Day Two: Welcome to Athens

 

The Sun setting on a beautiful day!

My view tonight, as I write this blog, is surreal. The sun is setting on the Aegean Sea.  I am at a poolside bar with my laptop open and a swarm of mosquitoes buzzing about, but it is worth it.  It reminds me of a late night blog entry I composed in the hills of Belize. Except, tonight, my Wifi is exceptional and back then, I had to use the hotel's computer, lol.  We had a long travel day and walked a bit this afternoon, but generally everyone seems to be in good spirits.  

Most of us could count the number of hours we slept on one hand.  That's unfortunate.  The flights were fine, just a little bumpy at small intervals, but sleep was hard to come by.  A bunch of the kids watched movies to help the time pass, others played games, and even others chatted into the wee hours. As the dawn broke though some open windows, Greece started to appear below. Air Canada served us a small cup of yogurt and a piece of cake for breakfast. I ate it before I realized I should take a picture of it.  

We landed on time and de-planed in good order. This passport check was more successful than our last time and we started towards the customs and immigration checkpoint. By this point, I had heard from Laertis and my suspicions were correct. He was picking us up for a quick visit to downtown while the other group was coming in late and would head to the hotel.  This came with mixed emotions from some of us who just wanted to lay down for a bit, lol. We went through the passport control, grabbed our luggage, and some changed for the day outside. 

Laertis giving his safety instructions

Our view from the road

My view from the road as half of these kids are asleep

Laertis brought us to the backside of the Acropolis. There is a small shopping district there with lots of places to eat.  Everyone found a place to sit and ordered a variety of foods. Everyone told me it was delicious.  I couldn't sit and needed to walk so I asked Laertis where I could get the best local Gyro.  He showed me the spot on Google Maps and I was off. It was only 6 minutes away and it was so delicious. Freshly grilled pita bread topped with shaved chicken, some fries, salad, and sauces.  There was an even better surprise waiting for me...

Bloggers Edit: I am transferring my location because of the mosquitoes. I'm now in the lobby.

To my surprise, Diet Coke!!!

Little did I know that the ban on Diet Coke has not hit Greece yet. I may have even bought a one liter to take on the bus ride with me tomorrow.  What a great day!

After our meal, we headed back to the bus. Some kids got a kick out of a risque museum that we passed. You'll have to ask them about it because I don't want o be censored. 

It was roughly an hour's drive south to the hotel and mostly everyone caught some Zzzs.  The drive was partly through an urban neighborhood and also on stunning coastline. I image you will see more pictures of the scenery over the next few days. 

The Alexander Beach Hotel is out of season, but I am sure when it is a little warmer here, that the place is packed.  It has a really nice pool and a beachfront too.  

The view from my room

The game room

The pool before the kids found it

The beachfront

The pool after the kids found it

My reward for not sleeping at all

The Hotel Alexander Beach

We arrived to the hotel at approximately 4pm.  Dinner would be served at 7:30 so it gave plenty of time to explore the grounds and take advantage of many of the perks of this hotel. Not everyone was adventurous as many tried to sneak in a quick nap.  The other group, from Canada, arrived just as we were eating dinner. We haven't really met them yet, but the kids seemed nice and their adult travelers looked as weary as ours. I am sure kids will start interacting soon.

It was near the end of dinner when the sun started to set. A bunch of people went to get their golden hour shots. I went off and grabbed my laptop.  This is a relatively early post for me while on tour, but I am so good with that.  We are all going to try and get a good night's sleep, but it might be hard. Another student group is arriving, as I type, and there are so many of them. They are also European. I can't pick up the language yet, but I don't think it is Greek. Regardless, they probably haven't been up for 20+ hours. Maybe they will be quiet. 

Tomorrow is supposed to be a pretty relaxing day too. Laertis has informed me that the next few days are mostly in small villages with not many tourists. He also said four EF groups are here running the same itinerary so the chance of bumping into them along the way is pretty high.  Besides when I am tired and cranky, I love seeing kids from all over seeing the world first hand. It reminds me of my motto.  One must travel to learn isn't just something that I believe, it is something that lots of educators from all over the world believe. This crowd of children is begrudgingly reminding me of this at this exact moment...I think it might be two busses full of kids, lol. Amidst it all, four of our kids are in the lobby with me. They are just scrolling on their phones kind of talking to each other from time to time. Kids being kids in 2026.

