Day 22: Good Bye Beautiful People...

Three weeks, such a short time and who thought it would turn out like it did. It was a first for all of us, in a way we were thrown in the deep end. There was so much to be unexpected and so much anticipation. Its like the start was just a day ago, everything flew by so quickly. The only thing we knew that we had in common was exchange. Who ever thought that we would turn out like a family, so well knitted it's like we have known each other for years. It's actually more like being siblings it's crazy how well we get along. Each day has been so unforgettable, I wouldn't change any of it at all. Filling each day with smiles and laughter it's like we should all have abs by now. I can't believe that we are nearing the end it's almost at the point where we don't know what I will do without everyone here. From all the awkward salmons to licking people's elbows we have had so many random things happen on the way. Such as leaving things behind, people stealing my tea and team leopard. Although we think things may have been a chore we managed to pull through, it's because we are all in this together. We are at the point where we can't say that "she doesn't even go here." Time flies when you are having fun doesn't it? There's always so much to say and so many stories. We've found things in the ocean, made sand sculptures, gotten lost in the mazes of Venice. It's been such a crazy time and I'm happy to have shared it with everyone here. These three weeks have been the most amazing time of my life, definitely the highlight of my whole exchange. A time that we will never forget and will forever be held in our hearts. A bus seeming like our home more than our hotels we have had some fun trips and some weird movies. We've all heard it over and over but it's not really the time to say goodbye but more of a see ya. It kind of feels like we have been in Disneyland for the past three weeks, everyday new experiences and dreams coming true. It's just been so perfect the people, the leaders, the bus drivers I don't think that anything could have ruined this trip. Not like there was anything to be ruined, sure we may have had the heat but it was fun getting roasted. 

My biggest thanks to everyone for the best time of my life,

Elliott (Australia). 

THE BEST TRIP EVER  - it doesn't have an other perfect way to describe this 22 days. We had the chance to know amazing places that took out our breath, and share  this wonderful experience with different people from other countries and points of view. We had become a big family, 31 people that matched like a puzzle. It became  our routine, wake up, have a delicious breakfast, walk through amazing and unique cities, know more about buildings, statues, and laugh, laugh a lot, have fun, forget the problems, our homes, and get involved by the history and our dreams coming true. Even if some days we were filling tired, the last thing that I would like to do it was rest, because we gain strength to continue and want more. When I went home I'll miss everyone here, but I will also be happy to carry you guys with me in my memories of this amazing trip. So thank you for the happy times, the jokes, the entire tour and I think that true friendships can over come time, distance and everything so I won't say "good bye", but " I see you soon".

 Tuane (Brazil)

Hi people, I really want to thank you guys for the best trip , absolutely the best European tour ever!! I will never forget you, you guys are awesome! Now I can say that I had the best trip of my entire life with the craziest and funniest people around the world! and again thanks for the most relaxing and greatest 22 days of the last years. 

See you soon beautiful people!

Tadeu (Brazil)

Hello. Words can't express how grateful I am to have shared this experience with you all. Thanks a

million for everything, I'll never forget you guys. 

Ciao for now!

Emma (Australia)

This was the trip of a life time for me. The cities and tours were simply incredible but on top of that, it's the people that make the trip too. I'm so happy to have had this trip and to have met so many amazing people. I feel like we fitted together and all got on straight away. We sort of became one big tour family. Which gave us a great start to the trip. We shared so many laughs and amazing moments at places around Europe together. I will remember these moments forever. Even the random bus moments. 

So thank you to everyone, plus the Belo and STS staff on the trip for making the tour what it was.

Over and out !

Callum (NZ)

Hey guys!I can safely say that it's the best holiday I have ever had. It has been AMAZING to meet you guys.Thank you all for this wonderful trip. I will cherish our friendship from the bottom of my heart<3 The world is a small place so we will definitely meet again someday.see you guys soon!! Love ya

Candy (Taiwan) :)

I will really miss these three weeks we've been through. It's so amazing that we get to know each other and travel together. We are from all over the world which probably will  never meet, but this tour brought us together. I will cherish all the memories we had and I believe it will never fade in our heart.

