Over the summer, Lions travelled near and far enjoying the break from school. Here are five of the most unique destinations visited.

Austria and Slovakia

Sophomore Trinity Vasquez visited Vienna, Austria and Prešov, Slovakia with her family to visit her stepfather’s family. While there, she went sightseeing around Vienna, hiked in the mountains of Slovakia and saw several historical castles.

Q: What was your favorite experience from your trip?

A: My favorite experience was seeing all the beautiful scenery. Everywhere you’d look, you’d see mountains or sunflower fields. Also, [I liked] how different it is there than it is here. They don’t have air conditioning anywhere, just fans, [and] at the convenience store you have to pay to use the restroom; all the water there is carbonated and it’s very rare to find still water.

Q: What was the most unique experience you had?

A: My most unique experience was seeing all the mountains and hiking. The beautiful scenery was something you couldn’t ever see in Texas.

Q: What was the most important thing you took away from your trip?

A: The most important thing I took away was seeing how differently [Slovakians] lived from us; they grow their own foods in their garden, and they’re all so polite and generous.

Trinidad and Tobago

For senior Ariana Vieira, Trinidad and Tobago were the destinations for a two-week family reunion and vacation. While there, she met up with her family who live across five different countries and swam in the famous white sand beaches.

Q: What was your favorite experience from your trip?

A: I got to meet family members that live in Dubai, Colombia, Costa Rica, Trinidad and the United States. Even though we are spread all around the world, we were able to get together for a week and get to know each other.

Q: What was the most unique experience you had?

A: My most unique experience [were] the food trucks in downtown Trinidad. The carts set up at 5 in the morning and close at 8, so you wake up really early to go [and be able] to eat. The amazing thing [about them] is that, [aside from] being delicious, they cost about one USD.

Q: What was the most important thing you took away from your trip?

A: No matter how far away your family is, they’ll always come together.

Ecuador

Sophomore Eli Gehman travelled to Ecuador for two weeks to visit his aunt who lives there, as well as taking Spanish lessons, fly fishing and biking.

Q: What was your favorite experience from your trip?

A: My favorite experience in Ecuador was going up into the mountains in the town of Oyacachi, and fishing for a day, and hanging out in the hot springs at night with my aunt.

Q: What was the most unique experience you had?

A: My aunt and I took our bikes up in a cable car to the mountains outside Quito, and we biked our way down from the top. On the way down, we were biking through a village and a dog chased after me and bit me on the ankle. I had multiple rabies shots after.

Q: What was the most important thing you took away from your trip?

A: It was really an eye opening experience about the world’s cultures by getting to spend time in a really small town in the mountains. It was also great expanding my Spanish vocabulary and skills.

Bulgaria

Bulgaria was the country for senior Ilina Bozhkova, her sister and her boyfriend. After a brief layover in Germany, they flew to Bulgaria to meet up with Bozhkova’s family. While there, they visited the cities of Varna and Dobrich, as well as going to the Black Sea.

Q: What was your favorite experience from your trip?

A: My favorite experience was probably a close tie between two things; swimming in the sea and experiencing the culture of my home country.

Q: What was the most unique experience you had?

A: Probably being my boyfriend’s and grandparents’ personal translator. He doesn’t know Bulgarian and they don’t know English, so anytime they wanted to talk to each other, I was the one translating English and Bulgarian back and forth for two weeks.

Q: What was the most important thing you took away from your trip?

A: The things I took away most from the trip was cultural enrichment and enhancing my Bulgarian speaking and reading skills.

England, France, Spain and Netherlands

Junior Bryce Carson and his friend junior Kyce Wilson went on a whirlwind tour of Europe this summer; stopping in England, France, Spain and Netherlands for a total of 15 days.

Q: What was your favorite experience from your trip?

A: Waking up in Paris, going to Montmartre, and buying artwork from the locals. We got on a plane to Barcelona [after that], and partied at the W hotel, and walked the streets later that night. [It was] definitely the best day of the trip.

Q: What was the most unique experience you had?

A: One amazing day we went on a boat cruise through the canals of Paris. The short cruise that we went on was practically a restaurant too. We had dinner on this Noah (a type of boat) cruising through the canals seeing all the things that make Paris, Paris. The Notre Dame, lots of churches, the Eiffel Tower and watching people sit on the concrete on either side of the canal sitting with friends and family just enjoying their cheese, crackers, bread and wine. This was the cultural aspect of Paris that I loved.

Q: What was the most important thing you took away from your trip?

A: One important thing I took away is that traveling is very important, and everyone deserves to do it. [Traveling] changes you completely, makes you more open minded, wiser, and just a lots of fun.