The past week has been filled with many different things. The shutdown of Europe’s airlines meant that none of the planned trips to Rome happened, but everyone seemed to still be very busy. We all took a trip to the local UPS store to ship home our easels and books, and visited the lady who had made our beautiful journals to show her how they looked when they were completed.

We had a final pizza luncheon for the entire group at ‘my’ corner bar where there were two highlights.

The first….Miss Caitlin….horse lover extraordinaire…had a horse meat pizza!!

The second…minutes after we left the bar Brad Pitt walked in for a spritz! And NO we did not see him.

On Saturday afternoon I finally fulfilled a promise that I had made to the original group of students many weeks ago, and we took a gondola ride. We left from Campo Santa Maria Formosa and spent a wonderful 45 minutes gliding along the back canals of Castello while our gondolier Mario told us stories of the buildings that looked down on us. While it may be considered an entirely ‘tourist’ thing to do, Venice has to be seen from the seat of a gondola. The perspective is entirely changed, the sounds different at water level, and you suddenly realize the rhythm of this city. We were all rather quiet when we returned, and I’m so happy that we shared that experience

Yesterday I walked to the Bridge at San Lorenzo to collect Karen from her apartment. I was a little ‘over organized’ and therefore about 20 minutes early, and rather than hurry her I sat on the steps next to the bridge in the glorious sunshine. Castello was slowly waking up and small boats skidded by, most of the drivers simply raising their head in greeting as they continued on their way. It was twenty minutes that will stay with me for a long while. After collecting Karen and her luggage, I walked around to Dani, Teresa and Pixie’s apartment at San Guistina and helped carry their luggage back to the bridge.  Sebastiano arrived soon after, and I waved goodbye as they moved down the canale San Lorenzo and out of sight.

Later on in the day there was a rowing race…a regatta from Giardini to the Ferrovia, but it all happened too fast and I’m not sure that you can really see anything in the video.

Kyle’s parents have been visiting for a few days and last night they invited me to have dinner with them. We walked down to the Zattere and ate at a restaurant on the canal side where we watched the lights of the Guidecca as we ate an excellent meal. Kyle leaves with them in the morning and they will continue their vacation by car as they travel into Austria.

Monday 26^th April 2010….10.00am

This morning I got up at 6.00, showered, made a cup of coffee, and then walked around the corner (less than a hundred metres) to help Jessica, Erika and Caitlin get their luggage down stairs and ready for the water taxi that was due to pick them up at 7.30. Alyssa, and Erika’s friend Ben were there also and it was a very subdued group that trooped across a small bridge to a landing in the canal that runs alongside the football stadium at Sant’ Elena. The water taxi of ever reliable Sebastiano came gliding quietly down the canal, and I felt like I was handing them over to the boatman Charon. It was tearful and sweet as the three of us left behind watched the girls slide out of sight across the D’arsenna  Sant’ Elena.

Alyssa and I walked back to the street that leads to my apartment, and then we said our goodbyes and she went on to the Vap stop and I to home. Alyssa will be attending an engraving school in Brescia for the next 3 months and she leaves on the train this afternoon.

I have a great deal to do in the next few days and will be meeting with Claudio and Agnese who administer the apartments and Matteo the Director of the Istituto Venezia, and hopefully will not feel the aloneness that I have experienced in the past couple of hours. This has been a group of outstanding young people and it has been a great privilege to share this adventure with them. They have exceeded my expectations at every turn and I am very proud of them. They are known to the teachers of the Istituto as the ‘Studenti bravi da Montana’, and they are all ready missed.

Over the past few days I find myself walking to places just so that I can stand there for one last visual drink. My favorite places quietly packed away, carefully wrapped about with the smells and the sounds so that I might take them out and wonder at them at some future time. I like to do it in the quiet of the morning or evening when I can fool myself into believing that only I possess her, and like a miser I hold fast to these moments. After all these many visits, I still have not worked out what it is about this place that is so alluring, so compelling.

All of these emotions aside, I will depart on Saturday with wings on my feet, for I have been too long away from my love and my family, and the spirits of the mountains are calling.

Ciao, ciao

John

John Rawlings

Director, FVCC Semester in Venice Program

Caitlin’s Blog

Well it’s the last day here!  We leave tomorrow at 7:30 AM.  I cannot say that I am necessarily excited to go “home” but I am missing family, horses and friends.  It was an odd realization I had over a couple spritz with Jess today, I no longer consider Montana “home” necessarily…Venice is just as much “home” for me as is Montana.  Well Venice doesn’t have horses, but this is the first time I’ve lived on my own, so this has had a very profound effect on my independence and personality.
I have come to know everything here somewhat well, I would say more than your average tourist, but I feel like I am leaving something undone.  There is so much more to see and experience that I won’t be able to…at least on this trip.  I’m excited to go home and “start” my life.  I have a whole new and different outlook on things now and I’m excited to apply it to my everyday life.  It has been nice not having classes this past week…it’s given us time to finally relax and take things at a slower pace and reflect on our experiences here.  It is unfortunate because the weather here has been so beautiful of late and I’m just starting to be able to go out without a jacket on…and now I’m going to be leaving here just when it’s getting even prettier.  It was a gorgeous, hot day today (I was actually going around in a tank top and I was STILL sweating), a perfect farewell day.  I am excited to see all my friends and family.  This is a bittersweet farewell.  Ciao Venezia.

Kyle’s Blog

I simply cannot write an essay about the last four months. There are many things about which I can write with less-than-adequate knowledge. This entire experience, however, is too great to be limited by words. The last four months in Italy have changed me as a person. Moreover, there is an understanding exclusively within this group of students (roommates, more specifically) that could never be purveyed to anyone.

This has been the first time living outside of my parents’ home; the first time I have travelled outside of North America; first time adapting to a non-English speaking culture; the second semester of my freshman year in college. Not to mention, my living arrangements included two roommates of whom I knew nothing initially.

I thank Flathead Valley Community College, Professor’s John Rawlings, David Ackroyd, and Karen Leigh, Istituto Venezia, and all the amazing friends I made along the way. It goes without saying that this experience will forever live in my memory.

Erika’s Blog:

By the time you are reading this, I’ll probably already be in the air on the way back to you all and my beautiful state of Montana. As I write this, I’m sitting in my kitchen with all the friends I’ve made here in the last four months, eating all the food in our cupboards before we leave in the morning, giving away clothes and spices to those who shall remain behind, taking those last minute pictures, reminiscing over past memories that seem like only yesterday. It’s strange to believe that I’ve been here so long, but when I think about all that I’ve done and all I’ve seen and all I’ve accomplished in these passing 101 days, it almost doesn’t seem long enough.

I’ve flown over seas squished between angry Germans for 13 hours. I’ve sang inside St Mark’s Basilica, my voice reverberating off the golden walls. I’ve danced in throbbing bars until all hours of the morning. I’ve had too much to drink. I’ve learned to cook anything on the stove top, some strange and bizarre but some actually amazingly delicious and appreciated. I’ve been whistled and cat-called to by Italian men. I learned to speak some Italian, enough to be understood and feel a new part of the culture. I’ve experienced every kind of Venetian weather, foggy and mysterious, rainy days for weeks at a time, aqua alta up to my knees, and beautiful sunny days that melt into your skin. I’ve met people from all over the world, even if it was for couple hours or for the entire time we stayed here. I’ve been in Venice for Carnivale, learning that anything can happen when the magic is in the air. I’ve stayed up too late and woken up too early the next morning. I’ve stood in front some of the greatest art pieces in all of history, those of Titian and Tintoretto and Giorgione. I’ve showered in showers too small for me and on many couches because the beds weren’t big enough. I’ve had awkward meals with my housemates and huge dinner parties with all my friends. I’ve cooked all day with my beautiful companion.  I’ve been sick in Italy and made myself chicken noodle soup. I know what it’s like to be truly home-sick, but I also know how to appreciate what life has given me. I’ve stayed up with friends playing little kid games or watching movies all night long. I’ve had breakfast for dinner and dinner’s for breakfast. I’ve laughed long and hard and I’ve cried silent tears until I gain strength from them. I’ve tasted gelato and I can never go back to regular ice cream ever again. I’ve danced in a blues café. I’ve seen how our group can change the entire energy of a place… I’ve stood under gold leaf covered ceilings as well as Italian starry nights. I’ve stood on top of a mountain and watched the sunset. I’ve fallen in love with food and I have no regrets about the weight I’ve gained. My heart has been broken and mended again. I’ve been in love and learned the lesson that things can change overnight. I made real heart connections, made true best friends for life with people from all over the world and I will never forget their smiles. I’ve learned so much from my professor and friend, Zio Gio, who has been a foundation for me in this time in my life. I came to Italy with my best friend and I’ve only grown to love and depend on her more than ever. I’ve learned to appreciate my sense of humor from Jessica and I’ve learned sweetness from Alyssa. I’ve had a friend and big brother to depend on, Justin, and I’ve had a real sister in Ceren, such a sweet and wonderful spirit, and learned to chill from Cem. I’ve crashed many times on Coskun’s couch and watched movies, always welcoming us with open arms when we can find him. I’ve learned to philosophize from Kyle and Kamo can always make me laugh. And from Ben, well there is too much really to be spoken, but he has changed my life forever. I will always hold you dearest to my heart and the dream we’ve shared won’t fade away, even though we both know the story isn’t over. And what have I learned from you Venice?  I’ve walked it’s streets at night and felt its heartbeat, heard its song, a song so soft and simple that many that breeze through here with their cameras miss it, but I’ve heard her soft whisperings.  I’ve come to love the gift you’ve given me, this self assurance, this common bond we’ve created, this love for the calm of the water that soothes the soul and helps me to understand the simple truths of what is really important in life, and all else should be allowed to fade away. I will never forget it. I will never forget you.

All my love friends, lovers, and my beloved home,

Erika

Jessica’s Blog

Wow. This is my last blog, I honestly can’t believe it. I don’t think that it will set in that I am really gone from this amazing place until I actually get off the airplane and give my family a big huge hug, maybe not even then. The funny thing about that is, that’s exactly what I said about coming here. This week has been a scurry of paper finishing, preparation for the flight home tomorrow, and quietly saying goodbye to all the places that are now a large piece of my heart. I will miss it all, this home I have come to love. The smell of old buildings, freshly washed laundry out to hang, fresh breads and sweets, garlic, onions, fresh fish markets, and the crisp salty whiff of the ocean sneaking through the calle will forever be remembered swirling through my nose. I will never forget the feel of centuries old bricks and smooth hand carved stones that adorn each bridge and street that I touched, the hypnotic sway of the boats as they took me to my next adventure, and the sweet kisses on my cheeks from friend’s greetings. Most of all I will never forget the feel of those little fingers of Venice that have touched my heart and the rest of my life so deeply. I am forever grateful to every person, place and thing that makes up the Islands of Venice, because within it I have come to discover a very large part of myself. I never knew that a place, a piece of geography, could change me so much, but now I view myself, others, other cultures, and simply the world in a whole new way. My future seems so much larger now, and I feel like the possibilities are endless, optimism is truly my right hand man. I am writing this with tears spewing out of my eyes as if I am writing to a lover that I am soon to never see again, but I know, I will certainly be back for you
Ciao Ciao mi amore!
Jessica

Ciao miei amici!

Ho no parole. This day came too quickly. I have spent 102 days in Venice, and my life is forever changed. Never have I imagined a place such as this; a time capsule of a city with time machine in a gondola ride. Looking up to see the bravura and flair of the Italians so many centuries past in the sky climbing palazzi Esthetically, I will never look at architecture the same. There are many things that will never be the same. I’ve met people who have changed my life in a matter of minutes, in the best of ways. There are many things that I will miss. The many friends I’ve made are one. In some ways I have it easier, I can visit Venice this summer. I can see the friends who will still be there, I can visit the places I miss, I can see things I missed out on the first time. Yet sitting on this train watching as Venice floats further and further away from the mainland, I’m leaving a home and way of life that has been absorbed into the lagoon, into the time capsule. Our memories, laughs, tears, fears, triumphs and all else have touched Venice. We have made our stain of frescoes with our paints, aged enough to crack yet more decay into the facades, drunk enough to change the waters to wine, and laughed enough to make the Venetians smile first. I have tried new things, and have awoken a passion for art history, and drawing, and painting, and language, and… Perhaps it just awoke the artist.

It has been the time of my life! Thank you, Venice, all the people who helped me get here, my teachers and my friends.

Love,

Alyssa

Pixie’s Blog

Pixie Traynham arrived with Karen’s ‘watercolor’ group and has been with us for the past month.

Pixie’s Blog

At the risk of sounding gushy, I can sum up this experience with one word….Amazing. We watched spring unfold from bus windows on tour. The Art and Architecture in Urbino, Assisi, Florence and Siena brought history to life in wondrous ways, but beginning to experience and think about the different ways people live in current times was interesting too.

Our time in Venice has been amazing too…Art to study, Art to make…Hopefully some improvements in the skills we brought. Kind of like Montana, it’s hard to take a really bad photo here, but many of us have a lot of editing and discarding to do. We find ourselves taking pictures of some of the sights again and again…just too hard to resist. The change of light, particularly in the evenings, changes everything about a scene.

This has been the trip of a lifetime for me…trite but true. Italy and Venice do not disappoint.

Bob Slead Photo

BSP glassblowing in Muranp

BSP glass factory

BSP Glass

BSP John with his Brother

BSP John and Susan Guthrie outside San Marco

BSP Murano glass

BSP

Pasta at the Rawlings apartment

Final pizza lunch

Pizza lunch

Horse pizza!

Journal critique at Rawlings apartment

Caitlin

Erika

Jessica

Alyssa

Karen shares her journal

The gondola ride

In the back canals of Castello

Bravi Studenti!

http://fvccvenice2010.wordpress.com/wp-admin/media-upload.php?post_id=435&type=video&TB_iframe=1&width=640&height=523

Gondola

You have been treated to a glass of wonderful wine, and as it passes over your tongue it conjures memories and sensations that resonate with your very being. It is an entirely moving experience, and as you sip further into its wonders, another emotion approaches with the revealing of the bottom of the glass.  The glass will soon be empty. The drink is being consumed by this process of enjoying. The experience will have to move from the physical, tied implacably to the singleness of the action where you can only consume it once, to the metaphysical memory of it, which is permanent and allows the wine to be consumed again and again. You could stop and leave the last small draught of this elixir, but to what avail? Such prolonging of the action will in fact make the experience less, and you realize that the only thing to do to ensure that the memory is perfect, is to drink it completely. The savor…this complex memory, demands that you do this, and who would argue with such a demand?

The elixir that is Venice, is fast coming to an end, and all of us are very aware that we about to take the last sip of her. It is clear to me that this group will not sit idly by and ‘nurse’ the last swallow, but will continue this experience that they have sustained with such admirable zeal, until the moment that they leave.  These sweet but sad days will be our last.

Monday was supposed to be a day of rest for me, but I was awakened early by a call from Claudio who is the man that we rent our apartments from. The apartment in San Basilio that was inhabited by Erika, Caitlin, and Kyle had sustained serious water damage during the night after a water pipe in the apartment above had burst. It was clear by early morning that the apartment probably could not be lived in, and I began a long tour of alternative places before deciding on one that is quite close to mine in Sant Elena. The group was off with Karen painting in the cemetery of San Michelle, and after walking down to SanMarco to pick up keys, I set off on a 41 vap to find them. They had  been painting in idyllic conditions just before I arrived, tucked in among the greenery surrounding the graves of Ezra Pound and Brodsky, but just as I arrived with my news of the exodus, so did a half a dozen workmen with weed whackers, and they proceeded to shred this ‘perfect place’.

It was the signal for a general packing up and we all travelled back to San Basilio to help with the clean up and transporting of ‘stuff’ to the new apartment. This turned into a very interesting exercise, and as it turns out a rather timely lesson. There were six of us to transport the belongings of the San Basilio three…And it became rapidly clear that we were not enough!

I asked the question, “How do you expect to get all this stuff back to the US in a couple of weeks?”, and did not receive any answers other than some pained looks. So it is clear that’we’ have been acquisitive during these weeks, and these acquisitions may present problems in a few short days unless ‘we’ do something about them. It was clear that our intentions of catching a vaporetto to Sant Elena were pipe dreams and I called a friend ,Sebastiano who arrived with his water taxi and ferried us to the other end of the city. After Caitlin, Erika and Kyle settled into their new digs I took the entire group out for a pizza at ‘my’ local bar, which will now become ‘their’ local bar.

On Tuesday morning we met at San Zaccaria and rode a vap to Ca Pessaro, Venice’s Museum of Modern Art. It is such a wonderful collection of works that are mostly presented in a very open and uncluttered way, and once again I found myself reveling in the looks of wonder in student faces.  I left the students at Ca Pessaro and travelled to the airport to meet my brother Peter and his wife Sandra who were flying in from Australia.

Wednesday was a day given over to revisiting a number of churches that had previously been on our itinerary with the specific intention of talking about individual art pieces that, after our study of Art History, held a ‘different place’ in the story of Venice. It was a morning filled with a great deal of walking, and it was a foot weary group that I said goodbye to at 1.00pm. That afternoon they met Karen at the San Thoma vap stop and walked around the corner to a tiny campo hidden behind the Scuola San Rocco where they spent the afternoon painting.

On Thursday morning we rode across to San Salute and walked through the backstreets to the Peggy Guggenheim Museum. What a treat it is to wander through such a rarified collection of Art work. To be in such close contact, and in such a personalized space, i.e. her home is a great experience and the students were visibly moved by their experience.

Friday arrived all wrapped up in a wonderfully mysterious fog that turned Venice into an amazing Monet painting and we decided to travel out to Burano and from there to Torcello for our watercolor class. We thought it would be less crowded than on the weekend, and arrived to a serene, and all but empty island. Karen set up the students close to Santa Maria Assunta and its wonderful, crumbling exterior, and all looked perfect. Soon after, however, two boat loads of elementary school children, all fitted out with either red or yellow baseball hats  descend like a cloud of locusts, and the resulting mayhem was so complete that I admit to taking my brother and his wife and ‘escaping’ to Burano and its relative peace.

The students met Karen again on Saturday for their final day of watercolor, and Sunday has been a quiet day for us all.

