Blogs from Italy, Europe - page 1573

Saturday, May 28th URBINO 7:30am Piazza Adua Un Professore di storia dell’arte (Leoncini), una professoressa e noi in 9. We are in small bus, and begin our 3 hour viaggio to Urbino, in Marche. After the first hump, crawling in and through and around the Apenines, we then reach another set of roads…that are an endless snake curving this way and that…and I must close my eyes for the next hour to avoid the sickness that these roads are famed to produce…I concentrate on anything to force my mind away from the visions of this rollercoaster ride. Urbino better be worth it. Urbino We are in the regione of Italy called Marche. The trees here remind of New England-green and full, not like the Cyprus of Tuscany, that seem manicured and contained. Urbino is a medieval ... read more

Friday, May 27 2005 9:15am school This morning we were in 5 at school, being a Friday morning as usual. We went over the previous night’s exercises as usual. I had opened the windows and the sparrows were quarreling, the morning light warm and hinting at the day’s heat. Our school at Villa della Quiet is closing here, and translocating to the center of Florence-Piazza Savaronola. They’ve already dismantled our desks and chairs, and have given us substitute mini chairs instead. The mood is different this morning, and during our ritual homework correction which often takes 1.5 hours, our minds drifted and let tangents lead to other tangents. Our professoressa allowed our minds to drift to concepts other than pronomi, relativi, causali versus finali, periodi ipotetici. Instead our conversation drifted wondering what characteristics defined an amphibian, ... read more

Ciao! Well, I survived my group presentation yesterday. This was a NEW experience for my Type A personality. Laura and I were actually printing the paper off at 1:59 with our presentation beginning at 2. Scary!! The presentation was absolutely, positively off the cuff. Thank goodness it's over! We have class this morn and then it's off to another "first" for me -- my first completely, totally unplanned trip. We are hoping to make our way to Cinque Terre, perhaps with a stopover in Milan on the way back. We will get back later on Monday evening. We have no train tickets, no hotels booked, etc. Wish us luck! Last night was AWESOME. We had our restaurant excursion. I can't remember the technical name, but the restaurant was a special type of place combining agriculture and ... read more

So we finally made it to Milan, we started at 9:30, just after picking up a tensor bandage for me knee. I thought there were two steps instead of 3 and had a wee face plant. Trains were cancelled but we are here. Tommorow Paris. Our last days in Cinque Terre, we hiked, had a picnic, went to the beach, which was great minus the jelly fish and school groups. One turd face threw a gummy bear at me (Sarah). We also found the locals beach in Riomaggiore. We also ate more gelato and anchovies, Alex's favorite food and man do they have alot of them there. It was beautiful, Milan was a bit of a shock, but had an amusing time attempting to speak Italian. Also does anyone know a place where they develop picture ... read more

Believe it or not, there is no choice on the list of Italian cities that allows one to choose Assisi. Surprises me since several thousand people per year visit here. Assisi, which I first thought was going to be steeper than Siena, is not. The inclines are less dramatic so, although the difference between the top and bottom of a hill is about the same as in Siena, the space allotted to cover the distance is much longer making for easier walks. Les is likely to get a tad chatty on the topic of me and my comments about steepness. Be nice to her; her allergies are acting up :- We have been in Assisi for a couple of days and are really enjoying it. The pace is slower than Florence, thank you God, and the ... read more