Mr. Lavoie, sitting here shocked at how loud and crowded this lobby just got and thinking he'd fare better with the skeeters!

Day One: Oh Canada: Pepsi, Pesto, and Passports

Today has flown by, forgive the pun!  I woke up around 5am and puttered around the house before getting ready. I spoiled myself by hiring someone to clean (she visits every month or so) and I planned on having her visit while I was away.  Nothing better than coming home to a clean house! Anyways, I had to clean up for her, lol.  Mr. Sepulveda was scheduled to arrive at 11 and our driver, an Uber driver that I met leaving Fenway last week, was scheduled thereabouts too.  Around 1045, I brought my bag outside and as I hid my EV Charger, Mr. S pulled up.  And, then the driver did too.  I quickly gathered the rest of my things and we took off.

This trip had us taking Air Canada through Montreal on the way to Athens, but even though Canada is a foreign country, we departed through Terminal B. The Air Canada ticket counter was open and we checked in and gave up our suitcases.  After chatting for a bit, the first students started to arrive. We had planned on meeting at 12:30, but everyone was early.  Thanks All!!!  We posed for a quick group photo and headed towards security.  I have TSA Pre-Check, so we made sure everyone got in line and then I scurried through pre-check and met everyone on the other side.  We walked to our gate, acclimated ourselves with the surroundings, and then broke into smaller groups for snacks, drinks, or lunch.  There was another school waiting at the gate, a group from Haverhill also going to Greece...they are on our overnight flight with us too. I wasn't feeling too hungry so I took a walk around the terminal, bought a diet coke and some Combos, and chilled by the gate. Our group had a lot of room while waiting for the flight so everyone was able to relax a bit and then our flight was called.

I always try to be the last of us on any flight and today was no exception.  But, something magical happened while waiting in line.

My phone vibrated with a text message from Air Canada that I had been upgraded to Business Class.  I was so pleasantly surprised.  While I am not positive, I think it is because I joined the airlines' frequent flyer program last night. AI told me I could get discounted internet if I was a member.  That said, our plane was kind of small and with the two school groups on board, I don't think there were a lot of frequent flyers on board. I didn't request the upgrade (and there is at least one other group leader on board), but I did join their membership. Who knew!!!

The perk for my Business Class foray was a complimentary cheese plate and beverage.  I love trying different airline foods and was psyched to get some bonus bites to blog about.  You can look at the picture to see what I had because I am not posh enough to know everything, but I think I had half of a fig newton, two slices of cheese, dehydrated mangos, a date, and a wedge of soft cheese. There were two brown crackers there that reminded me more of brown bread in a can than anything that might crack...oh, and I discovered some jam after I had finished everything else (except the soft cheese).  It was a nice little meal and I knew it would hold off my appetite when we landed in Montreal.  I also got my last Diet Coke (most likely) for the next 8 days.  

Boston Harbor, Saugus is far in the distance.

Montreal. The Olympic Stadium is in the foreground

It is a short 45 minute long flight from Boston to Montreal.  Just enough time to really enjoy the extra leg room and cheese plate. The flight attendant chatted with me for a bit and told me how common it is for kids to accidently leave their belongings behind (especially their passports).  I told her about one of our kids in 2013 who did that and almost got stuck in JFK.  She said she'd make a special announcement reminding both groups to check thoroughly.

We eventually landed and exited the plane. We gathered and I asked to see everyone's passport.  I checked and was satisfied and we headed towards our connection when one of the kids told me that someone's passport was still on the plane. A huge dope-slap myself. I thought I saw a passport, but it was just a blueish wallet or something.  Fortunately, they realized it was on the flight and was able to retrieve it. My flight attendant friend laughed, good naturedly, at me when she saw me scurrying to the student. All was well and we moved on.

The connecting terminal was quite easy, but also kind of busy. We just needed to scan our boarding passes twice and then enter into Terminal A. There were lots of people...it was much busier than I thought it would be. Our gate changed shortly after landing, so we walked to Gate 65 and dispersed for an hour or so until our next flight boarded. I am used to longer connections where I would grab some additional photos, but I didn't even think of it. My apologies!

