To learn more about the UNAOC-EF Summer School, click here.

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When it comes to architecture, you appreciate each masterpiece for its design, engineering and contribution to the arts. Pay homage to the first city ever awarded the RIBA Gold Medal for architecture—Barcelona. From Gothic and Renaissance to Plateresque and Modernist, each piece tells a story.

Until time travel is an option, make your first destination Greece. You’ll find the birthplace of democracy, the site of the first Olympic games, the Parthenon, the Acropolis and the Temple of Apollo. Dust off your toga and discover where history was made

You don’t just hear music—you feel it. For this reason you should visit the music capital of the world in Vienna. Greats like Strauss, Schubert, Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven all created masterpieces in Vienna’s concert halls and on its stages. Each year their legacy is celebrated with performances from September to June.

You may love to form hypotheses, but we have a theory of our own—you’ll have a mind-blowing experience in Germany. The country that’s won the most Nobel Prizes in science in the 20th century is filled with research centers and interactive museums where you can flex your brain.   

As a foodie, making the trip to Italy isn’t just a good idea—it’s a must. Discover a place that boasts more than 400 types of cheeses, whose flavors continue to inspire chefs and influence cuisine worldwide.

Being indoors pains your spirit. Do your soul a favor and visit one of the greenest places on earth: Costa Rica. Boasting the most natural conservation in the world, you can trek through rainforests, hike volcanoes, raft wild rivers and discover wildlife. Answer the call of the wild and visit.

No matter what form art takes, you analyze it, discuss it, and most of all appreciate it. Give the curator that lives in you the trip of a lifetime to Paris. From the Louvre to Musee d’Orsay to the Pompidou Center, see why Paris inspires artists like nowhere else.

There’s a whole world of talents and treasures waiting to be discovered and shared. Choose your inspiration and then prepare for the journey of a lifetime. And this time, leave Fido at home.

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Raspail Market
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/people/yisris

Watch the BoBo – A recent social class found in Paris are the ‘Bobo’ (Bourgeois Bohemians). Most are quite wealthy and successful but in touch with the more street traditions and fashions. Anyway, there are a couple of Sunday markets where you will be able to find plenty of them. The Raspail Market (Metro station Rennes, Line 12) was the first organic market in the city and features the fabulous muffin stand run by two Americans who have persuaded many locals that breakfast can exist beyond the croissant. More centrally, in the beautiful Marais district, is the Marche les Enfants Rouge which is the oldest covered market in the city (dating back to the early 17th century). There are so many places to eat here and some terrific international cuisines on offer.

Luxembourg Gardens – I think these gardens are terrific at any time but there is something quite special about a sunny Sunday morning here. If you go to the Palais Royal, Tuileries or Versailles then you will be familiar with the formality of the French garden. The Luxembourg Gardens adopt more of the English feel (allowing nature to be free rather than regulated). On

Lady Liberty in Luxembourg Gardens -
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/people/yokocantspell/

the outside railings you will find temporary photo exhibits (as well as a great view of the Pantheon) while inside is the Florentine style palace built for Marie de Medici, an original model for the Statue of Liberty, a puppet theatre and just a wonderful array of locals, often with their families, enjoying the space and charm.

The African Market on rue Dejean (metro Château Rouge, Line 4) – I was introduced to this by a woman from Senegal who was on tour with me in Paris last year. Located close to Montmartre is this amazing street market (every day, except Monday) where you will find an intense array of colours, on both the stalls and the clothing of those visiting, as well as amazing foods and spices. Looking for a designer bag that has, shall we say, a less than designer price? This is the place to do it (anyone travelling with me gets to hear the tale of the Prada bag in Italy as a warning). I had lunch at a Senegalese restaurant and it was just terrific, try the pepper soup, incredible.

Walk – Paris is amazing at street level and just the right size that you can cover a good chunk of area on foot in a moderate amount of time. So, get up early and enjoy some of the major monuments before the crowds arrive. Organised sightseeing tours are rarely around before 9am so make the most of an hour (or more) and have those spectacular sites (mostly) to yourself. You will always find a cafe to stop at and there are plenty of streets which will seem like a good idea at the time and you won’t be disappointed. Despite the grid system and the Grands Boulevards there are enough detours to keep you guessing. If you really want to cover some ground then this has to be the best time of the week to get on two wheels. You can rent one of the Velib found all over the city and enjoy some traffic free streets.

