Florence

So Florence was a big day for the Athens Academy students. We went to Florence, known for its leather, and went to the Academia, the Uffizi, and the Ponte Vecchia. It was all so beautiful, I could hardly believe my eyes! David was incredible and finding his JMN "tattoo" was fun to search for. The paintings were incredible in the Uffizi. We've all heard so much about the paintings, such as the Birth of Venus, from our teachers, but seeing them up close and in real life was a great feeling. The shops at the Ponte Vecchia were great, and not to mention our super cool selfie, taken in front of the River Arno. More to come soon! 

- Abbie Claire 

Mrs. Street didn’t have a heart attack! After a three hour bus ride, a 10 minute train ride, and a one hour walk, we arrived at to the center of Venice, Piazza San Marco. We had no appointments, so we had free time to walk around, to shop, to eat gelato, to visit churches and museums, and wander. While some sat in gardens drinking cappuccinos, others strolled through the Guggenheim. And some of us hit the shops! While we could have easily bought out Venice, we had to restrain ourselves. My personal favorite purchase was a certified made in Italy carnival mask. Since I was young, the item at the top of my bucket list has been to visit Venice during Carnival. And now I’m half way there! To conclude a perfect day in perfect way, we took a water taxi back to the train. The view of the city from the canals is one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen. Venice is the most exquisite city in the world as far as I’m concerned. - Julia Marshall

Today, we took a massive selfie in the middle of the Ponte Rialto. It was great! Frankie has finally forgotten his deeply ingrained hate for selfie sticks and has in fact been spotted using one on the bus home. Yay selfie sticks. Boo Frankie. La finestra e’ trasparente, pulita, e attraverso essa si vedono diversi paesaggi,  monti, fiumi, laghi, case.. –Nick and Ginevra

Following are pictures of our visit in Venice.:

One of hundreds of bridges we crossed

Our teacher host from Italy at the Rialto Bridge
Tight spaces

The Grand Canal

Two tricked out gondolas

A view of the Grand Canal form our boat

photos of two classrooms and the cheese tour

Here are photos of their physics Lab  and  Chemistry Lab  followed by us ready for the cheese tour and shots of the tour.

A class and a tour

Italy 5/11/15

     This morning we went to our hosts first class, it was great. It was a little confusing because it was all in Italian but it was cool to see how the classes work and how different it is from the classes that we take. I don't like the fact that the students stay in one room for a straight 5 hours, I could not do that. But the good thing about that is that they get to home at 1! Anyway, after we went to some of their first class we got to go see the Parmesan cheese is made. It was really neat to see all the work that goes into making a block of cheese (a VERY big block of cheese) The coolest part for me was to see the big warehouse where they store all of the cheese. We calculated that there was 18,000 blocks of cheese and it was worth 8.1 million dollars. It was so cool, then we got to go home and I ate the best lasagna for lunch. Later we get to go and learn how to make pasta. I can't wait for whats to come.  by Emory Nealy

Yesterday was absolutely incredible. We started the day by going to school with our Italian friends and we got a very nice tour. Immediately following, we walked to the headquarters of the government in Correggio where we received an interesting presentation on the current decisions being made. The tour of Correggio was amazing because we were able to see the two churches as well as the theatre where many famous Italian singers and actors have performed. We returned to school, where I sat in a biology class with Matilde. It was very confusing, but very fun for all of the Americans because their method of teaching is so different. We left class early and went to the Ferrari factory where we saw where the cars were made. We got to ride around in a real Ferrari! This was one of my most favorite experiences so far.After this once in a lifetime experience, we went to Modena, Italy to shop and to see two more beautiful churches. We returned home and I was told that I should go shower because there were some friends coming over for dinner. When I walked down the stairs, my friends, old and new, jumped out and yelled “Happy Birthday!” The kindness that was shown to me was unlike anything I have ever received. I have only met my host parents a few days ago, yet they throw me a surprise party and make me feel as though I am part of their family. I continue to be amazed by the extravagance of Italy and by the beauty of its people.

