Scanex Train Tour  2018

Pili Bianco (Argentina), Nicey Chang (Taiwan) and Margaux Lorenzoni (Belgium)

June 16, 2018

We started our adventure on June 17 in Los Angeles. Coming from the States of Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada and Utah, we arrived in Los Angeles by different ways: plane, car, bus… First, we all met new friends by the pool at the hotel. After playing an introduction game, we took a hike up to see the Hollywood sign. It was pretty tiring for everyone to go up the hill but we all made it to the top and took some awesome pictures of the city. Even though the hike wasn’t easy, we cheered on each other and had lots of fun! After the hike, we split into smaller groups to walk down the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It was an iconic place that all of us were happy to visit and we took a lot of pictures. We each had some yummy food before going back to the hotel. Our chaperones were happy to see every one of us coming back on time! What an exciting start for out trip!

​

Pili Bianco (Argentina), Nicey Chang (Taiwan) and Margaux Lorenzoni (Belgium)

June 17, 2018

Some of us (the brave ones) woke up early to start the day with a run lead by our chaperone Joe. We were all ready to start this busy day at 9 o’clock. First, we took a bus to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and took some great pictures in front of the Street Lights. Then, we walked through the Venice canals to get to Venice beach. After stopping to get some snacks, we watched the skaters at the famous Venice Beach Skate Park and saw the outdoor gym on the beach. After that, we took our shoes off and walked on the beach to Santa Monica Pier. It was amazing to see the place where they filmed Hannah Montana: The Movie. We split in smaller group to do different activities: Volleyball game, swimming in the ocean, walk on the Pier, ride the rollercoasters and much more! After getting tanned (or sunburns for some of us), we took the metro back to  the St Johns house to eat tacos. In the evening, we played some games and thank to all the Rotarians and chaperones we had a wonderful evening together.

Nico Pérez (Spain) and Laura Ghiani (Italy)

June 18, 2018

It was time for us to take our first train! We had our own wagon, that was very comfortable. We even had tables and Wi-Fi.  It was a long ride so we had the opportunity to get to know each other better while playing games, watching the World Cup soccer games movies together!  After 7 hours on the train, we finally got to San Francisco and took a bus to our hostel.  Once comfortably checked in, we had some free time to walk along the piers and have dinner.  Most of us went to the famous Mexican restaurant Chipotle, it was another “first” for some of us!  Having free time was also the perfect occasion for some of us to buy pins for our blazer and some other souvenirs.

Nico Pérez (Spain) and Laura Ghiani (Italy)

June 19, 2018

We started our day with an outside yoga class, with a nice view of the city of San Francisco.  It was really relaxing.  Our class ended when the sprinklers came on.  It was a fun way to wake up.

We rented bikes to ride through the city and across the golden gate bridge.  It was amazing!  The Spanish exchange students were listening to the soccer game, Spain-Iran, and they were really nervous. After biking across the Golden Gate Bridge we biked 3 miles to Sausalito where we had lunch and we took a ferry back to San Francisco where we had some free time to explore the city and it was really exciting to bike in the city with all the cars and trains. We got back to the hotel and we had a soccer game where team Poland beat 6-5 to team Spain, the first goal of the game was scored by the excellent soccer player Pili, we had so much fun.

Linda Tran (Czech Republic)

June 20, 2018

We started off our day early in the morning with a quick run to the pier. Then we met up with the others by Ghiardeli factory on the beach, ready to do the polar plunge in 15C freezing water. There were a group of 28 brave ones who did it, including Melody and Cathy. We all really enjoyed it. The rest were called chickens for the rest of the day. After breakfast, we headed to the unique cable car ride, which took us to downtown. In our free time, some of us went shopping for gifts and souveniers. While some of us eagerly watched the soccer game. Our Argentinian exchange student, Pili, had a hard time getting over her country´s loss - 3:0 against Croatia. After our wonderful authentic Chinese lunch at a restaurant it was all good again. In Chinatown, we also visited the smallest fortune cookie factory in the world. Our next stop was the European part of San Francisco. We visited Little Italy, with the world´s most well known bookstore, called City Lights. In the afternoon, we made it all the way up to busy Lombardo street, and slowly headed back to the hostel. In the evening, some of us cooked dinner and we all observed the diversity of each cultural group (Spanish guys made the tortilla de patata, the French made pasta, etc.…). By the time our luxury bus arrived, everyone was pretty tired and ready to spend 12 hours sleeping on the way to Portland, Oregon!

