Last day!

St. Peter's Square!

Top of Cupola!

It has finally come. It is a very bittersweet feeling! Today was the last day in Italy! When we wake up in the morning, we head to the airport! I am really excited so so America! Today, we ventured out and I climbed the Cupola! It was 551 steps! I was super proud of myself and the view I was rewarded with! I loved to view of St. Peter's Square from above! After the Cupola, I met back up with the girls and headed to do some shopping! I decided to go ahead and spend all the money I had left in Euros! I was able to pick up a few last minute gifts! Afterwards, We headed to the Trevi Fountain! Sadly, it was under repair and we could not throw a coin in! When we left, we did some more shopping and headed back to the hotel to pack for the night! See you tomorrow, America!

Rome day 3!

The morning turned out a little rough for me! I didn't feel the best, so I slept in a little. Due to this, I missed the Pope! Luckily, I was able to hear about it from my friends that went. Afterwards, I met up with my friends at the Colosseum! It was huge and amazing! I could just get a sense of crazy feelings as I walked through it and imagined how it was many years ago! We walked all around the bottom and top floors and took many pictures! We walked out around the Colosseum onto the hills to get more views of it! Unfortunately, the rain cut our trip short! We headed back to the hotel to prepare for the last dinner as a group! I feel like the dinner went very well and we were able to enjoy ourselves as a group one last time here in Italy!

Pompeii! 6-6-15

A street in Pompeii!

The volcano!

Today has been the day I have been waiting for! We finally got to go to Pompeii! I had a sense of different emotions as we were arriving to Pompeii! We could see the volcano that cause all the destruction it did so many years ago! When we arrived, we were met by our tour guide. He was a funny man and chop full of information! We walked through the ruins and could only use our imaginations to picture what the life was like here before the destruction. We walked inside homes that were still preserved good enough to get information about the culture of the people from way back then. The tour showed us many different things that the people of Pompeii did in their spare time. You could just imagine what rich people would do in their spare time! After the tour, we stuck around to eat lunch in Pompeii. It was a bit pricey but looking at the location, I understand why. When we got back to Rome, the girls and I headed out to dinner at The Hard Rock Cafe. It was a blast and the food was great. One more taste of home before I actually head home!

Rome! 5-5-15

Ciao! Today we made it to Rome! This city is crazy! When we arrived, we dropped our bags off and headed for a quick lunch. We didn't take a long break before meeting up with a tour guide! We went throughout the city gaining huge amounts of information.

Roman ruins!

We could see the ancient pillars that some how were still standing! My favorite part of the day was being able to visit the Vatican City! The cultural aspects of Rome are amazing and the Vatican contributes to a huge part of the culture! We went through different museums and experienced amazing art work. The Italian culture thrives through its amazing art works created from all over the country.

Pillars!

During this visit, we went to the Sistine Chapel. The Sistine Chapel is the residence of the Pope! Michelangelo painted the amazing ceiling inside the chapel. After we left the chapel, we went outside into St. Peters Square to view the beautiful scene. There are pillar in the square that are four rows deep. However, you can stand at four different spots, north, south, west and east like on a compass, and the pillars all line up. Then they appear to only be one pillar instead of four. We left St. Peters Square and headed back to or hotel for the night.

Siena! 5-3 and 5-4-15

Ciao! Siena is a very beautiful city! Unfortunately, we only spent two days here! The city offers so much history to be learned! When we first arrived in the city, we separated to eat lunch! When we all joined back up, we went for a tour of the city with Dr. Marciano and Ray. She was able to give us a quick overview of the city and some really cool information. During this time, we got all of our tickets for the museums. Next came my favorite part of the day, the tower! We climbed another tower!

The tower!

The view at the top!