Some of us on the big plane

We boarded the flight quicker than I expected and I was really happy with the leg room and comfortability of the seats. It is a 9 hour flight and I am able to stretch my legs a little bit. I've had some sardine cans for planes before but this one was pretty new and pretty good. One of the kids told me they didn't think they should make planes this big, lol, and I told her it isn't that big compared to others. I was really hoping we'd have one of those new planes where the bathrooms are down stairs in a little room, but this is quite traditional.

Dinner service started about an hour and a half into the flight and I was very pleased that the choices included chicken or pasta.  Frequent readers of this blog know that I really enjoy airplane food and I heard one of the flight attendants really talking up the pasta to kids in the other group. It was a Pesto Pasta.  I figured if it was good enough for that guy, it would be good enough for me.  The chicken, I think, was served with potatoes and corn.  I also think it had a mustard based sauce on it. It sounded pretty good.

A Cold Corn Salad

Pesto Pasta

My dessert. Chocolate Cake

My meal consisted of three courses.  The first course was a cold corn salad. It was dressed perfectly with a delicious olive oil and blended with bits of peppers and tomato (I think).  It was delightfully refreshing and complimented my earlier cheese plate. The second course was my Pesto Pasta. It disappointed, sadly. First, most of the pasta was cold.  It wasn't supposed to be cold, but it was. Even after mixing it all up, it was still only luke warm.  The pesto wasn't very pestoey either. You could taste it, but it didn't hit like I wanted it to hit.

To add insult to injury, this Air Canada flight didn't carry Coke products. The whole airport seemed to have Pepsi and so I opted for Ginger Ale. It is probably better that I didn't have any more caffeine anyways. For those wondering, the EU basically banned Diet Coke around the same time as Covid. Europeans much prefer Coke Zero, but I don't.  I am fairly confident I had the last Roman Diet Coke in 2022.  It is very difficult to find.  One of these days, I will shift the blogs focus from travel to my takes on issues like this, but not today.  It's almost 11 at home and Greece is quickly approaching.  I don't need to get on my soap box tonight.

Back to my meal, lol. The chocolate cake was perhaps the star of the night. I initially thought it was a brownie, but it was so spongey.  It had a thicker frosting on it that resembled the top of a brownie, but was soft and rich and melted in my mouth.  It sadly disappeared after two bites! I didn't dare ask for seconds.  

After dinner concluded, I felt a kind of pain in my foot. I think it swelled up because of the pressure. My shoes are relatively new and my left foot felt uncomfortable. I decided to take my shoes off and I am so glad I did. It probably grosses some readers out, but I have socks on and it is sooooo much more comfy than if I kept the shoes on. I should have worn my sandals with socks anyways.  Live and learn!

I am still not 100% sure what tomorrow will bring. Our Tour Director, Laertis informed me that we'd be met at the airport by a colleague of his and that they'd be bringing us directly to the airport. He said the other group gets in earlier than us and will be in the city for a bit, but that we land too late for that. He said we'd just go to the hotel.  That all sounds great to me. A nice relaxing day at the hotel pool or the Sea...a chance to freshen up and brush my teeth...and to change into new clothes!  Sign me up, but we land at 11 and I am kind of wondering if he accidently got the two groups mixed up.  They are traveling much further than us and I thought I heard they were coming in later than us.  Either way, the weather looks great (last time I checked) and we will roll with whatever comes our way.  

I promise that we will have a lot more pictures tomorrow and I am hopeful that we will start getting some authentic Greek foods too.  Until then, I think I will be shutting down the computer for the night and trying to get some sleep.  Thank you all for reading and I hope you enjoyed my Pesto Pasta more than I did!!!

Mr. Lavoie, currently sitting in row 38, at roughly 38000 ft above the Atlantic, patiently waiting for the seatbelt sign to turn off so he can turn off his mind. 

 

#Eurotrip2026: One Must Travel to Learn

The first real post for this blog was made 13 years ago in a hotel lobby in Killarney, Ireland. I had composed quite a few preview posts as I learned Blogger and I posted a few quick updates while we traveled overseas, but that first real entry sticks with me every time I am about to depart with students.