Nico Perez (Spain) and Eliot Pelletier (France)

June 21, 2018

We arrived in downtown Portland´s Union Station, around 10 am. We had a late breakfast and then went to our host mom, Deby´s house, in South East Portland.

We went to Voodoo Doughnut, where we had Portland doughnuts. Martin and Till were there with their host family, too. We ended up staying with them for awhile. We went to a famous bookstore, and to a nice park with roses. Deby took us to a Thai restaurant that was really good. We ended the night with a walk through one of Portland´s famous bridges. Then, we got Starbucks and went back home. 

The next day, we had a busy morning. We finished our laundry that we started early in the morning. Then we left the house around 2:30 in the afternoon, to o on a hike. The hike was long and nice. We saw 10 waterfalls in a big pine tree forest. We had a picnic in the forest, and we got back home at 10:20 at night. We were really tired from the hike. The next morning, we woke up at 6 am to go to Union Station to meet all the other students, and to take the train to Seattle. At the moment, we are on the train, arriving soon in Seattle. Some people are sleeping, while others are playing poker, listening to music, watching the Poland v. Columbia soccer game… We are really looking forward to Seattle! 

Finn Haake (Germany)

June 23, 2018

We arrived in Seattle around 12 in the afternoon and walked to our hostel, which did not have our rooms ready yet, so we put our luggage in a extra room. We stayed in the extra room for a while. Then, we walked to the port, where most of us ate at Subway. From the port, we took a ferry to Bainbridge Island, where we spent the rest of the day. We had a lot of fun at a lake on the island. The whole family was playing games near the water and we just had a good time. Nico, Till, Ramon and I went swimming for little while but it was super cold. After we took the ferry back to Seattle, we went to a Chinese market to buy food for the night.  In the evening, everybody cooked dinner at the hostel. 

In the morning, we had to be ready by 8:45 am, and have all our stuff packed. We took an underground bus and the Monorail to the center of Seattle, where we went to the Space Needle. Everybody took a ton of pictures up in the Space Needle, where we had a great view over the whole city. After the Space Needle, we went to Pike Place Market, which is a big public market in downtown Seattle. They have everything there: shirts, souveniors, food, and fresh fish, which they were throwing around. We had around 2 hours there. Till and I, the two Germans, went into a German restaurant there. We really liked it. We also bought groceries for the next train ride, which started at 4:40 pm to West Glacier, Montana. It took us 16 hours to get there.

Jacobo Espi Vano (Spain) Lissa Bergner (Austriia) Léa Pancol (France)

June 25, 2018

After a long overnight train ride we arrived in West Glacier around 9:30am. We were all very excited about our plans in Montana, but also tired because none of us slept very well. At first we went to our Motel and put our bags in the rooms. We got ready quickly for our next activity, which was rafting! Once we got there, an employee explained us the rules and what we needed to be prepared. After we got dressed we jumped in a bus that took us to a little stream that leads into the river. We got split into groups of eight and were ready to take off. At the beginning, when the river was still calm, we learned the different commands and a little about Glacier national park. After the first rapid, it became really fun and people got wet. At the end some even jumped in the icy water and then we enjoyed a nice lunch, made by our rafting guides. After free time in our motel, we went back for dinner and to beat our tour guides in Volleyball. Unfortunately, we took a big fat L. However, we had a great time and enjoyed the beautiful evening.

Jacobo Espi Vano (Spain) Lissa Bergner (Austriia) Léa Pancol (France)

June 26, 2018

Some of us started the day off with a little yoga, while some slept in. At ten in the morning, we made our way to Lake McDonald through a beautiful forest. It took us one hour to get there. Several kids tried paddle boarding for the first time. Then, we all went to a nice little restaurant and had ice cream for dessert. We walked to a little river where we were taught a life lesson about how to enjoy life and make new challenges for ourselves. Furthermore, we did the same trail back to the motel. During free time, some of the boys got a haircut from our chaperone, Ramon, while the rest were playing ball. For dinner, the local restaurant invited us for a pizza party. When we were done eating, we went back because our chaperones organized a challenging game. We learned how to work as a team and how to achieve our goal. Last but not least, our chaperone, Cathy, took us out for a moonwalk because there was a full moon. It was absolutely beautiful and we learned a Japanese story about the full moon. In conclusion, Montana had the most beautiful landscape that we have seen so far and it was great to have a break between all the big cities.