Rebecca (Taiwan)

Dear people a have had a lots of fun with you guys and ill like to thank you all for it this 21 days have been the best and I think we all have grown a lot in this time and most of all we have learn a lot from the world and each other , I would like to thanks all the staff because thanks of them we have lived a live that not all people can so let's go and make are dreams true 

Joseph (Ecuador)

Hello beautiful people, it's not possible to grasp that we have visited 12 countries, travelled thousands of kilometers and spent 21 days touring Europe. Now it has come to an end and its time to cue the tears and plan the reunions. You guys are all a family like no other and I have absolutely no regrets besides that the time we spent together wasn't long enough. Thanks and see you later :)

Madeline (Australia)

Thanks a lot guys  for letting me enjoy this amazing trip together,  every single thing that I'm share with you was incredible and unforgettable and that means so much to me, I feel really proud to met nice people like all of you...  I wish you the best thing in the world for all of you... Good luck in your lives and like Rapha says this isn't a good bye it is only a see you soon... :) 

Paul (Ecuador)

I will miss all of you lots and lots! Good luck to everyone for everything in the future. You all need to come visit me in Sydney, Australia. I've had such an amazing tour thanks to all of you. The memories that we've made from this trip will definitely stay with me for life.

"Awkward Salmon"

Love you guys

Kaylyn (Australia) xoxo

Dear everyone,

I hope you all enjoyed the Europe tour! 

We have all become really great friends and I really hope to keep in contact with you and maybe see you again!!

I wish everyone the best with the rest of their lives!!!

Amy Ronchi (Australia)

Hey guys! I am so glad I had the chance to meet all of you on this trip and I have had soooooo much fun. Before coming to this trip I didn't know anyone, and now I can go back to Italy (and even when I return to New Zealand)  I can, and will say I have made the most amazing friends that will last forever. This trip has been my favorite part of my whole exchange so far and will always be remembered as one of the highlights because of you all. You are all hilarious and have made me cry a lot of times from  laughing to much! (Specially when the coke got spilt on maddy) hahaha but if anyone ever comes to New Zealand send me a message and ill be your personal tour guide :) I will never forget you guys!! And I hope to see you all again in the future for Round 2!! Thank you so much for everything!!! love 

Karla Karla (NZ) xxx 

Hey everyone, just want to say how much fun I've had with you all over the past three weeks. Gonna miss all you beauties and this experience so much. We've all had so much fun together and become a little family in such a short amount of time . I wish all of you the very best for your futures and I hope we can have some sort of reunion later on! If any of you are ever in New Zealand, don't hesitate to contact me for a catch up :) 

I know I'll never forget you guys and I hope you'll remember me too!

Keep smiling and dream big.

Lots of love and hugs, 

Sophie Dickson (NZ) xoxo 

Hi my beautiful people I really don't have any word that can express my feelings for all of you and how grateful I am for all the moments we have live . I can really said that we have become a family a really big and funny one from the guides to all my crazy baby's hahaha thanks for making me laugh and enjoy this trip in the best way. I will never forget all of you from now on you will always be in my heart and like Rapha said I am sure  that the friendship we created will never go and we will see as some time soon , you will always have a home in Ecuador  when ever you want I will be there for you ones more thanks for the best time of me live.  :) 

Love you my baby's 

Nena Castellanos (Ecuador)

Three weeks, 12 countries + a busload of friends=amazing once in a lifetime experience..... uh what else can you say? 

Love you guys!