Bastille Market – Starting in Place Bastille (metro Bastille or Breguet Sabin) and heading northwards, this outdoor market is a great place to spend a morning before any of the major galleries and sites open later in the day. There is the usual array of food stands, some amazing fish stalls among them, but there is also an eclectic enough range of things to keep you interested. As with any market in a foreign city it is as much about the people you will see there, a wonderful opportunity to see how the locals do it and join in. Close by is the Canal St Martin which runs underground from Bastille to Republique but you can find enough of the route to walk along. If you have seen the movie Amelie then you will recognise the iron bridges and tree-lined quays of the area.

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Together with their teachers, students spent the week traveling on one of five immersive EF tours, exploring Costa Rica’s rich biodiversity and learning firsthand about the environmental initiatives being taken by the country’s leaders.

The tour culminated in San José, where students gathered for the ‘Addressing Environmental Sustainability Conference’. The conference featured keynote speeches from former Vice President Al Gore, Costa Rica’s first Minister of Energy and Environment Dr. Alvaro Umana, and noted environmental advocate Severn Cullis-Suzuki.  During the summit, students worked together using critical thinking and problem-solving strategies to identify potential solutions to global issues.

Watch this video recap of the event:

EF’s next Global Student Leaders Summit will take place in March 2014, in China, where students will convene to discuss the new global economy. For more information, visit the 2014 Global Student Leaders Summit page on eftours.com, and check out this video.

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Students on EF Service Learning Tour

In 1990, Congress passed the National and Community Service Act, which defines service learning as a method through which students learn and develop by actively participating in thoughtfully organized service on-site to meet a community’s needs. Integrated service learning enhances a curriculum and provides structured time for reflection, which helps foster a sense of civic responsibility — just one reason that a tremendous number of resources have emerged as the percentage of players involved has significantly increased.  Educators have access to thousands of articles, books, toolkits, and research papers as well as numerous professional development events and conferences.  Furthermore, increased funding from federal, state, local, and private sources helps service learning practitioners design thoroughly researched programs and disseminate best practices.

This upward trend is expected.  Service learning can expand education and call to ethical action a generation of students developing social responsibility.  Engaged youths provide direct assistance to a community while learning about the context of their service, the connection to their own learning and ambitions, and their roles as global citizens.

However, the two halves of the service learning equation aren’t quite equal. Educators’ research shows that volunteers cultivate social responsibility, counteract racism, and strengthen leadership, personal, and social skills — all positive developments. On the other hand, important questions remain unresolved on the service side of the equation. How and why are the service projects being set up? Does the community design them? Who is facilitating discussion and directing the learning goals? While often a transformative experience, service can reinforce prejudices if opportunities are not handled with mindful intent, humility and compassion.

Dominican Republic Service Learning Tour

What’s needed now is the same critical analysis already applied to learning.  The truth is not all service learning programs are created equal, and the market is saturated with both service and learning programs that are not mindfully designed, executed, or assessed. EF recognizes the importance of the quality of the overall student experience, and our goal is to design innovative programs and activities with equally strong service and learning components. This means responding to the legitimate interests of all involved: students, faculty, parents, educational institutions, community agencies, and the communities themselves — and adhering to principled guidelines promoting truly reciprocal community partnerships, advocacy and community development, and evaluation strategies that ensure continual improvement.

EF partners with global and local non-profit and community organizations to ensure project authenticity and community buy-in.  As part of our continuing innovation, we have developed weShare, an online educational tool that connects students to their travel experience before, during, and after their trip. Our reflection exercises include critical analysis of community issues, service strategies, social changes, agency and social policies, and community structure. In addition to the standard Tour Director, EF provides tours with a Service Director to facilitate group discussions and reinforce service learning goals. Lastly, and most importantly, our programs emphasize mindfulness, training students to calm their minds, focus their attention, connect with their peers and the community, and open their eyes to all there is to explore.

I invite you to learn more about EF’s innovative approach to service learning.  Come take your first step towards truly experiencing different cultures while, at the same time, taking an introspective journey within your own mind.  Also, stay tuned for future posts, where we delve into the specifics of our unique programming and reflect on the success of projects that have been completed.

