Team AZ Travel Journal

Last Post

Mr. Girard — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 21:59:51 +0000

This’ll be the last post for the Team AZ Travel Journal. It’s been some experiment keeping travelers informed about the last tour in 2005 and the imminent tour we’re planning for the end of the 2010-2011 school year, but maintaining three separate blogs takes a bit of time, something I don’t have enough of the days.

Of course, I’ve already got a 2013 tour in mind, and I’m working on a new web endeavor at Schoology in which the new tour information will live next to content I keep for my classes.

Tour Information Meeting

Mr. Girard — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 14:00:21 +0000

Hello potential travelers and parents. This post is to remind you that I’ll be holding information meetings for the 2011 European Capitals tour on Tuesday, August 31, and Wednesday, September 1, from 7:00–8:00 pm in my classroom, T-12, at Canyon del Oro High School.

We’ll discuss general tour details, how this tour compares to others offered by other educational travel companies, and I’ll certainly review the costs.

If you’re interested, please return the bottom portion of the invitation letter I made available at Open House so I know who I can expect on which nights so I can prepare enough materials. Until then, you can find more information on Current Tour page of this website.

Please contact me if you have any questions. I look forward to hearing from you soon and meeting with you Tuesday or Wednesday evening.

British Art and Architecture

Mr. Girard — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 00:01:35 +0000

All of the museums in London are free to enter, and the National Gallery is one among many worth spending some time in. (Another favorite of mine is the Natural History Museum.) Recently the museum put several forgeries on display (“National Gallery to reveal its fakes in exhibition”) that included works attributed to Hans Holbein, the Younger.

I encountered Holbein’s famous work, The Ambassadors, which I’ve embedded below, very unexpectedly when I went into the National Gallery to use the restroom the last time I was in London. The Holbein was one of several works I’d seen and appreciated in art history and humanities classes in college, but that I’d never thought I come face to face with. It was amazing.

Here’re links to some other stories on recent discoveries in England having to do with art and architecture and history:

It’s been a year since many of you signed-on the tour, kids, and now we’re only 283 days away from departure. I hope you’re starting to feel the excitement.

BONUS: To think about for your free time in the English capital (although I already covered number one on the list in this post): “What Not To Do In London: The Top Five Tourist Mistakes”.

Italian Art and Architecture

Mr. Girard — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 00:15:22 +0000

You’ll recognize the fresco below from T-12, but little can prepare you for the sight of Michelangelo’s The Last Judgment itself at the Vatican. You might take the virtual tour of the Sistine Chapel to give you some perspective. (Be sure to pan up to see the ceiling, too, where you might be able to detect what two researchers have called Michelangelo’s secret message.)

While the Sistine Chapel was restored relatively recently, some are worried about the state of Rome’s other landmarks: “Is Rome’s Ancient Heritage Crumbling?”.

Here’re links to two stories about other famous works of art in cities on our tour, Florence and Paris, respectively: “Botticelli’s love drug” and “French scientists crack secrets of Mona Lisa” (not exactly Italian, but Renaissance).

It’s only 290 days until we leave kids.

C’était un Rendez-vous

Mr. Girard — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 14:00:09 +0000

Here’s a really bitchin’ short film, C’était un Rendez-vous, shot in Paris in 1976. If you know the city, even a little, you may recognize several of its famous landmarks. If you don’t know the French capital, you’ll have your chance soon enough because we depart on our current tour in less than 300 days.

Underground

Mr. Girard — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 14:00:07 +0000

Here’s a disgusting story from the first city on our tour next year: “‘Walls of fat’ removed from London’s sewers”. We’ll be spending some time underground next year in the London Tube and Paris Metro system, but they’re clean―London more than Paris―and safe. They’re certainly not as beautiful as this particular Swedish subway system, though I can’t imagine an underground train system in the world that is (Athens’ is very nice).

For those of you interested in even deeper and natural pursuits, here’re “9 jaw-dropping caves” around the world that you might put on your “To see” list for the future, but for now keep your eye on our May departure for next year 318 days from now!

