EUROPE–How did you spend your spring break? Did you visit with distant relatives, beat the cold by heading south, or maybe took the ultimate adventure and ventured abroad? That was the case for a few students who accompanied by Mrs. K and Mrs. V set out to explore Europe. That’s right, Europe. To be more exact, Germany, Czech Republic, and Switzerland.

After an overnight flight, the group arrived in Germany, and wasting no time, they set off to explore on a walking tour of the capital, Berlin. Spending two nights in Berlin they passed the historical Brandenburg Gate and visited the Checkpoint Charlie museum. This museum was named after the checkpoint station that guarded the border between East and West Germany before 1989 which dated the fall of the Berlin Wall. Since then Berlin has been a transforming capital. The walking tour journeyed past embassies along Unter den Linden, which is also known as Berlin’s most elegant boulevard. It’s there where the Reichstag building can be found holding Germany’s historical seat of parliament. Before leaving Germany and heading to Dresden, the group added one more stop, Potsdam. The town of Potsdam was home to many during the years of the Cold War when their population nearly doubled.

After a walking tour of Dresden, they continued to Prague, or as they say in the Czech Republic, Praha. Along the Vltava River is the former capital of the Holy Roman Empire. Prague is home to the St. Vitus Cathedral and Charles Bridge, where there are cobbled streets and art and architecture of the ancient era.

Back to Germany, this time, on the other side of the wall touring Munich. Here you can find the BMW headquarters as well as the Olympic stadium, the district of Schwabing & Residenz, and the historical Dachau. Dachau was one of the Nazi concentration camps built in 1935 under Hitler’s rule during WWII. We were able to feel the history as we explored the camp that is now a memorial museum after being liberated in 1945.

The final days of the trip were spent in the spacious town of Lucerne located in Switzerland. While in Switzerland the group will tell you they definitely got their exercise with an added tour of yet another castle after a three mile uphill hike. (This was much needed however after all the chocolate and cheese tasting.) The highlight of Switzerland however was the gondola ride up Mount Pilatus where we got a gorgeous overview of the Swiss Alps.

While it was hard to part with our awesome tour guide, Fatima, it was finally time to depart for home. After an eight and a half hour direct flight from Zurich, we landed in NYC around 9pm and arrived home around 12:30am Monday morning. The students and teachers were troopers and found themselves back at school at 7:45 that same day. I’m sure everyone will agree when I say, the school day dragged on, but the experience and memories we brought back were without a doubt worth it.

The EF tours are just another one of the many educational extra opportunities the teachers of Galway offer their students. Mrs.K and Mrs.V have planned and brought students on the annual EF tours for a many years. EF is a student travel organization, but anyone at any age can travel. Have you considered traveling abroad? Traveling with EF is a life transforming experience In fact, many students have reported their first time leaving the country with EF. Leave your fears behind and start saving up in preparation for next year’s trip!