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Leaning Tower at night (Photo credit: Ramon Roura)

This week marks the date, in 1964, when the Italian government finally accepted the need to look for professional help in preventing the Leaning Tower of Pisa from what appeared to be a terminal tilt that would end in collapse. Construction on the bell tower (I know, you got that from the quiz) began in the 1173. Bell towers were often detached from the main church for the somewhat prosaic reason that the large bells might damage the structure of the church. Elsewhere in the Field of Miracles you can see the cathedral, the Camposanto and the Baptistery, all three being separate constructions. As wonderful as the others might be, it is the tower that people come to see, the good burghers of Pisa knew this and feared for a decline in their tourism industry should the tower fall.

The tower began leaning during construction, work was stopped after three levels to allow it to settle and become a bit straighter. By the mid 14^th century the tower was still leaning and so the decision was taken to add more steps on one side at the top, the idea being that by adding weight the tower would be balanced and resistant to further lean. It was a process that took ten years, however, the lean continued. Subsequent attempts all dealt with trying to stabilize the tower at ground level, effectively to hold it in place (under Mussolini’s direction, large amounts of cement were poured). Unfortunately, all of these things just made the lean worse and by the 1960′s projections were made that, should things continue as they were, the tower would collapse sometime in the next hundred years. The problem, quite simply was not the size of the tower or its weight, it was the subsoil. The alluvial subsoil, with clay deposits but a sandy base, meant that the tower was always prone to shift.

So, it became clear that the idea had to be dealing with what was beneath the Tower. If the sandy soil could be removed and replaced then this would prevent the continued lean. By drilling into the ground the process was begun, the Tower itself was held in place by large steel cables and blocks of lead at the base. At the time, the tower was shifting 1.2 millimetres per year, so the 700-ton lead ingots were applied as counterweights. The renovation also saw 70 tons of earth removed from around the tower. The work was successful and caused the tower to right itself by 19 inches. By 1998 the tower had been restored to the angle of 1838. Current predictions are that the tower will be good for another 200 years (by which time invisible scaffold will probably have been invented – I’m not sure, I’m not really a scientist).

Climbing the tower is once again possible, it had been closed for over a decade after 1990. There are a limited number of tickets and it is a strict ‘one down, one up’ situation – which makes it tricky finding the time for a group to go.  If you have the chance, however, I recommend it. I climbed it many years ago (before it was closed) and it is a mixture of stunning views and vertiginous lean as you go outside onto the and smooth marble ledges (sans barriers) and sense the drop beneath you. Whether you get to climb or enjoy it from ground level, there remains something mildly captivating about the tower that seemed to defy gravity for so long.

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Scott Hemker and student travelers

As a Group Leader, my number one goal is to ensure that my students have the best experience possible when traveling with me abroad.  I want to see them grow in a number of ways, ranging from building self-esteem and confidence, to strengthening language skills and broadening their worldly perspectives.  My trips aren’t about me; they are about my students.  Every single aspect of planning is based around what is best for them.

For some reason, however, not enough of my blog posts are actually about the students themselves.  With a departure date less than two weeks away for my group of 35 traveling to Costa Rica, I’d like to give my readers an opportunity to hear from actual students.   These are hard-working students that will soon join the fraternity of those that have experienced international student travel.  Upon their return, they will share the same passion for traversing the globe along with a deeper understanding of our world.  This month, I’ve asked some of my own students to write about the reasons why they’ve decided to step out of their comfort zones and embark upon an incredible journey with the St. Louis High School Spanish Club and EF Educational Tours.

Students chose to participate in educational travel for a variety of reasons.  It’s important for us to ask them their motives for doing so in order to provide opportunities that will ensure that their investments in the experience yield the highest returns possible.   The knowledge we gain from these discussions help us to differentiate the learning experiences for our travelers, thus making the experience all about the students.

I’d love to hear responses from other students.  Why do you choose to travel?

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You know it’s a big deal because not only did Queen Elizabeth II go down to Baker Street and ride an escalator but K-Mid (I know, me too, but apparently that’s how she is known in some quarters) turned up too and was generously given a ‘Baby on Board’ badge. So, lots of nice photo opportunities (Queen on an escalator, Queen on train, Queen holds a ticket etc…). However, last week there was another visitor on the underground with a most touching story which I thought I would share.