This one was only 378 steps but it gave us a beautiful view of the city! Afterwards, we went to dinner and back to our hotel for the nigh to prepare for the next day of adventures! When we woke the next morning, we headed out to visit the museums. Unfortunately, we were unable to take a bunch of pictures.
We were still able to grasp a little bit of information on the art work. The biggest highlight while being in Siena was learning about the Palio! The Palio di Siena is a horse race that is held twice a year. The dates are July 2 and August 16. There are 17 contrades in Siena but only ten of them are represented in the race. So, every race has 10 horses and 10 jockeys that are dressed in a color of the contrade they are representing. The event may only happen twice a year, but it is celebrated and prepared for all year round. After the race, there are huge celebrations that are done by people from all around the world that traveled down for the race. The race has thousands of spectators every year. The race is done on the Piazza del Campo, that has been covered in sand and saw dust and the walls covered with mattress type material. The race only last for three laps.
The jockey races on the horse without a saddle. If the jockey falls off, oh well! The horse can still finish the race without the jockey.

Art!

Selva contrade!

This has been done before. To learn more about this event, we went to one of the contrades private lounges to enjoy some history and food. This contrade was the Selva! Their symbol is the rhino at the base of an oak tree! The colors that represent them are green and orange! Their last race win was in the year 2010! I was able to get a good taste of how serious the Palio is to the people of Siena. It is a huge part of their culture. I even got to watch the race that happened in 2010 while eating. It is like the super bowl for Americans. Apart from the history and culture that was bestowed upon us, we were able to get a taste of cuisine also! They served us a four course meal and it was delicious! I walked away stuffed! It is a huge difference to see how the Italians eat compared to America. In America, we eat our food quickly, usually just one course, and we are done. I've noticed in Italy, or the places in Italy I have visited, eat slowly and have multiple courses! There is definitely a difference in the way Americans and Italians enjoy their food!

Republic Day!

Ciao! Today was interesting! Today was an Italian holiday! It was there Republic Day! It is the day that they voted to move away from the monarch and become a republic! I was able to watch part of the celebration! We didn't stay long! When we left, we walked around Florence for a while! We did some shopping and ate lunch at McDonalds! It was yummy! After lunch, we headed back to our hotel! We sat on our roof top for a few hours to enjoy the sun and watch the view of the city! For supper, we decided to cook one last time together since the next place will not have a stove! The day was mainly a rest day to prepare for us to set out for Sienna tomorrow!

The Climb! 6-1-15

Ciao! Today was fun! We went on climbing adventures! We started out our morning real early! The reason was very worth it! We headed out to climb the Duomo! The Duomo is huge! It was a 463 step climb! When we got about half way up, we were able to see down inside the church and take some pictures! After we made it to the top, the view was spectacular! We could see all over the city! We were able to take glorious pictures! We stayed on top of the dome for a little while and just observed the scenery! The decent down was crazy! We had to fight people going up! After our successful climb, we headed back to the hotel for a break! We cooked us some nachos for lunch and took a small break. Jordan and I decided to head back out early to do some more exploring! At this time, we got crazy and decided to climb the bell tower that is attached to the church and dome! It was a 414 step climb! It was broken down into different sections, so we were able to get different views of the city! We took a few pictures before heading down! It was extremely hot! We did some shopping at the market before heading back to the hotel! For the night, Schuyler and I decided to go back at watch the sunset at the Piazzale Michelangelo again! It was once again gorgeous! Afterwards, we headed back to the hotel for the night! 

Museums and More!

Ciao! Today we got a real good taste of the artistic culture in Florence! We visited the Uffizi museum!

The Birth of Venus!

Dishes!

The art works we have been seeing are amazing! It just blows my mind at the skills of these artist. Throughout the museum, my favorite work of art was the Birth of Venus by Botticelli! After the museum, we took a small break to go eat lunch. After lunch, we headed to the Medici house to go inside! It is called the Palazzo Pitti! The Medici bought the house in 1549! The house still contains many painting, jewelry, and dishes used by the family. It was once used by Napoleon as a base! It is now the largest museum in Florence!

sunset!

Afterwards, we were heading to a church but, I cut my trip short to head back to the hotel to pick Schuyler up! She stayed behind to rest! We put our teamwork skills together to figure out the difficult bus schedule! We took a bus up to the top of Piazzale Michelangelo! Here, we watched a gorgeous sunset! Afterwards, we went back to our hotel to enjoy our nightly view before heading off to bed!

Walking tour of Florence! 5-30-15

Ciao! Today was very informational! We started off our morning by meeting up with a tour guide. We went on a three hour walking tour!

