Traveler Testimonials

Testimonials

I asked students and adults who have traveled with me to post their thoughts.  I am going to include them all here.  If you are a parent considering letting your child travel with me to Europe you may find the testimonials of past travelers interesting reading!

If you are a past traveler, please include your first name, whether you were a student or adult,  and what trip/year you traveled!  Thanks for your contribution!

Home Sweet Home!

I just want to say that the group left early this morning and should be landing in Atlanta within the next few hours.   Thank you for entrusting your children to my care, I hope they had a wonderful time!  We have been so busy the last few nights and I couldn't get online last night to update you!

Yesterday was our last day in Paris and we had a wonderful time.  I took the group up to Montmartre and everyone enjoyed the stunning views of Paris in the lovely sunshine! Below are the girls on the steps of Sacre Coeur.

                                                On the bridge by Notre Dame cathedral!

                                           Carson looked like a pro on the Parisian metro!

                                                               On the Seine river cruise!


          I'll be in touch soon- I am anxiously awaiting word that they are in Atlanta, as you are!

We Love Amsterdam!

Hello from Beautiful Amsterdam! We are all sitting here recovering after a long day, waiting for dinner at Wagamama on the other side of the square. We had A wonderful tour on the bus this morning, and then we had a cruise on the canal. We really enjoyed that, it gave us a nice sense of the city and how beautiful it is. 

We have learned that there are approximately 1 million bicycles in Amsterdam and we have nearly collided with several hundred of them!!  Cameron actually was hit by a bicycle which gave us all a scare!! His pants were ripped and there was a little blood but he is a trooper and already laughing about it! (We both were shaking for a while though!! Lots of hugs!!)  He just told me "Well, at least I'm not dead!"

After the tours we broke up in groups as most of the kids wanted to go shopping and others of us wanted to go see museums. So we sent the kids off armed  with maps and directions on how to meet us here, and off they went.  Brittney, Carson, Jayne, Carol, Cam and I went to the Riksmuseum and then the Van Gogh museum. 

Countdown to Holland, France and England!

One Week!  The Countdown Begins.....


In one week the latest "Grand Adventure" begins.  A group of 15 of us will be headed to Amsterdam and Paris next Monday.  After the 8 day trip Sophie and her friend Michelle and Cameron and I will take the Eurostar to London and then the train to Diss to spend three weeks at Willow Corner Cottage. Bliss!! I am always so excited to be back in Europe for a month and just as excited to share my passion for travel and art and history with students and friends.  Of course the biggest treat for me is seeing my family. It is getting harder and harder to be so far away from them.

Last night I spent about an hour exploring the Anne Frank Museum site.  It is exceptionally well done and fun to navigate.  It's very informational and I strongly recommend it.  If you are interested in history and WWII or the Holocaust, you will love reading "The Diary of Anne Frank."   I visited Amsterdam in the 1980's and am looking forward to seeing the Anne Frank house again and sharing it with Sophie and Cameron.  Cameron has been exploring the site and learning a lot.

If you are interested in traveling with me next summer, we are going to Germany, Italy, Switzerland and Paris!   Click here for information, itinerary and costs.  Remember that you can sign up for monthly payments.  This is a trip which will cover a wide range of destinations and history- you will experience everything from a gondola ride in Venice, Italy to a concentration camp in Germany.  If you are interested in traveling please contact me or sign up as soon as possible. Please feel free to share the link with friends and family. An EF trip is always exceptional value for money and is truly one where Education is put First!

                                            This is one of my favorite fountains in Paris!


Please follow my blog if you are interested in getting updates!

Catching Up!

It has been a long time since I posted, so today is all about getting caught up with what is going on.  The most exciting thing since December has been a professional exchange with a high school in Belize.    Four of us from Northside were there from April 4th to the 13th.  We were in San Pedro, on the beautiful island of Ambergris Caye.  It was the first time I had been to Central America!

Above:

Our Belizean teacher friends Miss Giselle, Miss Joy and Miss Conchita working on 

visual journals in my classroom!

