Just a quick post to let everyone know that tomorrow morning we are off to Venice via Verona. Our InterCity train (hopefully with Harry Potter compartments) leaves at 6:39am, necessitating a 6am bus ride to the station. I suspect there will be some sleepy people on the train ride, but everyone will undoubtedly perk up when we stop for 30 minutes in Bologna to change trains.
On the last trip I convinced Gloria and Anastasia that we had to swim to Venice with our bags balanced on our heads - some of this group looked a bit horrifed until they realised that I was joking.
A big update will happen on our return - hopefully with lots of photos in the Spring sunshine!
Thursday, 11 April 2013
Monday, 8 April 2013
Firenze Part 3
Sorry about the multiple entries - if I add photos the formatting goes a bit crazy with the long posts.
To finish off our weekend in Florence, after a bit a of sleep in we set off towards the Duomo in the sparkling sunshine. Since the Cathedral wasn't open for tourist visits, the group decided to burn off some energy by climbing the 414 steps to the top of the Campanile for its fantastic views over the city. Having done the climb quite a number of times before, I elected to go for a stroll instead to check out some of the shops tucked away in little side streets. Our next stop was taking in Sunday mass in the cathedral, complete with scary organ music (according to Claudia), after which many of the group were starving and in dire need of lunch. Once this was accomplished (complete with dogs in the restaurant), we set off to the church of Santa Croce. This church features the tombs of Gallileo, Michelangelo, Macchiavelli and Rossini, as well as intricate medieval manuscripts for the choirs. Back out in the sunshine, the students mingled briefly with Pinocchio before one final fling shopping effort for boots/jackets/wallets/scarves/bags. Ruth stocked up on quills for the Medieval Fair back at school, while Xena showed some impressive haggling skills. Back at the hotel to collect our bags, we discovered that Claudia had only just missed a phone call from her dad. She was a bit sad, but then the thought of other adventures soon cheered her up again.
A bit of a bunfight at the station got us on the regional train back to Perugia and our very crowded bus ride back up the hill. A very late dinner finished off the weekend, with the students already planning a return journey to Florence on our spare weekend - since I ruled out Paris as an option.
8am classes came as a bit of a shock this morning - not surprisingly we have some very tired people, but we are all happy to be back home.
To finish off our weekend in Florence, after a bit a of sleep in we set off towards the Duomo in the sparkling sunshine. Since the Cathedral wasn't open for tourist visits, the group decided to burn off some energy by climbing the 414 steps to the top of the Campanile for its fantastic views over the city. Having done the climb quite a number of times before, I elected to go for a stroll instead to check out some of the shops tucked away in little side streets. Our next stop was taking in Sunday mass in the cathedral, complete with scary organ music (according to Claudia), after which many of the group were starving and in dire need of lunch. Once this was accomplished (complete with dogs in the restaurant), we set off to the church of Santa Croce. This church features the tombs of Gallileo, Michelangelo, Macchiavelli and Rossini, as well as intricate medieval manuscripts for the choirs. Back out in the sunshine, the students mingled briefly with Pinocchio before one final fling shopping effort for boots/jackets/wallets/scarves/bags. Ruth stocked up on quills for the Medieval Fair back at school, while Xena showed some impressive haggling skills. Back at the hotel to collect our bags, we discovered that Claudia had only just missed a phone call from her dad. She was a bit sad, but then the thought of other adventures soon cheered her up again.
A bit of a bunfight at the station got us on the regional train back to Perugia and our very crowded bus ride back up the hill. A very late dinner finished off the weekend, with the students already planning a return journey to Florence on our spare weekend - since I ruled out Paris as an option.
8am classes came as a bit of a shock this morning - not surprisingly we have some very tired people, but we are all happy to be back home.
One birthday, three leather jackets, dozens of scarves and many, many photos!
We're back in Perugia after the shopping fest that is Florence. To say that our group has been helping the Italian economy would be putting it mildly as we seemed to come back with double the amount of bags, but despite the tiredness, everyone seemed to have a good time.
On Friday morning we set off by regional train to Florence - two and a half hours away. To get to the station, the students (except for Julianne) had their first taste of the MiniMetro, a monorail which connects the top of the historic centre with hubs down the hill such as the train station. It's a bit like a roller coaster ride through tunnels, and everyone got a little excited, except for Stephanie who thought the addition of heated hand rails would not go amiss. By lunchtime we were ensconced in the beautiful Hotel Aprile, but the lure of food, shops and the markets meant that we didn't stay there for long, even with the light rain which had started to fall. A quick orientation walk around the centre of Florence signalled the beginning of the shopping experience, and the onset of Claudia's now quite sizeable scarf collection. Everyone seemed to find something, whether they were 'presents' for themselves or for their family and friends. The day ended with a delicious dinner at the restaurant conveniently located near our hotel, complete with a surprise birthday cake for Chelsea from Florence's most exclusive pasticceria, accompanied by some loud singing (and some impromptu applause from the Japanese tourists sitting next to us).