We were all so eager to experience Ireland and forget about home for a while, but then news from the Boston Marathon started to make its way through busy WiFi signals. The rest of that trip was filled with more bad news. We had a few sick students and I had some money stolen from my suitcase, and of course, we lost Nancy Lemoine a beloved friend, coach, and colleague. And yet, with all of that tragedy, the trip was amazing. Our group bonded with each other and we connected to the world through a Choir in Wales. Humanity shown through and it proved the slogan "One Must Travel To Learn" to be true. 

From that trip, through all of my student trips, I hold that lesson dear. I still learn from each and every experience.  I try to take those lessons and share them with my students too.  I am pretty confident that most of the Alumni of our #Eurotrips and Belize still hold those memories as among their favorites.  This trip, #Eurotrip26 will most likely be my last European adventure with Saugus High School students. I'm getting too old to give these trips the time I think they deserve and while I will miss the overall experience, I will look fondly upon the words I've typed here, over the years, as a reminder of all we've seen and all we've done. 

Hundreds of kids have traveled with us, over the years, and we've been to dozens of countries. Along the way, we've danced, ate, and experienced local customs and cultures. In just a few days, we will embark on another journey back in time.  We will land in Greece and spend just over a week in a magical place where antiquity meets modernity. It's been ten years since I've been to Greece and to be honest, I don't remember that trip as much as I'd like. So, I am thrilled to be heading back.  

We will travel through Canada and land in Athens on Sunday.  Our itinerary looks packed, but our pace looks relaxing. I've been in contact with our Tour Director and he has an expertise in ancient architecture. I am sure we will get along.  We are also sharing our experience with 19 others from a rural school outside of Alberta, Canada.  The time will pass quickly even though we will be in a place where it looks like time has stood still.  

Frequent readers of this blog have come to know that I think through symbolism and symmetry. I am sure as we travel, I will be doing more of the same. I am already sensing that this will not just be a new adventure, but also a trip down memory lane. One that reminds me that the further we travel from the places we call home the more likely we are to see connections to those places. And that while we must travel to learn, the thing we learn most about is ourselves.

I hope you will follow us this year as we head to Greece on Saturday.  I would love to see some comments, either here or on Facebook, from former students, their parents, or their loved ones. They blazed a trail for future generations of Sachems. We've endured lots of challenges along the way, but have always found smiles on the other sides. I hope, on the other side of these words, there are more and more smiles. 

Mr. Lavoie, sitting at his desk top, almost packed, but not nearly ready to go. 

Day 8: Travel Day - Combria to Lisbon with stops along the way

 

Our group at Combria University

Today was the hottest day of our trip, so far. Most of us got some sun and some of us will definitely be coming home with a burn or a really nice tan. It was a welcomed departure from the rain in Spain, but I think we would have been fine with a few degrees cooler too.  From what I gather, there have been some nice days back at home too. 

Our final morning at the B&B hotel went smoothly. Our group, again, was great at setting their alarm clocks and waking up without room calls. We checked passports and stowed luggage after breakfast and we were off.

Breakfast Club

Our schedule today was a busy one. We had several different stops from our hotel to Lisbon. The first one was the city center of Coimbra. This visit started with roughly an hours drive from the hotel to meet our guide. His name is Paulo. 

Paulo is a former professor at the university. He taught economics. With only a few years before retirement, he decided to leave teaching and he works for several government agencies. He conducts tours when he can because he still enjoys working with young people. He tried to infuse humor into his talk and I could see quite a few of us chuckling at some of his jokes. The heat made it hard for some of us to truly follow along, however, and Paulo was receptive of that too.  He took us throughout the university grounds and eventually brought us to its jail.

Yes, this school has a jail! Now, I am not saying we need one of those at SMHS, but can you imagine how good student conduct would be if you might be placed in a dungeon-like prison! The Combria University prison is no longer in use. It was never really used for students, from what I heard, but instead it was used during the time of the Inquisition. 

Paulo also took us into the library.  Photos and videos are not allowed because of preservation reasons, but trust me, this library was amazing. The volumes all came from the 1600s. They employ bats in the library to kill insects (no, we didn't see any of them). 

