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Farewell from Rome – ON TOUR Backpack Italy

Jul 242011

Hello families of Backpack Italy!

As quickly as it started, our magical Italian backpack adventure ends. We are writing moments before our final Roman dinner and amid a full day of touring the sights of Rome. Since we last wrote our tour members enjoyed the sun of the Amalfi coast and the highlights of the capital city of Rome!

We left Florence for the Amalfi coastal town of Sorrento for a few days of rest and relaxation before getting to Rome! While in Sorrento we enjoyed wonderful food, great adventures, dancing and doing karaoke and even a local fiesta in the main town square!

On our second day in Sorrento we had the amazing opportunity to explore the absolutely magnificent island of Capri. The highlight of this leg of our trip was certainly swimming in turquoise blue Mediterranean waters through grottos and caves. Seeing the smiles on the faces of Dana, Alanna, Austin, Alex, and Blaine, was absolutely incredible!

And so we find ourselves on our last evening in Rome with impending farewells upon us. We have asked our trip members every few days to share with each other their highlights of the day and something they are grateful for. Beyond what we have described as highlights of our trip, all trip members at some point along the way have expressed a highlight being the opportunity to meet each other this summer. Many have also expressed gratitude and appreciation for loved ones at home that have trusted them and have been supportive of this adventure.

We came, we backpacked, we experienced, and we conquered. We saw 6 cities, took 10 trains, ate pounds of pasta and pizza, saw Italy’s greatest monuments, experienced countless cultural experiences and made many great friends along the way.

Our highs are everything, our lows are nothing, and we are grateful for life!
Thank you for sharing your awesome teens with us for the last 2 weeks!

The Westcoast Blogger

Arrivederci from Italy! – ON TOUR Backpack Italy

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Jul 222011

Hello families of Backpack Italy!

Our highs are everything, our lows are nothing, and we are grateful for life!
Thank you for sharing your awesome teens with us for the last 2 weeks!

The Westcoast Blogger

Greetings from Italy! – ON TOUR Backpack Italy

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Jul 212011

We are so excited to take a few moments from our busy adventures to write and update you on the marvellous time we are having in Italy! We are incredibly grateful to be touring the fabulous country of Italy with some of the most adventurous, kind, positive and amusing teens 360 Student Travel have ever seen!

We got our adventure off to a great start with our time in Cinque Terre. Our visit began with our first opportunity to experience carrying our backpacks and navigating our way to our destinations. Immediately, Thomas and Zach impressed us with their navigation skills with Jordan, Jay and Elijah helping us to find our way through the winding streets of Venice and Florence since!

While in Cinque Terre we enjoyed a breathtaking hike, wonderful meals, and an amazing day at the beach! We were especially impressed with Alyssa conqueringing her fear of heights. John, Cheyenne, Lily, and Lindsay happily pushed through the varrying terrain of the hike. Jay, Rachael and Dana still talk about how refreshing it was to finish it off with a dip in the aqua blue Mediterranean!

We moved on to beautiful Venice and enjoyed our stay in the canal city. Ryan immediately increased his fashion sense by purchasing an amazing Venetian sailor hat! Alex, Alanna, Maddy, Max and Austin loved the relaxing gondola ride through the canals! Amanda has taken over the role of unofficial tour guide while Blaine has kept the group busy with her challenging physical work outs. Caroline contributed to our Venetian navigational adventure by singing us show tunes while looking for a place to enjoy jazz music.

Florence proved to be a highlight for all of us as we settled into the culture and art centre of Italy. Tour members Ryan P. and John D. were fascinated by Michelangelo’s David shown by our witty tour guide Marcello! Many tour members found great deals in the markets of Florence with Allyssa, Caroline, Cheyenne, Rachel, Madeleine, and Lindsey, leading the way in bargain hunting and exploring the seemingly endless markets of Florence.

A definite high of the trip was the stair climb to the top of the Duomo in Florence. Max, Jordan, Elijah, and Lily, loved seeing the views and taking pictures of the Tuscan country side. Before leaving Florence we all put on aprons and went to cooking school. Our trip enjoyed making a beautiful meal of fresh homemade pasta with tomatoe sauce, stuffed zucchini’s and Florentine cake. Jay, Amanda, Zach, and Tom, lead the way with their curiosity and dedication to making a delicious meal!

While our adventure is quickly coming to a close, do stay tuned for another update on how we spent our final days together as a traveling family. It will be difficult to say goodbye, but we have definitely made memories that will last a lifetime!

The Westcoast Blogger

Forza Italia! – World Cup Soccer

Backpack Europe, European Discovery, European Escape, European Experience, ON TOUR European Escapade No Responses »

May 312010

Defense, Defense, Defense – it’s the Italian way. Italy is the reigning World champions and defenders of the trophy going into South Africa. Their fans have high expectations, but not based on their play or their qualification results. Italy was the unexpected winner of the World Cup back in 2006 in a penalty shoot out that restored honor to Italian football after a match fixing scandals had brought the Italian game to the brink of collapse.

Now that everything is normal, the Italian fans expect nothing but the best. Their team however has overachieved and, though still a powerhouse, is not nearly the team they once were. Leaders like former captain Francesco Totti and 2006 match winner Fabio Grosso have been left out of the team and those remaining are not all Internationally tested. A group consisting of Paraguay, New Zealand and Slovakia should gain the Italian team much needed confidence but don’t expect them to go much further than the round of 16. Having said that, the same thing was said 2006 and they managed to lift the cup. With arguably the best “keeper in the world and the stingiest defense,” you just never know.

You can enjoy sumptuous pasta and the energy of Italy on all of our European touring programs including our European Discovery, European Escape, European Experience, European Escapade, Backpack Italy and Backpack Europe programs.

The Westcoast Blogger

Crooked Structures

Backpack Europe, Eastern Expedition, European Discovery, European Escape, ON TOUR European Escapade No Responses »

Mar 022010

The Leaning Tower of Pisa is the bell tower of the cathedral of the Italian city of Pisa.

Although designed to stand vertically, the tower began to lean shortly after construction began in 1173 due to a poorly laid foundation and unstable soil that allowed the foundation to shift. When the Pisans entered war, construction was stopped allowing the underlying soil to settle. If construction had continued, the tower would have toppled.

Construction started again over a century later. Engineers tried to compensate for the tilt by making upper floors taller on one side than the other. This made the tower lean in the other direction.

The tower is 183 feet from the ground on the lowest side and 186 feet from the ground on the highest side. At the base, the walls are 13 feet apart. At the top, the walls are 8 feet apart.

The tower has two staircases. The north-facing staircase has two fewer steps (294) than the south-facing staircase (296).

Prior to restoration work that was performed in 1990 and 2001, the tower leaned at an angle of 5.5 degrees. The tower now leans at about 3.99 degrees. This means that the tower is over 12 feet from where it would stand if the tower were perfectly vertical.

The scaffolding on the tower is there to help repair visual damage (mostly corrosion and blackening).

On January 7, 1990, the tower was closed to the public for fear that it would collapse. The bells were removed to relieve some weight and cables were tied around the third level and anchored several meters away. Apartments and houses in the path of the tower were vacated. In the end, 50 cubic yards of soil were removed from underneath the higher end. The tower was straightened, returning it to the exact position that it occupied in 1838. After a decade of corrective reconstruction and stabilization efforts, the tower was reopened on December 15, 2001. In May 2008, another 77 tons of earth were removed. For the first time the tower’ history, engineers declared the tower stable.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa is no longer the world’s most lopsided building. That title was been taken by a German church steeple in Suurhusen which leans at 5.19 degrees.