Day 12 - Switzerland... BENVENUTI IN ITALIA!!!

Early morning rise and a quick drive back over to Switzerland. The weather was cold and raining but that was all the more reason to use our new umbrellas. Since we got there before the shops opened we went for a touristic walk in the streets of Geneva visiting the City Hall and other important and historic areas. Afterwards we had some free time to go souvenir shopping and buy some Swiss chocolate (yummy) or if you were cold some warm genie pants. 

We got back to the bus at 10:30 to start our travels to Italia! 

As usual to amuse ourselves we swapped between sleeping and watching movies (with the odd entertaining story telling sessions from Raphael).

Just before a quick stop for lunch we passed through the 11.3 km tunnel of Mont Blanc and arrived in Italia!

Once arriving in Italy we still had 6 hours of driving left  so to stretch our legs and give the bus toilet a break, we had another stop at around 5 pm. 

We could tell when we arrived in Italy because the temperature suddenly rose and the architecture and scenery changed to a typical italian landscape making us want to stare through the windows in awe. 

Finally at 9 pm we arrived to our practically beachside hotel and moved as quickly as we could to our rooms (we had 1 elevator and we were all on the top floor) so we could come to downstairs to enjoy a typical Italian dinner. 

After we were full of lasagne and tiramisu we were given the chance to check out the main street of Lido Di Jesolo.

At around 11:30 pm we all returned to our rooms, completely a long day, and looking forward to a long sleep-in !

By Maddy (Australia)

And Karla (New Zealand)

Day 11 - Saying goodbye to Paris and hello to Geneva

Hello beautiful fans, 

Today we finally hit the road to Geneva after the last French breakfast.

We had a 7 hour bus trip ahead of us which we filled in with charades, fun, movies and the scenery which was  changing from France to Switzerland rapidly, we noticed the Swiss alps which still had snow left over from winter. 

We were stuck in Paris traffic this morning that sadly took us off schedule for the day which than made us not able to tour the United Nations, but in front of it we saw the big chair which was a protest against the war!

 When we made it to Geneva , Switzerland we saw the famous Flower Clock and the Jet D'eau in the lake of Geneva .Then we had some free time to go shopping before dinner, after the shopping we had a delicious French dinner and we went to sleep.

We're exciting to go to Italy tomorrow .

Tadeu (Brazil)

Olivia (Australia)

Students in front of the United Nations

Floral Clock... in Geneva

Jet d'eau

Day 10 - We love PARIS!!!!

Hello beautiful people,

We started our day at 9:00 at the Moulin Rouge that in the 17th century was full of beautiful dancers and it became famous because of the movie. It was awesome to be there and to see it in person. Then we stopped by to say hello to our friend Picasso in his house. After that we had a great tour over the city of Paris where we had the honor of getting to see the gorgeous churches, the Basilica of Sacre Coure and the Cathedral of Notre Dame, where we went up and down 400 steps .

After a good lunch with a typical baguette, we walked thought the city and had a quick stop at the Bridge of Artist, where we got to put on some locks :).

Now we can say that we actually visited one of the most famous and biggest museums in the world, THE LOUVRE !!!

There we met another dear friend, Mona Lisa !!.

AMAZING, that's the word that describes the view from the top of the Eiffel Tower where we got to see all the city and enjoy the City of Lights. We were so excited to take a great photo with the tower, so we went to the well known place called Trocadero, where we took our flags and proudly showed them off!

After an amazing day we were starving, so we got to end our day in one of the oldest restaurants in Paris where Picasso used to go and paint so he could pay for his meal. Here we enjoyed typical French food like Escargot and grilled onion soup, with the great sound of the piano that ended the perfect day in Paris .

Tuane (Brazil)

Alexandra (Ecuador)

Our tour start at Montmartre

Tuane (Brazil) in front of the home of Picasso

Walking up the hills of Montemartre

Paris...

Nenna and Nicole (Ecuador) in front of the Basilica Sacre Coere

Gemma (Australia)...

Our group at Sacre Coere

Operah House... today home of the ballet of Paris.

Jarred (Australia) on top of the Notre Dame

Rebecca and Candie.. at the Notre Dame

Baylie and Olivia... locking their friendship at the bridge of the artists.

Group at the Museum Louvre

Afrodite

Let's be the art... students imitating the art

Isabel (USA) and Karla (Australia)

View from the top of the Eiffel Tower

Vive la France...

