This whole study abroad opportunity was so incredible it’s very hard to pick a favorite part of the week long trip. A definite highlight was the whole day we spent in Lucerne, Switzerland. We got to do so much in just one day, we learned about the history from our wonderful tour guide at some of the city’s landmarks like my personal favorite monument of a lion carved into stone. The Lion of Lucerne commemorates Swiss Guards who were killed during the French Revolution, and that’s just a little snippet of history I learned on just that day. After a guided tour of a bit of Lucerne we all had some free time where me and some other students visited a museum and we got to see some glacial potholes and get a nice view after going through a whole underground cave thing. Now I thought the views from the museum was nice, but the most gorgeous part of the trip was when we went up on a mountain after our visit in the city part of Lucerne. To get up top we took a very fun, but quite cold boat ride and then a train up to a nice snowy area that felt scarily high up compared to Florida’s biggest hills. I’m sure most students were ecstatic about playing in the snow since it’s not something we see down here; I know I was really excited. That was just one day we had out of the many and each felt so filled to the brim.

Prior to Lucerne we got to learn and explore Vienna for a couple days, along with Salzburg and Innsbruck in Austria. In Salzburg we learned about Mozart and saw his birthplace and the free time we got in Innsbruck might’ve been my favorite use of our free time we got each day. We also briefly were in Germany to visit a salt mine, definitely a completely new experience going down a wooden slide that resulted in some pretty fun photos. After Lucerne we ended out the trip in Zurich, which I had had been to before and it was even more fun this second time around. We toured the Lindt chocolate factory on that last day and as a chocolate enthusiast, that was the best note this trip could’ve ended on.

Isabella, SPC Collegiate High School Student, Alps Program, March 2022

This was my first trip abroad, and to be quite frank, I was nervous! I had never been that far away from home and was worried about staying with folks I had never met, especially in a country I didn’t speak the language of. This trip exceeded my expectations, I not only grew my cultural understanding but also made a lot of friends along the way. 

The scenery is something I’ll never forget, those beautiful mountains covered in snow is not a common sight here in Florida. Every day was an adventure, we learned about the cultural customs, the history, and the values of the people. I can’t wait to travel again, I miss Europe so much!

Sophia, SPC Collegiate High School Student, Alps Program, March 2022

I was so excited to have heard that I was going to be participating in the Alps Study Abroad Program! The ten-day experience was an eye-opening, incredible time that I will never forget. Going from Austria, to Germany, then Lichtenstein, and finally ending in Switzerland made it an action-packed trip, but a worthy one. All the cities, people, and places that we went to were extraordinarily beautiful and interesting.
When I first heard about the opportunity to go on this trip with several my peers, I jumped at the chance to expose myself to the multi-cultural experience. I had never been abroad before, so everything was new and kind of scary, but the tour directors and guides we met along the way eliminated that fear. All my worries about COVID, the situation in Ukraine, and other issues were pushed to the back of mind with the attentiveness and caution of the people who went on the trip with us. I am so grateful they were able to be there to reassure and help us to make it a learning experience.

The warm and friendly environment of the tour wasn’t simply attributed to the tour directors, but also to the people who went with me, fellow students from SPC. I am so thankful they were there with me so we could experience everything together, because I made so many new friends during my time there! The fact that it was a bigger group of twenty-two made me feel more comfortable and relaxed while there.
The hotels, restaurants, and monuments we visited were all catered to give us the most out of the experience, through making sure it was an authentic Switzerland, German, or Austrian event. Additionally, there was many learning instances that stemmed from this because I was, before this trip, very uneducated about the rest of the world and its working. I’m grateful I was able to learn so much from everything the tour guides showed us.
Most of all, I am grateful for the scholarship given to me for the trip. Without the help, I wouldn’t have been able to go, and I am so grateful that it was awarded to me and the other students in my group that went on the trip with me. Thank you so much for the opportunity EF Tours!

Haiden, SPC Collegiate High School Student, Alps Program, March 2022