By Veritas Staff
May 5, 2023
ROME, ITALY- It was the trip of a lifetime of the students for Rockland High's Travel Club as they traveled to Italy during April vacation.
Thirty students as well as chaperones Ms. Kristen Walsh, Ms. Julia DiCanzio, Mr. Fred Damon, Ms. Ashley Leighton, and Ms. Kara Penney, visited Rome and Southern Italian towns including Matera, Ostuni, Bari, Polignano a Mare, and Benevento.
Junior Gustavo De Paula said Rome was his favorite place, and he enjoyed spending time exploring Piazza Navona with his friends and getting food, especially pesto pizza.
"The most interesting part was how old everything is, and how it's kind of hard to wrap your head around the fact that it's been there thousands of years. The Colosseum was especially impressive," said De Paula.
While he has traveled to Brazil before, De Paula said he would like to continue to see the world, with Japan at the top of his list.
Mr. Damon was "awestruck" by the size of the Vatican and St. Peter's Basilica. He enjoyed spending time with the students, even "seeing how Emma Cameron cheats at Uno all the time. "
Mr. Damon encouraged students to try and travel in the future.
"If they can afford it, save some money and do it. Well worth their time to see those parts of the world that most people will never see in their lifetime," Mr. Damon said.
De Paula agrees with Damon, saying the experience of a Travel Club tour could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
For many travelers, the cooking class in Rome, where they made tiramisu and fettuccine from scratch, was one of the best experiences.
I'm not skilled enough to be able to use it in the future, but it was easily the best pasta I've ever had," De Paula said.
Senior Sydney Blaney agrees, saying she already bought a pasta maker and looked up some of the recipes the school gave them to try at home.
Blaney said, "I really liked the cooking class. The food we made was so good and we got to talk to the chefs about their culture."
Junior Mary McPartlin, who had already traveled to Belize with Travel Club, said swimming in the Adriatic Sea was her favorite part of the trip.
"It was absolutely freezing, but once you got past that it was some of the most fun I've ever had," McPartlin said.
The students all enjoyed trying different foods, including pasta, pizzas, and lots of gelato.
"My favorite food I ate was my lavender and macaron gelato," McPartlin said.
The next Travel Club tours are to Australia and New Zealand in 2024, and England, Ireland, and France in 2025. Students interested in the tours should speak to Ms. Walsh in room 121 or email her at kwalsh@rocklandschools.org.