Nathalia Zapata ( Colombia) Takuma Fujiya (Japan)

June 27, 2018

We woke up and started the day with a great breakfast at our hotel. We ate huckleberry pancakes, eggs and hash browns. At one of the stops we had, some of us got out of the train and did yoga. After yoga everyone started playing with cards, and then we started to make groups for an UNO tournament. There were 6 groups and eventually, Takuma got the first prize and he got special lunch with Melody, which was so fabulous. Everyone else had lunch that we got from the grocery store. After lunch, some of us took naps. After, we just kept playing games with cards for about 5 hours. Some of us watched movies and had free time. We saw beautiful trees growing in the river. Chicago is getting closer, and we are getting excited. We can´t wait to get off the train in Chicago at 10:00 pm.

Clara Manet (Belgium) and Sarah Lou (France)

June 28, 2018

We jumped in the train around 10 am, for a 30-hour train ride. It turned out to be 38 hours.

We mostly played card games, watched movies, and slept. We also organized an Uno tournament that Takuma won.

Through the window, we could see fields without any end.

We arrived the following day in a warm and humid Chicago, at 1 in the morning. Joe, the chaperone, was waiting for us outside of the train station.

Clara Manet (Belgium) and Sarah Lou (France)

June 29, 2018

We arrived to a different hotel that we were supposed to go to. Due to a water problem in the hostel, we had the chance to spend the night in a fancier hotel.

We slept until 9:00 am because we were tired from the train ride, and then left the hotel to have breakfast in the hostel, which had fixed the problem.

We walked to the beach that actually was the beach of the Michigan Lake. We went in the water, played volleyball, and other games. We spent the afternoon chilling. In the evening, some of the students cooked a great dinner for the 43 of us: pasta alfredo, chicken, bread, salad and Brazilian desert.

The next day, the runners ran around the city followed by a group of walkers. They went really early so they could see great monuments of the city, such as the famous Chicago Bean with almost no one there.

When they came back, everyone had breakfast and then we left with the whole group for a walk around Chicago. We passed by the old library where we saw an exhibit about Keith Haring. Then, we walked around Millennium Park, where the Bean is. We went on an hour and a half cruise on Lake Michigan and the river. After, we had a free time in the city, where most of the students went to the Skydeck at Willis Tower.

In the evening, we went back to the hostel, packed and jumped in the train again. Destination: Niagara Falls!

Max Saint Cast (France)

July 01, 2018

After a great night in the train, we arrived in Buffalo, New York. After a quick break at the hostel, we all walked together to the state park to discover Niagara Falls. It was an amazing experience. The Falls are beautiful and impressive! After taking a lot of pictures and selfies, we took a boat ride and saw the falls from another angle… It was breath taking!

We had a lot of fun. After that, we all separated and took our time to explore the park on our own. We had lunch and did team building activities in groups. We went back at the hostel at 4 pm and had some free time by the pool.

In the evening, we had the opportunity to cross the Rainbow Bridge and visit Canada for a couple of hours.

We went to souvenir shops, boutiques and we had poutine for dinner. Poutine is a typical Canadian dish made with fries, cheese, tomato and meat. After that, on our way back to the U.S. border, we saw fireworks over Niagara Falls. It was the most beautiful thing to end the amazing day.

Rafa Alvarez (Spain) and Stefania Solovastru (Rumania)

July 02, 2018

On the morning of July 3rd a bus picked us up in front of the hotel where spent the night and took us to the train station in Buffalo. The train was delayed so we improvised with a yoga class, in the grass in front of the station with the Chaperone, Ramon. At the end of the class some of us were so tired that they fell asleep until the train arrived. Finally, around 9:00 am, all of us left the station, and started on our way to Boston! Some of us spent the time on the train playing cards, talking with others or sleeping. After a long, 12-hour ride, we arrived to our hostel. We were all tired, so we had some free time in the hostel. Some of the students used that time to do laundry or play some games, like pool or foosball. Before bedtime, we had some activities with the Chaperone Joe. He showed us some videos that he shows as the RYLA organizer for 21 years, in his district.  

