I'm coming home!

The last day is here!!! We hopped on the bus to head to the Louvre Museum! Our guide told us that in order to see everything in the museum that it would take an entire year! It is the largest museum in the world. The most wanted art display that I wanted to see was the Mona Lisa by Leonardo!

 Surprisingly, it was much smaller than expected. Something I didn’t know...The Louvre is both a Palace and Colossal Art Museum. We were able to see the dining room and bedrooms of the King and Queen. (King XIV) When we entered the museum there was a beautiful glass and metal pyramid that was designed by Chinese-American Architect I.M. Pei.

Go Dawgs.. Hookem' Horns!

Our first flight is EARLY this morning. We are leaving this hotel in two hours... 2:30am! No sleep for the night! It’s going to be a long day tomorrow... BUT I’LL BE HOME!!

Paris Drivers are CRAZY!

Yesterday was amazing! The Eiffel Tower is so much larger then I could ever imagine!! I didn’t think that I was afraid of heights until I went up. You just keep going and going and going! Good gosh is it high (but so much fun!)

Today we went to the Chateau de Versailles, which was built during the reign of Louis XIV, the Sun King; it was the seat of the royal court from 1682 to 1789, when the French Revolution put an end to the monarchy. The gardens in the back of the Palace were AMAZING! I thought my few (very few) flowers at home (that I am sure are all dead from lack of water) were a lot of work... oh my! Wait till I post pictures. Note to self: Buy a bed like King Louis XIV- I wanted to jump right in! I am ready to be home in my own cozy bed. 18 days in a hotel bed... not so great.

Where Sound of Music was filmed. (fountain and grave yard)

We had lunch at the Paris Hard Rock Cafe! After lunch we were off to see the Cathedral de Notre-Dame. Of course it was astonishingly beautiful! ALL of the Cathedrals here are AMAZING... St. Ann’s Catholic Church back in Coppell is beautiful... but these have her beat. 

Notre Dame Catheral

This afternoon we went to the second highest point of Paris, Basilique du Sacre Coeur. (The Eiffel Tower comes in first!) We sat on the steps and listened to people sing, dance, and play instruments. If you ever go: Beware of the gypsies. They try to tie bracelets on you and then make you pay to have them cut them off... It was crazy!

By they way-- The drivers here are CRAZY!

I’m off to bed! It’s 12:30 here! Love to all!

2 more days!

Day 13:



Strasbourg, France


We walked across the Kapellenbrucka Bridge which was made of wood. The edges of the bridge are covered in flowers with swans floating below. The students were each given 12 franks to explore and purchase their own lunch.

Day 14:


Switzerland has the most amazing views. They have the Swiss Alps and beautiful lakes and ponds! Its almost like everything is fake! The city is surrounded by mountains. The country of Switzerland speaks four languages! French, German, Italian and Romansh. They are known for their Swiss cheese and chocolate! I have eaten ALOT of chocolate! Hehe!


I am so excited to head home and watch the movie Sound of Music. We saw the fountain that Juli Andrews and the children sang “Doe a Dear”, where the children hid in the cemetery from the Nazi Military. The Dad (can’t think of his name) was in the military and their military was switching over to go under the Nazis, but he refused to. Therefore, the family fled the country so he wouldn’t have to serve under them. The cemetery where they filmed this scene (where the family was hiding) was the most beautiful cemetery that I have ever seen. We also got to see the location where the children were hanging from the trees while their dad, Van Trap was driving down the road. If you haven’t seen the movie, go rent it!!  Or you can come over and watch it with me when I get home!

Day 16:


Paris here we come!! Today we are heading to Paris. Over the next few days I will have the opportunity to see many beautiful sites! From the Eiffel Tower and the Cathedral of Notre Dame to modern buildings such as the Pompidou Centre and the glass pyramids in front of the “Musee du Louvre”.


France is the third largest country in Europe (after Russia and Ukraine) It is also the most geographically diverse.


A little info about the Eiffel Tower: It was built in 1889 for the exposition Universelle on the century of the French Revolution, but has since then become Paris’s most famous monument. There are three levels that can be reached by foot or lift.


I just found out that it is very rare to see a table at a restaurant WITHOUT a bottle of wine.. this is my kind of city! I’m hoping that I will get to see Emma (my cousin) while I’m here! She and her fiancé, Bubba, are here giving bike tours for the summer.

Switzerland here we come!

After a fun and exciting cultural night in Friesach, Austria I was excited to head to Vienna! After freezing our hinneys off camping, we headed to our hotel to change for dinner and a concert!

Day 13:

Amy, Dawn and I at the concert in Vienna

Due to the cold weather and rain, we decided to miss out on the bike tour and view the city from our warm cozy bus! GOOD CHOICE! We enjoyed lunch at a typical Austrian Restaurant in Prater. We headed to Mauthausen were we meet a guide to give us a tour of the Mauthausen Concentration Camp. We learned about the horrible nature of the concentration camps and walked through the showers, gas champers and sleeping quarters of the prisoners. We are now staying the night in Salzburg, Austraia. The Sound of Music was filmed here.

