Friday, July 27, 2012
The Eternal City
Thursday 26th, 10.30am: the majority of us flew back to United Stated today. We feel strange, it is now only ten of us and three staff (the director Anastasia, the drawing teacher Lindsay, and the art history teacher Paulina). But here we are, ready for a new adventure: Rome, the eternal city -as they call it-.
After a first stop in Orvieto where we visited its beautiful Dome and we had lunch break, we arrived to Rome around 5pm (Italian time). After checking in at the Hotel Smeraldo we walked in the center of Rome: Campo dei Fiori, Piazza Navona, Pantheon, and Fontana di Trevi just to keep warm our cameras! Then, we had group dinner in a typical Roman pizzeria (Roman pizza style is different from Napolitean pizza style... it is very funny to see someone from Rome and Naples arguing about which one is the most authentic pizza!). After having a supplì and crocchetta appetizer and pizza, we went for a the first Roman gelato in one of the most vibrant neighborhood in Rome: Trastevere. By 11pm we were in our beds: it has been a long day and we need to be ready for our "Roman Holidays"!
Being in Rome is like to take a time machine and find yoursef back in centuries! On Friday morning we visited the Colosseum just feeling like Russell Crowe in the movie The Gladiator! We also walked at Fori Imperiali, and we visited after having lunch in the Pantheon area the Capitolini Museum. It was just amazing since the Capitolini Museums store all the valuable objects they found in the Fori Imperiali. Tonight we are going to have dinner at the Jewish Quarter, a nice neighborhood full of good restaurants, and probably -why not- we are going to finish our day with a huge gelato! PS: Do you know the souther you go in Italy the better the food? Which includes gelato? Yay!!
Tomorrow Saturday we are also having a pretty busy day: we are going to visit the Vatican and its museum! Do not be surprised if we are going to be victims of the Stendhal syndrome in front of the Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo! Tomorrow night we are going to spend more time in Trastevere where real locals use to hang out.
On Sunday we are going to visit Villa Borghese and we are going to have a pic nic in its gorgeous gardens. After visiting several churches to admire Caravaggio's work in Rome, we are going to have our farewell dinner. Back to the hotel we hope to pack everything we can from this last five days in Rome: memories, beauty, arts, friendship, and great emotions.
Ciao Ciao Italia!!!
After a first stop in Orvieto where we visited its beautiful Dome and we had lunch break, we arrived to Rome around 5pm (Italian time). After checking in at the Hotel Smeraldo we walked in the center of Rome: Campo dei Fiori, Piazza Navona, Pantheon, and Fontana di Trevi just to keep warm our cameras! Then, we had group dinner in a typical Roman pizzeria (Roman pizza style is different from Napolitean pizza style... it is very funny to see someone from Rome and Naples arguing about which one is the most authentic pizza!). After having a supplì and crocchetta appetizer and pizza, we went for a the first Roman gelato in one of the most vibrant neighborhood in Rome: Trastevere. By 11pm we were in our beds: it has been a long day and we need to be ready for our "Roman Holidays"!
Being in Rome is like to take a time machine and find yoursef back in centuries! On Friday morning we visited the Colosseum just feeling like Russell Crowe in the movie The Gladiator! We also walked at Fori Imperiali, and we visited after having lunch in the Pantheon area the Capitolini Museum. It was just amazing since the Capitolini Museums store all the valuable objects they found in the Fori Imperiali. Tonight we are going to have dinner at the Jewish Quarter, a nice neighborhood full of good restaurants, and probably -why not- we are going to finish our day with a huge gelato! PS: Do you know the souther you go in Italy the better the food? Which includes gelato? Yay!!
Tomorrow Saturday we are also having a pretty busy day: we are going to visit the Vatican and its museum! Do not be surprised if we are going to be victims of the Stendhal syndrome in front of the Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo! Tomorrow night we are going to spend more time in Trastevere where real locals use to hang out.
On Sunday we are going to visit Villa Borghese and we are going to have a pic nic in its gorgeous gardens. After visiting several churches to admire Caravaggio's work in Rome, we are going to have our farewell dinner. Back to the hotel we hope to pack everything we can from this last five days in Rome: memories, beauty, arts, friendship, and great emotions.
Ciao Ciao Italia!!!
Recollecting Memories
Dear Parents and Friends,
here we are, from the beautiful Rome writing about these past days. Most of our students -as you know- are back. Everybody flew home on the 26th and they are safe back home although probably feeling they still are in Florence.
Our last full week in Florence was just unbelievable: we had -just as real Italians- a white dress code aperitivo at one of the fanciest pool in Florence surrounded by beautiful gardens, we had more museums, our last full week of classes, and a fantastic Tarantella and Pizzica workshop where we learned how to dance typical Southern Italian dances. The week end was just full of emotions and surprises as well. On Friday we had a very special Residence night: Project Runway! Divided in cooking groups each group got a bag with surprise elements in it (such as plastic bags, newspapers, etc...) and we had hour and half to create our outfit!That was so much fun... and how to forget our Art Instructor William dressed up as a real Italian gelato! Gnammy!
