Written By OEs, Aisha & Malcolm
Wow, what a trip! As we rest and recover from a busy whirlwind journey over the past 10 weeks, we are reflecting on the many highlight moments we experienced and beautiful relationships we built.
Beginning with our time at Centro Panta Rei above the picturesque Lago Trasimeno in Umbria, we could tell that we had an exceptional group of students and were in for a fun and wild ride over the next few months. Julio led us in mindfulness activities, and we had our first lessons on sustainable building and gardening practices, while also learning basic Italian from Chiara by dancing to silly songs and competing in goofy games. We explored our first Italian cities and used our burgeoning Italian skills to order coffee and pastries at local cafes. This was also where we first came together as a group and built the foundations for the lifelong friendships that blossomed during the program.
Next we hiked a section of the Via Francigena, a pilgrimage trail through the beautiful countryside of Tuscany, admiring the olive groves and vineyards along the way. We stopped in medieval towns and immersed ourselves in the history and culture of the region as we made our way to Sienna.
We loved our first taste of city life in Sienna and Florence, learning about the Renaissance and urban gardening, and enjoying the delicious Italian cuisine.
After Florence we found ourselves camping in the mountains at a remote chestnut farm, where we gathered around the fire every night for music and stories and spent our mornings picking chestnuts and stuffing ourselves with chestnut crepes. We loved the amazing community of volunteers we met here, and grew closer as a group through the challenges of the work and rustic accommodations.
After a quick stop in Pisa to see the leaning tower, we arrived in Rome and dove deep into ancient Roman history. We toured the sites of the city and visited the Vatican, just missing King Charles in the Sistine Chapel!
Leaving Rome, we journeyed south to Cassano and Matera to work with a cultural exchange program and learn alongside local Italian students. We met more incredible volunteers and explored the surrounding towns, sampling their cuisines along the way. We especially loved the beautiful city of Matera with cave filled cliffs and ancient winding streets.
Finally we arrived in Naples, our last stop in Italy, to feast on pizza and explore Pompeii before flying to Greece.
We began our time in Greece on the island of Crete with our gracious host Xeno, who guided us around the island to explore archeological sites, work on a family farm, learn Greek, swim in the sea, and most importantly delight in Cretan cuisine cooked for us by the incredible, Kristina!
Then we were off to Athens, immersing ourselves in Greek history with a comprehensive tour of the city and then visits to the Acropolis and Acropolis Museum. We went rail biking along the coast and then embarked on our Student Directed Travel days.
It was incredible for us to see the students step up and take the lead, booking all of our transportation, accommodation, and activities, as well as leading us across the sea to the island of Aegina for four days of enjoying the island life. We saw an ancient Temple of Apollo and snorkeled in the sea, and got to know the waiters at our favorite local restaurants.
The students then led us to ReGreen, a permaculture farm tucked away in the mountains of the Peloponnese. We learned more about permaculture farming, went for hikes up into the mountains, and had daily drumming sessions, but once again the highlight was the food, cooked by our wonderful chef Bijan. For Thanksgiving he made sure to prepare us an amazing feast, and we taught our European hosts about the food and traditions of the holiday. This was also our coldest but coziest stop on our trip, so we drank countless cups of tea and played even more bird-based board games, keeping warm by the wood stoves and under cozy blankets.
And then suddenly we were in Athens for our final day, closing out the trip when it felt like we had just begun! We gave each other lots of love and appreciation, and looked back on the winding path that led us to our final night together. We cannot thank all of our wonderful, kind, inspiring, and hilarious students enough, and their families who supported them along the way. We also owe so much gratitude to Carpe Diem’s HQ team and our program director Mara, who guided us through all of our days in Italy and Greece. Wherever we all find ourselves around the world however many days or years from now, we will all cherish this time we spent together, and we will always have the beautiful friendships we built with each other.
