Megan Valdez (BA '14) descended from the Paris of sidewalk cafes and the Eiffel Tower to an underground labyrinth of tunnels filled with millions of skeletal remains. Spiral steps—131 in all—led her down to catacombs dating back to the late 1700s.
The air was cool in the subterranean space. The footsteps of other visitors crunched on the gravel, and there were echoes of water dripping from the low ceilings. “I knew it was a mass grave, but that reality didn’t fully compute until I saw it in person,” Megan says.
She was following her interest in history while traveling with other alumni and friends of Fresno Pacific University. Emeritus History Professor Steve Varvis, Ph.D., organizes the trips with Go Ahead Tours and then leads the groups on their European adventures. Since 2017, FPU groups have traveled to the Netherlands/Germany/Switzerland (for the 500th anniversary of the Reformation), Central Europe, France, Greece, Italy, Scotland/Ireland and Spain. A trip to Scandinavia is planned for 2025.
For Megan, it’s the perfect way to travel. “It’s nice not to have to worry about booking hotels, flights and museum tours, and there’s enough time to explore on your own,” she says.
For Steve, the trips are an extension of the European history that has occupied a major part of his academic career. “There are authors who say the Europe of the Middle Ages is the root of our intellectual and spiritual problems today but also the reason for the successes of our modern world. The trips help me understand in a deeper way what I’ve studied and taught,” he says.
He adds: “Travel opens your eyes to different ideas and different ways of living. Plus, you meet a lot of great people who are very welcoming. The trips are the highlight of my year.”
‘Meshes well’
The tours typically last about two weeks, and the number of travelers never exceeds 30. FPU alumni usually make up half of the travelers, with their family and friends filling out the groups. Ages have ranged from early 20s to 80, with many people in their 50s and 60s. “The mix of people on our tours is fun,” Steve says. “It all meshes well. One tour guide said we were a very unique group—everyone helping one another and getting along.”
Itineraries include stops at many historical locations. On the trip to France in 2022, Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris was still under repair from fire damage, so Steve led the group to Sainte-Chappelle. Louis IX had the chapel built in the mid-1200s to keep the crown of thorns worn by Jesus and other relics bought from the Byzantine emperor. Two of the other stops in France were Rouen, where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake, and the American cemetery in Normandy, the resting place of troops who died liberating Europe from Nazi rule.
Some tours have side trips. After Steve led the FPU group through Vienna, Budapest and Prague in Central Europe in 2022, some folks went to Salzburg in Austria, where “The Sound of Music” was filmed. Their tour guide said Austrians don’t understand Americans’ fascination with the film’s Salzburg locations. Then the group traveled to Germany to see the Oberammergau Passion Play, a five-hour depiction of the last days of Christ, his death and resurrection. The play is presented every 10 years. “It brought the gospel stories we’ve heard so many times to life and helped us see and understand them more deeply,” Steve wrote in a blog.
Consuelo Romo (BA ’18) also found the Passion Play riveting. “I thoroughly enjoyed the glorious singing and creative storytelling, and I wept at the crucifixion of Christ and was deeply moved that there was no curtain call or moment for accolades when complete. It was for the glory of God and was a gift that I will carry for a lifetime,” she says.
C.S. Lewis Square
In 2023, the FPU tour was planned partly around landscapes—the Highlands, bogs and lochs (lakes) of Scotland and the coasts of Ireland. As the group drove from Edinburgh to the Highlands, their tour director and driver added a surprise visit to the Kelpies, two 98-feet-tall horse-head sculptures depicting a spirit in Irish and Scottish folklore. “It was memorable because of the sheer size of the sculptures and the fact that our guides cared so much about making our trip special,” says Melissa Berend (BA ’10).
Melissa and the others spent two days at Loch Ness (no monster sightings!) and then crossed the Irish Sea by ferry to Belfast in Northern Ireland. While there, some folks visited C.S. Lewis Square with its statues of Lewis’ Narnia characters, and others went to the Titanic Belfast, a museum that commemorates the ship being built in the city. At Blarney Castle, Steve and a few others lay down, leaned back headfirst and kissed the famous stone. In Dublin, some of the group had “high tea” at a 5-Star hotel, and there was a group dinner at a pub with much singing and good cheer.
‘Like a storybook’
In 2024, Blanca Martinez (MA ’24) was on the tour that began in Barcelona, Spain, continued to the French Riviera and ended in Milan, Italy. “It was my first trip to Europe, and I thought it was the safest option to go with experienced travelers,” she says. Of the many trip’s highlights, boating on Italy’s Lake Como stood out. Set against the foothills of the Alps, the lake is known for its dramatic scenery.
“The views were so beautiful that I felt like I was in a movie,” Blanca says. “I don’t think a camera lens could capture how stunning it was.” The boat tour included a stop at a colorful village where buildings were painted green, tan and pink, and lunch was homemade pasta that a restauranteur made as Blanca and others watched. “It was the best I’ve ever had,” she says.
Athens, the Greek islands and New Testament locations like Corinth were the destinations of the second trip in 2024. Esther Klassen-Isaak (BA ’77), who directed FPU’s Counseling Office for 18 years, was intrigued to travel to the birthplace of Western civilization because of her interest in history, religion and mythology.
One warm day, Esther and others in the FPU group visited the Archeological Museum of Ancient Corinth. They saw the place where the Apostle Paul faced trial before Roman proconsul Gallio and was acquitted (Acts 18: 12-16). “My heart was touched to be standing in the exact place where Paul faced his Jewish accusers and to walk where he walked in the ancient city’s marketplace,” Esther says. “I did not expect to be so moved by this experience.”
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For information about upcoming tours, email Steve.Varvis@fresno.edu or visit https://grouptoursite.com/stevevarvis.
