| Italian Sister School Program | Princes Hill Secondary College |
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STUDY TOURS
The program developed through 1999 and 2001 and attracted a growing number of students to the study tour. We started with twelve Year 9 & 10 students in 1998, a number that grew to twenty seven in 2001. So, we needed to run trips every year in 2003, 2004 and 2005 for only Year 10 students. We went on to meet students from the Liceo Scientifico "Torelli" in 2003. This was the group that would become classe 3ºC in 2004. This group formed a ready and amicable relationship with our students and gave them a tour of Fano. They even came up to Mondavio (a half hour drive) one afternoon to be with them. Their last excursion together was an impromptu visit to San Marino where they spent a magical and gentle day in each others' company. In 2005 & 2006 we visited the Liceo and participated in a number of activities and excursions together. We met, once again, the group that was 3ºC is now in their final year . They showed us multimedia presentations on culture and the effects of globalisation. The students participated in many activities and excursions together and spoke about the possibility of coming to Australia . Below you can find links to some of the student's travel logs and then at the bottom of the page some links to photos. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Italy. I found the cities; Rome; Florence; Venice; San Marino interesting, but I thought the experience of the small town, Mondavio, that we stayed in was the highlight of the tour. The family I stayed with was very nice and helpful, and the local shop owners willing to understand any difficulties we found in speaking Italian. To me the best thing in Mondavio was meeting the local teenagers. We visited the scuola media, 11-14 year olds, and organised games of soccer with the local team. All games were tense and exciting, and were much enjoyed by all. Most of us improved our skills and picked up a few tricks along the way. The trip started in Rome it was boiling and so humid!!! We spent three days there walking around on foot, when I reflect on it now it feels like we spent a week there we saw the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, The Roman Forum and the Colosseum just to name a few of the many places we visited. The city was so busy!! On the 2 nd of October 26 Princes hill students boarded the Malaysian airlines 777 and headed off to Rome, Italy, where we stayed for 4 days. On every one of these days we looked around this amazing city and saw almost every single attraction there was to see- the Colosseum, the Roman forum, the Spanish steps and St Peters (where we stood on the massive dome and viewed the whole city) and many more. After our stay in Rome, we were taken to the little town of Mondavio, where we stayed with families for the next 2 weeks, we also went to school there and improved our Italian drastically. Mondavio was a great little (and I mean little) town in the Marche region of Italy. From there we went on day trips to places like Venice, Florence, San Marino and many more.. We did a lot of tops things in Italy. One of the best was when we beat the Italians in a game of soccer. But unfortunately they wrecked us in every other game we played. These games were played in Mondavio, the village we stayed in. But we also visited Rome, Venice, and Florence. They were pretty bonza places. We stayed in Rome for 3 nights. We saw the Colosseum, the Vatican, the Trevi fountain, the Spanish Steps, and a whole lot of other things. They were all tops. Some other aspects of Italy that don't get much of a mention are the huge amounts of scaffolding, the 3 wheeled trucks, and the excessive number of scooters. In Italy we saw lots of Italians. Even more than at Barkley square or at Metro! In Italy there are lots of scooters and very little cars, and there are cats everywhere. If you're asking what the best thing about Italy was, we couldn't say. There was just so much to see and do. But the most memorable part would probably be living in a small Italian town with a family who spoke a language you knew little of, going to school, socializing. Basically living in Italy the Italian way. Not to mention the yummy ice creams, gelati and nice clothes. Oh, yeah, and pizza. And Italian culture. But we're kids, why would we care about that?. No, scherziamo (we're joking), it was really nice. Rome, Venice and Florence were beautiful, particularly Rome, where we spent 3 days and nights. We loved the Montebello market, which is where we went every morning for fresh fruit, fresh pizza and most importantly chocolate, before we went on to do our jam packed day of sight seeing. Mondavio was quaint, cozy, cute, and all those clichés, but also more than we expected, in a good way. If anyone from Mondavio is reading this, 'Hi! Thanks for having us.' We went to a school which teaches Italian to foreigners. There we learnt heaps and have already benefited from it. We also had numerous games of soccer against the locals, and if you're wondering if we won.two words, Forza Italia. And the locals are pretty good. In conclusion, if you offered us a ticket back there, well, we're already planning our return.
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