Blog Overview

This blog covers my three experiences while attending Italian language schools in Italy.

In 2014, I spent 5 weeks at the EuroCenters Language School in Florence. I was quite surprised to find that the school was 'total immersion'! Fortunately I had a couple semesters of Italian at UW-Waukesha  that kept me afloat.

More info on Eurocentres is available here: http://www.eurocentres-firenze.it/eng/

I went back again in 2015 for 4 weeks. Prior to starting my classes in Florence, my wife Joyce and her son David joined me in Rome for some site-seeing. We stopped in Assisi on our way to Florence.

In 2017, I attended classes for 2 weeks in Lucca, at the Koinè Center Italian Language School. After this ended, I went back to Eurocentres in Florence for another 2 weeks.

More info on the Koinè Center - Italian Language School is available here: https://www.koinecenter.com/

My blog posts are shown in the Blog Archive. Click each title for more.

Please enjoy, and contact me if you have any questions.

2017 - The Valley of the Temples (Valle dei Templi)

At the end of my trip to Italy, I visited with my cousins on Sicily. As a very special treat, they took me to the city of Agrigento and the Valley of the Temples.

The Valle dei Templi (Valley of the Temples) is an archaeological site in Agrigento (ancient Greek Akragas), Sicily, southern Italy. It is one of the most outstanding examples of Greater Greece art and architecture, and is one of the main attractions of Sicily, as well as a national monument of Italy.

Click here for more info from Wikipedia.

Here is the map of the route we took. The interior of Sicily is very mountainous and the roads are quite challenging. It took us about 90 minutes to drive down from Chiusa Sclafani.

I traveled with Giorgio, Rita and cousin Enza.

There are the remains of seven temples in the valley. This is the remains of the Temple of Juno.

 A couple views of the valley. The city of Agrigento is in the distance.

This was part of the ancient water system.

These late-Roman and Byzantine necropolises lie in an area used for tombs since ancient times. Counting the wall and the niche, this represents about 1200 years of history!

The Temple of Concordia, whose name comes from a Latin inscription found nearby, and which was built in the 5th century BC. Turned into a church in the 6th century AD, it is now one of the best preserved in the Valley.

  

I was very surprised to see sea shells on the ground. This area may have been at sea-level in the past.

Why don't you adopt a Girgentana Goat?

2017 - San Gimignano

On a strong suggestion from Roberto (il mio padre di casa), I'm heading south to la piccola città di San Gimignano.

From Wikipedia: San Gimignano is a small, walled, medieval hill town in the province of Siena, Tuscany, in north-central Italy. Known as the "Town of Fine Towers", San Gimignano is famous for its medieval architecture, unique in the preservation of about a dozen of its tower houses, which, with its hilltop setting and encircling walls form "an unforgettable skyline". Check out the information on Wikipedia:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Gimignano

It's also known for the Vernaccia di San Gimignano wine. From Wikipedia: Vernaccia is a white Italian wine, made from the Vernaccia grape, produced in and around the Italian hill town of San Gimignano in Tuscany. Since the Renaissance, it has been considered one of Italy's finest white wines. I brought one bottle back and we polished it off at supper!

To get to San Gimignano, I must first go to Poggibonsi, which I did by bus. It was a long, bumpy ride and once I got there, I discovered I could have taken the train. Another life lesson! Below is the station at Poggibonsi.

I had about 45 minutes to burn so I checked out the farmer's market.

Let's have seafood for supper!!

Another example of high fashion!

Finally, I arrived at San Gimignano after a short bus ride. Here are a couple views of the Bastione San Francesco, a hint of what I was about to see.

Once inside, I get my first glimpse of the city. Many of the streets look like this.

This is the Church of San Francesco. Another reason for San Gimignano being an UNESCO World Heritage Site.

You can see a magnificent tower simply by looking in any direction!

 

 

This is Piazza della Cisterna, the main square of San Gimignano.

A view of  the Duomo di San Gimignano Catholic Church, lined with colorful frescoes (up the stairs) from the 14th century.

Looking across Piazza del Duomo, we see the Teatro dei Leggieri (Performing Arts Theater).

And many more towers! I heard it said that San Gimignano is called the "Manhattan of Tuscany".

And where ever you walk, it seems like it is uphill!

The gate at Via San Metteo.

Close up...

The view of the country side is amazing!

This is Piazza San Agostino, with its church of the same name.

I noticed the sun dial on the side of the church. I took this picture at 1:34PM. Is the sundial accurate?

Another view of the country side.

Looking back at the towers of the city...

I spotted my first wine window!! It's just above the bench, to the right of the door. To supplement their income, many people produced wine and sold it through their wine windows. The 'customer' would hand in some money and hopefully some wine would be returned.

Here we see a few people lined up to experience the World Champion Gelato from the Gelateria Dondoli. Meraviglioso!!

Bravo Roberto!! This was a great experience!