Rome trip 30th Sept – 4th Oct 2010
It was a very tired but excited group of 6th form students who met in the Rainey car park at 2am on Thursday morning. They were heading to Rome!
[galleryview id=4]
This trip is primarily for Religious Studies students who were hoping to learn lots about the early history of the church; however, we also had students of Art, Geography and English who were also going to find areas relevant to their subject. The students were accompanied by Miss Bingham, Mr McClements, Miss McClelland and Miss McCracken.
After a very smooth flight we arrived in Rome. Miss Bingham took everyone on a short tour of the main sites of the city, taking care to include some ice cream stops at places like the Spanish steps and the Trevi fountain! That evening we took a trip on the Time Elevator, a multimedia ride through the history of Rome. The next day we were up very early to get our coach to the Vatican. Here we had an appointment to visit the Necropolis under St. Peters.
This was a rare opportunity as very few people are granted permission to visit the actual tomb of St Peter which is on the third level below the Basilica. After our visit to the excavations we then proceeded into the Vatican museum with our very informative guide Maria Teresa who took us through the various parts of the museum before we finished at the Sistine Chapel. After this we visited St. Peter’s Basilica itself, although we weren’t lucky enough to meet the pope himself it was an amazing day!
Our third day involved a coach journey to Pompeii and a guided tour of the ruins. All the pupils really enjoyed the opportunity to see such a well preserved Roman city and it gave great insight into what everyday life would have been like.Next day we headed to the Colosseum to meet Richard our guide. He was able to give a very detailed explanation of the history of the empire; this was especially valuable to the RS students as it covered important parts of their course. Following the colosseum we then went with Richard to the Arch of Constantine and then into the Roman Forum. After a very informative morning we headed to a local restaurant for pizza and then out of the city to visit the Catacombs of San Callisto which gave us a very good understanding of the life of early Christians in Rome.
Our final morning was spent re-visiting some of the amazing sites of Rome that we had particularly enjoyed, such as the Trevi fountain and the Pantheon. Finally it was time to return home to wet and windy Northern Ireland but our few sunny days in Rome will stay with us for a long time!
