28.9.06

Oggi, andiamo acquistare!

Today, we went to Revenna. Initially, this visit didn't mean much because I could not remember anything that we did. However, once we made it to the town, things came rushing back once more. Basilica di San Vitale was the place in which I was able to finally grasp what I was learning in Art, Architecture and World History. Before, I would learn dates and events as if they had not effect on one another. But seeing how the changes in government also constituted change in religion, brought it all together for me. It was nice. We also saw Dante's tomb (a bit of a disappointment).

At lunch, we shopped. I am the first to say that shopping is not "something to do", but I suppose some students (Teresa and Mark) are rubbing off on me. We found a couple of spots and stayed in them, just to browse. I also had to cancel the architecture student's extended trip to Urbino. It seemed that the housing situation had not been worked out and we lacked hostels for about 5 of our 25 students. Instead, we would try to schedule a day trip to Arezzo tomorrow.

The Comune di Revenna tourist's beaureau offers a new way to see the town. If
you are traveling in a group, you can buy a multi-pass that covers the entire group. This idea saves groups money and is efficient for paying entrance fees. However, it is not the best thing for large groups of people with varying agendas. Getting this group around is harder than herding cattle.

The trip to Arezzo was... well, it didn't suck. Peter wanted to show a few modern buildings to everyone. The first problem was getting everyone to Arezzo at the right time. After we realized that an entire train disappeared, caught up with students that had no cell phone and corralled the remaining students, we began the tour.

The first building we saw was really awesome. It was an urban apartment building not far from the train station. Fausto actually worked on the design so it was nice to have him present to answer questions. However, only a handful of us took advantage of the opportunity.

The next place we went was actually a park. Peter wanted to show us how the community took advantage of this outdoor space. At this point, the mood of the trip changed. We encountered some kids that needed to get a soccer ball out of a tree. I will let the video link explain the rest. Note the voices after the water bottle is thrown the first time:

Water Bottle Incident

After this, the bottle exploded and a rain of pink lemonade fell all over Peter. Needless to say, the students got quite a laugh out of it. I think Peter laughed as well, I feel he took it rather well. We continued the tour, but the remaining buildings were not impressive (in my opinion).

Tonight is the first party of the year. They call it the hip-hop party. I suppose this is their idea of hip-hop. I am not looking really forward to it, but I guess we will see how things go.

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