Early this summer, twelve Anacapa School students landed in Milan to begin a three-week educational tour of Italy and Switzerland led by headmaster Gordon Sichi and Suzie Sichi. Because Mr. and Mrs. Sichi had previously spent a year teaching in Milan, the students were able to take advantage of an insider’s view of the city.

One of the newest sites in Milan is a gigantic horse originally designed by Leonardo da Vinci for the Duke of Milan. It was to be the largest equine statue ever built, standing 24 feet high. Unfortunately, the arrows of French invaders destroyed Leonardo’s full-scale clay model, and the bronze reserved for the horse was used instead for weapons. Building the horse faithfully to Leonardo’s original drawings was the dream of an American commercial airlines pilot named Charles Dent. He began single-handedly to promote the project in 1977. Mr. Dent died two years before his visionary project was completed in 1999. The opportunity to see this beautiful and enormous statue will be a lifetime memory for the Anacapa students.

After leaving Milan, the group traveled to Verona, Venice, Florence, Assisi, Pompeii, and Rome. From Rome, the students traveled by train to Switzerland to spend five days in the Lotschental Valley, which is a high glacial valley in the Alps. Each day, the students hiked to new places with lunch stops in quaint “huts” with spectacular views.

The trip was an eye-opening experience for all of the Anacapa students who attended.  Brett Jackson, a 12^th grader, summed up his travels: “It was an amazing trip. It gave us the chance to experience a couple of the different cultures of Europe. I had never been out of the United States before, and I have realized how much fun it is to travel. I would love to return there one day."