not so mini-vans and Montebelli, at last!

The journey to Tuscany was an exciting one, to say the least. The mini-vans that we reserved turned out to be...well...maxi-vans. Ms. Darling had a smaller version, in blue. Stylish, as always. Needless to say, the kids were riding in style, which was good thing as it turned out to be a challenge to exit Florence. Once that was accomplished, we headed to the ever intimidating walled city of Monteriggioni for a delectable meal. The best pasta, hands down, ever. We all agreed. We then took a very long ride down to Montebelli, with a slight unwanted detour through Guincarico, a mountain town with VERY narrow, VERY steep streets. The students enjoyed this immensely. Couldn't get to Montebelli fast enough! We were welcomed by the warm staff, sweet dogs, and clouds of jasmine. For dinner we had personal pizzas cooked il forno, as well as a full antipasta bar. Best of all, we got a swim in the pool afterward!

Florence--Day 2

A fabulous night's rest in our quaint little tents set us up for another fun day in Florence. On our way to the Duomo, we stopped by the famous Boar fountain to rub his nose for good luck. We then admired the gorgeous Duomo and waited in line *forever* until we finally got to climb to the top. Many, many stairs later we all agreed--what a view! After the long descent, we grabbed some cappuccini and panini and headed over to see David in the Accademia. Grabbed a few treasures in the market and headed back towards homebase. Stopped along the way at an enoteca for a delicious dinner.

San Giovanni's Day

Well, as we returned from our first day in the city, we walked past the Piazzalle Michelangelo to find it completely blocked off. Turns out, that is where they would be shooting off fireworks from! Right next to our campsite, no less! We had dinner close by, in anticipation of the view we would have. Sure enough, at around ten, as Kali aptly described before, the heavens opened. FOR AN HOUR! The kids the topped off the evening by taking over the empty dance floor at the restaurant. A wonderful night.

Due to lack of service...

I'll be updating the blog a bit, now that we have returned. Internet access was spotty, as expected. We were also on the go until ten in the evening, at least, so blogging took a back seat. I'll also add a few thoughts to previous posts, as well as photos.

The train to Florence was exciting, but we were all a little tired and disoriented upon arrival. We caught the bus up to our campground and dropped our stuff off so that we could hurry down to the Uffizi for our appointment. Inside, we saw many Italian pieces from the 11th century and talked about the iconographic style of that period. Most of the pieces were very religious, which created an easy segue to Lady Gaga. We moved on to the influence of the Medici's on the study of art, specifically Bronzini's work (which Nadia presented for us) as well as Bottecelli's (which Constantine presented). Unfortunately, Zoe's Uccello painting was out on exhibition, but we did see a similar one of his in the Louvre. We headed back to the campsite, stopping for a well-deserved gelato on the way. BTW, Coach Delinsky, the girls wanted me to take a pic of them running up to the campsite to show you that they really did work out!

Flags and drumming in Siena

Yesterday we went to Siena, and saw many of the preparations for the Palio. Although it was very hot outside it was a lot of fun being in the city. Some of us visited the museum of torture instruments, which was a little creepy. We also went to a church called San Dominico (I think), which has the head of Saint Catherine on display. My favorite part of Siena was seeing the parades. We saw parades for two different contradas. I don’t remember what the first contrada was, but the second one was the Snail. The Snails’ parade was flashy and exciting. They were all wearing costumes with the contrada’s colors and they had drummers and people waving giant flags. They also had people from the contrada following and cheering and singing songs. It was fun to watch, and it looked like so much fun to participate in!

Mrs Thompson writes:

A very exciting day in Siena. Parking was a challenge, but once we got inside the gates, we were swept up into the preparations of the Palio. The Palio is a famous horse race that occurs in Siena's Campo twice a year. Each neighborhood, or contrada, gets a chance to race in one of the races. The winner gets bragging rights for the rest of the year. The winning horse eats at the head of the contrada's feast table, which winds down the main street of the neighborhood. The parades take place for days before the race. The whole contrada takes part: men, women and children. Each of our students was given a contrada to study. The minute we found a vendor, everyone bought the scarf for their respective contrada and wore it for the day. When we went to the main cathedral to admire the gorgeous stone work, the lady letting us in suggested we have our own race!

Train to Italy

After an adventurous stay in France, we took the overnight train to Florence.

Kali documents...

"Thank God, Drew had brought Nutella with him and we had a major Nutella party. Rachel was talking in the other cabin with Gordon, Zoe and Constantine. Then we arrived to Italy. It was magical. The views and the colors are just breathtaking. That night there was a fair there and apparently there were fireworks that I personally didn’t know about, and ended up figuring it out when one went off practically right next to us while we were eating dinner. Stephen and I thought the rest of the group went down to the cliff. The fireworks were incomparable to what we see every year on July 4^th. It was like the heavens opened above and the dust was falling on us. After that we went completely crazy on the dance floor. Then we got to Montebelli and this farm is just a dream come true. There’s a pool, horses, and the view, oh that view; its like a painting painted by Monet. Even a picture can’t capture its beauty. Even though I do miss my home, I will deeply miss Italy, as will everyone else."

Thursday: Sacre Coeur in Montmartre

Stephen says:

"This morning, we left on the metro to Abysses to climb up a few billion stairs to a basilica on a hilltop with a view of the whole city. Once at the top, after taking in the view, we settled down with our cameras and/or sketchbooks and whipped up some more sketches. We had lunch in a cafe on the hill with awesome hotdogs. Some of the students (me included) paid the six euros to enter the Basilica dome. Once at the top, we agreed it was worth thirty euros. We could see the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, the Centre Pompidou, and pretty much the entire city. It was awesome to say the least. We traipsed through the tourist trap market at the bottom of the hill and took the metro back to the hotel. We're leaving for Italy in a moment. Au revoir, Paris. Ciao Florence."