Apr 10, 2011 - off to Padova

Siena to Padova Waking up in a castle was fun. As I opened the wooden shutters I was greeted by a misty fog which seemed fitting for this regal sort of life, you could definitely imagine looking out over your mignons and wondering what sort of delectable delights your cook would be brewing up for the day. Orson slept in till 5am, which was a vast improvement so Simon and I did our first in-room gym workouts, which proved to be quite intensive. We both felt better afterward. I even ran a couple of laps of the driveway, great setting. The...

Oct 3, 2010 - Austria to Italia

Well we got up early, had breakfast and hit the road. We decided to take the Grossglockner Hochalpenstrasse which is Europe’s most famous panorama road. This would take us right through the Alps into Italy. What is there to say except breath taking, literally and figuratively, really at 2500+ metres the air is really thin but you can’t imagine how beautiful the scenery is, the pictures don’t do it justice. On top of that can you believe that we passed dozens of cyclists who ride to the top and some had just made it when we got there, wow,...

May 1, 2010 - The End

Well, this didn't work out so well. So this is the last post here. A few things led to the demise of this journal. The site is a bit cumbersome to use, the photos take forever to upload and most of my photos will not upload due to their size, internet connections for us have been very sporadic, and we have been too busy having a good time in Italy to seek out internet spots to update this. Ciao from Sorrento. J, T, &E

Apr 17, 2010 - Venice Bound

Our stay in Siena was amazing. The place we stayed in was very small with fantastic people running it. They had an amazing patio that we had a few meals on and drank wine in the evening. The view had three amazing basilicas to look at among the town built into the hills. Drove on to Florence which was an adventure. Only an hour from Siena but the hotel we booked was inside the old city walls, which is traffic restricted. We were not aware that tourists are allowed in if they are staying there. So we drove around for a while in crazy Friday...

Oct 23, 2009 - Padova, the city of youth!!

Early wake up because we had just a day to visit Padova and in the late afternoon we had to drive all the way to Marostica. We had some wonderful Espresso in the hotel and a big breakfast with soft croissants and Nutella ( a wonderful Italian chocolate cream). Our fist visit of the day was to one of the most beautiful place I have seen in my entire life. The place is so little but so wonderful, it’s a jewel-case of precious things. Cappella degli Scrovegni was painted by the painter Giotto in the 14th century. Giotto is considered to be a...

Jul 10, 2009 - Timida? Stupida? Brava? ... Which ever way, wish me luck! This morning....

This morning I take the train from Padova, Veneto Region to Arrezzo. Arezzo or Arretium (Latin: Arrētium) is a city in central Italy, capital of the province of the same name, located in Region Toscane. Ithen change trains for Terontola - Cortona. This means, step 1... get myself to Padova Station. I managed to get a phone number for a taxi from a local shopkeeper, but I am not going to take the risk. Instead I am going to walk the distnce (yikes), pulling my suitcase behind me (wagging its tail hopefully!) So all I can say is, say a...

Jul 10, 2009 - Farewell Padova, and my friends at Language School

It's 6pm, Friday night, my last night in Padova, a lovely city in the Veneto region of Italy. I would love to put a zillion photos up on the trip journal, to share with you the things that have captured my attention during my stay here. Unfortunately, the internet connection is so very poor, so shortlived and erratic, it makes downloading even one photo a challenge usually doomed to fail. I start the process, I log on to the Journal, I locate the day's entry, I select the photo, I start the process, 2 minutes later, it goes down, and my...

Jul 9, 2009 - Thursday - and thoughts of moving on....

As they say ... what goes up, must come down........... and so it is with the Jen. School was as usual today - fantastic, wonderful, inspiring, amazing, just so much fun. I hear myself laugh out loud many times over during the course of a lesson. I have wonderful chats and lovely moments of connection with these younger folk from different parts of the world. The class has become my family here, and my professore, well he is a veritable fountain, an interminable source of knowledge of all things Italian, he's a beautiful creature, and such...

Jul 8, 2009 - Everywhere....dappertutto!

When I came to Italy I was certainly aware of the Italian word 'soldi' meaning 'money'. But what will probably come as quite a shock to my Italian friends is a word with which I was not familiar, a word which now however has been impressed upon my brain over and over again. This word is, like the students, the bicycles, the motor bikes, the portici, absolutely everywhere. I repeat - everywhere. The word - ''saldi". Yes, I know Nausicaaa, Carol, Christian, Tony, Jo, Flora and so forth, how could I not know...'saldi'. After all, by attending...

Jul 8, 2009 - by some miracle or other....

In a recent email Signora Jo from Dave's workplace wrote ... 'Have you been the St.Antonio Di Padova church yet. My mother prays to St.Anthony.... (her favourite St. if that makes sense...)' Well, the Basilica of Sant'Antonio da Padova was certainly on my agenda, for one thing, I had to do it for the namesake of Tony in our Italian class. Also given that it rates so highly on the things to see in Padova list. As the international shrine dedicated to Saint Anthony of Padua, it is visited by more than 5 million pilgrims every year. St....

Jul 7, 2009 - Another lightbulb moment for Jen

Buona sera from Jen, around 6pm here in Padova.... another steamy sweltering day which erupted into showers around lunch time. Leaving school at 1pm many were concerned at not having an umbrella. But really, why worry, this is Italy and in Italy we have the .... 'portico'. In Italian classes now for years I have heard the word 'portico', others referred to it as something common or garden to them as capuccinos are to me. But 'portico' never stood up and had a conversation with me. It did not capture my attention, it did not stick in my...

Jul 7, 2009 - Finally, I have succumbed ....

Finally I have succumbed.... Without company on this trip, I have not yet had the pleasure of sitting down at a table and having a meal with friends and a glass of vino. But believe me, vino nonetheless manages to raise its adorable head many times - particularly in my school lessons. It seems that, especially with the younger ones that form the major part of my class, we can make use of the familiarity with vino to help explain in Italian many other unclear concepts. Remember that here we are a group of approximately 12, 3 of whom are...