London Tube – Clapham South Station (Photo credit: the fabulous politnik)

If you’ve ridden on the tube then you are probably aware of the austere but informative announcement of ‘Mind the Gap’ which is played at various stations advising travelers to, well, mind the gap between the platform and the train. I promise you, it is almost impossible for that announcement to be played without some newcomer to the tube repeating it in an equally solemn tone as they move along the platform. Never gets old that one. Go to the London Transport Museum in Covent Garden and you can even pick up a t-shirt with said message.

Anyway, back to the story. So, the recording was made back in the 1960s by an actor called Oswald Laurence. Laurence died just over five years ago and, since then, his wife Dr Margaret McCollum had made regular trips down to Embankment station to hear the announcement (this was the last station using the recording of her late husband’s voice). So, you can imagine her concern last November when she heard a different announcement. A new PA system had been put in and a digital version of the recording was now being played.

Dr McCollum contacted London Transport and asked why the change had been made. They explained the new system and why it had happened and then they did something rather nice. The head of London Underground got in touch with the necessary technicians and asked them if they could reinstate the old recording. They had a copy, so it was possible to do and, coming soon, Oswald Laurence’s voice will be reinstated at Embankment station. And that is it, a nice story and smiles all round, well done London Transport.

Finally, if you think making these announcements is an easy thing (you just talk loudly and sit back waiting for the cash to pour in) well here’s a quick quiz for those in the US – fingers on buzzers…how would you pronounce Marylebone? Apparently, this was the one name that broached most discussion when station announcements were being revised a few years ago. In case you’re wondering, it’s pronounced ˈmær əl ə bən’. If you’re from elsewhere in Europe (not you Ireland) then have a go at Leicester Square.

Anyway, taking a London tour soon? Good chance your tube journey will take you through Embankment station so you know what to listen out for.

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St. Patrick’s Day in Chicago (Photo by: S. Hardy)

United States

More than 36 million Americans trace their roots to Ireland—and that number doubles on St. Patrick’s Day. So it may not come as a surprise that the first St. Paddy’s Day parade took place in the streets of New York in 1766. What started as a band of Irish soldiers has since grown to nearly 3 million spectators who gather for the world’s largest ensemble of pipers, step dancers, floats, costumes and Celtic music. From Chicago’s green river to New Orleans’ emerald beads, traditions in the U.S. bring out the Irish in everyone.

Italy

Forget pizza. Or at least table it for a second. For 10 days in March, the capital of Tuscany hosts the “Festa Irlandes,” a festival of Irish music, food and drink. The celebration is attended by thousands of guests who enjoy dishes like potato soup, beef in Guinness, smoked salmon and above all, Irish ale. As if you needed another reason to go to Italy. But Tuscans aren’t the only Italians going green—On March 17, the Tower of Pisa will be proudly be aglow in shades of emerald—a tribute to their Irish friends.

St. Patrick’s Day in Moscow (Photo by: P. PZ)

Russia

Russia added the holiday to its menu in 1992 and the result would make any Irish mother proud. What started as a humble parade in the capital of Moscow has since garnered the support of international sponsors—from Pepsi to Guinness. Local Irish bars create their own floats, and dog owners of Moscow’s native Irish Wolfhounds proudly march their pets around town.

Ireland

Ironically, the one place St. Patrick’s Day was never a big to-do was Ireland. It wasn’t until 1996 that they organized their first St. Patrick’s Festival in an effort to increase tourism. The original 2-day event is now a five-day festival with more than 1 million visitors and an impressive array of concerts, fireworks, outdoor theater, and more.

Belgium

Belgians are no strangers to folklore or beer—two central themes in local culture. So, it’s no surprise they embraced St. Patrick’s Day with open arms. In the center of Schuman area in the EU Quarter of Brussels, known as the Irish village, is where the holiday parade takes place. Then, the greening of Manneken Pis, the symbol of Brussels folklore, is dressed in an Irish knit sweater and green tweed.

Spain

Molly Malone’s, The Irish Rover, O’Connell’s and The James Joyce—Irish pubs you’re likely to find along Boston’s cobbled streets, but Madrid? It’s hardly a load of blarney. Even the Cibeles fountain is dyed green in honor of San Patricio. Over the last decade Irish bars have popped up all over Spain, particularly in the south where many Irish ex-pats now reside. Castles, city squares and monuments across the country will be lit up in shades of shamrocks, with special events and parties hosted by local bars.

Laura Hearn / Google+

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