Reflections on Budapest and Prague The trip to Budapest and Prague shines as the most intellectually stimulating and professionally invigorating experience of my academic career. Traveling with colleagues enhanced the experience, for their expertise added a rich dimension to our conversations on the places we visited. And, having a Valencia student tour guide paved a smooth path for our adventures in Hungary. One of the most magical moments of the trip, for me, occurred in Prague. I teach Introduction to Film and have in the past used the film Amadeus to examine the use of sound in film. A group of us attended Don Giovanni in the Estates Theatre, where the opera was premiered in 1787. As I watched the performers, images from Amadeus flashed through my mind, for, in the film, the opera figures largely in underscoring Mozart’s relationship with his father Leopold. That performance prompted a trip to the Mozart Museum and to a performance of The Requiem, another piece featured in the film. Rekindling my love for Mozart, these experiences have moved me to teach the film again, and I’m sure with more authority than ever before. There are a host of examples that each of us can offer to validate the importance of this trip as an invaluable educational tool. My wish is that other instructors experience this magic that may allow them to reconnect with their love for learning and the discipline they teach. The enthusiasm continues to bubble from all of us and our students reap the rewards of that energy. E-MAIL