Tuesday April 20th

I have waited to post this blog in the hope that I could pass along a travel update to parents and others that will be meeting returning students on the 25^th and 26^th. It is 7.00pm on Tuesday evening and I have no clear indication from anyone as to what will actually transpire on these travel dates. This morning Marco Polo airport opened on a ‘limited basis’ (and NO I don’t know what that means). I spent an hour with the travel agent that organized the tour for us, have called Ned Dunn at Flathead Travel, and the following is what I do know.

It looks as if the folk flying Delta on Sunday will be able to do so.

Lufthansa flew out of Frankfurt today, but did not fly the connecting leg out of Venice…and if that continues into the weekend it is unlikely that Erika, Caitlin and Jessica will be able to make it home on Monday

My hope is that this situation will reach some level of solution in the next few days, but if it persists into the weekend then I will begin a process that will bring them home on an alternate route. This is, of course, not an easy thing to accomplish because we are only a small part of a herd of people all trying to do the same thing.

I’m sorry that I am not more definitive than this, but at this juncture, neither is anyone else

The weather is wonderful, Venice shines in the sun, and we are all wearing smiles.

Ciao, ciao

John

John Rawlings, Director, FVCC Semester in Venice Program

Jessica’s blog

Oh my goodness! Our wonderful trip abroad is quickly coming to a close, it makes me so sad to think of having to leave this wonderful place and go back to the daily grind of what was my life. I have spent much of this week mentally preparing myself for leaving, and busily going to class, watercolor, and writing a paper for John. I have not had a lot of time to myself this past week because my days have been jam packed with visits to museums, churches, and random excursions all over Venice to learn how to water color. It has been quite the adventure, this water coloring course has. We work outside in plein air and just learn by trial and error, there is no inside work what so ever, and I find myself having to tune out all of the curious passersby. Just yesterday when we were on the tiny island of Torcello, I looked up from my painting and there was a sea of little yellow hats surrounding me and looking up at me in awe. They were cute little school children that kept inflating my ego with “oh bella!!..Brava, Brava!“. So cute! Water color I am finding is a very soothing activity that I could spend almost all day doing without even realizing I had. That in fact happened just the other day when we head out to Burano to paint the brightly colored buildings there. I started painting in the morning and by the time it was three in the afternoon and everyone was telling me it was time to leave, and I was very reluctant to pack up all of my things.

Erika’s Blog:

Life was thrown a bit off kilter for us in the San Basilo apartment. Kyle awoke at two in the morning to discover water streaming down his walls like a gently cascading waterfall and his lamp turned into a shower. He spent the rest of the night trying to catch the water as it slowly flooded his room. Caitlin and I woke up sometime in the morning to discover all the contents of Kyle’s room scattered about our living room, Kyle, haggard with blood-shot eyes, mopping his floor as the water steadily dripped from the ceiling. That afternoon, we packed up all of our things in an hour, saying goodbye to our home for the last three months forever, jumping on a taxi and dumping all of our things at a gorgeous new apartment in Sant Elena. Our new apartment is a palace compared our last, but it’s not home for me, and I’m still fairly unsettled just because I feel like I’m in between homes, having to leave my old one so fast and too early, but still have time before I return.

Because of all the stress and because our new place happens to have an oven, I made “stress pies” this week. They were some of the greatest pies I’ve ever made, maybe because I haven’t had one in almost four months, or maybe the level of stress increases the goodness of the pie. Whatever the case, they were simply delicious and were an amazing way of feeling more settled in this lovely little place at the far end of Venice. I sit up many nights now in this comfy green chair in the corner reading books from the amazing English selection left here by the owner. We swear that the owner has to be some kind of professor or something because he has a very high-end book selection, some serious reading. You can always tell by the books in someone’s home what kind of person they are, and this man is very intelligent to say the least. I’m just grateful that we have a place to stay as we count down the days until we must uproot ourselves and return home. It’s bizarre to think that my time here is coming to an end, but at the same time, as I look back over all I’ve done and seen and experienced, it sometimes feels like I’ve been here so much longer. Perhaps that’s why it’s difficult to even imagine myself at home anymore, just because this has become my home in so many ways. It’ll be different; I just wonder how I’m going to manage it.

Alyssa’s blog

Ciao, ciao! Another week has come to an end; we only have one more blog after this one! It’s gone by so fast! We’ve finished all of our classes. This week was full of painting: the cemetery island, my favorite campo, and the panoramic view of San Marco from San Giorgio. We also climbed the art history timeline into the 20^{th century}. You’d be amazed at how much modern art is in Venice! I saw my first (and sometimes more than one of) Kandinsky, Chagall, Klee, Jackson Pollock, Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, Marcel Duchamp, Giorgio Chirico, and many other amazing pieces. These were held in the Museum of Modern Art inside Ca’Pesaro, and also within Peggy Guggenheim’s frozen collection. Her collection astounded me because she collected the pieces as they were produced in the era. She was on a wave of contemporary appreciation that is seldom pursued by anyone; today, and in generations past. Her collection (in New York she simply called it: Art of This Century) inspired so many people, and fueled the genre of Modern Art. Even with our classes over, most of us are all still finishing our project for art history. It’s really the perfect closing project to culminate all that we’ve learned about Venice, being her history, people (of today and centuries past), language, culture, and architecture; all reflected in art of this island that was once an empire. I hope to be able to find some Renaissance art enthusiasts in the valley. That and Italian speakers to carry on with my conversation skills! Honestly though, I have learned that I really love art history. I once thought the Middle Ages and the Renaissance was a confusing conglomeration of too many events. Now I can follow the pattern that is reflected through the art, and I can see the web formed by the apprenticeships, influence, and lineage of the artists. I am really fascinated by analyzing and dissecting the pieces because they are so full of symbolism. Because of the architecture class, I am now able to look at a building I know nothing about, and give you an approximate date of establishment. I can tell you which components represent that genre of architecture. That was what I was challenging myself with for the art history class. I wanted to be able to look at a piece I’ve never seen, and be able to approximate the year and authorship. I have been getting very close to this goal, and this project is one way to really compare and contrast the different painters of the Italian art timeline. A ways back, when John told me I was becoming a “Venetophile,” I wasn’t really sure if I wanted to be anything that ended in “phile.” Now, I’ve learned the understanding it takes to be able to reach such a position. You can swing the information with memorization, but the moment it clicks for you and you really get it, it’s the most amazing experience. I have had so many moments like that on this journey. Like when I realized I could converse with another person in their mother tongue, another language! I didn’t know what I was getting myself into by taking this art-filled, language-learning, pre-Brescia trip, but it has been the most amazing experience of my life. Plus, I’ve met all these interesting and beautiful people along the way! The five of us are already planning our future reunions.

Ciao di nuovo, ma non e’ ancora l’ultimo, (Ciao again, but it is not yet the last,)

Alyssa

Caitlin’s blog

Well yet again…where did the week go?  This past week was full of painting and church viewing.  We got to paint in Torcello on Friday, and that was really fun!  There were people everywhere (especially small school-children) who came and watched all of us paint.  I unfortunately got rather sick in the beginning of the week and am just now beginning to get better…I must have went through thousands of tissues to get to this point though.  One of the most memorable moments of this week occurred on Monday evening though.

We all woke up early in the morning to the sound of dripping water in our apartment in San Basilio.  I got annoyed with it and went back to sleep…I actually don’t know if Erika even woke up.  Kyle’s room apparently had turned into a shower from water problems in the apartment above us.  We woke up to our apartment owner in the house assessing the problems.  Throughout the day our walls and ceilings proceeded to crack and sag.  We were informed later that day that we had to vacate the house as soon as possible.  Apparently our house wasn’t going to last much longer…so it was a good thing we got out of there.  We know live in the “boonies” of Venice (over by John) in a very large and luxurious apartment.  So we traded proximity to the city for a beautiful apartment…not too bad!

And on Thursday, the volcano in Iceland erupted.  None of us thought much of it to begin with, but we found out just a few days ago that it really does have a huge impact.  Almost every airline/plane in N Europe and N Italy is now closed.  We had to cancel our trip to Rome because of that.  We are now crossing our fingers and hoping that the flights will be back up by the time we leave next Monday, but the chances are small.  Oh well…it won’t be too bad to be “stranded” in Venice for a little longer.

Kyle is on vacation with his parents…..He will return to help with the LAST blog next week.

Ca' Pesaro

Ca' Pesaro

Waiting for the 'vap' o n Fondamente Nuove in the fog

Mysterious Venice

More mystery

Across to Burano

Passing San Michele in the fog

The Faro on Murano

On the 'vap' to Burano

What were these three thinking!

sculpture in the old vineyard at Torcello

Burano

Burano

Kyle discovers he is a watercolorist

Burano

That chair again!

And again

Painting from San Giorgio

Painting in San Michele

In San Michele

Karen in San Michele

In San Michele

Easter Monday is a major European holiday and our first week back in Venice after the excitement of our Spring Tour was tempered by having the first day free!

I got up early and helped Susan Guthrie shepherd her group across the Lagoon to the airport. Susan has been an extremely committed Venetophile for a long time and her enthusiasm is absolutely infectious.

I waved as the taxi moved them away from the fondamente behind Santa Maria Formosa, and then set off for my end of the island and coffee and brioche at MY bar. I admit to not doing much for the rest of the day.

On Tuesday we met at the front door of the San Basilio apartment of Caitlin, Erika, and Kyle, and because their apartment is above a bar (THEIR bar), we stopped and ‘topped up’ with coffee and brioche. A short walk along the fondamente leaves you looking across a small bridge at a small church with a very plain façade. It is San Sebastiano, and behind this plain front is a world of wonder. San Sebastiano was the church of Paolo Caliari who was known as Veronese, and over a period of years he undertook a task that would decorate almost all of its interior surfaces. He painted the ceiling of the main chapel, all of the frescoes of its upper walls, the organ shutters, the Chancel paintings, the high altar painting, and designed its architectural elements, and the ceiling in the sacristy.

The church is undergoing a major restoration and not all of these elements are able to be seen at present, but the completed sacristy and organ hint at just how magnificent this gem of a church is going to be once it is complete.  It is the perfect, if not obligatory place to begin a discussion of Veronese, and I hinted at other work by him that we would stand in front of before the week was over.

On Tuesday afternoon Karen Leigh began the first of her watercolor workshops, and the group met in the apartment of Theresa, Danny, and Pixie to go through a basic orientation before venturing out into the ‘plein aire’. I spent the afternoon with the Matteo, the Director of the Istituto across in Murano looking at a new school of Glass Making, exploring future possibilities for our students.

Wednesday morning found us gathering outside of the entrance to one of the world’s great Museums: The Accademia. It too is undergoing a major refurbishment, and is in the ‘ugly caterpillar’ stage of becoming a beautiful butterfly. Much of its collection is not on display, many rooms are closed, and to top that off, a major exhibition of the works of Giorgione is being held in Castel Franco, his home town about 50 miles from here and all but one of the Giorgione’s are on loan.

It left me attempting to describe and explain the very famous work of his called ‘The Tempest’, and I found myself doing something that I can’t quite believe. We stood in front of a giant poster for the exhibition in Castel Franco which featured this wonderful little work and I told its story! My fervent hope is that someday they will stand in front of the real thing. After my ‘stunning presentation’ we quickly ducked inside before a crowd formed and settled down to enjoy the ‘real’ art inside.

It’s really quite seductive to be the person showing student’s work of that caliber, and I don’t think I will ever tire of watching people interact with marvelous works for the first time.  Paolo Veronese was waiting for us on a scale that cannot possibly be predicted. The grand scale of his “Feast in the house of Levi” has to be seen to be appreciated.

We spent a wonderful morning in this even more wonderful collection.

That afternoon Karen met the group at the Arsenale ‘vap’ stop and we trooped down Garibaldi to San Pietro (of course stopping at Giorgio’s for gelato….this week… mascarpone with chocolate cookies!) It was a beautiful, even warm, afternoon and in the shade of Mauro Codussi’s campanile the group made their first attempts at plein aire. It was a great time, and even those who were experiencing their first class, produced works that we all enjoyed at a critique that Karen conducted on the grass by the side of the canal.

On Thursday morning we moved early to a small scuola not far from Karen’s apartment. It is the Scuola di San Giorgio degli Schiavoni and it houses a small group of paintings by Vittore Carpaccio. Apparently we were not early enough, and we became ensnared in a huge group of French high school students, which added a little comic relief to our visit.

On Friday we left Fondamente nove at 9.15am and journeyed across the Lagoon to Burano the tiny island renowned for its lace making and brightly colored houses. The group painted all day with Karen, and I made a ‘great escape’ with Jonathan Fetter-Worm who was visiting Karen with his father. Close to Burano is the island of San Francesco del Deserto. It is inhabited by a small group of friars who live in the ancient monastery that is said to have been started by Saint Francis himself as he returned from his visit to the Holy land in 1220. There is no public transport to this secluded place and Jonathon and I negotiated with a local boat man to carry us across. It was a brief visit conducted entirely in Italian, but was the culmination of a dream that I have had for years, and we returned with big smiles. The group on Burano had once again exceeded expectations and an enthusiastic group of watercolorists talked about their day on the way home.

Saturday was an easy day for me and I did a little house work and then caught up with the group who were painting in my end of the island. I invited them up to my apartment for a ‘spritz’ at the end of their day and we sat around the apartment sipping this delightful Venetian drink and critiquing the day’s work.

Next week will be a repeat of this, and we will continue with both the Art History and the Watercolor.

Our time here is getting shorter, but the sunsets are getting longer

Ciao, ciao

John

John Rawlings, Director FVCC Semester in Venice Program

Bob and Joann Slead’s blog
What a whirlwind 3 weeks this has been. After arriving at Venice airport and being met by one of Bob’s IPA contacts, we were led past the long line of people waiting to get passports checked, our IPA took our passports and handed them to the official and we were off to get our luggage. He was working so he had to be off to something, but he soon returned to make sure we were all OK. He apologized that he could not spend time with us but he had been sent to special duty in Hungary, However, his supervisor has made plans to meet with us with a special visit and in his words, special VIP surprise next week.
Met John and the rest of the group and off we were with a water taxi ride to our lodgings. Our apartment is in the San Polo, San Toma area. On the fourth floor, there is an elevator, small but adequate. We were shown a few things, and then led down many flights of stairs to a very dark room which was where we were to go to turn back on the main power if we used too many electric things!! Needless to say we are being careful, because even though we are on the fourth floor, there are about 8 flights of stairs, they seemed to never end. We unpacked a few things, freshened up met with Jessica and Alyssa, who are staying in our area and shown the important things. A grocery store, a bakery (Bob glowed with seeing all the pastries to be had) and most important where to catch the water bus, our transportation in Venice. Then off we were to meet with John and the rest of the group to start our tour of churches. Every day we visited several churches and John explained the history of the artist and the meanings of the paintings. The goose bumps started when I stood in front of the first paintings and have not stopped ever since. It is truly amazing to stand in front of a painting done in the 15^th century in the church where they were painted!! How awesome is that!!!
Sat. we were off to Florence and the Tuscany area on a big comfortable tour bus with a great driver.
Our first stop was in Urbino up the hill to the walled city. Interesting I have some great sketches and Bob has many photographs. I won’t try to describe all the rooms we stayed in on our journey through Tuscany, but to say they were Italian, small, old, interesting and each with their own personality. On to Assisi, what a wonderful setting everywhere one looked there was a scene to paint. Found an interesting wood carving shop, took photos for our wood carver friend in Mt. The pieces are really amazing. Also saw some very intricate marble table tops and some very unusual and interesting paintings which were painted on wood and had the look of marble. The group watched Karen do a watercolor demo. Which we were all waiting to see happen. Amazing to see the colors and forms take shape.
Of course the highlight for me was the visit to the Basilica de S. Francesco, where the tomb of St. Francis is located. The Basilica was overwhelming. In all the churches the gold on ceilings and paintings is truly amazing. It makes one stop and think, where did all this wealth come from?
Paintings depict the myths and history of the centuries.
On to Florence, with a stop at a ceramic factory, which also had wines, chocolates, olive oil, soaps etc? I really had to keep a firm mind that we did not have room in our luggage to keep from buying everything I saw!! Then a surprise suggested stop at a restaurant for the most delightful lunch and a relaxing stop before we were on the way to Florence.
Just a quick note on Florence, it was three days need another blog for this, we, (use old folks) climbed to top of tower, apron. 450 steps, great view but it wore us out for the rest of the day,
but we were not finished, more later.
One more exciting event, Sunday, Easter, we went to High Mass, at St Marks in Venice, presided by a Cardinal, Joann even had communion. How spectacular.
This is out of order, but the most interesting stop in the Venice area. Burano, this is a very colorful fishing town. Every house is a different, brilliant color, reds, blues, greens etc, etc, (you will see photos) each family has a color, an only their color, no one else can use it.
More on this later,

Bob & Joann

Jessica’s blog

Oh my goodness, this week has been busy, busy, busy! Once we got back from our spring break in Tuscany there was a lot of unpacking a cleaning to be done, and on top of that we were all very excited to be seeing our friends back here in Venezia! I can’t imagine what it is going to be like to leave them for one final time at the end of this month. We have created friendships with these people that I am sure are going to last for years; they are all just genuinely good people at heart.
We also had to start back into the daily grind with all new classes. The schedule is very rigorous with art history class and watercolor packed all into a few weeks. Although now that we have been here for quite some time and have been analyzing art and architecture, the Art history part has become more of an adventure to uncover all of this places little mysteries within the artwork. Also on a positive note, water color is fast becoming my second favorite medium to use! I am actually very excited on the days that we have watercolor because it is exactly what I want to be doing anyways! I love trudging through the streets to find a good spot to set up and paint. Even though plein air is challenging, it is also a lot of fun and very relaxing. We went to Burano on Friday and painted the many brightly colored buildings and canals on the island, and when everyone said it was time to go I realized I had spent the ENTIRE day painting and didn’t even notice! How wonderful to just lose yourself in such a beautiful place.
Also a highlight for me on Burano was being able to revisit my favorite fresh fried fish restaurant! Since the very first time we visited the island, no surprise, I have been dreaming about the next time I would get the chance to taste its salty goodness 

Caitlin’s blog

As this trip draws to a close these last few weeks have gone by in no time at all.  I’m looking back at this week and trying to figure out what I did exactly.  This week we started our Art History course and the Watercolor course.  We’ve been to a few different churches and we finally made it to the Accademia.  The Accademia was under construction unfortunately but there were still so many simply beautiful pieces there.  The place was filled with the whole family of Bellini and many other priceless pieces by Veronese, Titian, Veronese and many others.  Along with getting to learn about all the artists and pieces, we got to start our Watercolor class.