Allister (Canada)

Okey dokey, so, I have no idea where to start because there is so much I want to say about all the beautiful people I became friends with but I will try to keep this short (which if anyone got to know me on this trip, you would realise how hard that is for me to do...). First of all, this was the best three weeks of my life and there is no way it could have been half as amazing as it was without all the leaders, bus drivers, tour guides, hotel people, supermarkets etc etc. and OF COURSE all the brilliantly fantastic students from all over the world. The friendships we have made on this tour are amazing and will never end. We have had so many adventures together, truck loads of tummy hurting laughter, smiles, fun, tears, excitement etc. It has been a roller coaster of emotions, especially at Tivoli Gardens and Disney Land...haha. Travelling  is not just made awesomely bawesome by the places you see but the people you see the places with, and I am so glad I got to share all my oohs and ahhs and woahs woahs woahs at the cool sights we have seen with this magnificent bunch of people. I hope we all manage to stay in touch. We have become a tight knit family and have so many awesome memories, I only wish we can make more of them in the future. Good luck to everyone with their future studies, travelling adventures and dreams. I will miss you all sooooooo incredibly much and am looking forward to a reunion... WE HAVE TO KEEP IN TOUCH! Lots of love from Gem!

Gemma (Australia)

These past three weeks has been the highlight of my exchange. I'm so happy that I had a the chance to meet you all. You are the most amazing people and it wouldn't have been the same without everyone of you. I can't wait to see all of you again. Thank you to Ida, Salik, Mariana, Rafael, Bernardo and JB for everything you did for us. I hope that no matter where you all are or what you're doing that you're happy. 

Love Maddi xoxo

Maddi Graham (Australia)

Exchange Students Assemble!!!!!!!!!!! This has been the best 3 Weeks of my Life and at least half of that is because of the people I've spent it with. I will miss you guys and will try and stay in contact with you all. All the memories that we share together will not be forgotten and I wish you all the best. Thank you so much to Rapha, Ida, Marianna, Salik, Bernardo and of course JB for bringing their dreams to life and giving us new ones. See you all later. :)

Jean-Luc (Australia)

Just a general thanks to everyone in the group to make this such an amazing trip. If we could rewind time and do it all over again, I would. It's going to be hard to say goodbye to everyone as I'm sure we all know. The things that I have got from the trip are amazing friends and memories that I will remember forever. 

Jarrad (Australia)

Hi everyone, I just wanted to thank you all, because you have all been amazing in this tour and have made an unforgettable experience for me. I can't believe that this trip is over everything went so fast but still every single moment I lived here was amazing, the best 3 weeks of my life and all is because of you guys thank you for everything I will always remember each of you for how wonderful you have been. I will miss you all so much and I hope you come visit me in Ecuador.

I Love you all

Martin Oña (Ecuador)

Hey guys, there really are no words to describe how amazing this trip has been! All the amazing sites we've seen and the amazing things we've done... We really are all so lucky and I feel so blessed to have shared this experience with all of you absolutely fantastic people. I don't want this trip to end and to leave all of you! And also a massive thank you for giving me the best birthday ever, you are all so sweet and thoughtful and I am so grateful I got to spend my 18th in your company. I genuinely hope I see each and every one of you in the future and if you are ever in Tasmania you will always have a place to stay. 

Stay safe, 

Much love xoxo

Sophie Rees (Australia)

I want to send a huge thank you to everyone- I have had an absolutely wonderful time peeking around some of the most beautiful cities in the world with all of you! Please feel free to come stay with me in Aspen or message me if you are ever in the United States. I hope that you guys have enjoyed the tour as much as I have and I wish you all the luck in the world with your future plans. 

All my love,

Isabel (USA)

To my beautiful family 

I actually have no words to begin how amazing these 21  days have been! 3 weeks ago we walked into Copenhagen not knowing each other and now we sadly  have to leave for all corners of the world hoping that we will meet again and surely some of us will, but for the ones I don't get to see you amazing people will be forever with me and the memories I have made with every single one of you will never ever leave my heart! You are all beautiful people inside and out that will all go far in whatever you choose to do! Dream big amici 

Vi voglio bene

I love you all with all my heart 

Olivia Leahy (Australia) 

Hey guys !!! 

