Bella Italia!

During March Break 2014, 17 students travelled with Mr. Beckett and I to Italy for 8 days. It was an amazing adventure.

After a crazy trip to Montreal, and a long flight, we landed in Milan. Once in Milan, we were picked up by the group from Texas that we would be spending the rest of our trip with. They were a big group, and many of them were very nice.


We started our Italian tour by visiting Verona. As an English teacher, I was pretty excited that I would be seeing Juliet's balcony. It's in a tiny, very crowed square, but now I can say I've been there.

Turns out the highlight of Verona is not, in fact the balcony, but the intact 2000 year old Roman arena. It's smaller than the Roman Colosseum, but in much better condition. I took on the challenge of climbing the crazy big stairs and hiked to the top. It was worth it!





Roman Arena



View of the square from arena edge





After we left Verona, we headed to Lido, on the Adriatic Sea, where we spent the night. Some of us took the opportunity to explore the beach and watch the sunset, while others took the opportunity to get showered and relax after our long travels.

The next day we headed to Venice. We saw a glass blowing demo, spent way too much money on authentic Venetian glass, toured the crazy alleys and ate an Italian lunch. Before touring the Doge's palace, we did what all tourists do in Venice; we went on a gondola ride. It was a pretty exciting day.

 Venice, while it is beautiful, is crazy busy. I wouldn't suggest going when it's high tourist time.

The next day we went to Florence. The drive was beautiful. Most of the students, and the other teachers slept through the bus trips, but I tried my hardest to stay awake and see everything. Once we go there, we had a guided tour. What a city! 

One of our first stops was in the city centre, where we saw a replica of David. Next we saw the famous Ponte Vecchio. This is the only bridge that Hitler ordered saved during the bombing of Florence during the second world war. It houses many jewelry shops, and above it there is a walkway to the Pitti Palace.



The following day, we headed to Pisa. Turns out the tower is not the only building leaning. There is also a cathedral and baptistry on the same site, and they are all leaning. The baptistry was my favourite part. There is a keeper of the building sing. It was built so a voice will echo a number of times.

After Pisa, we returned to Florence. Some of the group went to the Uffizi gallery, while some toured the Pitti Palace. No matter what the option, everyone enjoyed themselves.

On the way to Rome, we made a side trip. This turned out to be the highlight for me. We stopped in San Gigimano. It is a walled, medieval town, set on a hill in Tuscany. There we got to walk the town, taste the best gelato in the world, and climb the 218 stairs to the top of the largest intact tower in the town. Families used to build up back in the day, and when trouble came, they could climb, and therefore had an advantage over their enemies. I would move to this city in a heart beat! (if I were a millionaire).

In the town square on market day

View from the tower

After San G., we stopped in Assisi. We toured the two churches there and explored the town.

This is the San Francesco Basilica. Having the students in the picture gives you a good idea of the size.

Our final stop on our Italian tour was Roma (Rome). What an amazing city, but crazy city. We stayed outside the city in a hotel perched on a hillside. There were real orange trees growing on the property, and a number of the students had their own little villas. It was really cool. 

Our first stop in Rome, was Vatican City. We got a guided tour, and saw a lot of the famous artwork housed there. We also got to see the Sistine Chapel. It's pretty big, and impressive, but I think I would have liked it more if it weren't filled with other tourists who were breaking the rules. St. Peter's Basilica is huge! It looks big on tv, but until you've been inside, you have no idea. It was very busy, but we were lucky. The day before we went, they had celebrated the first anniversary of the new pope. It would have been stupid crazy then, or we wouldn't have been able to take a tour. 

After the Vatican we went to tour the Roman Forum and Colosseum.  One word describes these two wonders: Amazing! It's hard to believe that they were built almost 2000 years ago, and are still standing. 

Group at Colosseum

Roman Forum

In St. Peter's Basilica

View from St. Peter's square

Overall, I think everyone had a fantastic time on this trip. I can't wait to go back to Italy!