“I had the time of my life,” said Jonathan Ferone. He was referring to his experience visiting Italy with students from Floral Park Memorial over the February recess.

Mr. Rutigliano completed all of the time-consuming paperwork to arrange this special trip. Ms. Libonati, Ms. D’Ammassa, Ms. Ben-Moussa and World Languages Chairperson Mr. Christianson joined the students as chaperones.

These students had the opportunity to explore some of the beautiful cities of Italy – Sorrento, Rome, Florence, and Venice. Two nights were spent in each location. Most students felt that the best aspect of the trip was learning about and exploring Italian history and culture with their friends and teachers.

The very popular tour guide, Thomas Randall, brought the students to a theater in Sorrento on the first night. They learned the Tarantella, an Italian folk dance. Despite experiencing some jetlag from the flight, the students still found enough energy to dance throughout the night. They also made it customary on the trip to enjoy gelato, another staple of Italian culture.

Exploring the streets of Rome, bargaining with merchants in Florence and riding gondolas in Venice all added to the wonderful Italian experience of this trip.

This trip also afforded the teachers with the opportunity to extend their classrooms and teach a great amount of Italian history to the students. They were able to visit the Coliseum in Rome, Vatican City, the ruins of Pompeii, and The Villas of Tiberius. Even with all of the exciting attractions, the schedule still offered some time for relaxation and enjoying the majestic beauty of the country.

On the second day, the group took a boat ride around the beautiful island of Capri. Being about to learn about the history of Italy while in the country was had a great impact on the students, and was an outstanding complement to the curriculum taught in the classroom.

All of the students echoed the same positive sentiments about the trip, and strongly recommended for other students to enjoy similar trips in the future. So many of these students were already planning in their minds return trips to Italy.

Below are just a few reflections from students who took part in the trip to Italy.

“Over the winter break I went to Italy with my friends,” said Nicholas Tramantana. “I would call them my family actually, because we all got so close on the trip. We went with the greatest teachers and we had the best tour guide. I loved everything about Italy and I am so going back in the future.”

“I experienced a lifelong memory,” said junior Dani Bousaid. “Going to Italy over the break was the best way to spend time off from school. I was able to share amazing experiences with close friends and extremely generous teachers as well as learn about Italian culture.”

“This is the second trip I’ve been on with the school and each time it has been completely different, in a good way,” said junior Caroline Santarelli. “Being able to travel really changes your view of the world and if you can I would highly recommend going.”

“It was crazy to see the ruins of a civilization from 2000 years ago,” said junior Thomas Kenna. “I felt like I traveled back in time. Seeing all the artwork gave me goose bumps. This trip was a life changing experience.”

“My dream came true,” said junior Matthew Sawicki. “I have always wanted to go to Italy. The crew I was with was amazing and made the trip that much better. I had a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I will for sure go back but nothing will beat this trip.”