PHS PERSPECTIVE: Trip to Italy, Slovenia a high school highlight

By Miranda Alperstein
   On the snowy morning of Friday, Feb. 8, about 80 Princeton High School students sat excitedly in the cafeteria of the school, exchanging “Secret Choir Member” gifts and eating bagels together as a farewell to American culture — for they would be travelling to Italy and Slovenia for eight days.
   I count myself among those lucky choristers. We were lucky because more than half the choir boarded the very last flight out of JFK that day – all the following flights were cancelled because of the snow. We were lucky because we had eight days of socializing, eating and singing ahead of us. We were lucky that we had had the invaluable opportunity to work with our talented choir directors, Vincent Metallo and Sarah Pelletier.
   We were lucky because so few choirs of our size, coming from a public school, get to do what we got to do.
   We arrived in Venice and were bussed to Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, where we stayed for two fantastic days. I am only somewhat embarrassed to say that when it was announced we would be travelling to Italy and Slovenia, I turned to a friend and asked, “Is . . . is that a country?”
   But we found the quaint streets of Ljubljana were not only unbelievably welcoming of us, but rich with culture and tradition. We visited a school, and about 20 students gathered to present to us the various extracurricular activities they were involved in — complete with costumes and prizes. We befriended members of a small Slovenian choir, and many of them were very sad to see us go.
   We drove to Padua, Italy, after a very successful concert at the Philharmonia Hall in Ljubljana. (The short trip to Italy was overcast by the discovery that every bathroom trip would cost us half a euro.) We arrived at our hotel in Padua, threw open the shutters, and gazed out at our view of the Basilica Saint Anthony, whose bells rang to welcome us to Italy.
   Our time in Italy was characterized by walking tours, shopping, eating – and, of course, singing. We went on day trips to Venice and Verona – we saw the sights and sang in the gorgeous churches in those cities – the Saint Mark’s cathedral and the Saint Anastasia Basilica, respectively. We took advantage of end-of-the season sales, and we sampled Italian pizza whenever we had free time.
   When we returned to Princeton, our friends and family (somewhat bitterly) asked us how our trip had been.
   ”It was fun! I had a great time.”
   ”Just fun?”
   No, our experience was more than “fun.” For me, at least, it was one of the highlights of my high school experience — something so greatly anticipated that there wasn’t even room for disappointment. I got a job to pay for the trip, and now I’ll spend weeks making up the schoolwork I missed in the week I was gone.
   A great many people put in countless hours planning and raising funds for this trip. In my mind, the choir trip to Italy holds so much significance, regardless of what actually happened on the trip itself.
   I had a lot of fun — I made new friends and grew closer to old ones. I took way too many pictures and drank too many cappuccinos. By the end of the trip, I had spent every last euro I had. But my “experience” was so much more than just the time there — it was the travelling, the people, the preparation, the return, the Facebook photos, the already fading memories.
   It was a profound experience that truly cannot be summed up in words.
Miranda Alperstein is a senior at Princeton High School.