Santa Croce church

Medici family crest

We started off at the church of Santa Croce! The church was beautiful! It opened up around the year 1442. The church really caught my interest for a few reasons. One being that it stills operates today as a church and as a tourist place to visit. The most interesting thing about it to me however was the burial monuments inside. Inside the church, some of the burials include Bartolini, Donte, Galileo, Machiavelli, Michelangelo, and many more. There was a place for Leonardo da Vinci but, they were not able to get his remains for the burial. We walked around many different places throughout the city that sparked interest. We learned a lot about the Medici family.

Medici home

Gates to Paradise

They were the founders of the banking system and were extremely wealthy. We took some strolls through parts where they lived and visited one of their homes that was huge. The art work they owned was beautiful. They brought da Vinci into their home to live. From they family came four popes. The last stop on our tour was the Gates to Paradise. There was a competition to see who would construct these gates. The winner and the man who constructed them was named Lorenzo Ghiberti. The gates were beautiful. After our walking tour, we headed out for lunch. We decided to all stay together and take a look at some museums. This really was cool because we got to go see the real David statue created by Michelangelo!

David

The night view!

I was so cool and extremely detailed. We even went back to the Santa Croce church to go inside and see the monuments. Afterwards, everyone was tired, so we headed back to the hotel. I didn't want to just sit around so, Jordan and I went for a walk again. We were able to see some pretty cool things we had not seen before and found some cool new places! We finished our walk and headed back to the hotel. Schuyler and I headed out for the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner! It was really good but we got extremely full! We were both full on appetizers before our actual food arrived. We finished our food and decided to spend the rest of our night before bed on top of the hotel and enjoying the night view!

Florence!

Ciao! Today was the day we arrived in Florence! This city is beautiful and full of life! When we arrived, we checked into our apartments! Then, we set out to explore. We headed to a huge grocery store but didn't stay long due to the large amounts of people inside! We went out for a stroll through the market and made a few purchases! Our bargaining skills are getting a lot better! I saved around 30 Euro! The rest of the day went pretty much the same! I bought a cool looking pizza that had hot dogs and fries on it! However, it was not very good!
 Tomorrow is the day we begin our real exploration of Florence!

Last day in Italian classroom!

Ciao! Today was filled with more classroom excitement! We started our morning off inside the same elementary school as Monday!

Children at work!

We saw some of the same faces as before and were greeted by new ones that we were working with! We started off working with fourth and fifth grade classes combined to make it easier on us! The kids were awesome and chop full of questions for us. After the first few questions that always came up, such as "How old are you?", the questions became more detailed. For example, the boys would ask me questions about video games. I notice this happened the same as it would in an American school.

My first group!

The girls tended to ask more questions about animals. After questions, we moved into our "Where's Walrus" activities! The kids loved the book. Just as they did in America and the previous classes, there were plenty of giggles! I could see a real difference in the age groups when it was time to draw the pictures. I noticed that there was a similar pattern to the way the kids responded to drawing in Italy as if we were in America. The kids did not seem as excited to draw as younger students had been showing. The kids acted as if they would be embarrassed as to what others would think about their drawings.

Second group!

It took a lot of motivating to get the students to start drawing. Some of the drawings were great, others were not the best. I could tell that some students had given up earlier in their lives on working on their art. After the activity, we taught the students our song before they were dismissed. We had a nice little break and were served some cookies and juice while we waited for the other group. The next group of kids were younger.

Second class!

They were age 6 and 7. They did not ask as many questions as the older kids. When asked if they preferred cats or dogs, more males chose dogs and more females chose cats. We did the walrus activity with them also. They giggled a lot at the book and really enjoyed it. It took a lot longer to get them to start drawing, but everyone did do a drawing. Some were awesome! After a few minutes of drawing, the students acted very similar to American students of that age. They lost interest and we lost control of them.

Cherry farm!