It's incredible how fast we all became friends and how perfect we all fit together, like a family.  I want to thank you for being the amazing persons you are, for being so good friends, and the most important thing,  for make these 3 weeks, the most amazing weeks of my life!!!  

I really hope you had a really good time during your exchange and that you enjoyed this amazing trip (I am sure you did because it was awesome). 

You have no idea how much I am going to miss you. I wish you all the best and I hope we see each other again ( my house in Ecuador would be always open for you if you want to visit me there ;) ). 

Thank you for everything. 

LOVE YOU SO MUCHHHH

Nicole Moncayo (Ecuador)

To my new family, 

3 weeks ago I could of never imagined how close we would all come in such a short time. When I told friends and family about doing a Europe tour the thing people instantly tell you is all about amazing city's, sites me buildings you will see and learn about, and although we have seen and experienced these places just the way i was expecting, I could of never been prepared for the amazing friendships and memories we have shared. 

So like we have been told we aren't saying goodbye, but see you soon. 

Baylie Salton (Australia). Xx 

Hey guys, I can't believe it's over, I will miss you all so much! Thank you for making this amazing experience all the more enjoyable.  I've had such a great time with you all and will treasure these memories forever! I look forward to our European Tour Reunion!

Amy H (Australia)

Hey guys not much to say really except that I have really enjoyed my time with you guys. Hope you all have safe travels. Hope to see you all soon. Bye :)

Andrew (NZ)

Hey everyone, first of all thank you all so much for these amazing three weeks, it was such an awesome end to my exchange year and I think I can safely say they were the best three weeks of my life (so far). I'm so glad I came on this trip, I have 30 wonderful new friends and I will do my best to stay in contact with you all. I really enjoyed the trip, really I have no words to describe it. Thank you to the leaders for doing such an amazing job of organizing the trip of a lifetime! I will never forget this experience and I will never forget all of you. Thanks for all the amazing memories that have been created in such a short amount of time. I'll see you all sometime in the future, maybe on our reunion Euro tour 2023 ;) 

Tayla Cadigan (NZ)

Day 21 - DRESDEN AND BACK TO COPENHAGEN

What a day, a long day of travel and of many tears. 

We had an earlier start today especially because we had to finish off our lovely presents for the amazing leaders. Each of the coordinators received a personalized shirt singed by all the members of the tour and a bar of chocolate. 

We enjoyed Our last full breakfast together before we had to say goodbye to Bernardo, the fantastic president and founder of Belo. 

Beginning our journey we piled onto the bus making a couple of speeches and presenting the gifts, that was a bit of a tear jerker for a few. 

Heading out from the impeccable Prague, we were first off to Dresden. We spent 2 hours on the bus, then 2 hours in the city for a bit of sight seemingly and some tasty lunch. The city was so amazing it was like were in a mini Prague and it was completely different to Berlin. 

Jumping back on the bus we drove several hours through the German country side to the banks of the Baltic Sea. With a little delay with the ship we did a bit of shopping and daisy chain making, then got on the boat to have a lovely buffet dinner. 

Afterwards we watched an extraordinary sunset over the magical waters and later boarded the bus for a final time. Trading our books and flags to be signed we shuffled around the bus, anxiously awaiting the announcement of superlatives, which will later be posted on the blog.

After a few laughs we span into a full cycle of hysterical stories and heartbreaking speeches shared by the staff and students over the bus microphone. We arrived at our hotel at midnight, all dreading the day that was now nearly upon us. 

 

With this being the last official day of our tour we would like to send a very quick but endless thank you to the coordinators on behalf of everyone. It has been three weeks where so many dreams have been made true and a huge variety of events that have happened that we will never forgotten. 

That's all folks.

Isabel (USA)

Elliott (Australia)

Day 20 - WOW!!! We are in Prague!!!