I have been waiting for this class to start for some time now.  I have never painted plein-air before, but I absolutely love the medium of Watercolor.  This past week has held many hours of painting outside in places such as Burano, S. Elena and S. Pietro.  I personally enjoyed painting in Burano the most…I love color in paintings and well, there’s a TON of color in Burano!  I have learned so much already in this class and I’m excited for the week to come.

I can’t help but start to get sad as I realize that this trip really is coming to an end.  I’m working on my sketch book/journal for the Watercolor class and I’m going through all my old ticket stubs and receipts to put in my journal and old memories flash through my head.  What an amazing trip.  Next weekend some of us are journeying to Rome for a few days as a last fling, but then when we return we shall pack up and get ready to go home.  I do not want to leave quite yet, but at the same time I feel like I have grown as a person here in these past few months and I am very ready to go home and START life.  I’m more excited about getting going than I ever have been…the world seems just a bunch of opportunities now, not a scary thing.

Alyssa’s blog

Our trip was of course planned with lots of learning and some art history, but was definitely a full on vacation! Getting back to Venice and having watercolor and art history classes here at home has been like vacation also. It’s been so wonderful here! The weather has been perfect for the start of our “Plein Aire” classes. We have been painting all over Venice, and we spend after class hours painting also, either catching up on an unfinished sketch or going to another destination with a great view or interesting setting. Some of the best things to paint are little niches in the buildings with either statues or Madonna and Child shrines, or simply a doorway that has chipped paint and broken brick surrounding the frame. For watercolor especially, these things are really fun to paint. You can use your imagination to exaggerate a color, contrast, emotion, texture… In the watercolor world, the idea or emotion is embraced, not necessarily every detail must be present, not every shape within proportion. And for the nit-picky people in the world (like myself), using creative liberties like this is a stretch of the comfort zone! I am loving it. I am just letting go and chasing the page with color and different techniques.

The first place we painted was in the grassy area in front of San Pietro. This place is one we have been to before, where the tempo is very slow and the tourists are few and far between. I chose a rusticated corner of a building, adorned with two shuttered windows and a small statue on the edge of the corner. I was drawn to the different layers of decay on the face of the building. At one time, the face was a pale rouge-y pink. Where that had fallen away, the next layer is the eggshell-white stucco layer. “Eggshell” is quite the appropriate word because the layers fall away by cracking and chipping like the shell of an egg. The patterns of the decay are always different. Beneath these two layers are the raw bricks, exposed and weathered. Some are “Burnt Siena” in color and others are “New Gambouge,” or a diluted blend of the two to make a warm pink.  Pair this face with two fading green shutters and tree which adds to the composition and a small statue to add to mystery and voila! A magnificent first piece.

Part of our assignment in the watercolor class is to fill our 16 page (that’s 32 pages front and back) leather bound journal by the time class is finished. We also must choose three themes to be present throughout the process. This could be wine bottle labels (have plenty of those!), doors knockers (…we won’t go there), lions, etc. What a big project! Especially for such a perfectionist as myself. I am very proud of myself though, because I went and I painted a huge depiction of the Frari Church on the second page. Didn’t even hold back! There are pinks and purples and oranges, nothing that you’d find on the face of a church, but I was following my intuition! It was a wonderful time. While Jess and I were sitting in the campo painting away, lots of people would look over our shoulder and say, “Bravissima!” Even kids! It was the cutest thing. We thought about putting a hat out for some spare change. Some of the other students in the group are really using their creativity and expanding one painting over TWO pages! Ha-ha. What a really great idea…            Painting is Burano was absolutely wonderful. It’s a watercolorist’s heaven. All the buildings are so vibrant with pinks, blues, purples, yellows, oranges… some even have matching boats! The second half of the day was free time to paint on our own, and I accomplished a very detailed sketch which I am very excited about. It’s a very large piece covering a whole sheet of the paper we have, about 1 ¼ foot by 1 foot. I have a two toned teal house, between the edge of a yellow house and a pink house which is next to a dark turquoise house. Each house has laundry hung across the front and interesting characteristics about shapes of the buildings. Cannot wait to get started with this one!

As far as life out of class, we have just been enjoying what is here. Today I took a long “Italian passeggiata,” by this I mean a very, very slow stroll, which is so different than my usual pace. I was in no hurry and went to the most wonderful hidden places. Then Jess and I cooked a delicious risotto and the evening finished with a salute of piano music with a man singing an opera, drifting through our open window from the San Giovanni Evangelista Music Scuola from across our small campo. A perfect ending to this wonderful week.

Love,

Alyssa

Erika’s Blog:

Buona Pasqua! It was very different for someone who has come from a non Catholic background to attend a Catholic church for Easter and to be apart from my family over the holiday, but I did enjoy it immensely. We stood in line outside of San Marco for over an hour, all in our Easter best, listening to all the church bells clanging out their melodious harmonies in honor of holiday and all it represents.  It was the longest Easter service I’ve ever attended, completely in Italian, all of us flipping through our pamphlets, earnestly trying to figure out where they were in the service, guessing, and then changing our minds, saying “oh goodness, we haven’t gotten nearly that far.” It was a series of deliberate actions and traditions, a play that the performers had preformed a million times, and everyone had their role down and their lines memorized. There was so much standing and sitting, hand gestures and bowing, and random singing, either in response to something spoken or in response to the choir aloft, their voices echoing throughout the entire building, rounding and dipping through the elaborate golden arches and curves of the ceiling. The choir director, standing at the pulpit, directed the crowd like a choir, and we all stumbled to keep up. To continue the Easter tradition of feasting and to continue our fellowship, we sojourned at a Chinese restaurant.

The rest of the week was spent painting and learning the entire history of art as quickly as humanly possible, and then painting for the rest of the day until the sun sets and you simply cannot paint outside anymore, then collapsing into bed. On Friday night however, as a send off for Jonathan, a new friend we made from the states who was heading home on Sunday, we went to the only blues café in all of Venice and listened to a live blues band, in part to party with Jonathan, and in part to support Ben, who was accompanying the band on his harmonicas. We constantly make fun of him because he carries all 17 of his harmonicas in two pouches attached to a belt so he either looks like a cowboy or a superhero or a construction worker when he wears them, but that kid really can play. There was a point when he and the sax player were battling, one playing and then the other copying, and vice versa, and it was one of the coolest things I’ve ever heard. We all got into the spirit of it, I singing along with the Italian blues singer, who sounded like he was black, and we all started dancing, even though no one else was. However, by the end of the evening, just because we are so awesome, the entire place was dancing. I haven’t had that much fun or sweat that much in a really long time.

Kyle’s blog

Oops almost forgot to type my blog! Last week was rather full. Water coloring class started and I forgot how mentally taxing art could be…

I would like to think that I am improving on my painting skills. On the other hand, at least, I am finding the things I am better at painting. Venetian buildings, for instance, are difficult not only for the beginner, but for the experts as well! I have found seascapes to be the most satisfying work to produce.

In addition, these last two weeks of the semester have been devoted to art history class with Ziogio. Week 12 kicked our butts right back into school! Ha-ha.

The weather has been great. I look forward to seeing my parents in Rome on Friday. Gotta go.

…Happy Birthday, Erikaaaaaaaa!!!!

On the way to San Sebastiano

San Sebastiano

San Sebastiano

At the Arsenale 'vap' stop

Plein aire in San Pietro

Karen demonstrating

San Pietro

Canal San Pietro

San Pietro

Burano

Burano

Riding out to San Francescodel Deserto...Burano in background

Bob Slead Pictures

BSP Gondolier

BSP Lunch in Santi Giovanni e Paolo

BSP Colleoni

BSP The fish market

BSP Fish market

BSP Gondolas

BSP Santi Giovanni e Paolo

RSP Arsenale

BSP Canal

BSP Pixie and Nancy

BSP Maurizio's bus

BSP The 'back of the bus'

BSP Gondolas

Our tour began on a cool and foggy Saturday morning, and I admit that I felt more than just a little relieved to meet all sixteen of our group at the bottom of the new bridge that crosses into Piazzale Roma. It is no small feat to move that many people and their entire luggage across Venezia and assemble at a given time.  I was also distinctly aware of the fact that some of these folk had only been here for a few days, and were not particularly conversant with the public transportation system.

Our bus arrived right on time and we spent time greeting the driver Maurizio, who had driven for us last year. It took only a few minutes to stow all of our luggage and settle ourselves into the bus; and then we were on our way down the West coast of Italy, following the edge of the Venetian lagoon, as we made our way south. Maurizio assured us that it would only take a few miles for us to leave the fogs of Venice behind, and sure enough, it was not long before we were travelling through flat fields of rice and salad vegetables in glorious, warm sunshine.

We stopped for lunch at a roadside eatery in a small town called Pomposa where we ate the local piadini and visited a 9^th century church before getting back on the bus and continuing south.  By two O’clock we were beginning to head east away from the Adriatic, and began climbing toward our destination; Urbino.

We arrived by three thirty at the base of a precipitous mountain, on top of which perches the incredibly beautiful town of Urbino. It is an ancient hill town that jealously preserves its medieval character by limiting the number of motor vehicles that can enter, and banning completely the entry of buses. The bus pulled up to enormous brick walls which loomed above and we were presented with the conundrum of ‘how to get up there’. There is an elevator hidden within these giant walls, and in a very few minutes we were wheeling toward our hotel.

The afternoon and evening were spent exploring this beautiful place, and our group was scattered far and wide. I spent sunset at the top of a hill overlooking the main castle and was treated to some images that will last me a long time.

The next morning we toured the local castle that was built by Federico di Montefeltro in the 1450’s and treated to the many wonderful artworks displayed in its halls. Urbino was the birthplace of Raphaelo, and Montefeltro had made major commitments to both Renaissance Art and Philosophy.

By lunch time we were back on the bus and travelling toward our next destination: Assisi.

The home town of Giovanni Francesco di Bernadone, who would become the beloved St Francis, is an exquisite collection of lovingly cared for stone houses that sit atop an Umbrian hilltop. We arrived on Palm Sunday in beautiful sunny weather and spent two days exploring its religious and architectural wonders.

On Tuesday morning we left for the next town on our schedule: Siena

A friend of Maurizio’s owns an ‘agri tourismo’ on the way to Siena and we stopped for a remarkable lunch in a restored 16^th century farmhouse in the Tuscan countryside.

We arrived in Siena late in the afternoon as the weather turned a little cooler, and explored the central campo before rain finally drove us back to the hotel. The next morning we were up early to explore this very medieval city. It is said to have the most remarkable medieval town square in all of Europe. We visited the Duomo and the Museo Opera del Duomo to look at Duccio’s Maesta , visited the Baptistery and then walked back to the hotel to catch the bus to Florence.

Maurizio had another surprise for us on the way and we stopped for lunch in the tiny hilltop town of Monteriggioni.

Florence was a major change of pace for the group and we had to adjust to the hustle of the city on our first night.

There would not be enough time to see all of Florence’s Art treasures if we stayed a month, and so we had to be content with viewing a selection of its highlights.

The first morning we climbed the 414 steps up the Campanile and viewed Florence from this amazing vantage point. Of course it’s 414 steps back down again and a slightly ‘red in the face’ group walked across the main piazza and visited the great sculpture museum, The Bargello.

We had a 2.30 reservation at The Uffizi Gallery and slipped inside just as a large thunder storm splashed across the city.

There were so many first for this group of students in the next few hours. First Leonardo, first Botticelli; and the list goes on. A group of thoroughly ‘changed ‘ students exited from this special place.

We stayed in the Hotel Casci, a hotel that we have used in the past. It is close to the center of Florence and is run by such a friendly and accommodating family that treated us as if we were part of their own.

The next day started in The Accademia with Michelangelo, and once again an awestruck group exited. After lunch we walked across the city to the church of the Carmine and spent some private time in Massacio’s Brancacci Chapel.  On our return journey we stopped at Santa Maria Novella to see a little more of Massacio.

Saturday morning was left open for the students to do what they wished. I went for an early morning walk and finished at the Opera del Duomo to say ‘good by’ to some of my favorite sculptures, and was delighted to run into a few of the group doing the same.

The ride back to Venice was an easy 3 hours in the bus, and it became increasingly clear that most of the group thought of it as a ride ’HOME’.

It was a remarkable week of discovery and adventure with a group of enthusiastic, inquisitive fellow travelers, and I suspect will supply fuel for many, many conversations.

We were up early on Sunday morning and waited patiently outside San Marco for the 10.30 Easter Mass. It was worth the wait and we had ‘front row’ seats. Mass was conducted by the local Cardinal with all of the pomp, ceremony and theatre that showed this ancient cathedral at its finest.

Arriving home has been a wonderful reconnection with our watery city, but it is now clear that we are counting down the days to our departure, and there is talk about the sadness that moment will bring.

The weather is improving, the trees show more green each day, and we are all enthusiastic to begin the watercolor segment of this adventure.

Ciao, ciao

John

John Rawlings, Director FVCC Semester in Venice Program

Kyle’s blog

Spring Break turned out to be a wonderful get-away. Urbino and Assisi both were small, hillside, walled- in, medieval towns. Siena and Florence offered a faster paced city landscape with very busy streets and sidewalks.

We had a wonderful bus driver who gave us the privilege of seeing places uncommon to the tourist’s itinerary. Simply driving through Umbria’s countryside was spectacular. One day we stopped at a farm and ate lunch. The food, as well as the property on which we were, was incredible.

My favorite city was Assisi. I made that decision after four of us took a hike up the mountain to Saint Francis’s sanctuary. It was completely hidden away in the lush forests near the top of the mountain. The sanctuary was not only beautiful, but it gave off a sense of serenity no other place had done in my travels within Italy.

We had enjoyed our stay too much in fact, for the gates were closed and locked with us still inside! It’s ironic to say that we were trapped inside a sanctuary, but that’s exactly what happened. Therefore, we had to climb over the walls surrounding the gate while being watched in amazement by a group of German tourists.

Urbino was an amazing little town as well, but I think it was only a precursor setting us up for Assisi’s wonder. Siena was an interesting city – very medieval with a cool piazza. However, I found myself too often surrounded by too many people, too many cars, too little open space, and there was a great feeling of confinement because of that.

Florence was overwhelming! Being there two-and-a-half days was not nearly enough to discover the great deal of fine art this city contains. Likewise, standing at the foot of Michelangelo’s statue of David was enough to blow one’s mind. I have yet to work out how in the world someone could manipulate the surface of stone to such fine details.

I had a great time travelling through Umbria and Tuscany. The last week had way too many things going on for me to organize neatly into this blog, but the adventure leaves its mark in all of our hearts and memories. I came to two realizations during that trip that I won’t forget. 1) I want to travel more of the world and 2) Venice has become home; toward the end of the break, we all felt a longing to be back on our little lagoon island.

Caitlin’s blog

What a fun and exciting past week!  Last Saturday the whole group (plus the newbies) set out from Piazzale Roma on a charter bus for spring break in Umbria and Tuscany.  The first bus ride was not too long; I was tired so Jessica and I claimed the back bench-seat of the bus as our own and plugged our iPods in, stretched out and took a nap.  The first day (Saturday) we arrived in the beautiful little hill-town/fortress of Urbino.  When we got there we put our luggage in our rooms and set out to explore.  We walked up and down numerous hills, worked our leg and butt muscles and finally found a few beautiful little parks to sit and relax in.  The first little park we stumbled upon was set on top of a little hill and it had a little play structure to mess around on.  Of course I found the little bouncy horse and took a ride.  After letting my inner 5-year old come out to play we headed yet higher up onto the hill and found ourselves in a look-out place where we could see the whole city!  We spent some time up there and then headed back down towards the city center.  We all decided to meet up later for a nice dinner and then we all headed off to continue exploring.  Alyssa, Jessica, Kyle and I walked around the outer limits of the city and found ourselves at the big church of Urbino.  We walked around for a bit in there and enjoyed the plain, yet beautiful interior.  After that we met for dinner and then went to sleep.  The next morning (Sunday) we met bright and early and went to the main museum there.  We saw a few very beautiful pieces and sculptures and then we all loaded back onto the bus and we were on our way to Assisi.

The bus ride to Assisi was not long in length but we were all a little tired by the time we reached Assisi I think we were all ready for a little down time.  “The kids” went and walked around for a little while and looked at stores.  After looking around and such we decided to buy a bottle of wine and hike up to a high hill in Assisi and overlook the city.  The hike up was beautiful!  The skies were clear and the sunset was astounding.  We all laughed, joked and drank wine until it was cold and dark and sparkling stars had replaced the pink and orange sunset.  We went out to an inexpensive little restaurant and then went to bed.  The next morning (Monday) we met and then started our tour of the city.  First we went to St. Francis’ church.  That was a beautiful church.  The frescoes that adorned each wall were astounding and I loved each one.  After that we had a little free time and we did a little shopping. We met up after and went to another pretty little church and then we had the rest of the day to ourselves.  The other kids decided to go up the mountain and go on a little hike.  I was tired, my knees were hurting and I had an almost irresistible urge to use my new leather-bound watercolor book so I decided to opt out of the hike and go paint.  Before I went painting I decided to get some lunch and get some gifts for my family and friends.  I found a leather-shoe store and stopped in.  I found an inexpensive pair of leather “Spartan” sandals and I purchased them.  I also went to the local olive wood store and bought some very cool items for my family and myself.  After I got my shopping done the sun was still shining and it was comfortably warm so I decided to park myself on the steps of a fountain and paint one of the churches.  Minutes after I got my sketch done and had pulled out my paint a musician came and sat near me and started playing.  People were milling about around me; little kids would come over to my painting and run away, only to return with their friends or parents in tow telling them to look at my painting.  As the afternoon, and my painting, progressed I got more and more people stopping to look on at my painting.  I enjoyed the little conversations I got to have and the overall joyful afternoon.  I completed a painting I was happy with and had an experience I would never forget.  As the sun set, I started shivering and decided it was probably time to run back to the hotel.  When I got there the others still had not returned so I decided to go to bed early.  The next morning (Tuesday) we ate breakfast and started the trek to the bus.  After we had all loaded our luggage and seated ourselves we were on our way to Siena.

