Who and why.....
Well, we are a mixed bag, about twenty-four in all, including a handful of husband and wife teams. A few are taking all three educational tracks: language, cooking and art and architecture.
Several expressed the desire to actually speak in the native language of the country they visit.
Others are on a family odyssey. One gentleman will spend Father's Day in Abruzzo, with six Italian cousins, in the home his father helped his grandfather construct. This is his first trip to Italy.
We have a grandmother/granddaughter team with the young girl in her early twenties. Grandmother is spry and sturdy and they are both excited about the art and architecture experience to come..
We have an opera buff who is tired of reading the subtitles at a performance. When she understood, Mi chiamo Mimi, from La Boheme, she immediately signed up.
There is a newly retired fellow who recently sold his business and now has planned a year of travel with his wife.
...And, of course, there are the Mothers-in-Law. Everyone seems so surprised that we are roommates and friends, suggesting that this relationship is not usually harmonious. We are quite comfortable in our former nun's cell; the unusual term suggesting the life of the good sisters was not always easy.
This morning after our breakfast in a private dining room we met our local guide, Emma, got our headsets and set off on an orientation tour of Florence. This was as much to help us find our way around as to introduce Renaissance architecture. We located our school for tomorrow morning and learned about the bus stops, laundromats and ATMs.
Our walk took us from our hotel in the northwest, passing the Duomo and the Baptistry, the Plaza della Signoria, the Uffizi, crossing over the Ponte Vecchio. Then we cross back over the Ponte Santa Trinita onto the Via de Tornabuoni, the street of the designers. Yes, the are all here: Fendi, Roberto Cavalli, Tiffany's, Moschino and Valentino with Salvatore Ferragamo occupying a huge store.
On this same street we stop for lunch at a beautiful restaurant, Ovido, in an outdoor courtyard. We lunched on three types of fresh buffalo mozzarella over mixed greens, a spare, crispy lasagne and red current mousse.
Medici Mausoleum
After lunch we are on our own and Rigmor and I head to the Cappelle dei Medici to view, among other treasures, Michelangelo statuary adorning the Medici tombs. Six masterpiece sculptures in one afternoon! The actual mausoleum has a floor of inlaid marble, granite, malachite and lapis with precious stones studding some of the sculpture. It is currently undergoing significant restoration.
Next we hit the Mercato Centrale where we browsed through all the leather goods. I have a wallet request and had a frustrating time shopping because of the hard sell. The sale's guys all full of the Italian BS: don't buy anything, just smile at me. This was just an exploratory trip with no purchases made.
Now, after stopping at a Pakistani grocer to buy big bottles of sparkling water we are home planning our evening.
Back home in the Convent
Well, we are a mixed bag, about twenty-four in all, including a handful of husband and wife teams. A few are taking all three educational tracks: language, cooking and art and architecture.
Several expressed the desire to actually speak in the native language of the country they visit.
Others are on a family odyssey. One gentleman will spend Father's Day in Abruzzo, with six Italian cousins, in the home his father helped his grandfather construct. This is his first trip to Italy.
We have a grandmother/granddaughter team with the young girl in her early twenties. Grandmother is spry and sturdy and they are both excited about the art and architecture experience to come..
We have an opera buff who is tired of reading the subtitles at a performance. When she understood, Mi chiamo Mimi, from La Boheme, she immediately signed up.
There is a newly retired fellow who recently sold his business and now has planned a year of travel with his wife.
...And, of course, there are the Mothers-in-Law. Everyone seems so surprised that we are roommates and friends, suggesting that this relationship is not usually harmonious. We are quite comfortable in our former nun's cell; the unusual term suggesting the life of the good sisters was not always easy.
This morning after our breakfast in a private dining room we met our local guide, Emma, got our headsets and set off on an orientation tour of Florence. This was as much to help us find our way around as to introduce Renaissance architecture. We located our school for tomorrow morning and learned about the bus stops, laundromats and ATMs.
Our walk took us from our hotel in the northwest, passing the Duomo and the Baptistry, the Plaza della Signoria, the Uffizi, crossing over the Ponte Vecchio. Then we cross back over the Ponte Santa Trinita onto the Via de Tornabuoni, the street of the designers. Yes, the are all here: Fendi, Roberto Cavalli, Tiffany's, Moschino and Valentino with Salvatore Ferragamo occupying a huge store.
The Ponte Vecchio
On this same street we stop for lunch at a beautiful restaurant, Ovido, in an outdoor courtyard. We lunched on three types of fresh buffalo mozzarella over mixed greens, a spare, crispy lasagne and red current mousse.
Michelangelo
Medici Mausoleum
After lunch we are on our own and Rigmor and I head to the Cappelle dei Medici to view, among other treasures, Michelangelo statuary adorning the Medici tombs. Six masterpiece sculptures in one afternoon! The actual mausoleum has a floor of inlaid marble, granite, malachite and lapis with precious stones studding some of the sculpture. It is currently undergoing significant restoration.
Next we hit the Mercato Centrale where we browsed through all the leather goods. I have a wallet request and had a frustrating time shopping because of the hard sell. The sale's guys all full of the Italian BS: don't buy anything, just smile at me. This was just an exploratory trip with no purchases made.
Now, after stopping at a Pakistani grocer to buy big bottles of sparkling water we are home planning our evening.
It was funny to hear their surprise about mothers-in-law traveling in tandem
ReplyDeleteHope you're having a blast Mom. Love you.
ReplyDelete-Teddy
Delete