In late April, we set out for a school adventure to the wonderful land of Tuscany, Italy. We planned to stay there for three wonderful nights, full of laughter, joy and new knowledge!
When we arrived on the 24th, I think it’s safe to say that all of us were amazed to see the beauty of Lucca. The architectural wonders of the St. Martin Cathedral, opened in 1060, left us all in awe. After all the cultural bliss, I set out for lunch to taste the true Italian pizza- and I was definitely not disappointed! It was nothing like I’d ever tasted at home.
In the afternoon we set out to see the graceful shape of the Leaning Tower of Pisa that had the Piazza del Duomo right next to it. Even though it was crowded with tourists alike, my friends and I had found a nice quiet place on the sharply cut, green grass, right next to the Piazza. The weather could’ve always been nicer, but I had no rights to complain – I was in Italy, after all.
The following day we started at a small picturesque town Monteregioni. After an hour we moved to a much bigger place called Sienna, a beautiful city with its famous Piazza del Campa and many other breath taking sights. Later in the afternoon, we reached San Gimignano, a smaller medieval town with breath-taking towers in its centre. We were told that a certain ice cream place was awarded many awards, and even won in the World’s Best Gelato competition, which meant we all had to get a taste! We stood in front of a little shop called Gelateria Dondoli and, to our surprise, the man who was the owner of the gelateria, and won the awards -Serio Dondoli, was handing out postcards to everyone standing in a line! After getting a taste of mango and raspberries with roses, I was definitely not disappointed. It had lived up to it’s name for sure! And for the fine wine gourmets, you were able to purchase the best red wine in all of Italy- Brunello.
We spent our last moments, on the third day, in Florence, or as the locals call it, Firenze, the capital of Tuscany. Our arrival was marked by a sound of train which we had to take to travel to the city centre. We walked around for a couple of hours, going through Gallerie degli Uffizi, Ponte Vecchio to Palazzo Pitti, seeing such sights as the notorious statue of David by Michelangelo. We then had endless hours to ourselves, which I personally spent enjoying a wonderful lunch consisting of cheese gnocchi. That wasn’t all I did, of course, but I’ll leave that part of the journey to myself! I will only say that Florence is truly the capital of Tuscany for a reason.
I would go back to Italy in a heartbeat, if it was possible. Even though we spent only mere three days there, I enjoyed every single second of it and shall cherish it for the rest of my days. Many thanks to Ms Mosatova, Ms Durikova and Ms Kolmanova for a wonderful trip with wonderful people and wonderful memories!
Martina Sartorisova, II.H