The bus ride to Siena was enjoyable.  The countryside was absolutely gorgeous and for lunch we stopped at a little farm/hotel.  We had a delicious meal that consisted of a meat plate, lasagna and tiramisu.  After exploring the farm for a little bit we headed back to the bus and drove the little distance to Siena.  When we got to Siena we dropped our luggage off at the hotel and immediately set out to explore the city.  We first went to the art store and looked around and then a few of us went to the Duomo and drew/painted it.  That took up a few hours and when we all started shivering and felt rain drops we decided to head back to the hotel.  On the way back we got distracted by a group of kids from various countries playing hacky sack in front of the Duomo and we decided to join in! After some intense hacky sacking we went back to the hotel and Jessica and I watched a little Italian TV/movie and then went to bed.  One thing we have definitely noticed with Italian movies and TV is that they are not afraid of nudity!  After a good night’s sleep we all met in front of the hotel and toured the city.  We first went to the main piazza where the famous horse races take place.  Next we went to the Duomo.  That was absolutely gorgeous!  The intricacy of the architecture and decorations was stunning.  Next we went to the baptistery and saw some very interesting pieces.  After that we went and got our luggage and hopped onto the bus and we were on our say to Florence!

(Wednesday) The bus ride to Florence was short and we were all starting to show our tiredness by the time we got there.  We got our luggage off the bus and lugged it to the hotel.  We got the rest of the day to ourselves and we went to the outdoor market and looked at all the interesting items for sale.  As we are all poor college kids we decided to go to a local supermarket and purchase items for sandwiches for that night’s dinner and for lunch the next day.  After buying that we went back to the hotel, watched a movie, ate and went to bed.  We all met the next morning (Thursday) in front of the hotel and set out on that day’s adventures.  The first thing we did was climb a tower (414 steps!) and we got to see the whole city.  After that we went to a very interesting museum full of sculptures and walked around for a little while in there.   After we were done with that we went to the center square, regrouped and walked over to the Uffizi and waited in line.  We walked around in there for a while and saw so many famous paintings and sculptures.  I was most impressed my “The Birth of Venus” and “La Primavera.”  I had always seen pictures and heard of these two great paintings but it was amazing to see them in person.  They simply took my breath away.  I also was able to see many other famous artists such as Michelangelo.  The painting he had hanging in there was beautiful and different.  After the Uffizi Jess and I headed out in search of another supermarket for dinner.  After nearly an hour of searching, we finally stumbled upon one, bought some food and made our way back to the hotel.  We were both exhausted and our feet were killing us so we ate and then went to bed.  On Friday yet again we met in front of the hotel after breakfast and started our day.  First off we went to the Accademia and saw Michelangelo’s David.  It was AMAZING!  I could have stayed there for hours and just looked at him.  After that we went to this little church that had some absolutely amazing/groundbreaking frescoes.  The church itself was beautiful but the movie we had to watch in order to see the church was so boring.  I think half of us fell asleep and the narrator’s voices made us all die of laughter.  So of course, we were able to make a boring experience enjoyable.  For the rest of that day we could do whatever we wanted.  We walked around for a little bit more, explored and such.  For dinner we met with John and ate at his friend’s restaurant.  The food was so delicious and we all had a great time.  The next morning (Saturday) it was time for us to head out.  Jess, Erika and I got up early and went to the Opera and saw some very famous sculptures by Donatello and Michelangelo.  It was definitely worth getting up early for.  After that we all piled onto the bus and settled in for the 4 hour ride home.

When we finally reached Venice, I was not expecting the feelings I had flooding over me.  I missed my canals and boats!  For the rest of the day we unpacked, cleaned and rested.  We went to bed early and rested well.  The next day (Sunday) we all met in front of San Marco for an Easter Sunday mass.  Even though I don’t practice Catholicism, it was a very beautiful and interesting experience.  I can now say that I spent an Easter Sunday service at San Marco in Venice!  After that we all went out to my personal favorite bar “The Green Bar” and then Jess and I bought a massive pizza, ate it, watched a movie and painted our nails.

Today (Monday) is a quiet day; I slept in, ate and wrote my blog.  That is about all!  Tonight we are all going over to Jessica and Alyssa’s apartment for a dinner with all our friends.  Thanks for reading! Ciao

Erika’s Blog:

We arrived in Assisi. It was strange, I didn’t really know anything about the place and I honestly wasn’t expecting much from it, but in the end it moved me in so many ways, it quickly became my absolute favorite place. It didn’t look like much from the outside, another hilltop town with some dedications to Saint Francis, but once we entered the city, a whole new air overtook us. It was quiet and calmer there. The people moved at a slower pace, taking the time to say hello and goodbye to their neighbors, the vendors weren’t standing in the streets trying to move product, but simply smiled at you as you passed by. We arrived at our hotel, a funny little place, a tad bit eccentric, very similar to the owner, a strange little man named Luigi, had a bit of room confusion because the guy couldn’t get the four girls names correct, but we were eventually settled. John released us to do what we wished for the evening, so the six of us decided to climb to the top of the hill to the castle for the sunset with a bottle of wine ha-ha. It was a very long climb and my legs were burning after awhile, but I did it. We got up close to the top and the sun was a brilliant orange tinged with rose when we arrived, those pre-sunset colors. As we climbed, the view kept getting better and better, the birds starting to sing their song as the sun bid the place farewell. We arrived at the top as the sky began to burn. All six of us sat on a park bench with the castle and the moon rising over the mountains behind us, the sky on fire before us, drinking our wine, munching on candied nuts, laughing ourselves into the night. Our simple glee and laughter settled into a simple silent joy as the sun dipped behind the mountains in a pillow of purples, grays and blues, and we walked back down the hill as the stars opened their eyes. Our group split in half between those who wished to sleep that those who stayed up the rest of the evening, sharing stories about Caribbean stars and watching for turtles on the beaches, watching the wind whip through the branches of the olive trees below.

The next day we woke up early and went to see the church of Saint Francis, a man I’ve grown to have huge respect for. It was an absolutely beautiful church, with frescos of Francis’ life littering the sides and the ceiling a dazzling aqua blue with golden stars. The color scheme was very similar to Moroccan colors, bright reds and deep purples and turquoise blue, which I’ve never seen in a church before. But it was beneath the church that truly moved you. In the crypts of the church, the walls held the works of hundreds of artist’s from the time that the church was built, a huge collaboration of artists dedicated to this man they all loved and admired. I had a very powerful moment with St. Francis down below the crypts in front of his tomb, not that he was speaking to me or anything, but the fact that he gave up everything, every worldly comfort and things we hold so dear, in order to minister to people, trusting in the lord for all things. I asked myself if I thought I’d ever be brave enough to do that, and I don’t think I could. I don’t know if I believe in anything that strongly to give up everything for it. What kind of person does that make me really? A listless person, without real direction or purpose, without something to believe in. Maybe it’s the first step to finding direction, being able to ask yourself these questions and not being able to give any reasonable answers.

Later that afternoon the five of us traveled up the mountain the opposite direction of the day before, hiking almost five miles to the monastery hidden in the mountains where the grottos of St. Francis and many of his followers slept and depended on nature. We stumbled across a simple cross made of two tree branches tied together in from of a simple altar, a board on top of a tree stump, surrounded by a semicircle of small wooden benches, enough seats for maybe 30 people sitting; the rest would have to rest on the ground. I couldn’t help but imagine this as what St. Francis would really want, people climb up the mountain to come hear Francis speak, he climbs out of a cave, covered in dirt and looking completely emaciated, but there’s a fire that burns in those blue eyes of his, the eyes that look too big for his face, but there’s such passion and fervor in those eyes that the audience in completely captivated the moment he steps forward. A bird flitters down from a branch above and lands on his shoulder as he speaks his “Canticle of the Creatures”

…Praise to thee my Lord with all thy creatures, especially for Master Brother Sun, who illuminates the day for us and thee most high he manifests. Praise be to thee my Lord, for Sister Moon and for the stars in heaven thou hast formed them shining, precious, fair….

It was Francis’ real church to me, and although I had to climb so far and my legs burned the entire way and my chest ached, in the end, it was one of the most worthwhile things I did on the entire trip.

Jessica’s Blog

I am in the middle of preparing a wonderful little dinner for all of our friends that we have met while we have been here in Venice. Tony, a friend from Newcastle we met in language class, has even come back just to see us one more time! The friends and memories we have made in this short amount of time are astonishing. Speaking of memories, this last week we spent our spring break traveling around Tuscany in a charter bus. First was Urbino, the home of Raphael the painter. We spent the day exploring every hill and street we could trek. Then before we left the next day the entire group toured a castle. Next was Assisi, my favorite city of all. It was so beautiful, it blew my mind! The white rock buildings and the pristine streets. On the first night the youngins of the group climbed to the very top of Assisi to the castle and wall that was there. From there we could see the entire valley while we sat and watched the sunset together. The next day in Assisi we took a 5 mile hike altogether and saw a Monastery in the mountains surrounding the city of Assisi. It was amazing to see because that is where the Franciscan monks used to go and sleep in caves and under cliffs, we even saw a few of them. It was wonderful to see the Church of St. Francis. The frescoes by Giotto and others were enough to make me cry right in the middle of the church. The colors were so vibrant. From there we set out for Siena where we were able to see the unfinished Duomo and works by the local famous painter Duccio. After Siena we headed to Florence for our final three days of the trip. Florence was a larger city and had an energy that was infectious. Which was a very good thing because we definitely needed loads of energy to pack in all of the art museums and attractions in just a few days. Seeing David by MicAhelangelo and the Mary Magdalena by Donatello was more than enough to make my trip and maybe even my life complete!  I was blown away by the amazing artwork in Florence! Now that our trip has come to an end we are all home, enjoying the relaxation before we start classes tomorrow.

Alyssa’s blog

Oh amici how I’ve missed you!

I’ve had some of the best experiences of my life this week. I will concur with my fellow friends, that Assisi was the pinnacle of the trip. Palm Sunday: on the highest hill above Assisi, in front of a castle, passing a bottle of wine between us while watching the sun set. It made my entire trip. Kyle and I wandered lower into a grove of olive trees where there were white daffodils growing wild. We climbed up an old rock wall that extended downhill from the castle and had a panoramic view of the entire valley below Assisi. With the pattern of the clouds in the sky and the path of the roads below, the setting sun was a vanishing point; all lines led to it. We watched until the last bead of fire was plucked from the horizon like a knot thread through knit material. It seems like the sunset lasted the entire day.

The next day we walked the steep four kilometers to the Franciscan Monk monastery. What a beautiful place. I had an overwhelming spiritual moment remembering my mother there. It would probably have been her favorite place on the planet also.

Assisi is very inspiring. So is Saint Francis, and so is Erika (who inspired me to write a little bit!):

(A short lesson, just before arriving to Assisi there is a big Renaissance church that was built over the church of Saint Francis (literally one small church inside of a very large one) as a way to embrace his ideals. We stopped there first.)

3/29/2010

Atop green washed hills

Below a pale mounted sky

Lay your trusted city

In stones and vines

Beckoned to us first,

Your small haven favor

Welcomed without coerce

An altruistic savior.

Love had built around you

With Renaissance hands,

Hugging your ideals and

The heart in your plans

The cap vanished,

As before my eyes:

A cottage so

Humbly jeweled

In holiness,

With air like an

Ancient sweat

Of fever pitch.

A generous greeting

And powerful, too.

Selflessly bidding

My likeness in you.

A sunken woolen cloth

Tattered and rough

Embracing Saint Francis

In his crypt below a rock.

Deep in the green ravine

In Umbrian springtime

His footsteps had awakened

And fit within mine.

No other saint

Has met me so well.

Seeing Michelangelo’s David wasn’t so bad either! I could have spent a week just studying Michelangelo in Florence. The “Prisoners,” or “Captive,” ‘unfinished’ pieces leading up to the David were remarkable also. And I particularly liked what he did with the sculpture “Day and Night,” (opposite “Dawn and Dusk”) in the Medici, a building he designed, where the ‘Night’ lady is polished to seem “drenched in moonlight.” I was drenched, by rain, waiting to get into the place, as the skies of Florence were quite sporadic and even decided to hail while our group was having coffee on the roof of the Uffizi. There was one moment in Florence, when Karen and I were sketching in the Piazza Signori; we heard a deafening crack followed by a thundering rumble. We both thought the building adjacent to us was collapsing! Everyone in the entire piazza was spooked. Mostly the weather was great, but it was a little testy, just like Montana in that sense.

Stopping in Tuscany between rolling hills of green patchwork for a homemade lunch at a ranch with a shy Great Pyrenese who befriends quite easily was AMAZING and should be done every year.

Love,

Alyssa

Most of this week’s photographs were taken by Caitlin

Maurizio's bus

Erika, Kyle, and Caitlin

Jessica, Erika, Caitlin, and Alyssa

Urbino

Sunset on the castle at Urbino

Urbino

Urbino street

Friends in Assisi

Assisi sunset

Assisi

Basilica of Saint Francis

Above Assisi

Eating at the 'Agri Tourismo"

Siena

Siena

Duomo, Siena

Pisano pulpit, Siena Duomo

Looking down on Florence

Florence

Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence

Florence

Florence

On top of the Campanile

Looking down through the grating on the Campanile

Florence

Week ten has closed around us more quickly than any of those previous. It has been a week of closure, new beginnings, and preparation for one of our most ambitious adventures. This was the final week for the students in the Italian Language program, and it seemed to be universally among them a rather bitter-sweet time. They have generated some very strong relationships with Teachers and fellow students alike, and all agree that they are going to miss this in their next four weeks. Most have decided to simply continue to drop in on the Istituto to stay in touch, even if they are not formally in class.

On Tuesday morning I travelled across a fog stalled Lagoon to Marco Polo Airport and met the “Watercolor Group” that arrived under the protection of Karen Leigh. An uneventful journey, all baggage arrived; flight arrived on time. It doesn’t get any better than that. We chartered our friend Sebastiano’s water taxi and set about delivering folk to their respective apartments. I met a group of the ‘new’ students later on that afternoon and we visited a supermarket where they learned ‘the Venetian way of doing things’, and discovered some products that they had never seen before.

Most of Wednesday was spent acquiring Vaporetto passes and simply orienting them to the city. The ‘Vap pass’ process can be difficult and frustrating, but we sailed through with flying colors, and the group can now travel anywhere they want on public transport for a fraction of the cost that ‘tourists’ pay. I met them again on Thursday morning and we visited the Fish Market and the area of Rialto and then walked through to Santa Maria Formosa where we met the rest of the group and took a quick tour of the cemetery island San Michelle. That evening we all met at the Rawlings’ apartment for Pasta Vongole and a session where we went over all of the things that we will have to prepare for our trip next week. I have been working with a local book binder and she has produced a leather bound book of watercolor paper for our students, and there was much excitement at receiving them.

Friday morning found me once again with the ‘watercolor group’, and we visited the Frari for a ‘talk to Titian’, and then finished the morning in the Scuola San Rocco. After this we walked through San Polo to Santa Margherita where we joined the language students who were throwing a ‘final festa’ for their Teachers. It was so satisfying to watch these young people interacting with their teachers and fellow students who numbered 5 different nationalities.

The afternoon was given over to packing and preparation, and tomorrow we catch our bus in Piazzale Roma and head out for Urbino. We are all well, excited, and hopefully prepared.

Because of the nature of next week the blog will be quite large, and will contain more voices, so be patient because it may take a while to bring ‘to press’

Ciao, ciao

John

John Rawlings, Director FVCC Semester in Venice Program

POST SCRIPT

We have been on the road for a few days now, and I have only just managed to get a connection to the web that is strong enough to support a down load of the blog. I have removed some photographs because they take such a long time, and will include them when we return to Venice.

John

POST/POST SCRIPT

I have just removed ALL of the photographs in hope of getting this out!!

J

Kyle’s Blog

Week 10 soon comes to a close. We leave tomorrow (Saturday) morning for a weeklong trip in Assisi and Toscana! The bus ride itself should be very scenic and fun.

This week marked the last week of our rigorous two-month-long program of Italian language classes. It’s a relief to be done, but I will miss my teachers and classmates. Additionally, from now on, we are on our own in terms of practicing and sharpening our speaking skills! It’s on to new things once again.

The next chapter begins with our weeklong trip. The painting party from Montana has finally joined us. Moreover, the last two weeks of the semester are dedicated to water-coloring lessons and art history class. The end draws nearer…

Jessica’s Blog

I’m up late right now, packing for an exciting trip to Tuscany and Umbria! I’m sure I won’t be able to sleep one little bit because I am looking forward to this trip so much!
This week has been a bit emotional for me because it was our last week of Italian Language classes.  I didn’t realize how many friends and goodtime I had in those classes, despite the brain explosion parts at the end of each day.  We had our farewell festa today at a local cafe with all of our teachers and had a fantastic time reminiscing over all of our mishaps and fun times with everyone.  Our teachers were all very wonderful while we have been here and I am entirely appreciative for all they have done for me.  Not only were they teaching me a new language, they also became friends, mentors, and bright lights in this crazy adventure of ours! I am forever grateful for knowing them, and will never forget them
Other than it being our last week of Italian Language Classes the week has been very beautiful and Sunny for the first time since our arrival. It was so sunny that Caitlin and I decided it was time we went out and bought a few things to wear in this amazing Italian spring!  Also the second half of our group arrived with Karen, and we have been showing them the in’s and out’s of our home here in Venice.  Yes, I called it my home.  I was walking over the bridge with our new arrivals the other day, showing them the area near our apartments, and I felt this swelling in my heart.  I am officially completely attached to this place and its people with all my heart, and I feel like I can consider Venice my second home.

Alyssa’s Blog

Ciao Amici!!

