Our Year 8 Geography and Classics students had a trip they will never forget after spending five days in Sicily last week (Wednesday 11th – Sunday 15th April). Year 8 student, Harriet Benjamin summarises her experience:

The trip began with a very early start with a lot of excitement and expectation on the coach. Our first location was the Lungamare or promenade on the seafront at Syracuse and then into the old city with churches and Baroque architecture. This was followed by the Greek Theatre and Ampitheatre at the archaeological park.

The theme of the trip was now firmly established as Geography and Classics, the present firmly embedded in the past. The following day saw us studying tectonics 3300 metres up on Mount Etna.

On our third day, we climbed Mount Vulcano to see the crater and sulphur plumes and bathed in the geothermally heated mud pools. Saturday was a complete contrast as we ventured into the interior to visit the Roman hunting lodge of Villa Romana del Casale and its magnificent mosaics and the hill top town of Piazza Armerina. The day culminated in the beautiful resort of Taormina for souvenir shopping and a visit to the Greek Theatre overlooking the bay.

Since we did not fly back to the UK until late afternoon we were able to squeeze in two more sites on our last day. The La Timpa nature reserve involved a 17th century track down a 150 metre cliff to see the fishing village of Santa Maria and the cyclops rocks; the old centre of Catania provided an unexpected visit to an empty monastic church. The trip was hugely varied and much enjoyed. Thank you to all the staff who made this possible.

View photos from the trip here.