Rafa Alvarez (Spain) and Stefania Solovastru (Rumania)

July 03, 2018

We woke up in Boston, ready and excited, for our first full day in Boston, especially because for many of us it was our first Fourth of July!!! We ate breakfast in the hostel and after we were ready to start exploring Boston. We all began walking to the Granary Burying Ground, an old cemetery for many notable people like Samuel Adams, John Hancock and Robert Treat Paine. After, we went to King Chapel and Old City Hall of Boston. Then, we had free time to explore Boston on our own.

In the evening, we got ready for the Fourth of July fireworks. We painted our faces and our hair. The chaperones reserved a big space for us to see the fireworks together by the river. We were around thousands of people celebrating the day and it was an amazing experience that we will never forget.

Jaime Martin (Spain) and Vasek Jelinek (Czeck Republic)

July 04, 2018

We took the subway in the morning to Harvard, in Cambridge. We were all excited to visit one of the world´s most famous universities.

We walked around the campus. We took pictures in front of the memorial church dedicated to the victims in the First and Second World Wars and Vietnam War. Also, in front of the library, which is the world´s biggest private library, with more than 2 million books.

After that, we went to the souvenir store to buy some presents for our families and friends.

In the afternoon, we went to Revere Beach. It was really fun there! We played a lot of games together, like volleyball and soccer. We all had fun catching the waves and laughing about our trip stories.

Later, in the afternoon, we went back to the hotel. We were really tired, but we all had a great day.

The next morning, we took a train to New York City.

We arrived to our hostel later in the afternoon. We took a short walk to Central Park to see a part of park dedicated to John Lennon - Strawberry Field.  

In the evening, we went to Times Square. We took a lot of pictures and had so much fun.

We got back tour hostel tired, but excited for next day in New York!

Gladys Michaux (Belgium)

July 06, 2018

In the morning, we took a boat to Liberty Island. We saw huge buildings and then, the Statue of Liberty. After that, we walked to Wall Street and we saw 9/11 Memorial, which is a memorial to all the people that died on September 11, 2001 in New York. It was beautiful. After our visit to the 9/11 Memorial, the large group split up into two groups. One half went to Little Italy to eat, and to do some cheap shopping on Canal Street. The other half of the group went to High Line, which is an old train rail that was transformed into a green space for young people to spend time at, with nice restaurants and urban art. The place is full of good vibes. It’s a beautiful place to take pictures because there was a nice view of the city.

Valeria Serrano (Chile) Martin Mbongour (Belgium)

July 07, 2018

We started this really hot day with a nice bike ride at 11 am around the Central Park. Then, we were obviously very hungry, so we had our usual 2-hour break to eat together. We had a wonderful picnic in the middle of Central Park with sandwiches that Melody brought for us. While the boys were playing soccer and the girls were playing volleyball, Joe called half of the group for an activity based on trust. One person fell on a mat that was supported by the rest of the group. That day we had 5 hours of free time. Some visited the National Museum of New York, while others went shopping or walking around the city and discovering things. We had to go back by using the subway alone. To finish the day, our chaperone from Spain, Ramon planned a trip to Broadway to see a show, which wasn’t mandatory. Only 12 people went to see the musical, School of Rock (N.B. by Martin: it was really good). The others went to the Brooklyn Bridge, then went to get food in Times Square. We finished the day really exhausted, but it was worth it. Thank you, Melody!

Carol Clemente (Brazil) and Alexandre Rey (Switzerlan)

July 08, 2018

As an early morning activity, some students went to a yoga class in Central Park. After that we came back to the hostel and packed for our journey to Philadelphia. Our train left at noon and it took us about 2 hours to arrive. After we checked in, the whole group went for a walk to a famous market to try some Philadelphian food. Then, the group went to see the “LOVE” sculpture in the middle of a park, and the really famous Rocky (1976) steps. Some students ran up the steps like Rocky and did the final pose at the top of stairs. A group of students went swimming after the walk when we got back to the hotel. It was a relaxing time before our next adventure.

Mikey Mikolaj (Poland)

July 09, 2018

After waking up early, we packed our stuff and went to Union Station in Philadelphia. We had the opportunity to grab some food at the station before we left for Washington, D.C. We spent about 2.5 hours on the train and arrived in Washington, D.C. around 2 pm, later that day. We got some free time at the train station, so we grabbed some lunch at Chipotle, Subway or other fast food places we could find. Next, we worked our way to the dorms we were staying at on George Washington University´s campus. We took showers quickly and got comfortable for the rest of the day. Later that day, we went for a walk around The Mall at night, which has a lot of important American monuments and memorials. We visited the Vietnam War, Korean War and World War II Memorials. It hit me really hard, seeing a wall full of names of people who died in these wars, because they weren´t much different than us. Most of them were just our age, 18 or 19, who got drafted. It´s been just one of 30 days on the Tour, but there´s something different about it. It gave us something to think about.    