I cannot contain my excitement for tomorrow, when we leave for our Spring Tour!! This week’s blog will be a bit brief because I am still packing! Unfortunately, the field trip means that this is the last of the language classes. I will miss the Istituto!! We made lots of friends, from all over the world! It’s pretty incredible to learn another language alongside another, of other foreignism. I will be famous one day for the invention of new words!! Like Shakespeare =]

We met all the new watercolor folk! They are so sweet, and keep up with us youngins pretty well!! We have a couple just down the calle, the “Sleds,” who we’ve taken under our wing. We introduced them to the Billa (the local grocery store) and made sure they knew how to ring our apartment =)

Everything else this week was amazing. We had the two most beautiful days in Venice since we’ve arrived! No sweaters needed! Amazing.

Ciao tutti!!

Alyssa

Caitlin’s Blog

Well this past week has definitely been a fun but difficult one!  The last week of classes was hard to concentrate during.  The weather has finally started to clear up and actually be warm and sunny.  On Wednesday and Thursday it was so warm I could just walk around in a sun dress and be plenty warm, I was actually sweating.  This big weather change reminded me so much of home.  And of course, while we were stuck inside the weather was gorgeous!  And now that school is done, the weather gets bad again.  On Wednesday I got to do a little shopping with Jessica and get some warm weather clothes because when I was packing for Venice I was NOT thinking warm weather…darn I had to go shopping in Italy.

Earlier this week I was heading home from the Billa with a few liters of water and as I rounded the corner into our little campo I was almost run over by a bunch of illegal-purse vendors running full tilt away from a few plain clothes cops.  As I stumbled back out of the way, I watched half of the vendors run off down the fondamente and the other half hop on a vaporetto.  I peered around the corner and saw purses scattered everywhere!  I walked quickly back to my apartment and watched curiously out my window.  There was a group of about 6 or 7 plain clothes cops with standing around a massive pile of purses.  As I looked around the campo I spotted a hidden pile of purses.  I desperately wanted to just run down there really quick and take them, but I thought better of it and yelled to the police men “ci sono le borse qui!” which means there are some purses here.  He looked at me and then went and investigated, saw that I was telling the truth and shouted a thank you.  I was kind of hoping for a “reward” of a free purse, but all I was getting out of these guys was a thank you.

We are headed out on our “spring break” on Saturday and I can’t wait!  It will be a much needed rest from the fast pace that has been my life for the past two and a half months.  I must admit I am getting a bit sad because I am starting to realize that this life-changing experience is going to be over all too soon.  I’m definitely not coming back the same person I was.  Well ciao for now!

Erika’s Blog:

…“And so, they came to the end of their trials and passed the tests and found themselves to be called graduates, ready to move on to the long needed and desired break from school to explore the rest of the country.” …

Yes, we have done it. We’ve graduated from Instituto di Venezia with flying colors, with a new found appreciation not only for the Italian language but for the cultures of other counties as well as a new found pride for our own country. It’s sad to move on, to leave all the friends we’ve made and the teachers we’ve learned to love and a part of me wishes I could stay for a little bit longer just to be with these amazing people for a little bit longer, but alas, all good things must come to an end and we must move on to the next phase of our trip. But I can guarantee I shall never forget the lessons I’ve learned, not only in Italian but in life as well, the friends I’ve made and will keep forever close to my heart, and the beautiful memories that I shall cherish for the rest of my life.

…“She turned one last time, looking on those hallowed halls she’d spent so many hours inside, sometimes longing for the sunshine outside instead of the frustrations within. But now, she wished for a few moments longer to stay with the people she’d come to love. But as she glanced around the place, she found herself remembering and, smiling to herself, she knew it would always be a part of her. So, she put her hand on the door knob and stepped out into the glorious Venetian sunshine.”

The 'new' group arriving at Marco Polo Airport

In the water taxi crossing the Lagoon

On the bridge at the rear of Karen's apartment

Lining up for our "vap" passes

In Santi Giovanni e Paolo

Looking back from San Giorgio

Catching a #2 vaporetto

I’m happy to announce that it did not snow in Venice this week.  However, having said that, I cannot go on to tell you that Venice has returned to its “normal” weather pattern for this time of the year. During the last week we have experienced extremely heavy fog, which turns La Serenissima into a marvelous living Monet painting (before his eyesight was restored). Facades lose all detail and present themselves in a two dimensional flatness…shapes gently torn from oriental papers of exquisite pastel shades. Edges surrender their crispness to the dulling effect of swirling moisture. Sounds are muffled and seemingly always far off. Things float slowly into focus and recede with the same grace. It was as if the city had put on a new and entirely mysterious garment and I was moved to think of one of Venice’s most famous sons, the great painter Titian, who used multiple transparencies of color to build his works. He called the technique ‘velatura’; veils.

La Serenissima was wrapped in veils this week.

We fortunate’s who live here, simply went about our business as usual, moving through our daily routines as if it were entirely normal to be a part of such beauty.

It was a week of work and the Italian classes march toward their completion next Friday.

On Monday afternoon I met the group and we went to San Pantalon. This is a church with an incomplete exterior that is not far from the Istituto Venezia. The students have walked by it hundreds of times, and it is always a treat for me to finally take them inside. Nothing can prepare you for the interior of this church that looks so much like a warehouse from the outside.

The ceiling, painted over a 24 year period of time from 1680 to 1704 by Gian Antonio Fumani is a stunning act of painterly skill and absolute perspectival bravura. I won’t even attempt to describe it, because no words can do it justice.  It was a stunned group of students who left the building an hour later.

Wednesday afternoon was spent exploring San Francesco della Vigna, a church tucked away in the backstreets of Castello. The façade was added by Andrea Palladio who was assured by the church that the dilapidated buildings that surrounded it would be demolished so that the church would look out into an open Campo. It never happened, the old buildings still cozy up to this grand façade in attempts to share center stage. The façade is virtually impossible to see because the space is so crowded, and the noise you hear as you enter the front door is the sound of Palladio grinding his teeth in his grave.

Inside is a different story and the building’s interior reflects the sensitivity of Sansovino who worked here in 1534. It is a church that is populated with quite wonderful artworks, but the Capella Badoer Giustiniani with its bas relief sculptures that had been remodeled by Sansovino, always ‘steals my heart’. We walked slowly through the streets of Castello, stopping at a second hand clothing store at San Martino for a little fun, and then onto the Rawlings apartment where I served up pasta a sugo….meat sauce.

On Friday we met at the greatest ice cream store on the planet…Yeah Giorgio! (See photographs AND video attached), sampled his latest offering of blood orange gelato, (“to die for” quote from ice cream professional Caitlin), and then headed off into one of Venice’s oldest places. San Pietro di Castello.

This was the site of the original Cathedral of Venice, and it only lost this privilege in 1807 under Napoleon. It’s a quiet, very pleasant part of town, and is clearly well off the ‘tourist track”. We visited the church and wandered along its canals as we made our way back to Via Garibaldi.

It was a quiet weekend and most of us stayed pretty close to home. I invited the group out to the Lido and we spent a very pleasant few hours wandering on the sand picking up shells and talking.

Next week will see major changes in the program as Karen Leigh arrives with 8 more students who will stay for our last month in Venice, focusing on the watercolor class that she is teaching.

Next weekend we leave on our spring tour to Umbria and Tuscany and these ‘new’ folk will accompany us. I hope to have their input in future blogs, and next week’s blog will contain entries from the language teachers at the Istituto.

We are entering our last month in La Serenissima, but have many adventures planned before we have to say goodbye to her.

Ciao, ciao

John

John Rawlings, Director FVCC Semester in Venice Program
Caitlin’s blog

We have completed the second to last week of language classes and I can truthfully say that I am relieved!  This next week will be hard to concentrate during…my mind will be on the fun Spring break trip coming up next weekend!  This last week (as all the weeks have been) went by in a flash.  We mainly just went to school each day and carried about our everyday activities.  On Thursday my cousins came from Germany to visit me and I got to take them around Venice.  It was very cool for me to be able to show them around and explain things to them.  On Saturday I got to witness some of the illegal bag venders running from plain clothes cops.  That was rather interesting…I almost got run over!  Sunday though, was my favorite.  We met John over on the Lido and went to the beach.  Although it was not a perfect, sunny day it was still beautiful and enjoyable.  I collected a good sized bag of sea shells and walked along the beach with my shoes off and pants rolled up.  The water was freezing, but I still enjoyed it so very much.  I had a great Sunday, and I plan on going to the Lido often now.  Well ciao for now!

Erika’s Blog

As a form of escape from the hardened landscape and sudden leap in the tourist population, we decided to do as the Venetians and flee to the Lido, the summer get-away for Venice. We arrived on the sandy beach, confronted with blue-gray open sea, the sound of waves and smell of salt basking our naked faces. A smile settled on my lips and stayed there all day as I got in touch with my inner five year old, removing my shoes and throwing them over my shoulder to play in the waves and watch my footprints disappear with the tide. We spend a good portion of our time searching for shells, the gems of the shore, snatching up one that caught our fancy and discarding those we felt would be better for another person someday. Among the shells, we discovered bits of terracotta pottery, a small portion of the ancient heritage of this sea and of this place, and I couldn’t help but let my mind wander to the distant lands across the sea or the sunken ships beneath the waves that the piece could have originated from before it drifted into my hand. To tie up the calm, gray afternoon, we confiscated an abandoned volley ball and played a game of soccer up and down the beach, creating a source of entertainment as well as a common bond between the four of us to end our perfect Sunday afternoon.

Jessica’s blog

Today I squished into my polka dotted rubber boots and headed out for the Lido. I hopped on the Vaporetto in hopes of turning my day around, because I was just having an awful one. I arrived at the Lido stop and walked across the island to the beach. It was a very foggy day and the beach seemed as if it were being caged in by mist and fog. Although there was so much fog, I felt very much at peace sitting on a rock near the pier. I became transfixed with the rhythmic sound of waves lapping onto seashell strewn sand, and I do believe I began to meditate a little. It felt so good to just forget about everything and pay attention only to the constant whoosh and stir of the ocean with the occasional fog horn in the distance. When I looked over there was a single man on a sand bar that was fast becoming smaller and smaller, busily picking up shells and putting them into a net. I wondered if he was as lost in thought as I was while he stooped again and again to retrieve the shells. Did he come to relieve himself of a bad day also? This trip is teaching me that no matter where you are, or what world you are from, humans are humans and our feelings and thoughts are not very far apart wherever you come from. After sitting on the rocks for some time, and turning down the man with his arms outstretched and filled with scarves even longer, I splashed my way slowly to the street. I was feeling inexplicably better and refreshed. I feel lucky to be living in this amazing place. I get to live side by side with this ancient city and its friendly inhabitants every day, and when I’m not having a particularly great day I can head to the beach and everything is better. Venice, I have concluded, has it all.

Alyssa’s blog

Rather than traveling to a nearby city like we have been, this weekend we stayed in Venezia. I am so happy we did! The weekdays are full of school and I’ve been missing the exploration of Venice. There are places to see, people to meet! So I took different paths on my daily routes. Then I re-experienced some things that I felt I didn’t get enough of the first time, like the Ghetto and the Basilica at San Marco [when lit up]. I went to the Lido [the sandy beach that is littered with seashells] for the first time and collected dozens of shells, and met an old man who schooled us with his calcio [soccer] skills. We were even lucky enough to have some field trip days with John. I have felt so at home this week.

We visited the San Pietro church, which is near the end of the Arsenale. It has a very “Palladian-esque” [as John called it] edifice and was once THE Cathedral of Venice, in a very important location. Now it is in a nearly deserted part of the city. The “slums,” one could say. The campanile in the front looks similar to the leaning tour of Pisa in its almost-toppling state. From the bridge approaching this church, the view is intriguing, and different from the rest of the canal views in Venice. There were sounds and glimpses of the few people left in this area working on boats with their dogs lying on the docks in boredom, until one of the pups saw us and was as curious in us as we were with them. The lower population detracts tourists, so regardless the low number of inhabitants, the atmosphere held a truer sense of “Venice.” For a moment I could imagine that the people of the neighborhood had gone into the city centre, to work, socialize, or to simply enjoy the renaissance life in Venice, and left these few workers behind, who were content to continue in their daily chores.
I started this new thing, called Running Photography Adventures. If you’ve ever seen [my favorite flick] Yes Man, you know what this is. So far it’s just me, but maybe I can get a group together =] if we can fit through the calles that is! I like running in Venice because you can explore twice as much, twice as fast! Plus it’s a much needed workout after all of the Nutella and gelato we eat!

I have been preparing the artist in me, partly for my summer in Brescia but firstly, for our remaining watercolor course. I have been making some sketches, and on Monday, John will be giving us a lesson in outside perspective drawing! I love practicing art. In fact, I feel a little over-indulgent. For me, having time for something like art is like having too much dessert. But I must give in, because that is why I am in Venice. I have set aside this time in my life to have a grand adventure and pursue what I normally save for last [and never get to]. I’d like to thank my Dad, my grandparents, the scholarship committee, the loan officer…. =D

After a wonderful week in Venice [minus the fog that never lifted], I am feeling refreshed and ready to explore the rest of Italy again on our tour to Tuscany and Florence!

Kyle’s blog

Because of rain, there was no soccer this Sunday! Otherwise, a couple of friends and I would have gone to watch AC Milan (Home) play Napoli. The day wonderful, nevertheless, as we met Giovanni for a nice stroll on the beach, collecting many assorted shells and other remnants of dead things…and we played soccer! Sunday was foggy, overcast, and slightly warmer than usual – it was perfect.

The witnessing of an Italian sting operation highlighted Saturday! Right below our apartment there was a clash between some plainclothes cops and African bag salesmen. The preceding pursuit, which started who-knows-where, ended at our campo. The bag-guys had to struggle against these cops while carrying about ten bags on each arm. The excitement ended with the police triumphant, with stacks of black-market purses and shoulder bags under custody.

The last week was especially taxing on me, and by Friday, I was dead. Ha-ha late-night dinners, face booking, and wandering around will not be so frequent this next week. Sleep is good.

Veiled Venice

Outside San Pantalon

Inside

The Ceiling

I've changed the group into crazed 'gelato freaks'

San Francesco della Vigna

San Francesco

San Francesco

Capella Badoer Giustiniani

The canal alongside San Francesco

Used clothing store at San Martino

San Martino

Who are these people?

Behind the Arsenale

Sunset on the way home

Looking across to San Giorgio

In the back streets of San Pietro

Canale di San Pietro

Photographers at work

Mauro Codussi's Campanile...yes...it leans!

San Pietro di Castello

The old Monastery at San Pietro

In the backstreets of San Pietro

Castello

Alyssa's San Marco shots

San Pietro

Collecting shells on the Lido

Kyle the "beachcomber"

Caitlin and Erika on the Lido

Soccer on the beach!

Last week the Istituto published a newsletter telling the world that spring had arrived in Venice, and I was feeling that perhaps they had been a little hasty with such a proclamation.  I couldn’t have given you any concrete reason for such doubt, it just seemed a little ‘early’ to me, that’s all. The weekend of week 7 was sunny, but cool, and by Monday evening of this week it was clear that ‘something was a foot’. I was out late on Monday night walking along the fondamente that keeps the lagoon back from the Giardini. It’s become a favorite late night walk for me. The apartment is sometimes too empty and the sound of the waves against the walls and the sighing of the trees that beetle over the caste metal fence of the Giardini fill up my empty spaces perfectly. I seldom encounter anyone on these sojourns, and if I do there is only the brief exchange of “Salve” between strangers who know the need of such solitude.

As I came out of the Giardini the wind cut through my coat and no matter how I snuggled into it or cinched up my scarf it was inescapable. I immediately headed for home and in the 10 minutes it took me to reach my door, the temperature had dropped perceptibly. I hurried up stairs and was ready for my bed in minutes, standing by the window looking down at the calle below before I switched the light out. I wondered aloud what the street would look like in the morning.

At 6.00 am I was back at that window looking down through a cloud of large, wet snowflakes as they swirled to the snow covered streets below. Every hour or so during the day I returned to the window to take stock of the situation and the only thing that changed was the thickness of the snow on the ground.

By 4.00 pm I couldn’t bear the apartment any more so I ventured outside.  Wet heavy snow caked everything and one couldn’t help noticing the look of disbelief in the faces of the Venetians. I asked when was the last time that anyone could remember this kind of weather in March and the answer was always “Mai”…Never

Venice was wrapped in a shroud of wet, icy snow, and like the rest of its populace I went to bed early and read until I fell asleep.

On Tuesday people slipped and slithered and splashed and sploshed through a Venice that had become a giant slurpy. It was entirely unpleasant, and I couldn’t keep a smile off my face for the whole day!  I met the group for a lunch of pizza after class and we all exchanged stories of what this strange weather had meant for us.

That evening I was invited to the San Basilio apartment for dinner and the vaporetti ploughed through the grey wetness as if it wasn’t there. I walked along the Zattere with the snow lapping at the tops of my shoes, but arrived at the appointed hour as if nothing strange was happening outside.

Caitlin, Erika, and Kyle were great hosts and the group was treated to a dinner of curried prawns over rice, we talked and joked about the weather, ate ice cream and then went back out into the snow to make our way home. I cancelled the next day’s outing as I was not sure what the weather would bring, and we all agreed that we would rather be in our warm apartments.

And it was all over by Wednesday morning!

Wednesday brought some sunshine and by late afternoon there were open tracks down the centre of the calle. The thawing process continued into Thursday, and by Friday there was little evidence of the entire episode. The trees suffered the most and broken limbs and twigs still litter the city.

On the weekend I went over to Sam Michele (the cemetery) for a walk and discovered some very serious damage. A number of very large trees have either been uprooted or broken down by the weight of the snow, and it is clear that a great deal of clean up will need to be done to restore it to its previous beauty.

Most of the students went exploring Milano this weekend, and their blogs reflect a level of excitement and wonder that I find entirely fulfilling. Erika, however, was not quite so fortunate, and spent the weekend fighting an infection. We stayed in contact through ‘texting’, and I’m happy to report that she is returning to her previous self (read vibrant, enthusiastic, entirely theatrical)…I fear  that her parents will read this week’s blog and decide that she was on her ‘death bed’…this is not the truth…and while readers can be excused for believing that some old man in a dark smelly robe, carrying a large scythe was sitting at the bottom of her bed while she was writing said blog, let me assure you that she has returned to the land of the living, and attended today’s classes.

This was a rather dreary week in Venezia, and it seems like a perfect time to include some photographs that Caitlin has taken over the past weeks. She is also responsible for the Milano photos. Thanks Caitlin

Perhaps by this time next week we will be able to truly report that spring has sprung. Perhaps another blizzard!

