In past years Ms. Lange, an English teacher at Sahuaro High School, hosted summer trips abroad for students who wanted to get away from the sweltering heat of the Tucson summer. Unfortunately, due to COVID, Lange has been unable to host any of these trips since the summer of 2019. In 2023, this changed. Most of the U.S. COVID restrictions were lifted, allowing her to start planning these international trips again.
For the first trip back, Ms. Lange decided to take a group of students to Europe. I was lucky enough to be one of the students who went on this amazing trip. We went to Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. On day one of the trip, we flew from Tucson to Frankfurt, Germany, which took all day.
On day two, we went to our first destination which was Rothenburg, Germany, a beautiful little town encased by two-story high walls. We met our tour guide, Thomas, a wonderful and funny German man who guided us throughout the trip, and our Hungarian bus driver, a strict, but kind man named Bela. Our visit to Rothenburg started with a short tour, and after a couple of hours, we could freely explore the little town. At around 5 pm there was a small parade which only happens once every few years, so we were incredibly lucky to have seen it.
On days three through six, we saw many amazing sights. For a couple of days, we mostly explored Munich. Our first day in Munich started with a 2-hour bus tour and we were let loose to look around until we met in the late afternoon. While walking around the city we saw an old palace which was damaged during WWII. After being mostly restored, it became open to the public. One of the days we visited the Dachau concentration camp, a somber memorial to all who perished there during the Holocaust, and afterward we visited a small farm-like place that had a beautiful field of poppies.
Another student who went on the trip, Joey Parker, said his favorite part of the trip was, “Definitely seeing Neuschwanstein Castle,” and I cannot blame him for picking it. Neuschwanstein Castle (which inspired Cinderella’s Castle) was stunning. It was not just the castle that was stunning though. The path, the view, and everything around was beautiful too.
In Switzerland, we hiked up Mount Pilatus, which Mr. Chandler singled out as his favorite part of the trip because, “…last time I went there it was really cloudy and the weather was really bad, while this time the weather and the views were beautiful.” It was an amazing experience, and it was all thanks to Ms. Lange. If you have the chance to go on one of her trips abroad, I’d say go for it, I cannot recommend it enough! Her next trip will be to Japan in 2024. See her in Room 207 or email her at [email protected] if you are interested.
