Ranney School Class of 2023 Italy Cultural Journey

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Grand Finale 

Written by Leslie Patient 

Our final day in Roma meant our final morning of espresso and chocolate croissants with extra helpings of Nutella. The morning was free for some sleep-ins or tasting what a Roman McDonalds makes. We then took the metro over to il Musei di Vaticani (the Vatican Museums) where our guide, Frederica, helped us understand the expanse of art that was accumulated and commissioned by the papacy, the most famous of which, of course, the Sistine Chapel, which was the chapel of Pope Sixtus. We also saw Raffaella’s “School of Athens” which was pretty impressive. And in the modern rooms there were Dali, Chagall, and Matisse originals. For me, personally, though, I felt myself drawn to the floors more than the walls or ceilings in these chambers. Some of the floor mosaics were from the second century! It’s just fascinating to think that people have been walking on the same tiles for thousands of years. But more than that, it made me think of the artistry of unknown craftsmen. Not to diminish Michaelangelo’s incredible hardship in painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, but the detail and precision of these mosaic floors was mesmerizing and we won’t ever know who laid them.
After the Vatican Museums, a few determined members of our group chose to brave the line to the Saint Peter’s Basilica where we were able to see Michaelangelo’s “Pieta” as well as hear a Lenten service being said up at the front of this most enormous and impressive building full of papal tombs, and marble sculptures. Our final meal at Taverna di Monti meant a final time to gorge on prima and secundi, with the added Roman staple “carciofe” or artichokes. And, of course, on our walk back to the hotel “our final gelato”. All in all, a great day, in a great city with a great group of students, and a wonderful guide.
Thank you, Ceren.
Thank you, intrepid travellers!

Fast adaptation to the city 

Written by Michael Guiliano 

This morning, as we discovered during our daily discussion, the group was struck by a wave of crippling lethargy. After struggling through our breakfast at 9:30, we gathered the strength to go to the Borghese gardens. We witnessed a breathtaking view over Rome, listened to some street music, bought some trinkets, and explored the beautiful nature. It certainly helped us wake up and prepare for the day’s paramount destination: the Colosseum. We left the gardens to find lunch, which turned out to be no easy task. On top of Christian’s decision to do some spontaneous shopping on route delaying us, the small restaurant we stopped at was not prepared for our many orders of supplì, which nearly made us late for our 2:30 time slot at the Colosseum. But we wouldn’t have it any other way, as supplì quickly became the group’s favorite treat. We walked quickly through the crowds and made it to the Colosseum.

Brandon had gathered some useful nuggets of information, informing us of the system to lift animals into the colosseum and shades which used to cover the audience from the sun. The rest of us contributed comparably interesting facts, including how very very big and old it (probably) is. After the colosseum, we went to even more gardens – this time surrounded by ruins! It was amazing to look at the fantastic pieces of the ancient roman forum as well as the beautiful gardens they had been transformed into. We then had our ritual gelato stop. It was my favorite certainly, and the group reached a consensus that it was at least the second best we’ve had yet. There was an interlude between dinner and gelato during which we split into groups and shopped in various stores around Rome. After another delicious dinner, we returned to the hotel to recover from our 27,000+ steps and prepare for our final day.

Laid back country to the eternal city 

Written by Kirin Patient & Maria Guiliano

We had to say goodbye to our wonderful hosts Luigi and Antonella and we can’t forget about our favorite farm dog, Rubino. It was a sad goodbye but before we left we made sure to buy bottles of wine and olive oil to bring back home. We got on the bus and used the three hour trip to catch up on some sleep. We stopped at an AutoGrill on the highway. It is similar to a rest stop in the US but with much higher quality food, none of which was fast food. Then we arrived in Rome! We dropped off our bags and immediately went on a walking tour and got to see the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon and a quick glimpse of the Colosseum. Dinner was next up on the list and we all had different types of tasty pasta and had either tiramisu, cheesecake, or a sorbet as dessert. After dinner, we made it back into our hotels and got ready for bed. Over all it was a very beautiful introduction to Rome and we are all so excited to explore it more tomorrow!