The adventure continues

Ciao, ciao

John

John Rawlings Director FVCC Semester in Venice

Erika’s Blog:

The monster struck. It came without warning and without signs. It’s way too smart for that. I considered all the aliments I was familiar with, either from experience or understood by assassination of others, and found myself to be in unbroken trail, foreign territory. I struggled against it, attempting my best home remedies to combat this fiend, but all was futility, for I was fighting an enemy I didn’t even have a name for. I battled, but in the end, I was left wasted and alone, a hand to hold but none to fight the battle in my stead. I was drained of my faculties and my will power to fight against it. I slipped between dream and reality, wandering in a comatose state of gray. Some things are certain, others are still clouded over in a fog of pain and discomfort, but I struggled to maintain a hold on the edge of my sanity. I found my strength and determination and combated the fevered thing until I saw the light and dragged myself towards it, managing to escape with only a few scars and emotional trauma after. It is a horrid memory of the past that I can look back on and remember when sickness strikes me for a second time, to remember true pain and consider my present condition in juxtaposition and come to see the truth of the pain and realize it to be lessened.

Caitlin’s Blog

Well this week started off as a normal week, all of us struggling through school and going about our every day normal lives.  But on Saturday a group of 8 of us headed out to Milan.  We were a bit worried about the weather but it turned out to be perfectly clear, sunny and rather warm!  We hopped on a train at 11:03 AM and started our trek to Milan.  After about 3.5 hours of travelling we arrived.  We immediately headed to our hostel, checked in and dropped our stuff off.  We ate a quick lunch and then started exploring Milan.  It was kind of late in the afternoon so we did not see much but we still got to walk around and see many things, eat many things and shop at many places!

The next day we walked through the Duomo.  I did not know this cathedral existed let alone the extensive architecture and decorations there.  Nothing prepared me for the sheer massive size of this building!  My favorite part was climbing the many stairs to the top of the cathedral and spending some time photographing and looking.  After descending the stairs and catching our breath, we walked over to an old castle and toured that, seeing many things including a whole museum dedicated to ancient forms of instruments.  We were all dwindling in strength so we decided to see one more museum and then head home.  We walked over to the Museum of natural science and the technology of Leonardo Da Vinci.  This was such a fascinating place. There was everything in there from old jewelry to the first forms of telescopes AND we got to play lots of interactive games including sending each other messages via Morse code.

After stumbling to the metro, retrieving our luggage from our hostel and then trudging to the train station, we all fell into our seats, exhausted and headed home, to Venice.  It was a great weekend, but it was nice to come “home” to the quiet life of Venice.

Jessica’s Blog
Time has passed so quickly this week that I feel like I am riding downhill on a bike with no brakes. Although it has been fun, and there has been excitement around every corner, things pass by and all I remember of them is blurry. I am very sad to think that in only a very short time this trip will be over and I will have to leave this place I have started to deem home.
Italian language classes have gone on as usual, yet are more and more challenging each day. I spent my week going to school, hanging out with friends and battling the elements here in Venice. It was very cold and snowy most of the week. Snow in Venice is still hard to get used to seeing, but I love it because I get to walk around in the polka dotted boots John let me borrow, and I feel invincible! Because of the ugly weather we had more time to be inside, and spent most of the week deciding where our next adventure would be for the weekend. We decided on Milan, and headed out by train on Saturday morning. Milan was a whole new beast as far as places we have visited so far. It was a “real” city with subways, trams, taxi’s and bus’s galore. The city is filled with beautiful monuments, and it was very fun trying to plan out how to get from point A to point B. Milan being the fashion center of Italy, there were tons of stores to buy clothes, and a TON of second hand clothing stores, which made me very happy. Milan is a city that I would definitely love to go back to.

Allysa’s blog

As we progressed in the second half of our time in Venezia, we were reminded of our wonderful home towns by a couple days of snow. This is the third time we have seen snow, but it is uncommon to happen so late in the season! We all had our rubber boots on for a few days. What a superb invention for that kind of weather; you feel invincible! They are practical for multiple uses. And they can be stylish! Jess’ are polka-dotted, and mine are tan and are the rubber-boot-version of Uggs! You can wear bulky wool socks underneath for comfort and warmth and when you can’t go under, can’t go around, you bet you CAN go through it! Bring on the puddles! Mud! Snow! We have fun taking the dirty detours!! I will be implementing a fashion trend upon my return to Montana.

A friend of mine, whom I met at the Istituto, Melissa, has a quote that she’s carried with her through her travels in Venezia, “Do one thing a day that scares you.” She got it from a Lulu lemon bag. Sometimes on our short break at the Istituto we go to a café and over a cappuccino we talk about the things we’ve done here that have pushed us out of our comfort zone, or things that we haven’t done and need to. We cheer each other on with “Why not?” On Friday when she came into class, she had a Lulu lemon bag for me.

*Awe*

In closing, some words of inspiration, my Lulu lemon bag says: “BREATHE DEEPLY and appreciate the moment. Living in the moment could be the meaning of life.”

Love,

Alyssa

P.S. Had lots of fun in Milano this weekend with “our group” (which is growing weekly), and enjoyed the Duomo, the castle, and the Leonardo Da Vinci Museum which is the biggest Science and Technology Museum in Italy. I must go back!

Kyle’s Blog

The last week had a very pleasant conclusion, with the weekend spent in Milan. A group of eight ventured there for two days, only to arrive back in Venice Monday morning at midnight! It was worth the sleepiness, however.

Milan certainly offered a different pace for us country folk, and a diverse choice of activities. It is not the most beautiful city I have personally visited. But, Milan still offers great museums (Museo Leonardo), architecture (Duomo), and all the intricacies of a big city to satisfy the tourist’s weekend pallet.

The weeks persist to flash by, but I assure everyone that things are going quite well and there is fun every day of the week; not simply on the weekend releases. Be it striking conversations with strangers, going out with friends, taking a walk, taking a trip, going out to eat, or discovering new things – there’s always something to do. Europe is awesome!

Snow in Venezia

Snow!

The day after

Caitlin's photo....Verona

Caitlin's photo

Caitlin's photo...Verona

Caitlin's photo...Verona

sunset over the lagoon

Caitlin's photo

Caitlin's photo

Caitlin's photo

Duomo...Milan

Duomo...Milan

Sforza Castle...Milan

Milan

Week seven was a week that passed slowly for some of us, and was mostly a week of consolidation and revision as far as classes were concerned.

It was obvious that Caitlin was succoming to some kind of a ‘stomach flu’ and apart from a couple of brave attempts to continue on with the rest of the group she remained in her apartment for much of the week.  The language classes at the istituto entered their second month and the demands on the students have slowly been ‘ratcheted up’. The amount  and quality of Italian that is being used when we are all together it is really something to behold, and we have clearly passed that stage where beginning students wonder if ‘they are ever going to get it’. It is in their heads now and whether we are in a pizza shop or a church there is always lively conversation as to which word means what.

President Karas and her family were still with us for the first two days of the week and they shared in our Monday afternoon exploration. We have spent some time discussing and examining different architectural styles and the group is now quite adept at recognizing and evaluating architectural elements and decorations.

On Monday our visit to Santi Giovanni e Paolo (called San Zanipolo in Veneziano) was focused on comparison between another great  gothic church that we have studied;  the Frari. We met in the campo Santa Maria Formosa and walked through to campo San Giovanni e Paolo where we stood in front of this magnificent edifice and discussed its history and external structure. It has a very strong physical resemblance to both the Frari and Madonna dell’ Orto and it is always a delight for me to watch students reactions as they enter this church and realize that it’s interior is not what they expected.

25 of Venice’s Doges are buried inside this towering church and it is a repository of paintings and sculptures created by her most famous artists.

We spent time examining the major elements of its interior, and then the students were given time to wander around and make their own discoveries. It was interesting to note that Lorenzo, president karas’ son was very taken with the reliquary containing St Katherine of Siennas foot!

We left Santi Giovanni e Paolo and travelled through the Corte Millione, across the Ponte Rialto and through San Polo to The Frari where a small group of the students and the Karas family spent time with Titian’s Assumption of the Virgin and Giovanni Bellini’s Madonna Enthroned with saints. Meanwhile the rest of the students had gone on to Jessica and Alyssa’s apartment and were preparing an afternoon tea of an assortment of antipasti.

After the Frari, the rest of us followed and we held a party to thank David and Ruth Ackroyd for all that they had shared with us, and because they were leaving on Wednesday, to wish them goodbye. They have been a major part of this past month’s activities and we will all miss them.

To make sure they remember their time with us we gave David and Ruth an Intaglio print of Carnevale figures and President Karas a print of a canal scene.

Tuesday began with a cool foggy morning that promised afternoon sun, and while the students were in Italian Classes, I met with the Karas family for some final adventures before they caught their train that evening. It was a day that I will not forget easily!

We had decided to go across to San Giorgio and climb the Campanile for a view of the city, and we met at the San Zaccaria vaporetto stop. We waited for the Vaporetto that I have caught many, many times before, but for some inexplicable reason the # 2 boat did not come to the stop, and seemed to be going to the adjacent one. It seemed not to be following any timetable either. We not only waited for a half of an hour, but walked backwards and forwards from stop to stop; quite unsuccessfully I must tell you, for at the end of the half hour we were still on the San Marco side of the Bacino looking across at San Giorgio. There was a young man at the vap stop who kept saying something about the change, but the word he used only stirred a distant memory, and its meaning never quite surfaced.

Just as I think Jane was questioning my ability to navigate around Venice, we caught a vaporetto that was ‘wandering by’ and made the 2 minute trip across to San Giorgio. We entered the church promising Lorenzo the view of his life, only to find the church completely deserted. I think you could have walked out with any of the amazing artworks housed there without being challenged by anyone. The campanile was closed and we walked back outside because there was nothing else to do. Outside the fog had upgraded itself from morning mist to pea soup, and even if we could have ascended the Campanile it was clear that we would have seen nothing!  At this stage my reputation as a tour guide lay in tatters and I had no idea what was going on other that the fact that I had clearly offended a number of the gods.

Halfway across the bacino as we retraced our journey the word ‘sciopero’ finally bubbled to the top of my memory……”strike…..it means strike…they are on strike!”

And so for the rest of the day we were forced to ride a very limited ferry service that left from strange places at strange times. We walked across to Fondamente Nove and caught a vaporetto across to Murano where we visited the same old glassblowers in their workshop and of course the stores that sell this specialty of Murano.

The Karas’ spent an afternoon riding gondolas and making their own adventures, and David, Ruth and I met them at 5.30 for a quick snack in Campo Santa Maria Formosa. The strike was still in effect and it was decided not to trust public transport to get to the railway station so we went to San Zaccaria and put the family aboard a water taxi.

I had organized another water taxi to pick David and Ruth up the next morning at 5.00 am and they came to Sant Elena to the local bar and had a final pizza with me before going home early to pack.

On Wednesday evening the students came to the Rawlings’ apartment where I cooked pasta with a sauce concocted from sausage, fresh tomatoes and peperoncino. Dessert was a new discovery of mine. Meringatto! Yum.

The rest of the week has been taken up with the rhythm of work.

On the weekend Jessica, Alyssa, Kyle and a friend from their Italian class, took a trip to Bologna. This is a sure sign that the students are now comfortable enough to begin their own adventures, and I think we are going to see them do this more often in the future.

The weather turned bitter cold and blustery on Sunday evening and the coming week looks as if it will be a time to be inside studying.

Until next week

Ciao, ciao

John

John Rawlings, Director FVCC Semester in Venice

Caitlin’s Blog

Well unfortunately this past week didn’t hold too much for me!  I got very ill on Sunday and was basically out until Thursday.  I couldn’t attend school or even leave my comfy couch.  I don’t know what happened, it could have been the flu or it could have simply been something I ate.  Who knows?  Three of my friends here in Venice from the Istituto brought me three bouquets of flowers, which made my day much better! After I finally felt better, I was able to venture out of the house again and go visit friends.  My favorite day of this week was Saturday though.  Kyle left the house on a break that was much needed by all, and Erika and I just had a fun “girl’s day.”  Other than that, I had a week full of being sick and recovering!  I am finally better now though, so all is good.  Ciao.

Erika’s Blog

The first four days of this week, Caitlin was deathly ill, sprawled on the couch for two days straight in a perpetual state of sleep or curled in a fetal position while I hovered like a nervous mother hen, dabbing her forehead with cold cloths as she wished for the sweet taste of death. When she wasn’t retching, she was practically comatose. I began to wonder if anything would make her better because none of my remedies seemed to be taking effect, my limited remedies from my somewhat new found domestic repertoire, but eventually the darkness parted and she began to feel better. She’s not only recovered, but has a new found appreciated for life and food, eating like a ravenous hound, and to join in the fun. I have also.

So on Friday, Caitlin and I had our first Chinese Italian experience. We were both just craving Chinese food on a new level of food craving, and we recalled that we had seen a Chinese restaurant once before on our way to Bar Verde (Green Bar), one of our favorite bars that plays amazingly awkward and strange music videos from all over the world. We decided to give it a try. Now, I have always been extremely hesitant about trying ethnic food in foreign countries, because, in general, the experience is always a bad one for me. So I was a little nervous about building my hopes up towards something that could be…less than desired or necessary to my specific palate. We arrived at the restaurant and we were the only people there, which did not help to ease my nerves in the slightest, but we comforted ourselves in fact that it was early for Italians to have dinner, being 6 verses 8 or 9. The little waitress was so adorable and so excited to have people in the restaurant that she was extremely accommodating to us. We went a little crazy, ordering sweet and sour chicken, sweet and sour beef, hot and sour soup, egg drop soup, spring rolls, and fried rice to split between the two of us. We were served in courses, spring rolls first. After that first bite, we knew that it was going to be a worth-while experience. Each bite brought new sensations of extreme happiness, until my heart felt like it would burst because it couldn’t contain so much ecstasy. It was an amazing meal, and neither of us are sure if it’s because we hadn’t had Chinese food in such a long time and the prolonged separation made it taste better or if it really was just that good. Either way, it was amazingly delicious.

Jessica’s blog

This week has been one of many discoveries and adventures. Italian Language Class 2 started on Monday and is still a brain buster as always, but is actually fun. I find myself listening to other people talking and I can understand almost everything they are saying! My responses and question asking, however, are little to be proud of but I am working on it. I am also starting to explore more and more of Venice and Italy. Monday night my roommate Alyssa and I went out to a nice dinner at a restaurant called Vedova. It was a small typical Venetian restaurant with great food and a warm atmosphere. I ordered a dish with squid, white wine, Garlic, and Ink. Yes, ink. I have to say that I am not a huge fan of the ink dishes. It looks like mud with slippery bits in it, which was not appetizing to say the least! I am proud to say that I at least tried it. Upon leaving the restaurant and heading home to our apartment, our Vaporetto was illuminated by huge lights that were shining across the Grand Canal onto the buildings across from them. Naturally, we hopped off at the next stop and investigated the action. What we found was very exciting. We stopped and talked to a young man with a large camera, and asked him what was going on. He told us that was where Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp were filming their movie “the Tourist”, and he was paparazzi that had just gotten pictures of them only an hour before! He then proceeded to show us those pictures and tell us about the in’s and out’s of paparazziing. We made plans to meet up the next night, and had a great conversation about our home countries (his was Belgium, and his colleague was from London), work, and life in general. On Wednesday, we were on our way to have dinner at John’s house, when we discovered that the movie set had moved next to Angelina Jolie’s Palazzo, right across the Grand Canal from our very own vaporetto stop. Very exciting indeed!
My adventures in Venice have also included venturing out to the Lido with Kyle and seeing the beach. The Lido is beautiful, and full of seashells. A great place to just walk along and think of absolutely nothing. The waves are so beautiful when they crash and swirl around the rocks of the piers. I wish I could see it in the summer, and swim.
Since our trips to Vicenza and Verona, I have been emboldened to take adventures of my own now. So, this weekend Kyle, Alyssa, and Melissa (a woman from our language class) headed out on a weekend excursion to Bologna. Bologna, for those of you who do not know, is known to be the food capital of Italy, and that is TRUE! We spent our time walking all over the city. We climbed 495 stairs to the top of a tower that used to be the houses of Bologna, and were able to see all of Bologna from there. It is a beautiful city surrounded by gorgeous green rolling hills topped with old houses, and ancient churches. We spent the rest of our time eating the delicious food Bologna had to offer us. Tortellini, Gelato with fresh strawberries, Vin Brule, Lasagna, Chicken with ham and cheese, crème Caramel, Brioche, and the best hot chocolate with cream a person could wish for! After all of this eating we decided that we would work it off by walking up a beautiful long covered walkway to get to the San Luca church at the top of a hill. It was a very long walk, but the hike made the church seem so much more beautiful. The view from San Luca was almost breathtaking. A true Italian Vista.

Alyssa’s blog

Una Settimana Buona! (A Great Week! [Implying quality - not temperament] )

=] Thanks to my wonderful teachers at the Instituto, I am becoming a bilingual human. In six weeks, I’ve learned more than what I did in three years of Spanish! I can chat. I can order, I can listen, I can write… It is the most wonderful experience; I get to communicate on a-totally-nother level! I realize how unique the English language is, and how fortunate I am to have learned that first! I love English slang. All my friends here know this. I pay way more attention to it now. For example: “a-totally-nother level?” I just split the word “another” and inserted the idiom of choice. I say things like this all the time. Our poor friend, Kamo, has the hardest time listening to us. He says how we say things sounds nothing like the way it’s taught. And it’s true! Like, the word “computer.” When we say it, it sounds like “compuder.” Haha…

We have wanted to travel to nearby destination cities since we arrived, but have been a bit timid. Since John took us to Vicenza and Verona, we have been on a craze to go somewhere, anywhere! The first plan was Paris. Its springtime, of course the trip would cost more than my tuition! We chose the more economical route, within the Italian boundaries, to the “food capital,” of Bologna. What fun we had!! Day one was beautiful. Day two was raining, but even more spontaneous and fun than the first! We climbed all the way to the top of San Luca. There are 666 arches to pass on the steep trek. I did the math, and if each arch equals five steps (probably an underestimate) than we walked AT LEAST 3330 steps. What a workout. It’s ok, because we had to work off the amazing tortellini we had at Tony’s. Tony was the cutest Italian man ever. We got a great picture with all of us girls and Tony. Awe!

