We All Need to Get Away Sometimes

I had been looking forward to the trip to Rhodes for a long time. On May 28, 2019, while I was at work, I marked the date on the calendar so all my colleagues would know about the journey. The following Monday, my mother and I took a six-person shuttle van to Fiumicino Airport. There were twenty-one of us from Casaliò—young people and parent chaperones. Everything went smoothly at our new destination, a place called Pegasos. There's a statue in the courtyard, and across from it a mountain covered with plants. Behind that stretches the sparkling sea, with its umbrellas and lounge chairs. We all felt well. We ate at the hotel, and each of us had our own room, like home. I watched television in German. The next day we took a trip to Faliraki beach. The atmosphere was beautiful—a blue sky and calm sea with only small waves. We took a hydrofoil to see the island of Symi. When we arrived, we saw the baroque church and then walked through the shops and streets. We visited Lindos and climbed all the way to the top of the acropolis. From up there, the view was stunning. I recommend a place like this to everyone, because we all need to get away sometimes and see somewhere new—somewhere that isn't our sad, dreary city where nothing good ever happens. But we are the unique people who fill it with good and bad alike. The hardest part was saying goodbye after we had been together the whole time. The place itself was cheerful and wonderful. I don't speak the local language, but maybe that made us special—to have been there. I know the kids from Casaliò because they gather at a place behind Via Frescobaldi, behind the Rome Biopark. There's Cristina and other mothers with kids they need to look after and take places where they can relax. We go there sometimes to see the animals that are kept there. I love the monkeys and the horses. And then we play football.