''Chzechin" out Prague

So our last day normal day of the tour (as unfortunately we have only a travel day after this), started early as everyone went to the historical part of Prague to see the largest medieval castle Europe has to offer. 

With 2 hours of spare time on our hands we set about exploring this huge place, which is so big it even houses a full sized cathedral within its walls. The view was spectacular from the hill of the castle overlooking the city, and many amazing things could be seen within the castle itself.

Everyone soon wandered down to the historical center of Prague for lunch and souvenirs.  

After crossing the Charles Bridge we met our tour guide Philip. We then went ahead and explored the many sites of Prague. One the of the most ``Exciting`` sites was the famous Astronomical clock of the Old Town Square, a world famous tower noted by our helpful guide as the second most disappointing tourist site in the world, for its habit of drawing huge crowds to watch it toll every hour with the feeblest of movements. Despite this the clock was hugely enjoyed, and thanks to our guide’s many stories about it was not disappointing at all. 

As the tour went on we visited the many medieval squares, the Jewish quarter, and many other sites of Prague. We also learned interesting facts about Prague such as the tendance for it to be filmed in tons of movies like XXX, the Bourne series, Casino Royal, Euro Trip, to name a few, or the unfortunate history of the virtually extinct Jewish population that once lived in a ghetto so crowed they were forced to bury their dead in 10 layers one fresh layer onto the old in their graveyard.

The day was finished with a combination of swimming, supper (Enjoyed notably by myself Allister for its healthy supply of cream puff pastries!), the imitations of students by Raphael (Wow this city is amazing!), and a lovely short walk through the streets of the city.

Prague is an amazing city and as the last one we stay in on our tour it will be all the more difficult to say goodbye as we leave tomorrow!

By Rebecca Chen (Taiwan) and Allister Grapes (Canada)

Prague Castle is a castle in Prague where the Kings of Bohemia, Holy Roman Emperors and presidents of Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic have had their offices. The Bohemian Crown Jewels are kept within a hidden room inside it.

Group in front of the entrance of the castle

View from the top of the castle.

Tadeu and Jose trying a typical Czech dish...

The Prague Astronomical Clock, or Prague Orloj is a medieval astronomical clock located in Prague. The clock was first installed in 1410, making it the third-oldest astronomical clock in the world and the oldest one still working

A lot of information and the end of our tour.

Day 19 - Leaving Austria... stop in Slovakia and hello Czech Republic!!!

Hey families,

Today we had a good breakfast in Vienna, and with sadness we left the city, yet we were excited to move on to new experiences.

 It didn't take long for us to get to Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. We walked around the city, and we saw the bronze statues, the most famous one is the Cumil (The Watcher), and after that more four of them were made. Because of that we had a contest of who could take pictures with the five statues. We found a winner, but some of the statues were under reconstruction, so Karla (New Zealand) had the brilliant idea to take the photo in the space where they were missing which made her win. 

We had lunch with a of variety of options. After that we went to the castle that was built as a prison but turned into a castle. It had an amazing view of all the city, with the Danube River. So we went back to the bus  and were on our way to Prague. 

We arrived here and could enjoy the swimming pool and a walk through the city, that is actually wonderful in the night lights. We walked across the Charles' Bridge (Karolos in chech) and returned to the hotel in a taxi.

Tuane (Brazil), Paul (Ecuador) and Joseph (Ecuador)

Welcome to Bratislava, SLOVAKIA

GROUP 

Day 18 - Vienna!!!

Greetings fellow exchange addicts, 

 

We started today with an early breakfast at the lovely and extremely fancy, "Renaissance Hotel". We met our Austrian tour guide, Cornelia, who was really enthusiastic, super interesting and had a great laugh. The tour began with a bus drive around the historically rich city of Vienna. We had sneaky peaks of awe inspiring architectural structures such as the Parliament, Augustiner Kirche and the Town Hall. 