This experience just gets better and better! I love the people I’m here with, and am so lucky to learn from these amazing teachers, inside the classroom and out. I could never “forget” where I come from, or think badly about it, because every place is its own, and every person is their own, and every story should be told. Though, I do love Italy’s.

Until you read again,

Alyssa XOXO

Kyle’s blog

I will start by saying how unbelievable it is to be in our eighth week in Venice! We, as a group, certainly have not taken this experience for granted, yet many days I simply cannot recall because the weeks pass so quickly.

Last week commenced our Level 2 Italian classes. For the most part, we covered review material, but that is always a nice refresher. The class will introduce, very soon, new material (i.e., new verb tenses, vocabulary, etc.). I am really enjoying language classes, and Italian itself is so beautiful. I find myself improving tremendously every week, thanks to the Istituto and a group of great teachers.

I took a giro con miei amici questo fine settimana. Siamo andati a Bologna and we had a great time. The trip was much needed, as it was apparent that my roommates and I needed some separation; plus, I have the travel bug like none other.

Ciao

Outside San Giovanni e Paolo

Santi Giovanni e Paolo

Santi Giovanni e Paolo

Zanipolo

Zanipolo

Afternoon tea at Jessica and Alyssa's apartment

Looking through the fog at San Giorgio

San Salute

Murano

Murano

Dinner at the Rawlings apartment

Jessica and Alyssa in Bologna

Bologna

Guess where?

Caitlin's photo

Caitlin's photo

Caitlin's photo

WEEK SIX

Once again I have asked David to contribute to this week’s blog. He and Ruth will be leaving early on Wednesday morning and this will be his last opportunity to write for us.

David and Ruth have made such a wonderful contribution to this program and their enthusiasm and caring are going to be missed by us all.

It has been an extremely trying week for Souheir and me because we received news that our youngest son Tamir, who was working on a film in Alexandria, Egypt, had been struck by a taxi and was in critical condition. Souheir flew out immediately, and while I am happy to report that he is now stable and out of danger, it is clear that Souheir will not return to Venice. So many people have been kind throughout this entire ordeal, and we cherish their friendship enormously. The Semester in Venice Program will continue as planned, but without my best friend and confidante. The students have been wonderfully supportive throughout this week, and they miss Souheir’s smile too.

Our revels now are ended. These our actors, 

As I foretold you, were all spirits and

Are melted into air, into thin air…

Prospero in The Tempest by William Shakespeare

Well, maybe not actual spirits, but it will seem that way in a couple of days when Ruth and I have left these magic islands much as Prospero left his enchanted isle to return to his former kingdom.  As usual, time moves too quickly and we’re only two days away from our departure.  Not only will we miss Venice, but we will be leaving behind a wonderful group of dedicated and enthusiastic young people who have made our little sojourn here even more rewarding than the many charms this place has to offer.  And while this has not been the happiest of weeks for those of us who love the Rawlings family, it has ended on a considerably more optimistic note than it began, for which we are all extremely grateful.

The students continued their Italian immersion classes as well as tackling our agenda of theatre classes and excursions, beginning with the home of Carlo Goldoni, who wrote A Servant of Two Masters, the play which has been one of the focal points of our studies.  His birthplace has been turned into a museum dedicated to his work and other 18^th century Italian drama when Venice was home to 15 thriving theatres.

After class on Wednesday we once more invaded John’s apartment for the presentation of the students’ original commedia dell’arte improvisations based on their experiences in Venice, one of their pivotal assignments for the course.  They had been given the choice of performing alone, in teams, or all together and happily they chose the latter.  The result was clever, funny and original, poking fun at the vagaries of this city, themselves and the “faculty”.  You haven’t lived until you’ve seen Jessica’s imitation of Professore Giovanni, complete with a long-nosed zanni (clown) mask, wool coat and hunched shoulders.  The performance was followed by cicchetti (appetizers) and a lesson in the proper preparation of risotto con funghi (rice with mushrooms) by Professore Giovanni, now wearing his chef’s costume.  Professore Davide contributed baked stuffed tomatoes to the sumptuous repast.

President Jane Karas, her husband John and son Lawrence (now known as Lorenzo) arrived on Thursday and fought fought of jet lag by joining the class on a boat trip to San Lazzaro degli Armeni, the fabulous Armenian monastery on the island of the same name. It served as the leper hospital in the 1700′s. It is still an active monastery and houses a collection of ancient Armenian books. Saturday brought the much-anticipated trip to Verona, another adventure on the Ferrovia.Verona is a delightful city, home of two of the most important architectural treasures this side of Rome. Its Arena and Teatro Romano. We were met at the arena by our guide for the day by the dynamic Katya, a proud Verronese whose Russian name resulted from her parents inability to agree on an Italian one. The breadth and depth of the knowledge of her city’s history, and her pride in her home town was touching and exhilirating and added considerably to our experience of this charming metropolis. The teatro Romano was built in the first century BC, while the Arena, capable of seating the entire population of Verona at the time ( 30,000) and the third largest in Italy, was erected in thefirst century AD primarily for the entertainment of the Roman troops stationed there. This “entertainment consisted primarily of gladiator battles, the execution of prisoners of war, and animal baiting.On a gentler, more romantic, note our walk from the Arena to the Teatro Romano included a stop at “Juliet’s balcony” and “Romeo’s house”, the “House of the Capulets.”  While it is no doubt true that Shakespeare adapted his great play from an Italian author’s retelling of the ancient tale of two warring Veronese families and the “star-crossed lovers”, the actual evidence that either of these sites is, in truth, the locale of actual events is a bit questionable.  In fact, “Juliet’s balcony” was relocated to the spot at which it now stands in the early 20^th century.  Nonetheless the romance of the legend retains its power even in these jaded times leading the majority of visitors to indulge in a traditional ritual somewhat akin to kissing the Blarney Stone that involves a certain intimacy with a bronze statue of Juliet.  (I’ll reveal nothing further here.)  And one of our students was so moved by the romance of the place that she felt compelled to recite a few verses of the play from a perch nearby the doomed heroine’s balcony.  The day ended at the archeological museum situated in a former convent perched high above the Teatro Romano affording a breathtaking view of the city and the Adige River that loops through it. It was a delightful day graced by the first truly warm sunshine we have enjoyed here.

In closing, I feel compelled to say that my experience with this group of students has been one of the most refreshing of my career, both as a performer and an educator.  This is an inspirational group of young people.  Their openness to new experiences, their eagerness to experiment and learn, their willingness to explore, to experience a different culture, absorb a new esthetic, to not only eat but to prepare foods of an unfamiliar cuisine, speak volumes about not only who they are but where they come from.  And where they come from is the Flathead Valley.  I feel very good about that.

Caitlin’s Blog

Wow what another great week!  It’s been a non-stop activity week, but still very enjoyable.  We got to visit a couple places, including a very cool island with an old church on it.  The church was beautiful and ancient, holding many artifacts and art.  The grounds were stunning, a nice peaceful spot.  With all the language classes (this was our last week of the first level!) and activities this past week, I am now enjoying a peaceful and relaxing Sunday afternoon watching movies and eating with a bunch of my friends.  But with all the fun stuff I got to partake in, the most enjoyable was by far our trip to Verona on Saturday.

We got on the train at 7:41 in the morning on Saturday.  I was tired and immediately settled into my seat and fell into a nap.  I opened my eyes later to a beautiful clear morning somewhere in between Vicenza and Verona.  The mountains were pristine, snowcapped and beautiful.  I looked out the window to my left and I saw a horse ranch.  I noticed a horse being worked and others being ridden.  This made me miss home and my horses so much!  After I got over that longing to jump out of the train and beg the people to let me ride a horse, I started getting excited to be in Verona.  The day was absolutely gorgeous and I had heard so much about Verona.  When we finally arrived, we jumped in a taxi and we were on our way to the Arena.  This was so cool.  The acoustics in there were amazing and we all got to shout.  I could have a perfectly audible conversation with Erika across the whole stadium.  Next we went to Romeo and Juliet’s supposed houses and of course, we all had to touch the golden breast of Juliet.  After that we went to the old theater there.  It was simply stunning.  After a tour of that we were set loose.  We all walked around, got a delicious lunch and then of course gelato!  I managed to limit myself to one gelato, which was very hard.  After walking around for a little while longer, enjoying the sun and the sights, we all jumped into another cab and headed back to the train station for a long ride home.

I had a great past week with all my friends and learning new things.  On Monday our level two language classes start!  I don’t feel ready, so we’ll see how it goes.  Ciao!

Jessica’s Blog
This last week was a little less packed than the other weeks we have been experiencing here in Venice. Well, maybe I can’t say that because, as crazy as it may seem, I think I may be just simply getting used to this hectic jam packed schedule of ours! We have gotten through our last week of Language Level one classes in Italian, and I certainly feel that I have accomplished a great deal. The classes are very challenging and I never have one day that I don’t learn so much that my head feels like it’s filled to bursting. Tomorrow we begin our Language level 2 classes and meet our new teachers.
Other than language classes we have been continuing on with our Theatre classes too. We had to perform a play that we made up ourselves and rehearsed a few times. It was a 10 minutes play going over the comic little things that happen in our everyday lives here in Venice. I am proud to say that the play would not have been the same without my close impression of John giving us a tour of the city. It was a play that provided a lot of much needed laughs, and it was so good we went through it twice! After performing our plays we all crowded in the kitchen to get a tutorial on how to make Risotto with Funghi from the renowned Italian/Australian chef John Rawlings. It was very delicious and has given us the confidence to attack it on our own.
On Thursday we had a field trip after language class that took us to the island of San. Lazzaro. San. Lazzaro is a beautiful, very peaceful island not far from the main part of Venice. It is the home of the still functioning Armenian monastery. They took us on a tour of the monastery and showed us the beautiful library with ancient books and documents. They even had a mummy in one room that you could still see the skin and toenails! Icky, but so interesting to see.
Friday was also a fieldtrip day after language class, and we met up with John on the steps of San. Salute. This was a beautiful church with a circular layout symbolizing the equality of all the worshipers. It was an amazing church, and we were fortunate enough to have come during the time they had some sort of service. The men in the service walked around the church, stopping at every altar and singing. Their voices were so amazing inside the church with its great acoustics. After San Salute we headed off to the San. Salvador and got to see the contrast between the two building structures. San Salvador was a traditional cross shape church and was very plain on the inside except for some very beautiful paintings done by Titian. The bright colors he used were brilliant and added liveliness to the church.
Saturday was a day long field trip to Verona. It was a beautiful sunshiny day, and we took a taxi to the Roman Arena in the middle of town. The Arena was simply amazing. I tried to imagine seeing beasts and gladiators waiting in the cells beneath, and fighting to a mass of cheering people in the ring. I still can’t see how watching people kill other people and animals was a fun thing to do. The acoustics of the Arena were also a very impressive thing to behold. We shouted “ole!” and our voices echoed back at us with ease and volume. What fascinated me the most about the Arena and the town itself were all the ancient spiral shells you could spy in the pink rocks used for sidewalks and the seats of the arena. We were also able to see the beauty of Verona from the hillside that contained the Amphitheatre and the castle on top. It was built by the Romans and still remained a beautiful thing to see so many years later. I was so blown away by the ancient beauty of Verona that I have no words to describe it. The giant snowy mountains in the background behind the city reminded me of Montana, but of course, ours are bigger, and much more beautiful! Ha-ha

Alyssa’s Blog

This week has been a rollercoaster. Some of the days were planned from dawn to dusk with activities for our classes, and the others that were open we made the best use of our time possible doing different, fun things.

It was a rather emotional week with a scary incidence involving the Rawlings’ son. We have grown very close to John and Sou and have been very worried. Fortunately, after some time things will be ok, but Souheir went to be with him in Egypt and we will be missing her a lot. Souheir – if you are reading this WE LOVE YOU!!

On the bright side, we saw a lot of amazing things this week. John took us to a couple churches and San Lazzaro, the island where Lepers were kept in isolation under watch of the Armenian Monks. Random, a little? The Armenians and Venetians were mutual enemies of the Turks, so the Venetians gave them an island to escape the Turks, but on the condition that they housed the Lepers. They have a few incredible libraries with some very archaic books. They even let any students come study their collection! It is a beautiful island with lovely gardens and a spacious monastery. No wonder Lord Byron spent his time there! The story is, he used to swim from the island to the Lido all the time. He also had his own little study with a library. I have yet to go to Florian’s in San Marco, but apparently that was a favorite spot of his too! Along with Charles Dickens, and some other famous people (mostly writers.)

We saw the house where Goldoni, the playwright of “The Servant of Two Masters,” grew up. That was a beautiful building, and apparently the neighbors who lived in the same building had a pretty large puppet stage and Carlo would watch as a little boy. That explains how his first play could have been written by the age of 8!

On Friday, in preparation of our trip to Verona, I wanted to go somewhere to read Romeo & Juliet and have a bite to eat. I decided on Vedova, which is a really cute traditional Venetian restaurant with reasonable prices. While on the vaporetto, just before the Ca’D’Oro stop where I would get off, I saw Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s taxi boat parked next to some building. I thought it might be nice to go find them but my hunger took me straight down the alley to the restaurant. Just as I was sitting down, I saw flashy lights and stood back up to peer through the open door and at the end of the alley, I saw a woman who looked just like Angelina followed by a bearded man who I’m pretty sure was Brad Pitt. They were looking directly at Vedova and laughing and having a good time. They weren’t being followed by a crowd of people so who knows. But Venetians ARE very respectable to celebrities and give them their space!! It’s wild to think that I would never see them in America, but I come to VENICE and at all times they are within a couple miles of me. If it’s appropriate, next time I will definitely get a photo with Brangelina!!

Verona was of course, a wonderful time. We decided that on the “cool scale” (being beauty, history, liveliness, and easiness to walk) it definitely competes with Venice. We will be making some more trips over that direction!! We went to the old Roman amphitheatre that sits on top of the huge “hill” where the city of Verona started. The theatre was at one time, built over by houses and forgotten. Thankfully, a rich businessman bought all the land and houses and dismantled them to discover the theatre ruins once again. It was absolutely a beautiful place, the orchestra above the river and the seats facing the city below. We smelled a wonderful aroma that was like a bouquet of fresh basil and flowers. That is something that in Venice, where there isn’t much ground for plants, we forget about!

We also saw the huge Arena that was begun building in 1 AD. That was one of the coolest things I have ever seen. It is the best preserved arena in the world. Think Gladiator. In fact, today we are having a movie day because that’s what we want to watch, after seeing something like that first hand. We hollered “Ole!” from inside and it was so powerful that we scared everyone else in the arena.

Of course we saw Romeo and Juliet’s supposed balcony, though it was built in 1923. It’s ok though because the history of the families can be traced and the placement of the balcony is about perfect. I read an excerpt, “O Romeo, o Romeo. Where fore art thou Romeo?” And a few more lines. And of course stroked the lucky-in-love breast of the golden Juliet.

We have had the pleasure of hosting the President of FVCC, Mrs. Jane Karas, and her husband “Giovanni” and her son “Lorenzo” along with us on our adventures! I was surprised to find that she has actually traveled to quite a lot of countries! A backpacking excursion in her youth. How exciting!

Our experiences in Venice are morphing into new, unexpected things all the time. I can already tell that I have a new perspective on the world around me: people, in general, and especially when they speak my language as a secondary language; choices, that these are the things that I’ll remember forever; family and friends, that we were closer than I thought and will only grow closer, reflecting what I’ve learned from the people here about their relationships; and finally, myself, overcoming challenges and fears to make the most of my time here, learning everything I can, striving to make every situation positive, and in general, just having the best time ever!

XOXO

Alyssa

Erika’s Blog:

Its incredible, the superstations of a people, and how you, a tourist, can be simply carried away by them. So there I was, in the streets of Verona, the sun soaking in through my sweater after a long winter, my brain buzzed from the moments we’d spent dancing and singing through the amphitheatre, and I began to notice tourists turning in towards a simple brick archway. I was intrigued and curious, so I followed. I turned into this dark tunnel only to be assaulted by a series of love notes plastering the walls, stuck on with earrings and bubble gum. Telephones lined the walls to call sweethearts. And then, there she was the statue with the gleaming golden breast, the statue of Juliet. I’d been told about her, this statue erected in honor of that timeless tale of Romeo and Juliet. Even though the location probably wasn’t real and the balcony had been built there only about 80 years ago, the setting was right and it was difficult not to be carried away by the magic of it. She was the golden goddess of that courtyard and she commanded the people that gathered around her with flashing cameras.  They all waited there turn to stroke that golden gleaming thing, to fondle it ever so slightly in an attempt to bring good luck in love into their lives. It wasn’t like she was anything amazing or special or even that beautiful, but the fact that people believe in her and believed in her powers to bless their love lives is what made her special. I suppose it’s like most sacred objects, they are only as strong as the belief that people have in them. She is powerful symbol of the city and of love, even though it came to bad ends for her, but I suppose it’s the hope in the idea of a great love such as hers which makes her powerful.

Kyle’s Blog

Level One of Italian classes has officially ended! Starting Monday, we will then have Level Two. The past week included more aqua alta for us to traverse. Aside from the occasional socializing, the final enactment of the theatre class play, and school, very little highlighted this week. Nothing positive anyway: my thoughts and prayers go out to John, Souvenir, and their son – following the event of a terrible accident.

We visited the city of Verona this Saturday. Despite the fact that I am not feeling well this weekend, Verona was a very pleasant trip to have taken. This city is simply beautiful and historically riddled with artifacts. The surround area of Verona was equally magnificent; the great Adige River snakes right through the middle of the town, and the snowcapped moutains in the background reminded me of home. On top of everything, Saturday was a bright, sunny day!