OUR GROUP IN PARIS!!!

Day 9 - DISNEYLAND

Huge good morning from Mickey Mouse himself, today is the day that we head to magical Disneyland. The weeks upon weeks of waiting, our dreams finally came true. Making sure we all had our amazing european tour shirts, we were ready to leave after a typical french breakfast. Leaving at 9 in the morning we made our way to Disneyland Paris and Walt Disney studios. 

Full of excitement and high off the anticipation, we slowly made our way there. As we entered the gates and had our first glance at the castle we all screamed like little girls. Grabbing our tickets and running wild, we ran off to make our first purchases of the day, Minnie Mouse ears, yes even the boys. After that it was time to start our extraordinary Disney adventure. Splitting like a banana spilt, we all peeled off into different directions. Fighting off the crowds, we hunted down the biggest thrill we could find, while the biggest shock was the wait for the rides. Often taking up to an hour, we braved the lines and amused ourselves with silly childish games, eventually getting to the front the adventure finally started. 

Between rides we amazed by the fine detail that was put into every attraction, which made us feel like we were in a completely different world. Before we knew it our stomachs were growling and a new choice arose, what would be for lunch? From full meals to small snacks we all had something entirely different for lunch. After lunch was over it was time for our group ride on space mountain at 2pm. A full 2 hours passed and we finally made to the front of the line, only to come to realisation that there was another line inside. 

The wait was worth every minute and no one was disappointed, even the photos were good. Splitting again some of us ran off to Walt Disney Studios to discover a new world of exquisite attractions. With most of us daring the tower of terror, time flew by so quickly and it was time again to meet up with everyone for the parade. Bursting with excitement as we saw our childhood heroes parade by us, we ended a great day with a huge buffet dinner, even with refillable drinks. 

Frantically grabbing last souvenirs, we left the park in high spirits. Awkward salmoning, jumping, skipping, rolling and so many other awkward things we got to the bus and collapsed after a hard days work. Barely being able to keep our eyes open we saw a perfectly magical Disney sunset, which completely aced our dreamy day. 

Oh Mickey, you're so fine, you've blown my mind!

Elliott (Australia)
Maddy (Australia)
Sophie (New Zealand)

Group at the arrival in Disneyland

Our trip monitors, Ida and Marianna

Tuane (Brazil) and Mickey

Candy (Taiwan) did not resist and gave Mickey a kiss

Who has ears?!?!

The parade

Parade

Our group watching the parade

The world at Disneyland Paris

Maddy (Australia) and her new face make-up

Funny pose!!!

Day 7 - Amsterdam... Brussels... Paris!!!

Be.Welcome - Brussels, BELGIUM

Hello world!!!!

Today we woke up in Amsterdam... We had a pretty relaxing day. We left from Amsterdam at 8am heading towards Brussels in Belgium. We arrived in Brussels at around 11:30 and we saw the Atomium and we took some photos of it before we went down to the City Centre. 

Martin and Nicole from Ecuador at the Atomium

Nicole (Ecuador) at the be. for Belgium!

Our group!!!

Sophie (Australia) showing her moves

Maddy, Karla and Peach...

Jean Luc(Australia), Andrew(New Zealand) and Allister (Canada)

We had lunch downtown... better, old town. We walked through the streets and we came across the main square, Grote Markt. It was surrounded by beautiful buildings. The buildings had lots of detail on them like gold features. We tried some of the famous Belgium chocolate, it's very good but expensive! For lunch some of us had French fries, which were actually created in Belgium (Brussels). 

Downtown Brusels.

Brussels was a very beautiful city and after that we went in the bus for 5 hours and we watched 2 films. One of the films was called Ratatouille, it was a French movie because then we arrived in France!! We finally arrived in Paris after a very long day of traveling. We saw the peak of the Eiffel Tower from the windows of the bus from far away. We were so excited to arrive!!! Then we had a nice French dinner of four courses. The first course was salami and pickles, and then we got given a menu and we were able to choose the next courses. 

The menu was in French to understand even with an English menu as well... French food comes with all these different names and verz long dishes names. Then we had courses of meats and vegetables and desserts. It was a really nice meal. It was very funny today!!!!!!.^^

Emma (Australia)

Tayla (New Zeland)

Peach (Thailand)