Stonehill College Alumni Travel

On October 10th the third Stonehill College Alumni Travel Program will depart for a "Literary Tour of London & Paris". Academic Vice President and Provost Katie Conboy will serve as faculty guide and join the group of alumni and friends as they tour historic and literary sites in both cities and surrounding areas. Some highlights include a guided tour at the Charles Dickens House Museum and a makeup and costume demonstration at the Globe Theatre. Group members will take excursions to Versailles, Stonehenge, Windsor, Giverny, Cantebury and more. While in London, the gorup will be joined at dinner by current Stonehill students who are studying or interning in England for the semester as well as some recent graduates who have relocated to London. Some travelers have already planned to attend an evening or two at the theatre. The trip will conclude in Paris and our final evening will feature a special farewell dinner and a cruise along the Seine. Watch for updates on the onli...

Our 3AM wake up call came and everyone was on the bus for the 4AM departure to the airport in Milan. We did not hit any traffic and arrived with plenty of time to arrive at the airline check-in counter and wait for it to open. As they open and the first of our group start checking in; we get the news that they cannot supply boarding passes for our second flight (we flew from Milan to Dublin and then from Dublin to Boston) and that we would need to get these boarding passes from the check-in counter in Dublin. Now, we had realized that we had just 1 hour from the time our first flight was scheduled to land and the time our second flight was supposed to depart. We had already prepared ourselves to be organized and efficient (with no restroom breaks) at the Dublin airport. Now we needed to schedule a stop at the counter to get boarding passes. So the strategizing began. Everyone who needed to visit the tax free office left the gate and went back ot the Milan airport entrance to prepare th...

After a very enjoyable day in Siena and San Gimignano we freshened up and headed to the local restaurant for our Farewell Dinner. We said our goodbyes and thank you's to Karin, who offered some very lovely words about our group, our trip and about Italy. About midway through our meal a group at one table began tapping their glasses to get everyone's attention and Frank stood up to offer a toast. Others followed suit with several of our travelers offering words of thanks, comraderie, enjoyment and enthusiasm. It was such a nice tribute to our group and to Stonehill.

A great bus ride (thanks Sergio!) through Tuscany - seeing an American cemetery for veterans and lots of vineyards. Beautiful! Up the mountain to the lovely San Gimignano. Another quaint town with lots of character - and plenty of shops. Everything from fine leather, wine, jewelry and delis. Everyone enjoyed having a very relaxing and enjoyable day today. We will head down the street for our final group dinner and then up extra early (3am wake up call) to make it to the airport in Milan in time for our flight. We'll see everyone soon!

Today we headed to wine country (or part of it anyway). We stopped first in Siena. Many of us attended Sunday Mass at St. Catherine's. Although it wasn't in the main church it was very nice to participate. We later got to tour the main church with Karrin and saw more beautiful altars, frescos, staues, etc. We walked through the town with Karrin, seeing many great vistas and sites and we saw the first Bank building ever! The Plaza in Siena was amazing. It had a lovely fountain but was just huge and carried with it the image of Italy most of us had in our minds back in the states. It was very quaint. So many of us would love to return here!

This morning we woke up (early again) and headed to Venezia. We learned from Karrin how the city was formed and that it is actually 380 different islands with the city taking up just over 100 of them. Karrin asked who wanted to buy an island! We met up with our local guide Rita and hit St. Mark's Plaza. Another beautiful spot! And then into Doge's Palace. The Doge had been "President" elected by councilors for a lifetime position - although simply a figurehead for the city. This is the most famous museum in Venice. We passed through the room with 4 doors, the Senate Room, the Department of Justice and the Prison. The winged lion is the symbol of St. Mark, and consequently, the symbol for Venice and was featured in several pieces throughout the museum. We saw another 24 hour clock here and visited the Great Council Hall. This is the biggest room in Europe without support columns. It also features the largest "Paradise" painting in the world. We then went to S...

After the Duomo, we saw the Baptistry, which was the original church until the Duomo was completed and was dedicated to St. John the Baptist. We then headed to a square filled with statues and broke for a 2 hour block of free time. Many enjoyed lunch and even more enjoyed the shopping in the fine stores and the marketplaces. Upon regrouping we went to the Uffitzi Gallery. A highlight for anyone coming to Florence. We began in the ancient rooms with Alessandra "whispering" to us all the important facts and Allyson answering all of our questions. We proceeded to the Botticelli room which houses "The Birth of Venus" and "Springtime", among others. We saw the only completed painting by da Vinci in Florence today as well as the only one of Michealangelo's in Florence as well. The Raphael room was also a highlight, with the "Portrait of Pope Leo X" and how he was able to blend colors to create 3 shades of red to highlight fabrics and how this piece...