experience with many once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. Over the five days, our adventures consisted ofDay 1 Day 3 We set off in the early hours, arriving at schoolIt was at 12:30am. The travel was smooth sailingtime to and we arrived at the airport in plenty of timepack our bags and say goodbye tosorbet, to explore Heathrow, the busiest airport inthe wonders of Rome and start our travelwhich was really nice. the UK. We were not bothered though by theto Sorrento. On the way, we stopped off inFinally, we returned to Sorrento and explored crowds as excitement crept up on us andPompeii and had a tour around the historicthe local area, buying souvenirs on the way. gave us the energy needed after the little resttown. It was crazy to think that 90% of we got that night. all knowledge we have on Romans wasDay 5 We landed in Rome around 10:30 am andgained from Pompeii. The pyroclastic flowThis day we had mentally prepared ourselves did not hesitate to do some sightseeing. Wefrom Mount Vesuvius froze the town in time,for the challenge of climbing Mount headed straight to the famous Trevi Fountainpreserving all the artefacts and buildingsVesuvius, the volcano that we had all learnt first, which was very busy but it was not hardthere. The town was so big that our groupdestroyed thousands of peoples livelihoods to spot each other due to our fluorescentalmost got lost due to Mr Sanders lack ofevery few decades! Despite an unexpected yellow HGS bags. After that, we climbed theunderstanding of Latin on a map; however,large hailstorm delaying our ascent, we Spanish Steps, despite being in Italy (howin the end, we found the people frozen inreached the summit in good time. The ironic), and Mr Jones showed off his hikingash. We noticed that the Romans were a lotviews as we were climbing the volcano were skills and raced us to the top. Whilst at thesmaller than we expected them to be, withincredible, being above the clouds and seeing top, we took in the view and then headedmodern-day humans towering over them.the tiny buildings of Naples below. My friend, to one of Romes main squares, the PiazzaWe eventually left Pompeii with our new- Muhammad Fiaz, had challenged Mr Sanders Navona. Then, we explored the shops aroundfound knowledge about Roman society, andto a race to the top! He ended up winning, there before heading for some pizza in a localcompleted the second half of our journey tobut Mr Sanders was not gracious in defeat, restaurant to end a great first day. Sorrento, where we checked into our hotelmaking every possible excuse as to why he Day 2 and homes for the next couple of days.lost. The next day, we headed to one of theDay 4We climbed down the volcano, which was Modern Seven Wonders of the World,We woke up to another breakfast and thenactually a lot easier than the way up, and the Colosseum. It was the largest Romantook a coach down the winding roads toheaded to Herculaneum. This was another amphitheatre ever made and one of theSorrentos harbour. Once there, we waitedRoman seaside town, also frozen in time due best preserved. It finished construction in 72and enjoyed the glamorous view of theto the 79 AD eruption. AD, making it nearly 2,000 years old! It wasMediterranean. After a while, Mr Thaper andDay 6 incredible to see in person and learn aboutMr Sanders negotiated our tickets for our boatOn the final day of the trip, we explored it. After looking around this impressive feat oftrip to and from the majestic island of Capri.Sorrento some more and went to a cooking ancient architecture, we caught the train to anWhile the ferry ride was rocky, the island itselfclass for gnocchi. After this, we caught our equally remarkable place, the Vatican City. was breathtaking. Upon landing on the island,flight to Heathrow to end this incredible trip. The Vatican City is actually the smallestwe quickly got on a private boat tour around country in the world, with 1,000 citizens in onlyCapri, allowing us to see the beautiful sceneryTo conclude, this was an unmissable 100 acres of space. As part of our exploration,with the salty sea spraying in our faces. Weexperience, allowing us to broaden our we visited the largest cathedral in the world,saw all the huge mansions along the coastminds and expose us to other cultures St Peters Basilica, and one of Leonardo daand even recognised a few, such as Giorgioand the ancient world. Many thanks go to Vincis great masterpieces, the Sistine Chapel.Armanis house, Mussolinis summer homethe geography department (Mr Thaper, Mr After a very long day with lots of walking, theand Roman Abramovichs house of Capri. Sanders and Miss Morgan) for all the hard teachers treated us (and probably themselves)Personally, I enjoyed the personal boat ride thework they have done, as well as to Mr Jones with a train ride back to the hotel, beforemost and it was my favourite part of the wholeand Mr Campbell for making this trip even some delicious pasta for dinner and signed offtrip! As we returned to the port of Capri, wemore enjoyable! another fun day.got off the boat and had food such as lemonKaiden Hitchins, Year 9 45'