Enchanté Paris!

We arrived safe and sound this morning in Paris and went straight to our hotel to check in. After lunch we had a few hours to relax and refresh ourselves, then we made our way to Sacre Coeur located at the top of Montmartre. For dinner, students feasted on a variety of freshly made dinner and dessert crepes and enjoyed a beautiful view of the city!.

Arividerchi Firenze!

 For our last day in Florence, the staff planned a surprise beach day for the students. We went to a beach called Viareggio which is about an hour away from Florence. After a few relaxing hours at the beach, we stopped at Pisa on the way back home. We saw the famous leaning tower of Pisa and took a tour of the city’s Cathedral and its baptistery. After returning to Florence we got into cooking groups for dinner and the students made gnocchi alla Sorrentina!  After dinner we walked to Ponte Vecchio and listened to music on the bridge, then made our way around Florence on a gelato tasting tour, and finished the night with a Florence scavenger hunt.   Team  "2+2= 4" won for a second time!  

Day Trip to Siena!

Today was our full day excursion to Siena! Siena is an Mid evil Tuscan city that is known for its horse race called the Palio.  The city is broken up into 17 different neighbourhoods, each with its own flag, motto and horse that races in the palio.   We started our day in Siena with a visit to the Basilica of San Domencio where there are relics of Saint Catherine, a patron saint of Italy including her head and finger. We then walked to Piazza del Campo where students were given free time to explore the streets of Siena and grab some lunch. We then visited the Cathedral of Siena. The floor of the cathedral is decorated with marble mosaic artworks. After the Cathedral students had the opportunity to climb up the unfinished portion of the original transept to see the city's best aerial view possible.

Following the tradition of Siena, the kids got into their scavenger hunt groups and designed their own flags, motto, and the values that their group stands for then each group presented their flags.  We have some VERY CREATIVE students!! 

Welcome to Florence!!

We arrived in Florence 3 days ago and have already done A LOT.  Our first day included a trip to the Accademia to see Michalangelo's statue of David, then we had a group dinner, took a tour of the city, and made our way to see  a reading of Dante's Inferno in Piazza Santa Croce! After ward we had a gelato before heading home.

   
 We started off our first full day in Florence with a visit to the Uffizi Gallery. Completed in 1581, the Uffizi Gallery is one of the most popular tourist sites in Florence. Adjacent to the Medici Palace, the museum is home numerous collections of paintings and statues including works by Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Sandro Botticelli, Caravaggio, Raphael and many other celebrated artists.


 After an afternoon of free time, we walked to the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, the cathedral of Florence. The cathedral (Duomo) is the world’s third largest church. We walked up 463 steps to the top of the Duomo for the best aerial view of Florence. For dinner, we tested our skills in the kitchen, as tonight was our first night of cooking groups! 

Blog Catch-up!  Due to a slow internet connection, the blog is a bit behind, so today I am posting a recap of the last days in Roma and our first days in Firenze! 

 Our last days in Roma consisted of a trip to the Roman Colosseum. The Colosseum, originally called the Flavian Amphitheatre is located in the center of the city and is one of Rome’s most famous sites. It is estimated that the giant amphitheatre had the capacity to hold 50,000 spectators. From there it was a quick walk to the Roman Forum also located in the center of Rome between the Palatine and Capitoline hills. The site itself contains the ruins of many important government buildings of ancient Rome. Next was a visit to the Capitonline Museum.

 We started our last day in Rome with a trip to Vatican City to visit the Vatican Museum and St. Peter's Cathedral. We entered the Vatican Museum and made our way to what many consider to be Vatican City's main attraction, the Sistine Chapel. It took Micheangelo four years to create his masterpiece and completed it in 1512. On our way through the museum we passed numerous important and historical artifacts including the famous School of Athens painting painted by Italian Renaissance artist Raphael.  After the Vatican, students had the afternoon to explore Rome one last time. Then a wonderful group dinner at one of Romes best pizzerias 

Farewell Greece.. Hello Roma!!

After a wonderful time in Athens, it was time to say goodbye to Greek Salads and Hello to Pizza!!  We got into Roma on Wednesday, got settled in, and  started our Roman adventure with a cultural walk (our first of many) and a visit to the Pantheon, a temple built for the gods of ancient Rome.

The next day we boarded a bus and began our full day excursion to Pompeii. As we headed south, we made a short stop in Naples to visit the Naples National Archaeological Museum, the most important Italian archaeological museum and one of the oldest museums in Europe. The museum contains many collections of Greek and Roman antiquities including Roman artifacts from Pompeii. For lunch we stopped at a pizzeria where everyone got their own individual pizza. After lunch it was time to explore the ruins of Pompeii. The city was completely destroyed in the year AD 79 when the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius completely buried the city in ash and pumice. The ancient city was lost until its rediscovery in 1749 and is still being excavated today.

Goodbye Greece..

Hello Nutella!!

The Pantheon!

Making a wish at the Trevi Fountain!

 The Beautiful City of Roma.

The National Archaeological Museum in Napoli