Tomorrow we are headed to Heildiland, Switzerland where we will each bake the famous Austrian Apfelstrudel! I am excited about the boat ride across the lake to dinner at the famous Restaurant Seehus. Speaking of food... tonight I had the best cheeseburger and fries.. from McDonalds. HA! When we pulled up to our hotel this evening we couldn’t help but run over to grab something to eat. I can't explain how badly I want a HUGE Dr Pepper from Sonic!! The only “coke product” they offer here is Coke or Diet Coke.

Finally at a hotel with internet! It's been a long day and I have lots to catch you up on over the last few days!!

 I have been writing each night in a journal and then typing it into the blog (very quicky as it is 1:20am here! Some of the days are in first person but have passed. (Does that make sense?)



DAY 6:

Today we traveled to Padua (still in Italy) to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa!! Padua is one of the oldest cities in Italy. We had fun taking pictures with the Leaning Tower of Pisa. We also visited the Duomo. It was a beautiful church that was next to Pisa.

Day 7:


Venice is simply beautiful! I feel like I have just stepped into a story book. There are canals and small bridges everywhere. We visited San Marcos Square. The Bassilica of San Marco was built to enshrine the body of St. Mark, patron saint of Venice. While we were there  we noticed an Asian Entourage. (Someone very important, we couldn't figure it out!) There were about 20 men surrounding a women. They had a SOPHIE dog! Their Bichon Frise had on a jacket and socks. I have a picture of the pup that I will upload when I get back to Texas. It takes so very long to upload pictures here.

Day 8-11

A little about Venice (where I’ll be for the next four days): It is the city of pedestrians and water traffic. Cars and bikes are not allowed in this city. Everyone walks. The city is only a 4 mile radius with 3000 streets/alleys. There are over 144 churches within the 4 mile radius! AMAZING! Only 35 thousand people live in the city. Beyond the city we are surrounded by islands: Murano, Burano, and Torcello.

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This "road" was the smallest in the town. It is 21 inches wide.

In the afternoon we went to a presentation about glassmaking in Murano. I got pieces of candy that are made of glass. It is so beautifuful. We watched each step from the composition of forming the glass to the polishing of the glass. The man made a horse and a vase!

High school Student humor/disgust so far!

-Peeing in a bottle on the bus in front of others (GROSS)

- Poop on the train platform… (Can you only imagine?!?! I’ll explain in person)

-A group of students got lost for two hours in Rome (They wanted to go shopping)


- Two boys had a pillow fight in the hotel room and broke a fan and lamp (90 Euros later…)


- Pink Fuzzy handcuffs and a lingerie apron have been purchased (and taken up by us!)


-Our delegation manager is an idiot! (to say the least) She is paid by People2People to take us on tours and guide around Europe. We should be making the money as we can use a map better than she can. We have seemed to get lost every day that we have been here! And this is only day 10 out of 19! WOW!


It’s funny how similar these high school students are to my kindergartners.

Yesterday and today we have been staying in a flat in Venice. The students are all in home stays with families and Sarah, Amy and Dawn and I are all together. Last night we ate pizza on a canal, enjoyed a glass of wine and watched the water taxis and Gondalas pass by. Very romantic, wish Michael was here!!


Tomorrow we are going to the beach!

Day 10:

The beach was a blast… I must say that I am glad that I live in America where children/girls/women wear swimsuit tops!

Day 11: Let me just start out by saying that I am really not the camping type of girl! I like to sleep- bug free with air conditioning and in a comfortable bed! WELL... this didn't excatly happen last night! We camped out in Friesch, Austria. I had to remind meself MANY times, "Ann Marie, this is an experience that you will never forget or have the chance to do again!"  Oh my ... not so much fun.  They wanted us to get the feel of camping just like way back in time! Medieval Style! I did enjoy the medeival dinner with chicken and ribs! MUCH needed as I am starving all the time. When we got to the tents the rain started and never stopped. Keep in mind that it was 40 degrees!! We had to walk to dinner.. in the rain... freezing!  I am sure we will all be sick in the next few days.  I took a NiQuil last night to help me sleep! I am very glad that this Castle living experience is over...

Day 12:
--Our delegation leader (once again) got us lost in her HOME town when going to meet one of the last remaining Holocaust Surviors… We were late.. (talk about embarrasing!!)



The Holocaust survivor was very touching and shocking all at the same time. After he was done talking he pulled the leaders into a separate room and told us stories that were not appropriate for the students. We all left crying. (I’ll share in person) After listening to him and his story of torture I feel like we take things for granted. We have been provided with a wonderful place to live and are not judged by the color of our skin, hair, eyes and relegion. How horrible it must have been to live in those days.

Tomorrow afternoon we will be going to Mauthausem Concentration Camp. I'm sure it will be very upsetting, scary and sad (all at the same time).  We will be riding bikes on a bike tour in Vienna in the morning.

Guten Tag,
Ann Marie

Editor note...