Watersports

Mr. Girard — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 14:00:36 +0000

Amsterdam is known too well for its tolerance of certain behaviors, probably to the point of caricature. Wakeboarding in the city’s canals is certainly against the law, but I ran across this video of some daring scofflaws challenging the tranquility of Amsterdam, our first stop after London on tour next year. (I’m not endorsing this activity, although I suppose this isn’t the worst you could do in Amsterdam to get in trouble.)

You’ll be surprised also later in the same northern leg of our tour when we pass by the Englischer Garten in Munich, where we might see some adventurous types surfing the standing wave in the Eisbach man-made river.

Fun stuff, but don’t get any ideas. We’ll have plenty to see and do without breaking local ordinances.

We leave in 332 days, Team AZ.

Showcase 2009: Athens and Home

Mr. Girard — Sat, 29 May 2010 14:00:23 +0000

This post of photos from the final days of last year’s tour was too long in coming, but the anxieties of the end of the school year got the better of me. Anyway, after we disembarked the cruise ship in Athens, we began our tour of the Greek capital. It was hot, and the city isn’t the cleanest, but we made the most of rest of our time in Europe before heading home the next day. Here’s Team AZ at the Panathinaiko Stadium which was built in the 6th century BC and refurbished for the first modern Olympic Games in 1896.

Tony practices his pull at the stadium, above. Below, Team AZ in front of the Parthenon after a hot day in Athens. We missed the opening of the New Acropolis Museum by a few days, but maybe we’ll have time next tour.

Team AZ about to eat lunch in Athens.

The team curls-up and stretches-out anywhere they can in the Frankfurt Airport. Here’s Karen.

Casey.

Conor.

Trevor.

The Baileys.

That’s 21 days in from London to Athens. I would’ve liked a photo at TIA when we disembarked, but we were all to eager to see our families.

The European Showcase was a most excellent trip, but next year we’ll take a different route that begins in London and ends instead in Barcelona. We leave in 339 days!

Iceland’s Volcano

Mr. Girard — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 14:00:35 +0000

Here’s some old news but neat media. The recent eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano provided striking photographic opportunities. One of my favorites is this NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day showing the unbelievable power and magnitude of this natural event:

Find more photos at the Boston Globe’s Big Picture and Cool Pictures | Cool Stuff blog.

The decision by air officials to halt air travel was controversial, but, as a nervous flier already, I’d rather stay grounded than take a chance of losing engine power in flight: “Volcanic ash: why it’s bad for planes”. And who wouldn’t have wanted, if you have happen to be stranded there, to spend more time in Rome? Or Amsterdam?

The air-travel ban over Europe also demonstrated just how much we rely on reliable flight service daily and how important this ability is: “Volcano illustrates world’s interconnectedness”. Here’s an animation, “Airspace Rebooted” from ItoWorld, that shows the return of air-traffic after the ban was lifted:

We’re just over a year out from our imminent tour, Team AZ. I’ll be talking to you soon about how we’ll begin to prepare.

Home, Home Again

Mr. Girard — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 14:00:30 +0000

I like to be here when I can.

Every time I leave Tucson for an extended period of time, such as when I left to teach in Asia and South America and the two times I traveled with students to Europe, I always appreciated the Old Pueblo more when I returned. No doubt you’ll get homesick while we’re touring Europe’s capitals next year (like I’m sure these men and women do: “LAX parking lot is home away from home for airline workers” ), so here’re some stories about places travelers call home and where they rest their heads at night.

For extended stays, budget stays travelers can try “The cheapest places to live in the world”. Travelers who have resources to spare might enjoy the world’s most unusual places to sleep at night and these top 10 paradises on Earth. Our lodgings on tour next year won’t be spartan and they certainly won’t be luxurious, but they’ll be very comfortable and safe.

We’re 409 days out Team AZ. Seems like a long time to wait, but it’ll be worth it.