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| Polyptic |
Today was another day with a lot of walking. I feel sorry for Meg, whose ankles have swollen up to cankles. She is really uncomfortable. This is a very physical trip so we are both hoping that this weekend will allow her to put up her feet and get the swelling down.
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You wonder what we’re doing this weekend? Not yet…..you must first get through today’s
happenings, haha! Today we left the
dorms at about 9 in order to get to the Pinacoteca di Brera, which is the major
art museum in Milan. It houses several
hundred priceless works of art, some of which are known all over the world.
The person who lectures to us about art is no doubt a genius
in his art scholarly-ness (is that a word?), but he is very passionate about
his art and tends to be long-winded.
This has created much frustration for both the students and for him as a
teacher. Last year, I asked him if he
would be willing to give us a tour at the Brera. He told me he would be delighted, as he
sometimes volunteers/works there. So, we
set up 10am this morning to meet. I said
that our time in the Brera should be about 2 hours, knowing full-well it would
be about 3. I was right…it was almost
three hours!
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| Dead Christ |
One of the most important changes, in terms of
tourists/students, is that we were allowed to take photographs within the
museum, as long as the flash was off.
This was absolutely fantastic news to some people, including me! I had created a worksheet with 8 items on the
list. They are 8 of the things in the
museum that have been pointed out to me in the past on tours or that have been
mentioned in books I’ve read up on.
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| Add caption |
As I said, the tour took almost 3 hours. His attention to detail is just amazing. There is one art history student and I told
her that if she spent an afternoon with him, she would probably learn more that
she would in one semester at Mason. In
no way do I mean that GMU professors aren’t awesome, just that from listening
to him for 7 years, I know that the detail he gives supplements greatly the
information students have learned in their basic/intro courses. She said she wanted to ask him a ton of
questions, however there truly were not enough hours in the day :o)
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| The Betrothal of the Virgin |
After that, I gave people 45 mins for lunch….should have
been the original 90 I planned for, but it all worked out :o) I had an eggplant arancino (eggplant in the
middle with a little cheese in a fried rice ball). They are typical of Sicily and a student
introduced them to me in 2010.
Scrumptious! Meg had a sandwich
with balsamic vinegar reduction, oranges, tomatoes, cheese and sliced ham
(crudo). An odd combination, but she
said it was delicious!
We met up at the Castello and I found a book that has a
history of the Castello that I can use for next year! I am so excited :o) (nerd!). Got the tickets, they are free after 2pm, not
1pm (note to self). For this study
abroad, I have created a variety of worksheets.
One of the students was elected by the others to ask if I would consider
dropping the worksheets out of the program because some of them believe they’re
just busy work.
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| Supper at Emmaus |
No. Not an
option! For several reasons….first, they
are designed to give them things to look for or to look at when we’re out and
about. This isn’t a leisurely walk
though towns. Second, they can use these
worksheets to study for the tests. They
can do them together. At some point,
doing all of them will create an “ah-ha” moment (I hope!!!) for some of them
where everything comes together and the trip feels cohesive. They help to retain information. They are a proven pedagogical tool. ‘Cause I said so. Definitely not the last one, haha!
Also, I have to show that I am providing an educational situation
for the students. This is one way to do
so. I have a feeling that they might
feel a little in vacation mode. Not a
criticism, just an observation. It is
easy to come to a new place, to see a whole bunch of new things, to be amazed,
to be a little overwhelmed. “Wow, this
is cool!” “Did you see that?” etc etc.
At some point, we are all reminded that this, alas, is a working tour,
not a vacation tour :o( After all, I
have to grade the dang things, haha! After we got that settled, I told her to
come to me with questions and/or recommendations any time, because I can be
very flexible on some things. Other
things like worksheets, not at all, haha! |
| The Kiss |
Meg and I met up and we left to catch the metro. On the way there, we saw that the Milan Expo
2015 store was open so we went in. The
pig shopping carrier bag that John Christenson gave me is in need of some
TLC. I’ll have to sew a couple places to
patch it up when I get home. Got a nice,
bright, white Milan Expo bag. What were
they thinking….white?? Holy cow, by the
time it leaves, it’ll be gray, hahaha!!
Now we are getting ready to head to the beach for the
weekend. The students didn’t know they
could leave on Fridays. I know for
certain I said they could! That’s one of
the best things….the weekends!! I am a
little sad they didn’t know, but one of them said that they would just go out
tonight and have fun in Milan….I love that attitude. I told her that on the bright side of things,
they do not have to pay for a hotel tonight so they’re saving $$.
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| a statue of a boar! |
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| Michaelangelo's Rondanini Pieta |
The other thing that’s driving me crazy is that no one
except Meg and Judy have given me their phone numbers. I have one other, but I have posted twice on
FB about getting me the numbers…nothing.
In fact one of them posted he still didn’t have his SIM card. I am completely irritated about that because
there have been plenty of times that we’ve had time or I’ve given them time to
specifically do this. ARGH! I need to be able to get in touch with them
if something (God forbid) should happen.
So far…nothing. I know they’re
going to Florence, but I have no information from them and it’s not been from a
lack of asking. Keep me in your prayers
that no one needs to be contacted.
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| Castello Sforsesca |
Okay….leaving for the beach now! We are heading to Rimini! I will write all about that when I get home
:o)
Our train was packed!
People in every seat….everyone wanted to go to the beach I guess! It was a slower train, so it took us about 3 ½
hours to get there. But, we sat next to
two ladies who were okay, but one coughed a lot.
When we arrived, there was a group of young men wearing pink
and hooting and hollering! I figured it
was for a bachelor party or something.
Everyone was smiling and laughing and no one seemed bothered. We got a taxi and found our way to Patrizia’s
house/B&B. When we got there, I wasn’t sure it was the place, so I called
her and it was….pshew!
The home was beautiful!
Very modern, very chic, very clean and crisp. She showed us to our room
on the middle floor and showed us the communal bathroom, which was
spotless! We were exhausted…Meg’s been
having a problem with her ankles swelling up….so all we wanted to do was sleep.
So we did…..the big weekend people we
are, we were in our beds asleep by about 10pm!
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