English and Adventure in the USA: Valeria
Meet Valeria, a 19-year-old student from Italy who's learning English at Kaplan International Vancouver. Valeria has been studying our Intensive Academic Semester course, which allows students the opportunity to explore a bit of their surroundings during scheduled session breaks. For Valeria, this was the perfect opportunity to travel to the USA with her classmates and capture her adventures in the travel diary below. Take a look and see all the amazing places she went!
"Three girls, one country, two flights, four states, five buses, ten days: one of the best experience of my life."
Los Angeles
The first stop of our trip was in Los Angeles, where we spent three nights in downtown LA. The weather was perfect and the temperature was around 24°C, which is quite different from Vancouver!
With the help of a tour company, we took a trip around Beverly Hills, Rodeo Drive, Hollywood Hills, and the Walk of Fame, where we saw some VIP celebrity houses owned by Vin Diesel, Bruno Mars, and Leonardo DiCaprio.
During our trip to LA we rented some bicycles and rode from Malibu to Venice Beach, through Santa Monica. It was amazing, and is the best way to visit this part of the coast! The absolutely best part of these days was the sunset from Santa Monica Pier.
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Nevada
After Los Angles we took a bus and we traveled through Nevada, where we stopped in La Vegas. We spent only a day there but we had the time to visit most of the city and see some of the biggest casinos and hotels. I think that Las Vegas is like the "land of the toys" – everything is so big and bold, but when you look around you you can find only deserts.
The third stop was the most exciting part of our trip: the Grand Canyon.
On Monday morning, we took a bus, organized by a company in Las Vegas, and we traveled through the deserts of Utah and Arizona. The landscapes were amazing like in the movies! Finally we arrived at the Antelope Canyon, where the west part of the Grand Canyon is located, near the city of Page. There are no words to describe the wonder of this place. The colors are amazing and the shapes of the rock inside seem perfect, sculpted by humans, but everything was made by nature and by water.
In the afternoon, we moved to Horseshoe Bend, which is about fifteen minutes far from the first canyon that we visited. The view from this height is exciting and the colors between the Colorado River and the rocks of the canyon seem surreal. But pay attention and don't lean too much!
San Francisco
Our last stop of the trip was San Francisco, where we stayed for four days. I truly fell in love with that city. During our trip we visited Alcatraz, which is the most famous prison in the world. The prison was beautiful and amazing to see, but it was also dreadful and eye-opening. We walked along the Golden Gate Bridge and took the cable cars to Lombard Street, the windiest street in San Francisco. But my favorite places was Pier 39, where there are lots of nice shops and restaurants. It's a very particular and unique place!
Are you inspired by Valeria's adventures in the USA? Where do you want to visit? If you've been to the USA before, share your stories with us in the comment section below. If you would like to know more about how you can learn English in the USA, contact one of our advisors today,
