Travelling with the Lions really is the best way to spend your summer holidays.
The Camp Emilia was my second Lions camp and one of the best weeks of my life.
Already before arriving in Italy I knew that it would be awesome. I mean, how couldn’t it be? Staying in a castle together with people from 21 different countries in the country with the world’s best food?

And I was right, that’s exactly the way it turned out to be. The ten days were full of activities, which I really enjoyed. Although that sometimes meant having to get up at 05:30 even though you only came back at 02:30 the night before. Long bus rides and guided tours in Italy’s heat didn’t really help me with feeling less tired, but that was okay- it was worth it. We had the opportunity to see a lot of Bella Italia, not only big cities like Milan and Bologna, but also castles, riversides and islands.
The best nights were those we spent dancing or playing Truth or Dare. And of course, one of the things I enjoyed the most was talking with the campers about their countries. What kind of food do they eat? What is their school system like? Is their country very different from Italy?

I have to say that I wish there had been some common activities with all the campers before the camp started, so that we could have gotten to know each other earlier.

The theme of our camp was “Living on the Blind Side” and for me, it was very interesting to learn about how visually impaired people manage their daily lives. If someone tells you about it, you can already imagine how challenging it must be, but only when you really experience it, you can really know what being blind means. That’s why I count the “dinner in the dark” as one of the best activities- I learnt a lot from it and we had to laugh a lot.

It’s also very important for me to say a big thank you to our amazing camp leaders- the ones who made all of this possible. Not only did they help us wherever they could, they also made the camp even more fun. I’m very thankful that the Lions made it possible for us to have such an amazing time and I hope to see you all again someday!