Their actual teachers did not help us regain control of them. Maybe that is because the way they were acting was normal for them. I am not sure. After the class was dismissed, we headed to lunch. We were served another 3 course meal. The lunch room was very chaotic again compared to an American lunchroom. It was very loud but the teachers did not seem disturbed by it at all. I am assuming that this is just how lunch goes in this particular Italian school. After lunch, the mayor came back by to the school and gave us all a gift. It was really awesome of her! We left the school and headed out to a cherry farm. The trees were beautiful and full of cherries! We sampled some and left out for a snack! After our snack, we went to a vineyard and saw some more of the grapes used to make Balsamic Vinegar. The tradition of the vinegar is huge in this area of Modena, Italy. Afterwards, we headed back to our hotel for a nice rest. For dinner, we headed out with our adoptive grandparents for a nice 3 course meal! Tomorrow, we leave the Modena area and are headed to the city of Florence!

Reggio Emilia!

Ciao! Today was different! We finally got to go to a Reggio Emilia School! The school was very well organized and only had 78 students.

Student created area!

Art display!

We were gretted at the door to begin our tour! They started off by showing us enourmous amount of paper work that has to be filled out on each child! Throughout the school, there were multiple displays of student work.
There were not as much art work hanging on the walls like you would see in an American school but, there were multiple displays of student work. There was a large section that the students created.

Dress up center!

Reading small group!

Oh, I forgot to mention, these are 4,5,and 6 year old kids! Their creativity was amazing! We visited each grade level. The kids in the classroom all seemed to be extremely engaged in whatever they were working on.You don't see that level of engagement in AMerican classrooms usually, but they were also in really small groups. We watched students work in different centers that appeared to be very similar to Hand In Hand.

An artist and his masterpiece!

Drawing taken to another level!

Both schools are child centered learning based schools! We went into the teachers room where we were given snacks! Italians love to give snacks to us! We had some good conversation about education.
America and Italy seem to both be having similar issues with their education system and the law. The school gave us a small gift and we were shown the coolest thing I have seen in a long time! They showed us a book where the students designed homes. Cool right? Actually, very cool because they project became real. They actually created the houses the kids made and sold them to the public. We took a walk to the houses to admire how awesome they were!

House created by kids!

Our pizza!

After we took some pictures and said goodbye, we headed out for lunch! We found an awesome pizza place and it was very tasty! Schuyler, Nancy, and I shared a pizza. Three of us did not finish it, thats how big it was! After lunch, we headed to a museum. We were only there for an hour and I honestly didn't quite grasp the concepts going on inside of it.
We left the museum and stopped for some gelato! I got chocolate of course! Corky paid for it for us again! He has really been awesome to us and treated us so nicely! Afterwards, we headed out to the hotel to get some rest. For dinner, Schuyler, Nancy, and I headed to get some cheese burgers! Yummy! Since we were all real tired, we headed back to the hotel after we ate!

Parmesan Cheese and Balsamic Vinegar! 5-26-15

Ciao! Today was pretty cool! We had a full morning of awesome experiences. After breakfast, we headed out for the Parmesan Cheese Factory!

Large tub of  milk!

Machine picking up cheese!

The region of Modena we are in is the only place where true Parmesan Cheese is made! Everything else is not authentic! We walk into the factory and are asked to place what appeared to be scurb type clothing! As we entered the factory, we were amazed! We watched them take giant tubs of milk and mix them a lot! As they were mixing, they were increasing the temprature! They took a cheese cloth and scooped up a large chunk of cheese! It was huge! A man came by the chunk and cut it in half. He had to be super precise to make sure each half weighed similar weights. Afterward, they tied each individual piece into its own cheese cloth.

After it is stamped and put in container! 

A machine was called to the tub and they placed the individual pices onto the machine. It picked them up and carried them around a belt into another room. In this room, the cheese was picked up by another machine and placed into a container with a weight placed on top of it. It will sit there for a day before moving on. After it sits there and drains, it is moved into another room where it sits even longer and is stamped with the companys information. It gets placed into a room that is extremely hot to continue the drying process.

The heat room!

After going through the process, they took us into the holy grail of cheese! The room we were brought to had over $50 million worth of cheese in it! It was amazing! We took a few pictures before heading out. The smell was getting to the girls! After we left the cheese factory, we got went over to the Basalmic Vinegar Museum. It was pretty cool!

