By Clarissa Corral

The sun was slowly setting through the lobby of a small jewelry store in Delphi, Greece, as  Alyssa Matias, Div. 956, was learning traditional Greek dancing. It was a few hours before dinner and she and two friends explored the town and encountered a friendly jewelry store owner who offered them free dance lessons. Music filled the air as the friends held hands and moved faster to keep up with the beat.

“There was no one else in the store except my two friends and I,” Matias said. “We all grabbed hands and danced in a circle. It was cool because it was a smaller experience.”

Matias was one of 18 students and three chaperones who went on the Lane summer trip to Italy and Greece.

The group left June 22 and returned July 1, a 10 day trip from beginning to end, according to English teacher and chaperone Ms. Laroche. They began the trip in Rome and made their way to the Amalfi Coast, Capri, Pompeii and eventually Greece.

“In Rome we went to the Trevi Fountain, the Vatican and we did some old catacombs,” Laroche said. “We did the Colosseum, the Forum and in Pompeii we visited the old city.”

One of Matias’s favorite memories of the trip was when the group went to Capri, an island off of Naples, where the water was clear and bright blue.

“Italy, especially Rome is so busy but it’s so beautiful,” Matias said. “There’s people there from all around the world and they all still maintain their culture from wherever they’re from.”

The students were given some freedom to explore the cities as long as they were accompanied by at least one other person from the group, according to Laroche.

“It was fun to watch the students and we always gave them some time to wander off and explore the area,” Laroche said. “Since most of our kids are city kids we gave them a test on the first day and were like ‘go stay in this area but be back at this time.’”

Breakfast and dinner were always provided by the travel agency, so lunch was the best time to get a taste of the food and culture, according to Laroche.

“It was funny because some of the things weren’t as authentic when we went to the hotel, but when we went to an Italian restaurant, it was like real pasta [and] real gelato,” Samantha Latz, Div. 969, said.

The students were able to try authentic Italian food and learned that it was different than what they are used to, Matias said. The pizza was very thin and lightly topped, which is different in comparison to deep dish pizza, she said.

From Rome, the group flew to Greece, where they visited Athens and Delphi.

“In Delphi, which is the old ancient Greek center of the universe, we went way up in the mountains and that night we stayed in a little village just outside of Delphi,” Laroche said.

On the way back to Athens from Delphi, the group visited an old Byzantine chapel where mass was being held by monks who live there.

“It was special because it wasn’t a touristy thing, — it wasn’t something that a lot of people know about, so that was really cool,” Laroche said.

On the last night of the trip, the group had a Greek Night filled with traditional dancing and food such as Greek salad, kabobs and a yogurt dessert, according to Matias.

“It was definitely the best food we had all trip, and that night I was able to use the dancing that I learned from the jewelry shop owner,” Matias said.

The trip opened the students’ minds to learning new things and exploring a new culture, according to Matias. She said one of the benefits of going on an educational school trip is that you get to learn more than you would on a family trip.

“We got lots of freedom so we could explore the shops and restaurants and meet new people, so it was a really unique experience,” Matias said. “We got to learn the facts and experience the culture kind of as if we were a person that lived there.”

Despite a heat wave and flight delays, Laroche said that she enjoyed watching the students admire the culture.

“For me, I enjoy seeing the sites,” she said. “I love traveling, and I love traveling because I like learning, and I think that that’s one thing that happens when you travel. But it’s really fun for me also to see the students learning new things and experiencing new things and getting excited about what they’re seeing and learning.”

There are two confirmed trips for this school year, Laroche said. The first will be to Spain and will take place over spring break. The second will be to England and Scotland and will take place over the summer of 2018.