Ann Marie has asked me (Lori/Mom) to add to her blog when I can.  She has just texted that they are staying in a wonderful apartment in Venice.  The students are all staying in family homes to experience, Italian life.  So, the chaperones have a bit of a break.  They are here until Friday and then on to Austria to visit first with some mountain farmers, followed by a traditional meal, hopefully not pasta!   

Finally have a Internet Connection!!

We haven’t had internet!! It’s driving me crazy! I decided to type each night and then paste it into the blog once I can find wifi! So here we go!

Day 1


Today was a busy, eye opening, fun and exhausting day! I didn't get much sleep on the way here on the airplane so I know I will sleep well tonight! Once we stepped off the plane in we headed straight to the Roman Colosseum. After a tour and many pictures of the amazing Coliseum we walked over to the Roman Forum. The Forum had many antique monuments and religious sites. The Forum is the Center of Rome; we viewed the area where Julius Caesar was crucified.

We had a humorous evening! When we got back to our hotel, we decided that a Pepperoni pizza sounds great! There was a homemade Italian restaurant right across the street from our hotel. This couldn’t be more perfect…. when we received our pizza it had yellow sliced peppers all over it. The man looked up at me and said, you said that you wanted “pepper-on-ees on it… this was the only peppers that we had.” WE still ate the pizzas, minus the yellow peppers.


I am excited that we are staying in the same hotel for two days.. After these two days we move around daily.

This picture took 20 minutes to download...very slow server!

Day 2: The Christian Catacombs were breath taking to walk through. We went on a guided walk underground as the guide explained how the tumbs were dug out by hand for the burial place of Christians. Oil lanterns were lit and were placed in the wall near the grave.

In St. Peter's Cathedral

We also visited the world’s smallest state, the Vatican; which is within the city of Rome. (confusing! But the neatest thing ever!) We were guided through Michelangelo’s glorious Pieta and Sistine Chapel. The chapel was absolutely the most beautiful chapel I have ever seen. I would love to go to mass there. The chapel was painted from floor to sailing by Michelangelo between the years of 1508-1512. This chapel is where the elcetion of the new Popes take place. The Altar is adorned with Michaelangelos “Last Judgement” considered as his masteriece. The ceiling was covered with paintings of the Old Testament.

Mom--I took this one for you! (Priest walking down the road) Does it look similar to one in our house? (no ally.. but same concept)

While walking through the Sistine Chapel and St. Peters Cathedral (which too was absolutely AMAZING) we noticed an abundant amount of priests and nuns. We were told that they were 15 thousand Priests and Nuns at a National Prayer Day meeting that morning. I had the opportunity to kneel and pray in front of Pope John Paul . I also have a cross blessed for my mom and me in St. Peters Church. Saint Peters Cathedral is known for being the largest church in the world.

We had a very special opportunity to meet with a member of the Swiss Guard. He explained the duties of the guards and what they do to protect the Pope. Their uniforms where quite funny! Nothing like our Armed Forces back home! They reminded me of clown costumes.

Day 3:

Today we did a lot of walking!. I brought my pedometer and tracked our steps for the day: we walked 8,425 steps!!!!! As of right now, we are riding a bus to Volerra, Italy. We went on a tour to see the Piazza Navona, the Pantheon, the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain. We each threw coins into the fountains for good luck! The fountain collects more that 5,000 US dollars A DAY! AMAZING, huh! The money is used to fund different charities, including a food bank and the Italian Red Cross.

The Spanish Steps

The Piazza Colonna is considered by Romans the very center of the city. It is a large rectangle with cafés and shopping surrounding the square. There was a beautiful church and fountain in the middle of the square.

The Trevi Fountain was the largest fountain I have ever seen! If you toss a coin over your shoulder it supposedly brings you good luck! (and ensures that you will return to Rome!)

We had lunch at this adorable café named: La Zucca Gialla: “The Yellow Pumpkin”. We had MORE pasta! I feel like we are feed that with every meal. Pasta and Salad. I’ve been filling up on ice cream.

I miss everyone so much but am having an amazing time! We are headed to beautiful medieval town of Volterra where we will be staying the night. This afternoon we will be learning how to make cheese at a cheese creamery farm. For dinner we will be going to the hills of Tuscany.

Tomorrow we will be lead through the narrow streets of the city Volterra and see the highlighted spots in the book, “New Moon”! Super excited about that!

Day 4: Volterra, Italy: SO beautiful! I want to go rent New Moon and watch it again after visiting the town where most of it was filmed!

Monecacatitini, Italy: Volterra Italy tour! We went through the highlighted spots that are in the story, “New Moon”. We saw the Etruscan Arch and the gate where Bella and Edward left the city. We saw spectacular views in the Tuscan Hills. We watched an old tradition or Alabaster Arts of beautiful white stone. We were escorted underground for lunch in Florence!
 After lunch we visited the academics Gallery, which houses Michelangelos Colossal Statue, David. (Which is huge!!) I have always seen the statue in pictures, but never imagined how large the statue actually is!

I’m having a blast… just sick and tired of pasta! We have had it for every meal the last three days… Pizza is calling my name!!!

Chao-- Ann Marie