Next we got off the bus and stopped at the city gardens, where we commenced our walk into the heart of the city. Along the way we learnt a bit about the imperial history of Austria and saw some amazing sights like the mosaic of the Last Supper and the winter residence of the previous Austrian Emperors. 

After our magnificent walk with Cornelia, the group had a lunch break in Stephans platz, where we were able to explore some more of city including the gothic church from the 1300's, the Stephansdom. After directing a Japanese tourist in what we thought was the right direction, we embarked on our treacherous journey to the famous house of Mozart. There we learnt a bit about Mozart's life as a composer in Vienna. In his house we saw and heard many of the things he surrounded himself with in everyday life for example his personal punch ladle. 

When the audio tour concluded, Cornelia joined us again to show us the back streets of Vienna. We were able to experience a completely different style of church with it's colourful and decorative interior, with the purpose of attracting followers during a time of tension between Catholics and Protestants. 

Our reliable driver, Mr. Thomas, came and picked us up and towed us back to the hotel so we could do ourselves up for the Opera. Everyone looked gobsmackingly stunning, including our leaders who surprised us with their 17th Century styled costumes. After countless glamorous photos and an exquisite dinner we entered the opera house to begin the concert. We were bedazzled by the orchestra, the dancers and the projection and range of the opera singers. After getting Ida (one of our trip monitors) away from the various paparazzi we returned to our trusty bus for the trip back to the hotel. Here some of us winded down with discussion over tea and cards then flopped into bed. All in all, today was a brilliant Viennese experience.

By Jean-Luc (Australia) and Gemma (Australia).

Karla and Nicole start of the tour in Vienna

Replica of the last super!

Parliament

Our group at the Opera...

Ida, Rapha and Marianna... Belo Staff

News from the Staff!

Dear families, host families and friends,


Greetings from beautiful VIENNA!!!

My name is Raphael and together with the team of 2 monitors (Ida and Marianna) and our STS chaperone Salik, are cruising the old continent... the beautiful Europe.

We have reached Austria and we have an excellent group. The pictures on the blog tells all about it.

It was really nice seeing them on the bicycle tour in Amsterdam... getting amazed with the Eiffel Tower, having fun on the beach in Italy and soooo many other amazing memories.

As you probably now, we have a group of 30 students from 8 different countries and we try to select the pictures from all the students... but feel free to send your message to belo@beloeurope.com or send your comment on the blog... and we will be able to read your message on the trip and transmit to your son/daughter.

Wish you a great day and tomorrow we will have a great time in Vienna and end up the day at the Opera house with a great dinner and a nice opera show.!!!

All the best,

Rapha

Day 17 - Budapest to Vienna... and Schonbrunn Palace

Day 17 - Budapest - Vienna

Herzilch Wilkommen in Östereich!! (Welcome to Austria)

Today we slept in a little later. We left at 10 am to start our four hour journey to the the city of Vienna and the beautiful schönbrunn castle, where we had a picnic for lunch and enjoyed the beautiful gardens. After lunch we visited the 40 of the 1441 rooms avaliable  to the public for viewing. 

We all liked the audio tour that enabled us to listen at our own pace. 

After the palace we arrived at the hotel and had two hours of free time, most of us spent time in the pool. 

We ate a typical Austrian dinner that included wiener schnitzels. To celebrate our gorgeous birthday girl Sophie we ate birthday cake for dessert and sang 'happy birthday'.  We talked about our day tomorrow and some of us went back to the pool or played cards in the lobby of the nice hotel where we are staying for the next two nights. 

Today was an excellent mix of sightseeing and relaxation.

Martin (Ecuador), Maddi (Australia), Andrew (New Zealand)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SOPHIE

Martin (Ecuador), Karla (New Zealand), Sophie (Birthday Girl) and Sophie (New Zealand)

Schonbrunn Palace

Gardens of the palace.

More garden...

Inside the castle and one of the 1000 rooms in the castle.

Allister (Canada) listening to the history of the palace.