Agriturismoculture

Written by Robert Nagy III & Kevin Twomey

Today was a great outdoors day! We all were up and ready to go after breakfast around 10:30, and took a 5 mile walk to the tiny, historic town of Murlo. The hike lasted just under 2 hours each way and we learned about many local animals, insects, plants, and landmarks along the path that helped us all better understand the environment and its history. The path consisted of different signs about the past which included a train that ran through the forest, and an old cement industrial plant. In Murlo, we enjoyed a meal at the sole restaurant which was preordered for our arrival. From then, we were able to check out the rest of the town and were delighted to magnificent views of the area. At the center of Murlo, there is a museum dedicated to all of the ancient artifacts that were uncovered by archaeologists, most as students of the University of Massachusetts. We were given a tour of the museum and were able to better understand the culture, and society built by the founders of the town. Following our tour, we walked back to the house on the same trail, and were treated to homemade quiche and pizza. From then, we hung out together and had a great time before calling it a day.

From city vibe to countryside

Written by Brandon Stobie
We had breakfast in Florence and then hopped right on a bus to Siena. As we left the busy city, we got a taste of the countryside and the beautiful views accompanying it. Once we arrived in Siena, we had three hours to have lunch, admire the views of the hilly and windy city, and famous parts of the city like the Piazza del Campo and the Duomo di Siena (a magnificent neogothic cathedral). After our successful outing in the city, we escaped further into the countryside and rolling hills and across streams (literally) to Le Vezure vineyard. Here we had a tour of their biodynamic farming process, the different plants they grow (olives, fava beans, grapes), and how they harvest and process the vino (wine). One of the highlights of the tour though was meeting Rubino, the amazing jack russell terrier that inhabits the farm. Finally, we settled in for the night for an amazing home cooked dinner consisting of an anti-pasta of lettuce dressed in olive oil, they make their own, and bruschetta, a main dish of wild boar and polenta, and a delish desert of Tiramisu. It was widely regarded as the best meal we’ve had so far. 9/10 day!

Discovering Florence

Written by Ethan Casciano, David Tansey & Christian Virone

For our second day in Italy we began our day with our first breakfast in the hotel where they served a small variety of different pastries for us to enjoy. We went on a tour around the streets of Florence where we visited the church of Santa Trinita, Lungoarno, and Pitti Palace. It was at this last location that we got to explore the wonderful Boboli Gardens, which had a variety of different sculptures but severely lacked in plants besides grass. We finished the day by enjoying the sunset on the Piazzale Michelangelo with some gelato and had dinner at the trattoria Pandemonia Di Casa Brogi.

Arriving Bella Italia 

Written by Maria Guiliano & Kirin Patient 

TRAVELING
We said goodbye to all of you just over 24 hours ago. Now that is just one day but it has felt so much longer. It started with us sitting on our plane for an hour before it took off because of delays. The next 7 hours on the plane was sleepless for some but for those who did get sleep they will say it was not very restful. The next leg of our travel journey was a beautiful train ride through North Italy. When we weren’t taking in the beautiful views we were all catching up on much needed sleep.
THE HOTEL ALINARI
With all of our heavy bags in tow we made it to our hotel, which was on the 4th floor. We took our bags up into the one person elevator which we made into a two person elevator. We settled in, showered, changed, and enjoyed the view from our rooms before departing on our first official outing in Florence.
FLORENCE: UFFIZI AND FOOD
We started our official adventure in Italy with the best way possible, GELATO! Then we stopped to marvel at the Duomo which is a beautiful cathedral on our way to the Uffizi Museum. In the Museum we saw exquisite statues that have become timeless, and wonderful paintings all made by the great renaissance artists, better known as their TV personas, the teenage mutant ninja turtles. Although the Uffizi had hidden gems behind every corner, some of our favorite pictures were from the windows that looked out on to Florence. Walking around all day we quickly became tired and started dreaming of the delicious meal we had still ahead of us. Our dinner was a traditional Italian meal consisting of anti-pasta (appetizer), primi (a first pasta course), and secondi (a second meat course). Some of our favorite dishes were Prosciutto e Melone (melon slices wrapped in Italian ham) Beef stew with potatoes and Tiramisu for dessert. Overall, it was a 7/10 day since traveling was tiring but, Florence was beautiful.
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