After breakfast the next morning (including bacon and eggs with toast for some) we headed by local train to Pisa. The journey passed through beautiful Tuscan scenery in sunshine, but the students are most likely to remember the tourist who got stuck in the toilet cubicle on the train. Luckily, Ruth went on a mission to find the conductor to get to stuck door open and the crisis was averted, but now everyone is a little bit more wary about using the train amenities. Once in Pisa Samantha expressed her surprise that the town wasn't actually named Pizza. Having recovered from that misunderstanding, we hopped on a local bus to take us to the Campo dei Miracoli, and their first glimpse of the Leaning Tower accompanied by gasps of excitement. Once the students got the hang of snapping photos 'holding up' the tower, they were soon engrossed and before we knew it, time had flown and we needed to start our return journey to Florence, via a lunch of McDonalds at the train station. Keen to make the most of the gorgeous sunshine, we deposited our Pisa shopping at the hotel and headed up to Piazzale Michelangelo for the postcard views over Florence. Stella maintained that Florence should be the location for the next 'Biggest Loser' series because of the amount of walking everyone was doing but we all got to have a little rest to savour the atmosphere before more shopping beckoned.
On Friday morning we set off by regional train to Florence - two and a half hours away. To get to the station, the students (except for Julianne) had their first taste of the MiniMetro, a monorail which connects the top of the historic centre with hubs down the hill such as the train station. It's a bit like a roller coaster ride through tunnels, and everyone got a little excited, except for Stephanie who thought the addition of heated hand rails would not go amiss. By lunchtime we were ensconced in the beautiful Hotel Aprile, but the lure of food, shops and the markets meant that we didn't stay there for long, even with the light rain which had started to fall. A quick orientation walk around the centre of Florence signalled the beginning of the shopping experience, and the onset of Claudia's now quite sizeable scarf collection. Everyone seemed to find something, whether they were 'presents' for themselves or for their family and friends. The day ended with a delicious dinner at the restaurant conveniently located near our hotel, complete with a surprise birthday cake for Chelsea from Florence's most exclusive pasticceria, accompanied by some loud singing (and some impromptu applause from the Japanese tourists sitting next to us).
After breakfast the next morning (including bacon and eggs with toast for some) we headed by local train to Pisa. The journey passed through beautiful Tuscan scenery in sunshine, but the students are most likely to remember the tourist who got stuck in the toilet cubicle on the train. Luckily, Ruth went on a mission to find the conductor to get to stuck door open and the crisis was averted, but now everyone is a little bit more wary about using the train amenities. Once in Pisa Samantha expressed her surprise that the town wasn't actually named Pizza. Having recovered from that misunderstanding, we hopped on a local bus to take us to the Campo dei Miracoli, and their first glimpse of the Leaning Tower accompanied by gasps of excitement. Once the students got the hang of snapping photos 'holding up' the tower, they were soon engrossed and before we knew it, time had flown and we needed to start our return journey to Florence, via a lunch of McDonalds at the train station. Keen to make the most of the gorgeous sunshine, we deposited our Pisa shopping at the hotel and headed up to Piazzale Michelangelo for the postcard views over Florence. Stella maintained that Florence should be the location for the next 'Biggest Loser' series because of the amount of walking everyone was doing but we all got to have a little rest to savour the atmosphere before more shopping beckoned.
Thursday, 4 April 2013
Working hard
Just thought I'd let people know that it's not all work and no play over here. While the students headed off to classes beginning at 8am, Nancy needed a hair cut.
Tomorrow morning we're off to Florence. Not doubt there will be a big report after the weekend!
Tomorrow morning we're off to Florence. Not doubt there will be a big report after the weekend!
Wednesday, 3 April 2013
The uni adventure begins!