Andrea Cortiguera (Spain)

July 10, 2018

In the morning, we ate breakfast at Starbucks or a diner across the street from our dorms. Then we walked to White House to take pictures. After, we went to the Newseum, where we saw the history of the news and some really amazing photos. The photos were very shocking because they showed how sad things are, and some of them were even taken in our own countries. After the Newseum we separated into groups for free time. Some of us went to the Capitol building, and the rest of us went to museums, like the National Air and Space Museum, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Smithsonian Castle, the National Museum of American History, and the National Museum of Natural History. We met back at the dorms, and then we had a pizza party together. It was Lissa´s 16th birthday, so we sang her happy birthday!!! After that, they showed us a video with pictures and music of from the entire Train Tour. It was really touching, and it made us feel very lucky to have had the opportunity to come on Exchange and the Train Tour. Later that night, we went to a park, where we sat and we shared things about our experiences during our Exchange and on the Train Tour. It was really sad because we all really love each other and are sad to leave each other, but it also reminded us how lucky we are to know each other and to have made friendships that will last forever. It was a great night and it was Melody´s last night with us.

Xiomara Fuentes (Chile)

July 11, 2018

We started our day with a really early morning walk, led by Melody and Ramon around Washington, D.C. We went to The Mall to see all the memorials, like Lincoln Memorial, Martin Luther King, Jr., the Vietnam War, and Roosevelt Memorial. It was a beauti000ful morning, and it took us two hours to go back to the dorms (George Washington University). On our way back, we stopped to get doughnuts. We got ready really quickly to start the activities for the day.

When everyone was ready, we took a train to Virginia to visit Arlington National Cemetery, which is where members of the U.S. military are buried. When we got there we walked around for a while, until it was time for us to see The Changing of The Guard, which is a very significant ceremony that happens at Arlington National Cemetery. Members of the U.S. Army guard the Tombs of the Unknown Soldiers. After, we came back to the dorms to take showers and pack everything for our next stop, New Orleans. We spent the day on the train and we arrived around 8 pm. We took a bus to the place where we met our host families.

Xiomara Fuentes (Chile)

July 12, 2018

We arrived in New Orleans at 10 pm and took a bus to where we met our host parents and they took us to their respective houses for the night, the next day we took a bus to the French quarter and started the day at Jackson square, we visited the St Louis church which is known to be the oldest church in New Orleans, after the church we visited the old traditional cemetery, which is unique because the bodies are buried above the ground so the remains of the dead bodies do not wash away, we were given free time to tour the French quarter, a bus drove us back to the park where we all left with our host parents to spend time with them.

Day 28- we went to the city park which was really fun, spent half the day going on the rides at the park and we left at four pm to the swimming pool , where we all had fun in the pool, it was really special since it was our last day together playing as a big a fun family, and also tried local food at New Orleans such as the jambalaya which is really famous and good by the way, we all said goodbye and left to get a lot of food for the train.

Marianna Ribeiro (Brazil)

July 14, 2018

Day 28- we went to the city park which was really fun, spent half the day going on the rides at the park and we left at four pm to the swimming pool , where we all had fun in the pool, it was really special since it was our last day together playing as a big a fun family, and also tried local food at New Orleans such as the jambalaya which is really famous and good by the way, we all said goodbye and left to get a lot of food for the train.

Marianna Ribeiro (Brazil)

July 15, 2018

In the morning we all said thank you and goodbye for our amazing host families, we met the group to go to the train station at 7a.m. and at the train station was the time to say goodbye for Joe, our incredible chaperone that always had something to teach us and for sure made a big difference in all of our future lives. We left in the train around 10a.m. for our 50h ride until L.A., at least I am sure that food is not going to be a problem because I think that each one of us has at least two bags full of food, thank you so much for that host families. It is the second day in the train most of the people are signing flags and books with goodbye and see you soon messages, we are also talking and playing a lot of course with music and food all the time. There are also a lot of people napping, I did it myself, trying to gain some more hours of sleep since at night is always really hard an uncomfortable to really relax and sleep. So YES we are having a lot of fun.