At the start of this adventure, we were just 19 students and 2 teachers going on a school trip; by the end of it, we were a family that had experienced some pretty incredible things, from hilarious journeys 12 miles out to visit a closed catacomb, to the selfie stick sellers, and of course the beautiful monuments: the Colosseum, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, the Vatican...and the list just goes on and on.

On the first day we left school very promptly, all excited for the trip that lay ahead; we left school at 10.45 and were on our way for an incredible four days. After a few hours of travelling we got to the hotel at 7.30pm. We excitedly got the keys to our hotel rooms, were given an hour to get ready (which some of us struggled with), and we jetted off to have dinner as a group. After our evening meal we decided to take a walk and ended up seeing the Colosseum in all its glory; you know, the usual Friday evening. The first day of our trip was truly fantastic.

After going to bed at a rather late hour we were overwhelmed by the early alarm at 7am; however, we were all sprightly within an hour as we set out to go into the Colosseum. After spending about two hours in this amazing and ancient piece of architecture, we set off to see the beautiful Trevi Fountain which unfortunately was under restoration during the time we were there so we couldn't see it in all its glory. However, this just gives us all an excuse to go back to beautiful Rome! We all headed off to the Spanish Steps and had some Gelato. After Gelato on the Spanish Steps, we went to go see a local church, had lunch, and ended up heading to go see the local catacombs. However, after an hour of walking decided it was too far away and headed to a park for half an hour, before we walked back to the Spanish steps to go see a truly incredible sunset. We were given the privilege to have dinner in our own group on Saturday night and as it was Valentine's Day it was quite suited. It was a truly incredible day!

Day three. In the morning we went and saw two beautiful churches, both of which had services going on which was a wonderful experience. We set off to the catacombs in the late hours of the morning and we were all so enthusiastic about it. After two hours we decided to have lunch in a beautiful square, which had an accordion player, and it was as though we were on the main set of a traditional Italian film. After our lovely lunch we set out once more and headed to the Catacombs; after 12 miles and 42 agonising feet we made it...only to find out it was closed... This resulted in a good laugh and in the end we found another catacomb no more than a mile further away and we spent an hour in those chilling catacombs, before heading back for our final evening meal in Rome.

We woke up at 7am once more for our final day in Rome. Although we were all shattered, and our feet were becoming more and more painful, we ventured on to our final journey across Rome to the Vatican. We spent the day exploring this beautiful Renaissance place. The famous views were incredible, from the Sistine Chapel to St Peter's Basilica, and although it was a very sad goodbye, it was also a superb adventure. 21 people went to Rome; a family returned.

"It was really nice to interact with people outside the school environment, and talk to people we wouldn't normally have the chance to speak to." – Georgia, Year 11

"It was amazing that the teachers trusted us enough to go out for lunches and dinner on our own; we even took the metro without supervision!!" – Bella, Year 11

- Rachel, Georgia and Bella, Year 11