On Saturday we had the best trip of the program: Cinqueterre. It is just like being in Paradise... we walked along the Path of Love (the view make you fell in love!) and after having a nice dinner in front of the sea we also had the energy -once back in Florence- to go for the last time to the club! We danced until the last drop of energy and the next day a very relaxed Sunday was the perfect moment (unfortunately) to start packing (and to start realizing at some point we have to pack!). On Sunday night we had our chance to make some shopping at Barberino outlet where there was also Gloria Gaynor in concert and we all sang: I will survive thinking of how much packing we have to do!
The very last week we had more exciting group activities such as an Iron Chef Competition where we showed our new skills as chef after a month cooking and tasting Italian food, and on Tuesday we had probably the most authentic Italian experience ever: we went in Piazza Santa Croce to attend to the reading of a canto from Divina Commedia by Dante Alighieri made by the Italian director and actor Roberto Benigni! (everybody remembers him winning two Oscars for his movie La vita è bella [Life is Beautiful], right?) Our students of Italian were particularly excited since they watch La vita è bella in class and they could meet Benigni in person!
Wedneday was a mix of feelings: happy because we had our last opportunity to climb the Bell Tower or the Dome, and we had our group dinner in a very fancy restaurant next to Palazzo Vecchio. We also had our last gelato (for now...) at Gelateria Neri (one of the best in Florence... but it is very hard to establish which one is the best in here...). But we felt kind of nostalgic, and the feeling of the departure was just there. As evening activity we stayed all together as a big family in the biggest apartment at Palazzo. Our Photography teacher created a slide show with all the pictures she has been taking since the beginning of this incredible month. And that was just perfect: a summary of all those fantastic memories we all had and we were sharing right there, all together as testimony of this unforgettable summer. As the slide show ended (over 300 pictures!!), we shared in circle our best memory in Florence and that was just our goodbye to our last night together at Palazzo Le Monnier.
The night was very short: at 4am we had to be in the lobby. This is always the most touching moment both for students and for staff (we also have to say goodbye to our collegues/friends). Several of us could not to keep the tears, and it was so sweet to see how in one month only students felt they were saying goodbye to best friends.
These memories will just stay with us forever. Now, already from what we call "home", we still have this feeling of being from Florence as well. A feeling is not going to go away so easily.
Welcome back "home" Abbey Road Florence 2012 Students!
here we are, from the beautiful Rome writing about these past days. Most of our students -as you know- are back. Everybody flew home on the 26th and they are safe back home although probably feeling they still are in Florence.
Our last full week in Florence was just unbelievable: we had -just as real Italians- a white dress code aperitivo at one of the fanciest pool in Florence surrounded by beautiful gardens, we had more museums, our last full week of classes, and a fantastic Tarantella and Pizzica workshop where we learned how to dance typical Southern Italian dances. The week end was just full of emotions and surprises as well. On Friday we had a very special Residence night: Project Runway! Divided in cooking groups each group got a bag with surprise elements in it (such as plastic bags, newspapers, etc...) and we had hour and half to create our outfit!That was so much fun... and how to forget our Art Instructor William dressed up as a real Italian gelato! Gnammy!
On Saturday we had the best trip of the program: Cinqueterre. It is just like being in Paradise... we walked along the Path of Love (the view make you fell in love!) and after having a nice dinner in front of the sea we also had the energy -once back in Florence- to go for the last time to the club! We danced until the last drop of energy and the next day a very relaxed Sunday was the perfect moment (unfortunately) to start packing (and to start realizing at some point we have to pack!). On Sunday night we had our chance to make some shopping at Barberino outlet where there was also Gloria Gaynor in concert and we all sang: I will survive thinking of how much packing we have to do!
The very last week we had more exciting group activities such as an Iron Chef Competition where we showed our new skills as chef after a month cooking and tasting Italian food, and on Tuesday we had probably the most authentic Italian experience ever: we went in Piazza Santa Croce to attend to the reading of a canto from Divina Commedia by Dante Alighieri made by the Italian director and actor Roberto Benigni! (everybody remembers him winning two Oscars for his movie La vita è bella [Life is Beautiful], right?) Our students of Italian were particularly excited since they watch La vita è bella in class and they could meet Benigni in person!
Wedneday was a mix of feelings: happy because we had our last opportunity to climb the Bell Tower or the Dome, and we had our group dinner in a very fancy restaurant next to Palazzo Vecchio. We also had our last gelato (for now...) at Gelateria Neri (one of the best in Florence... but it is very hard to establish which one is the best in here...). But we felt kind of nostalgic, and the feeling of the departure was just there. As evening activity we stayed all together as a big family in the biggest apartment at Palazzo. Our Photography teacher created a slide show with all the pictures she has been taking since the beginning of this incredible month. And that was just perfect: a summary of all those fantastic memories we all had and we were sharing right there, all together as testimony of this unforgettable summer. As the slide show ended (over 300 pictures!!), we shared in circle our best memory in Florence and that was just our goodbye to our last night together at Palazzo Le Monnier.
The night was very short: at 4am we had to be in the lobby. This is always the most touching moment both for students and for staff (we also have to say goodbye to our collegues/friends). Several of us could not to keep the tears, and it was so sweet to see how in one month only students felt they were saying goodbye to best friends.
These memories will just stay with us forever. Now, already from what we call "home", we still have this feeling of being from Florence as well. A feeling is not going to go away so easily.
Welcome back "home" Abbey Road Florence 2012 Students!
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