I brought about ten student journals with me that students from all over the school had worked on.  I presented them to teachers at SPHS.  While I was there I worked with students during and after school on visual journals. I met some wonderful students and teachers!  We are planning to go back next year. I was invited to paint a mural on the white wall around the school.  I'm hoping to bring two students next year that can help work on the mural and document the experience.

I am hoping to establish contact with a school in England since I will be there in July.  I have written to one and if I don't hear back I have another one I will try!  I would love to visit and talk to an art teacher in England to discuss similarities and differences.  It would be great to raise money and fly someone here to visit, since I know I will be there every summer!  I love collaborative projects, and think the students do as well.

Our last day of exams (and graduation!) is Monday June 10th.  We have a lot to do until then, including an art exhibit that all schools in the county are participating in,  a yearbook party when the yearbooks arrive (sometime in the next two weeks!  YIKES!!) and getting Art III and IV Honors portfolios and exams done.

I also started a Visual Journal Round Robin a few months ago, and am really enjoying that.  It is very rewarding to get something so beautiful in the post, and then work in it and contribute to whatever theme someone picked, and then mail it off the next month to the next contributor.  I will get my book back sometime next February I think.  (I hope!!)

This summer's European trip with students is to Amsterdam, Brussels and Paris.  We'll be traveling June 24th to the 1st of July, at which time I will head to beautiful Suffolk!!  I can't wait to see my family again.  You'd think it gets easier and easier each year, being so far away, but it actually gets harder and harder.

One of my pages from my recent journal.  I'll post more pics from Belize later!

AMSTERDAM, DELFT, BRUSSELS, PARIS

In June I will be leading my 9th tour to Europe with students and adults!  We will be flying to the Netherlands (Holland) and spend several days exploring the Anne Frank House and Van Gogh Museum before traveling to Delft, Brussels, then on to spend several days in Paris.  The great thing about this trip is that there will be free time in Amsterdam and Paris.  Students will accompany me during all free time in Amsterdam to sights not included in the city tour.  We will probably see the Van Gogh museum, the Rijksmuseum and explore the beautiful canals.  In Paris we will explore the Louvre, Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame cathedral, and have a comfortable coach city tour.  There will also be time to visit that special place in Paris that you may have always dreamed of visiting!

Please note that this is a student tour, but adults are welcome to join us for our grand adventure.  This is an excellent tour for the money!   Included in the price is round trip airfare, hotel with bathroom, all breakfasts and dinners, entry fees and tours.  You could never book your own trip to Europe for this price.

Please see the exact itinerary for details and price.  Contact me with any questions or to meet to discuss details.  If you think you will be going, or want to send your child(ren) please consider signing up as soon as possible.

artbrit@gmail.com

http://www.eftours.com/preview-tour.aspx?pt=GA-1184705&utm_source=RecCenter&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=SharedLink

Ready to Pack my Bags and GO!

The travel bug is eating away at me.  I am ready to go exploring and see new places, new people, new colors and landscapes.   As a result of what I consider to be lots of hard work and lots of great luck I am going to be traveling to quite a few places in 2013!   My first stop will be an educational trip to Belize with other teachers.  I will be hopefully doing some art workshops with students and teachers at San Pedro High School in Ambergris Caye, Belize.  We will be there for a week in February.   I am really looking forward to visiting Central America.  I want to make some connections between the students at Northside High School and the students at San Pedro High School.  I want to see Mayan Ruins so I can share that with my wonderful AP Art History online students and my spring semester students.  I am also looking forward to documenting the experience with my Canon and iPhone.

In June I will be departing with students and adults on a trip to Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels. 
Click on the link above to see the itinerary and information.  I will be having a meeting in my classroom on Thursday December 13th at 5:00pm.  It is very important that travelers enroll on the trip as soon as possible if you know you will be going.  This is to ensure that when flights are booked, you end up on the same plane as us!  Late travelers sometime end up having to travel on a different itinerary.  This trip will give us some wonderful tours but will also provide us with some wonderful free time to go exploring.  In Amsterdam we will all be going to visit the newly re-opened Van Gogh Museum and the Rijksmuseum!   In Paris we will go up to Sacre Coeur to see the city from above, to see the famous artists square and perhaps have some portraits or silhouettes done!

I am looking forward to spending some time in London and with my family in Suffolk in the summer after this trip.