Holy grail of cheese!

They started us off by showing us a video on the history of the vinegar. Then we took the tour. We saw some barrels that were hundreds of years old! They took us to their attic where the Balsamic Vinegar was being made! There were multiple different barrels being made!

Balsamic Vinegar!

They showed us the difference between 12 year old vinegar and 25 year old vinegar. There was a difference in color and texture! They allowed us to do a taste test on each but I skipped on it! I didn't like the taste of it when I had tried it the night before! We finished up and headed back to our motel. We had the rest of the day as a free day. Schuyler, Nancy, and I seriously sat in their room for five hours and stared at the walls. We wanted to rest and really didn't want to walk around the city with it raining, Eventually, the rain stopped and we headed out!

Schuyler and Nancy!

We went to a local cafe and had food and enjoyed the night! We made an Italian friend! It was so nice to be able to enjoy a good time with good friends! After the cafe closed, we headed back to our rooms for the night!

Back In The Schools! 5-25-15

Ciao! Today was another awesome experience! We started our morning off by visiting the mayor of  Modena!

Door to mayor's office!

She was very helpful to us and gave us a very warm welcoming! She brought us inside the area where they hold meetings for the city! She gave us an overview of the information of the city and provided us with some awesome snacks! Afterwards, she brought us out into the city and to a school!

Welcoming into their school!

The school!

Of course, when the mayor shows up to your classroom, you let the visitors in! We just had a small look in of the school before heading out. There was a man walking with us, who we all thought was just a translator, but ended up being the headmaster of the school we worked in for the day! When we left for the school, we were hit by an amazing scene! This was the most warming welcoming I have ever experienced! The children from the school were all outside and started singing when we walked up!

Welcome in Italian!

They sang three different songs for us! We could tell that they had worked very hard and it made us all feel very special! Once we were inside, we had a quick look inside some of the classrooms before lunch! The classrooms were very similar to the others we have been too. The walls all were lacking very much decoration and art work like you may see in an American school. After the brief look in, we sat down for lunch, Lunch in Italian schools are much different than in America. In America, you pay $1.75 for a tray of food that no one wants to eat. In Italy, we were served a three corse meal! First, we had a noodle dish with a meat sauce, then we had trays of meat and cheese, and finally, we were served a peach pie for dessert! The kids at lunch were much different than those at an American school also. Amercans schools, from what I have seen lately, don't allow students to get up or even talk. These kids in Italy were running around and extremely loud.

First corse of meal!

The tables had jugs of water for students to pour their own drinks, instead of milk like in America. After lunch, we headed to recess. At recess, I interacted with a group of students and played what seemed to be volley ball without a net.

Working with a small group!

It seemed just like an American school at recess! Boys played together in the soccer field and girls all hung around together doing other activities. After recess, we started our lessons with the kids. We broke into groups and I started to feel extra special. All of the students were wanting to be in my group. I know its probably because I am a male and they don't see very many males in the school. It still made me feel extra speical! In our groups, we worked with Where's Walrus again! The students still really enjoyed the book. We made them do the same activity as well. When asked to draw the walrus somewhere in their community, they all jumped right on it. I've noticed that in Italy, when you are given directions, you listen and follow them, Usually in America, you have to give directions multiple times. These children also acted the same as previous children in the other Italian classrooms.

Student work!

Class two!

They drew walrus in the biggest places in their community. The studenst in Aosta drew walrus in the moutains and the students here in Modena drew walrus in the Panaro River. After we finished with the first group, we switched for a new one. These students were a little less well behaved than the ones before but were still good. We did our walrus activity and got similar results from the students before. After the activity was over, the students prepared to leave for the day. The students stayed in school until 4:30, unlike in America, they would have gotten out at 3:15. After we left the school, we went back to our hotel for a rest.  That night, we headed to our adoptive grandparents house for dinner. The food was fabulose! They served us a three corse meal! It was the first time I \actually thoroughly enjoyed my meal while being in Italy. After dinner, we were shown their Balsamic vinegar they they were making in their attic. It is an awesome process that takes years to make. Un fortunaley, I do not like the taste! Afterwards, we headed back to our hotel for the night!