Students at the university wear cloaks which inspired Harry Potter's JK Rowling, too.

Paulo introducing the library to the group

The school has its own chapel too

Paulo explained the troubled history between the Roman Catholic Church and the nation of Portugal. Even though the country is over 90% Catholic, most of the churches in the city are owned by the government. Many have been converted over to some other use. One part of the story indicated that all of the clergy in the country were purged after the inquisition shut down. Paulo said so much, but my brain is a little fried, lol.  Let's move on with the day!

After the library, Paulo took pity on us and brought us down the main shopping street in the city. It was super cute and the kids were able to shop, grab a drink, or even visit the pharmacy. This trip has certainly has more minor medical issues than any of my previous trips. I think the kids are still enjoying themselves, but you hear sniffles, coughs, and see tired eyes all the time. 

Like all of Spain and Portugal, everywhere is a hill!

We gathered again and said goodbye to Paulo. From there, we boarded our bus and began the journey to Fatima. This religiously important destination would be our official spot for lunch and we'd meet a new guide, Poula, here! 

The city is small and modern. It is the site of a religious miracle and now its a destination for folks on a pilgrimage. I have to be honest, I missed most of this tour! Lunch took too long for some of our travelers. Their restaurant was on a European clock! I told Stefano to move along without us and I would ensure that we'd catch up. That said, I don't know the whole story, but I can share some photos:

In the photos, you see both a new cathedral and an old one. The new one was built to accommodate up to 9000 people. The old one predated the miracle that had happened here and it was soon outgrown. In fact, the new one is kind of outdated too. They've basically made the entire square into an outdoor cathedral which can hold up to 300,000 worshippers. Ms. Agola told me that the new Cathedral was really different than she's used to. It was light, airy, and refreshing. The old cathedrals in Europe, usually seem a little darker. The entire region was newish, for this trip, and it was nice to see how something more modern could fit into such a historic region.

Poala then took us to Batalha. This town is about 30 minutes away from Fatima. It is named after an important battle and after that Portuguese victory, a monastery was built in the town. As I mentioned, the Roman clergy didn't fare to well in the history books here, so the monks who lived at this place no longer exist. The grounds now run as a church, a museum, and as a tomb for the unknown soldier. It was a strange medley, but it all worked.

The main entrance goes to a functioning church today, but to the left is the museum. 

A T-Rex? Probably just a crocodile, but it looks more like a Dinosaur

Poala said this was the tomb for Prince Henry the Navigator, but I don't believe he is interred here. 

One of the two remaining cloisters

The Portuguese influence on trade and navigation is shown in the carvings

Looking into the unfinished chapels. 

After our visit to Batalha concluded, we visited a local grocery store for drinks and snacks and we boarded the bus again. This time, the drive would be about 2 hours. Mostly everyone fell asleep immediately. Horacio did a great job navigating the streets and then we hit traffic. Of course, we hit traffic as we entered the Vasco Da Gama Bridge...one of Europe's longest bridges. It spans over 8 miles and goes way up into the air! Needless to say, I was not a fan of it.

We slowly made our way over the bridge and then traffic opened up. There was a broken down car in the center lane!

Once that cleared, we made our way to our final hotel for dinner, some fun outside, and some Uber Eats deliveries (which seems to be quite common at every hotel). 

I haven't been eating much on this trip, but I took a little for the blog.

My dinner photo doesn't really capture the full spread available at dinner tonight. There was fresh salad and cheese available. The kids could also get freshly baked bread. The chicken was seasoned well and the juices, served over the rice, really tasted good. I didn't eat the dessert shown above but many people grabbed seconds. There was also fresh fruit available too. I am kind of thinking breakfast here will be pretty good. I'll cross my fingers!

Tomorrow is our final day in Europe. We have a busy one scheduled with an early dinner. All three groups depart Portugal very early in the morning on Saturday. I am still debating whether to postpone my blog post to the flight home or to write tomorrow night...I will definitely post pictures on Facebook. So far, it has been an amazing trip, but I think we are all getting to the point where we miss home a bit, too. 

Thanks for reading everyone. I really appreciate it. 

Mr. Lavoie, sitting in a hotel lobby with a Pepsi Zero and fully written blog!