Well, the first day of classes is over, and I have to say that there are some very tired students (and teachers). The first class began at 8am, and it soon became obvious that the A2 group was way too big to run as one class. Not surprisingly, the whole group was soon split into smaller groups so now we have three different timetable groups running. This is a good idea as it means our students get to mingle more with others, and one group even gets to avoid the 8am starts now - much to the relief of Samantha, Tony, Stephanie and Tania. By all accounts though the classes seemed to fly and lots of talking practice and writing notes took place. Keen to try out their new language skills, the students hit the shops in the lunch break to test out expressions such as Quanto pago? and Posso provarlo? They also found their way back to the uni bar for coffee and snacks in the lesson breaks every hour - you can't go wrong when cornetti only cost 80 cents! There was even homework after dinner before the zombified state of exhaustion overtook them and it was time for an early night before tomorrow's early start once again.
Tuesday, 2 April 2013
Our new home!
Welcome to our second day in Perugia!
However, before I get to that I need to do a quick update. Our last day in Rome was another busy day of walking -this time to the Colosseum via the Church of St Peter in Chains. This church is famous for its relic - the chains which are said to have imprisoned St Peter - and the statue of Moses by Michelangelo. This statue suffers from a translation issue though, because Michelangelo gave Moses a set of horns instead of the rays of light which he should have had. Oops! Our next stop was the Colosseum from a different angle this time, and then it was a walk past the Circus Maximus (the chariot race track of ancient Rome) to the Bocca della Verita`. Sadly, the queue to have a photo next to this famous drain cover stretched around the corner, so we gave it a miss and kept going, winding our way back towards the hotel to collect our luggage for our trip to Perugia. Unfortunately, our departing platform was so far down the opposite side of the station that it felt like we could have walked to Perugia, but we all made it in the end.
The train journey was smooth as usual, although once again the dicovery of wifi on the train meant that some people really didn't appreciate the scenery - at least until we got to Assisi, that is. From there, it wasn't far to Perugia and the excitement of taxi rides in crazy traffic before we settled into our new home.
A quick walk around the historic centre and a delicious dinner out finished off the Easter weekend for us.
This morning we were all up ready for the adventure of enrolling at the Universita` per Stranieri, after breakfast at a little cafe down the hill. The enrolment process began with an entrance test, which was really just filling out a form since I told various teachers there which course I thought our students should do. After a bit of a debate and discussion about whether they should or should not have to do a quick colloquio, they finally relented and saw things my way - no 'chat' in Italian required. Then it was off to join the queue for the rest of the process, which again went unexpectedly smoothly - definitely no visas required this time! I did have to go back at lunch to collect all the student cards and timetables, but at least they were all there waiting. This afternoon was time to explore aka hit the shops, and everyone seems happy and excited about lessons beginning tomorrow - not so much the 8am lesson start though and three hours straight of Italian Language lessons. Still, they are here to learn, and no doubt there will be many stories to recount tomorrow before exhaustion hits!
However, before I get to that I need to do a quick update. Our last day in Rome was another busy day of walking -this time to the Colosseum via the Church of St Peter in Chains. This church is famous for its relic - the chains which are said to have imprisoned St Peter - and the statue of Moses by Michelangelo. This statue suffers from a translation issue though, because Michelangelo gave Moses a set of horns instead of the rays of light which he should have had. Oops! Our next stop was the Colosseum from a different angle this time, and then it was a walk past the Circus Maximus (the chariot race track of ancient Rome) to the Bocca della Verita`. Sadly, the queue to have a photo next to this famous drain cover stretched around the corner, so we gave it a miss and kept going, winding our way back towards the hotel to collect our luggage for our trip to Perugia. Unfortunately, our departing platform was so far down the opposite side of the station that it felt like we could have walked to Perugia, but we all made it in the end.
The train journey was smooth as usual, although once again the dicovery of wifi on the train meant that some people really didn't appreciate the scenery - at least until we got to Assisi, that is. From there, it wasn't far to Perugia and the excitement of taxi rides in crazy traffic before we settled into our new home.A quick walk around the historic centre and a delicious dinner out finished off the Easter weekend for us.
This morning we were all up ready for the adventure of enrolling at the Universita` per Stranieri, after breakfast at a little cafe down the hill. The enrolment process began with an entrance test, which was really just filling out a form since I told various teachers there which course I thought our students should do. After a bit of a debate and discussion about whether they should or should not have to do a quick colloquio, they finally relented and saw things my way - no 'chat' in Italian required. Then it was off to join the queue for the rest of the process, which again went unexpectedly smoothly - definitely no visas required this time! I did have to go back at lunch to collect all the student cards and timetables, but at least they were all there waiting. This afternoon was time to explore aka hit the shops, and everyone seems happy and excited about lessons beginning tomorrow - not so much the 8am lesson start though and three hours straight of Italian Language lessons. Still, they are here to learn, and no doubt there will be many stories to recount tomorrow before exhaustion hits!
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