-Joanne Timberlake

Today we were able to see many beautiful things in Florence, Italy. We woke up and rode a bus for a few hours from Correggio to Florence, which gave us the opportunity to talk to all of the Italians some more. We arrived in Florence around eleven and began our journey through the beautiful city. We were able to see the beautiful and very elaborate Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore. We were allowed some time to admire the Ponte Vecchio bridge as we ate the lunches our Italian families packed us. We then went to the Accademia Gallery to look at Michael Angelo’s most famous marble statue, The David, as well as many of his other statues he has created. After seeing The David we met our tour guide that would lead us through the Uffizi Gallery museum. We saw many wonderful pieces of art from artists including da Vinci, Raffaello, Michelangelo and Botticelli. My two favorite paintings that happened to be by Botticelli were The Birth of Venus as well as the Primavera. I also really liked the Potraits of the Duke and the Duchess of Urbino by Piero della Francesca. After touring the Uffizi, Kerrigan and I drank Cappuccinos outside of a very cute bakery before we loaded the bus to head back home.

-Margaret Timberlake 

Today we went to Florence.
First a view of Liceo Corso
Beautiful bus ride two hours south.
Following are shots around town at the river and having a treat.

few pictures of our tour.

On the train through the tunnels

Italy updates     Saturday March 7, 2015

We are on the train, playing cards - poker, taking pictures and taking turns typing a few thoughts about our stay in Rome. I am so thankful we all made it across all the streets safely and that we all made the train with all our luggage. That we are all in good health with only a few bruises and sore throats. After  perhaps too many cappuccino, too little sleep and one too many margherita pizzas and just enough souvenir shopping. Now we are off to the North.  Dr. Stueck

Frankie: Tuesday after Florence I will write on the blog. I am working on filling up a full suit of roman armor. In all seriousness I’m actually not but, I did buy a Roman sword to go with my helmet. As of now I look like a poor centurion. Most of the roman soldiers would buy their own armor, so I look like a lower class one with only a helmet and sword. I also have purchased an Italy rugby ball as well.

Nick Manfredi: I’ll write on the blog Thursday after Venice. In my opinion, the Vatican City/St. Peter’s Basilica has been the coolest part of the trip. To be able to see all the historic chapels and the artwork that I have learned about in school and in church has been amazing. Along with seeing this, I also bought a necklace that almost every Catholic has, including a cross and the patron saint. To get it from the Vatican is something that not many people can say they have done.

Nick Grubb: I will write on the blog when there is an empty spot.  Yesterday we visited Santa Maria de Treverte. It was built in the only urban “square” (piazza) in the more Roman district of Italy, and it was probably my favorite place so far. It was quite inconspicuous from the outside, but the inside was a sight to behold, filled with mosaics depicting Jesus, his twelve apostles, and the life of Mary. 2 popes ordered improvements on it, and the interior is incredibly well preserved. Will post pictures later maybe. –Nick Grubb

Riley Rupert: The Coliseum was what I was most looking forward to on the trip, and it certainly did not disappoint. It was extremely large and there were men dressed as centurions all around. Walking into it was very impressive because estimated 50,000 people could be inside at once.  The most surprising thing about it was how steep the stairs were. They were built so steep to be able to evacuate the building in only 15 minutes. I took a very good picture while I was there and will try to upload it later.

Margaret Timberlake: I will write whenever there is an empty spot. I am most looking forward to seeing Venice, because I find it very interesting that they travel by water. My favorite parts so far have been the St. Mary’s basilica and the Jewish Ghetto. I loved the free time we had at the Jewish Ghetto, because they had a huge farmers market and I bought the best orange I have ever had. I am also very interested in different cultures, so it was a great opportunity to be immersed into their interesting way of life. I will upload my picture when needed.

Kerrigan Pruett: Today we were blessed with the gift of waking up a bit later than we did normally in Rome. After an awesome breakfast of toast, croissants, cappuccinos, and espressos we traveled to the train station. Today we had 2 different train rides. We are currently on the first as I am writing this. Margret luckily had some cards and we are passing the time away playing games like Poker, Texas Hold ‘Em, and others. The games got more and more intense as we started “betting” money (American quarters and whenever we ran out we would return them)