Time sure has gone by quickly, but I suppose it has to go somewhere. Here is to another week in Venezia…

Goldoni's House

Puppet Theatre in Goldoni's house

Canal outside Goldoni's house

Crossing the Lagoon

The Student "Production"

San Lazzaro

Window in San Lazzaro

Waiting for a traghetto

Getting on board the traghetto

Entering the Arena in Verona

Sitting inside the Arena

Emperor Davide makes a decision for the Gladiator

I asked for an epic pose for an epic place....I got John Travolta

Streets of Verona

Entrance to Casa di Giulietta

President Jane Karas and her son 'Lorenzo' in the courtyard of Giulietta

Jessica with Giulietta

"Romeo..Romeo".....yeah Alyssa

Piazza Erbe

Torre dei Lamberti

Piazza dei Signori with Dante's statue

Scaligeri tombs

Looking across the Adige to the Teatro Romano

In theTeatro Romano

View from above the Teatro

Palazzo della Ragione

Tree in San Lazzaro's garden

I invited David to write in this week’s blog  and he has done such a wonderful job that there is little for me to add, except to reinforce how well the students are doing, and how much fun it has been to share this adventure with them. We had our first ‘aqua alta’ (high water) experience this week and as I write, there are shoes drying on heaters in the apartments.

Post Carnevale, Venice is “ours” once again, and our life here has returned to the pace that we love. We are all well and the adventure continues.

Ciao,ciao

John Rawlings , Director FVCC Semester in Venice

David Ackroyd’s blog

“The captains and the kings depart, the tumult and the shouting dies.”

Rudyard Kipling (…I think).

Carnevale is over and la Serenissima is serene once more.  About the only reminders of ten days of continuous revelry are billions of pieces of soggy confetti and decaying strands of canned spray “string” that defy the efforts of Venezia’s finest street cleaners.  Despite all its wonders and joy, I think our kids are glad to have “their” Venice to themselves once more.  As we watched the hundreds of thousands of visitors intently scanning their maps (which, by the way, are virtually useless since no two-dimensional medium can possibly portray with any sort of accuracy the labyrinthine calles, rivas, campos, campiellos, vias, sotoportegos, ramas and fondamentes that compose this most magical maze of a city) or trying to follow the upraised umbrella of their harried guides along with thirty or forty fellow-countrymen through the chaos of revelers, we just sat back, smugly ordered another cappuccino and patted ourselves on our collective back that we didn’t have to be back on the bus by noon.

It’s been another busy week despite the decline in population and decibel level.  On Monday we fought the crowds swarming over the Rialto Bridge for a little “on location” study of Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice and then adjourned to Ca’ Mocenigo, the former palazzo of one of Venice’s most prominent families, part of which has been turned into a small cinema.  There we watched an Italian film called “Goldoni” (which thankfully, for me at least, bore English subtitles), the story of the author of A Servant of Two Masters and how he changed the face of Italian theatre in the 18^th century.  It wasn’t exactly “Gone with the Wind”, but since A Servant of Two Masters has been an integral part of our study of the evolution of the Italian drama and we had done a reading of it, seen an abridged version live on the opening night of Carnevale as well as a full-length production by the brilliant Teatro Piccolo di Milano on video, it was a serendipitous addition to our students’ understanding of this vital period in the history of theatre in Venice and, indeed, all of Europe.

Tuesday night was the grand finale of Carnevale.  On closing night back in 2007, John, Souheir, Ruth and I watched a forty-minute fireworks display over the lagoon that outdid any Fourth of July celebration I have ever witnessed from Boston to Los Angeles.  But the economic pinch has tweaked the derriere of this little slice of heaven, too, so instead of thousands of pounds of gloriously exploding fireballs, pinwheels and bombs reflected in the rippling water of the Grand Canal, we got a Bee Gees cover band.  A little anticlimactic to be sure and, yes, the crowds were somewhat smaller than in previous years, but Piazza San Marco was not the only place celebrating Fat Tuesday and the youngsters went off to Campo Santa Margherita, hangout for the college set, where they found entertainment more befitting their age and tastes.  We oldsters called it an early night, relieved of the pressure of trying to keep up with college kids.

Wednesday was a long day for our students beginning with their usual four-hour Italian language immersion.  After a break for lunch, they returned to the classroom for a session covering the history of La Fenice opera house and the Teatro Olimpico, which we visited the following Saturday via the ferrovia (literally “iron road”, more commonly translated as the railway).  More about that later.  After class we once more invaded the Rawlings’ apartment for a showing of the DVD of The Merchant of Venice starring Al Pacino and Jeremy Irons.  I think the students were impressed not only by the power of the play and Pacino’s performance as Shylock, but having visited the Ghetto here, by the portrayal of the realities of living as a Jew in Renaissance Italy, despite the relatively enlightened treatment by the Venetian government.

But probably the student’s favorite part of the day was the dinner that followed the film.  In all modesty, I think my antipasto went over well despite its considerable departure from the cuisine of the Flathead: grilled slices of eggplant wrapped around slices of prosciutto crudo and Ermenthaler cheese (from Switzerland and my new favorite) and baked in the oven with parmigiano-reggiano cheese sprinkled on top.  This was followed by pasta with yet another luscious tomato/meat sauce of myriad flavors, textures and subtleties concocted by Souheir.  A day filled with intellectual and artistic challenge fittingly ended with full bellies as well as full minds and souls.

On Saturday our young scholars left the cozy confines of Venezia for the first time since they arrived over a month ago as we traveled to the lovely town – and UNESCO World Cultural Heritage landmark – of Vicenza, about a 40-minute train ride depending on which train you get.  (Some, or so it seems, stop at every station, crossing any vegetable stand along the way and can stretch the ride to double its normal length.)  There we met the delightful Daniela, our guide for the day.  Keeping an eye out for the unusual – for us – phenomenon of automobiles, she guided us to many of the landmark buildings designed by Vicenza’s most notable citizen Andrea Palladio (1508-1580), brilliant architect whose landmark creations grace all of northern Italy, including Venice itself, and whose influence changed the face of renaissance Europe and is even reflected in Thomas Jefferson’s home, Monticello, in Virginia.  The hills to the south of Vicenza are dotted with graceful and elegant Palladian palazzos and in the glow of the haze unique to the Veneto, appear as a dramatic backdrop to the charms of the city below.

Perhaps the most unique of Palladio’s creations is the Teatro Olimpico, Europe’s oldest indoor theatre.  This splendidly preserved structure is a juxtaposition of a classical ancient Greco-Roman theatre with an elaborate Renaissance stage set executed in architectural and painted forced perspective.  The set that graces the stage of the Teatro Olimpico today is the one that stood in the same spot when the theatre made its debut with Oedipus Rex in 1585.

And so ended my third week with this terrific group of young people whose enthusiasm and attitude are both inspiring and refreshing.  It’s a little hard for me to accept that I will be leaving them in just a little over a week.

Ciao,

Davide

David Ackroyd, visiting Professor of History of Theatre in Venice

Caitlin’s Blog

Wow what a fun week!  I don’t even know where to start!  The first couple days of the week were rather tiring (the last two days of Carnevale) adding to the extra work load of Theatre class on top of the language classes.  I must admit though, my favorite day so far has been our trip to Vicenzia on  Saturday.  We had to get up early ( 6 AM!!) and rush to the train station.  My apartment group, being the people we are, managed to narrowly make the train.  After we got to Vicenzia we had an interesting tour and we went shopping!  It was so weird seeing cars again…I had almost forgoten about them, and the fact that you must look both ways before crossing the street.

But the best thing, I must admit, was the train ride home.  When travelling by train in Europe, the cheapest way to travel is on the boring slow train.  One of the more expensive ways to travel is on EuroStar.  John had specifically warned us NOT to accidentally get on one of the EuroStar trains, because one; they are very expensive and two; if you don’t have the right ticket and get on the train you have to pay the difference which is not a little sum.  So, on our way back Kyle, Erika and I got on the first train that pulled into the station.  We stepped on and immediately wondered if it was the wrong train.  It had awesome star-wars like doors that opened with a swoosh at the push of a button, really comfortable seats and tables for each seat.  It also had complimentary condiments.  For some reason we just decided that it was simply a different train, but still the one we were supposed to be on.  As soon as the train started moving I was a little more unsettled.  It moved with such speed (200 mph!) and it was so smooth.  This could not have been worth the €4.25 we paid to ride the “cheap train.”  I just dismissed it and sat back.

Not too long after, the ticket checker came by. He took one look at our tickets and got an extremely “not happy” look on his face.  He said “There is a big problem here, these tickets are not the right ones.”  I’m sure he was trying to keep in a bout of laughter at the looks of astonishment and fear reflected in the three faces that looked up at him.  He said we would have to pay the difference and then stomped off rudely and left us to be.  We all looked at each other in total surprise and wondered what to do.  We calculated jumping train, or killing the steward and disposing of the body.  None of these appealed to any of us so we decided to deal with it and pay the fee.  We  prepared ourselves to be out €100 each, but as the train neared our stop the steward never reappeared.  We didn’t know what to do and even went to try and find him, but he was nowhere to be found.  We got off at our stop and continued searching for a steward and Erika finally found him.  We went over to him and Erika and I smiled sweetly and asked how much we owed.  The steward got a big smile and said that “we didn’t have to worry about it.”  All of us were so excited and we thanked him profusely.

I will always remember our train ride home from Vicenza.  The one where we managed to ride on a train way over the value of our ticket, get caught, and then let off.

Erika’s Blog:

This is all about trains: The train leaves for Vicenza at 7:56. It always leaves on time. Our plan was to roll out of bed at 6:45, run to the vap stop at 7:06, make it to the train station with plenty of time to spare, maybe grab a cappuccino, but no dice. In reality, we did roll out of bed at 6:45, but didn’t actually take into account how early that really is and how well I do not function at such an outrageous hour. We’re all disgruntled and less than courteous to each other as we make it down to the vap at 7:07, and then in turn, must wait until the next vap comes, which also happens to stop at every stop on the way for much too long, and of course doesn’t stop at the stop in front of the train station, but instead the one several blocks and over a bridge from the train station. We prepare ourselves and run headlong through the slowest group of people, umbrellas breaking, wind and rain slapping our faces as if to shame us for being so inconsiderate of time, water spraying behind us and upon the unfortunate passersby, droplets of sweat cascading down our foreheads and backs. We ran as though our lives depended upon it, which is fairly close to truth when confronted with the eyes of a feisty Egyptian woman. We jump onto the train, lungs burning, chests heaving, eyes watering, legs shaking, and collapse into our seats moments before the train starts moving, greeted by an all too cheerful “Bourngiorno!” from our fellow students who walked to the train station and had a delightful train experience with plenty of time to spare. I highly dislike mornings, but the real cake is in the afternoon trip home.

Its 4:00 in the afternoon, it’s been raining all day, we’re tired and we’re all hungry and ready to come home for awhile. We check the schedule, which reads 4:56 for Venezia. We wait around, get a coffee, chill for a half hour and go to the platform, but see that the platform for our train has been changed, so we run to the next one, wait around for another half hour because the train is now delayed five minutes. The train finally arrives and we’re so ready to be on something moving the right direction, we just jump on. From the moment we stepped on, we should have known something was wrong. The seats were ten times nicer and more comfortable then the ones on the first train. Each set of four chairs had a little pull out table, and a drink cart with food and coffee rolls by us. We worry for a moment, Caitlin constantly saying “Are you sure we’re on the right train? This doesn’t feel like the right train.”  I get up to go ask, but I caught a glance at the door and see it reads Class 2, so we just roll with it. We start moving and Kyle says “huh, this train feels like its moving a lot faster then the other one.” Caitlin and I nod our heads in agreement, but really think nothing of it. Suddenly, the man in blue appears with the ticket puncher. He grabs our tickets, and says “Wrong train.” The blood drains from our faces. What does this mean? “You pay the difference.” Being frugal, I ask “What is the difference?” He glares at me and mumbles “She wants to know the difference?” and walks off. We all stare at each other, realizing we were actually aboard a Eurostar, the fastest and most expensive train in all of Italy. We couldn’t help but laugh at our own ignorance and helpless predicament, contemplating how we are going to pay for these seats we so easily took for granted moments before. We considered our options: how were we going to pay for this exactly? Have you prepared yourself for how much this is actually going to cost you? What would happen if we just ran off the train and ran out of the train station? Would we be blacklisted forever from all trains? We can never return to Europe again. Or, they’ll post our faces at all the major airports and take us in the moment we’re found so we are forced to live as fugitives for the rest of our lives. What would happen if we beat down the little blue uniformed man with our umbrellas or Kyle’s messenger bag? Should we just jump off this train right now? In the midst of all this turmoil and anxiety and complete ridiculousness, we were slowly approaching our destination and the man is nowhere in sight. We begin to wonder where he has gone, if he’s just messing with us now, because we are prepared to pay and forego food the rest of the week, but we don’t even know how much we’re paying. We can’t stay on the train because it would leave Venice with us on it, but we can’t just leave because the man hasn’t returned to take all our money away. We decide to get off the train but wait on the platform and try to find a train official because, as much as we hated it, we really did want to do the right thing. The train comes into the station at 5:30, a full half-hour faster than the train we took in the morning, and there are no train officials in sight when we get off. Suddenly, we see the man in blue and we all think “ah here it comes” but he just shakes his head and says “oh it’s ok.” Three of the most beautiful words in the English language!  We follow him just because we couldn’t believe our ears and he just smiles and says “its ok, you go.” I could have kissed that little man whom we contemplated moments ago beating down then making a run for it. I started laughing and smiling like a little girl.  The tickets, those beautiful cheap tickets, are going in a frame on the wall!

Ciao!

Kyle’s blog

This week in Venice is also a blur! The close of Carnevale arrived, as well as the tons of  garbage. Although there are still more people than normal, the crowds have reduced greatly.

The group went to Vicenza on Saturday for a theatre class trip. We visited the Teatro Olimpico, which was stunning. The pictures I took don’t do the scene any justice, for it is something to behold. Its design is an optical illusion, whereby a forty-foot background looks more like a huge stretch of streets and tall buildings. Perspective is key! In addition to beholding that architectural genius, the scene’s surrounding art was extravagant.

Our Saturday began early in the morning. I had ten minutes to get ready (ignored my alarm). We rushed to the train station. After the Teatro Olimpico, the group was free to go where they wanted – to explore the city of Vicenza a bit. We went to some museums and then went… (ugh) shopping. Half way through the afternoon, my roomies and I left Vicenza (on the wrong train). That last bit is a story I think Caitlin was going to share.

Sunday was spent waking up late. After a while, I decided to go to the Lido beach, which was great fun. I came back to Venice later in the night, met up with some friends, and had fun – before I realized how dead-tired I was.

My train of thought is diverting greatly now. I am once again spent. Nutella’d bread sounds good. Maybe some cereal. No, I think I am dehydrated – need water…Maybe water and cereal.

Alyssa’s blog

This week has been a busy one! Its all work, work, work! Today (Sunday,) we were able to relax a little bit, slow down, and clean our apartment. There was confetti everywhere!  Remnants of Carnevale… The huge crowds have left, the vaporetti are no longer tilting over capacity, and it takes a lot less time to get places once again. The crazy fun is over, but it feels good to have “our city” back. We like the quiet Venice, where the noisiest sounds come from the church bells.

This weekend we were in Vicenza, which was really noisy!  And there were cars! But someone should have told me (after they warned me about the cars) about the bikes!  It was a near collision when I crossed the street after “checking for cars.” Haha! Lived through it though. Vicenza was our first visit to a city in the mainland of Italy. Very cool!  There are things even more ancient over there. We explored an archeology museum.  All the exhibitions were explained in Italian, so we had to guess, and no dates were specified (other than discovery dates) but we know we looked at things from the Stone Ages: Paleolithic, Mesolithic, and the Neolithic. Then of course the Bronze, Iron and Roman Ages. We saw really old combs that were very sophisticated and could be folded like a pocket knife. Also the central metal tips off battle shields were fascinating.

We are getting ready for another wonderful week here in Venice! This week I hope to find more local favorite spots, meet more people, speak more in Italian, and explore, explore, explore!

Ciao!

Alyssa

Jessica’s Blog
I woke up this morning with the sun shining through my windows, filling my room with that common Venetian optimism. I did nothing but clean the apartment, eat food, watch movies and relax. It has been wonderful, and I am perfectly content with quietly observing our little neighborhood from our apartment windows. Today was the only day we have had to relax this week and it was very welcome. This last week was the busiest we have seen yet! Our Italian language classes have continued and are still able to make my brain feel like it has exploded inside of my skull at the end of each class, but very satisfying.  Monday started off this way and continued afterwards with a trip to one of Venice’s only cinemas for a documentary on the life of Goldoni. Tuesday was the last day of Carnevale and we showed up that night in San Marco for a very horrible 70’s themed dance concert, but we saved the night by heading to Campo Santa Margherita to listen to DJ’s and dance the night away. It was a blast, and I have never seen so many people PACKED into one place before!  It was great to see the funny costumes and festivities.  Wednesday, as a result of the previous night’s entertainment, Jessica was one tired little woman. Once language classes were over we were able to head home for a quick lunch before meeting up with David for our theatre lecture. Once finished with that we meandered our way through the canals on the Vap to John and Souheir’s apartment to watch “The Merchant of Venice” and to eat dinner. The Spaghetti dinner was so good, and we were all very excited because the sauce had a lot of MEAT in it!  I have found that Venetians don’t eat a lot of things with meat in them and it was a treat to eat a large quantity of it!
Thursday and Friday we continued on with our language class. But on Friday as we walked home from school we heard a loud siren going off throughout the entire city. It sounded like a bomb warning, but I was told it was the warning that Aqua Alta was coming. Once we got to our court we had to splash through about 5 inches of water to get to our door. It was a lot of fun to see all of the water in the streets, not something I could ever imagine without being here.
Saturday was almost a 24 hour day for most of us, but so much fun!  We woke up early and hopped on a train to Vicenza (a little vacation on our vacation!). We spent the entire day exploring the city and we even got a tour of Teatro Olimpico, which was an amazing site to see! Now that we know what the trains are like here and how easy they are to use, I have started planning many other weekend trips and cannot wait to start exploring the world!
Next weekend Verona!

Little girl on the vaporetto

I think they were going for the 'sinister' look

Last night of Carnevale

With our tour guide Daniela in Vicenza

Vicenza

Outside Teatro Olimpico

Courtyard at Teatro Olimpico

In the rain with Daniela

Center of the "set" at Teatro Olimpico

David and Daniela explaining the Teatro

Teatro Olimpico

Teatro Olimpico

Teatro Olimpico

The streets of Vicenza

Streets of Vicenza