Spring 2007
Faculty Travel: Dave Appleman
In the summer of 2006 my wife and I had the opportunity to spend several weeks touring
Europe. We arrived in London one day ahead of the actual scheduled tour. This gave us enough
time to see the main sights—Big Ben, Trafalgar Square, Parliament, the Crown Jewels in the
Tower of London, and Buckingham Palace. We spent half a day in the National Gallery viewing
countless Old Master paintings. The next day we crossed over to the continent, arriving at Calais,
France, and then went on to Brussels, Belgium, where we spent the evening in the magnificent
Grand Place open-air square surrounded by baroque buildings with gold accents. Passing on
through Germany, we made a stop at the Cathedral of Ulm with the amazingly tallest spire in
Europe. It makes one wonder how they could have built it without modern equipment. From
Ulm we passed through Austria down into Italy with a day trip to Venice. What a thrill to stand
in St. Marks Square and then walk through the Basilica, see the Rialto Bridge, the Bridge of Sighs,
and finally the Galleria dell’Accademia.
The next day, after a brief stop at the Basilica of St. Francis of Assissi, we arrived in Rome.
After a two-hour wait we entered the Vatican Museums, saw the Sistine Chapel ceiling, and just
barely made it into St. Peters Cathedral before it closed for a special papal appearance. (No, we
didn’t stay to see him.) From there we went to the ancient Roman Forum and the Colosseum.
Venturing off on our own, we walked by the Victor Emmanuel Monument, went inside the
Pantheon, strolled by the crowded Fontana di Trevi and ended up overwhelmed by tourists sitting
on the Spanish Steps. Traveling from Rome we made a stop at the abbey at Montecassino and
on to Pompeii. What a fascinating time taking a two-and-a-half-hour guided tour through that
ancient city. Only 45 percent of it has been excavated. Did you know that most of the people there
were killed because they went back into the city after the first eruption of Mount Vesuvius to get
their belongings? Maybe there’s a lesson in that.
Traveling from Pompeii we made a stop at Sorrento on the Mediterranean with a day trip to the Isle of Capri. Absolutely beautiful and breathtaking scenery! From there we headed back north to Florence with a quick stop at Orvieto to see the famous black basalt and yellow limestone Italian Gothic Cathedral.
A two-night, one-day stay in Florence is by far not enough time to see everything. We concentrated on seeing the Duomo and the Gates of Paradise and spent most of the time in the Uffizi Gallery. Without having advance tickets, we were extremely fortunate to have a tour guide who “knew the shortcuts” and got us in.
On the road again, we headed north through Switzerland stopping briefly at Lucerne and
overnighted in the beautiful little Swiss village of Lugerno. Our three-week tour concluded in
Paris with one full day with the tour group and then a day and a half on our own. Of course we
saw most of the popular sights—Notre Dame, Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe. Our last day
was absorbed with a visit to the Louvre and the Musée d’Orsay. By the end of the day my
mind was totally saturated with seeing famous works of art.
As an artist and an art teacher, I found this trip an invaluable experience. Every art teacher should be so fortunate as to be enriched by such a trip. Seeing the Impressionist paintings displayed in the Musée d’Orsay and touring Pompeii are the most outstanding memories.