The Final Blog

That's it. It's over. Our summer at CCI has come to an end. Though tears were being shed on our final day together, it didn't stop us from getting dressed up and putting on our dancing shoes.

After a short bus ride we arrived at the dance hall. We were served a quick meal then hit the dance floor. 

Even though classes were over, Mr. Simpson taught us one last lesson: no one dances like a Simpson! Unfortunately we didn't get a photo of his impressive moves, but they will surely be remembered.

 

In the end, it was a great night, but an even greater summer. We came as strangers, and left as family.

Although our summer at CCI is over, we will carry the memories of the trip with us. We'll remember the trips to Rome, and Florence. Beach days. Ortona. Olive oil and montepulciano. The view of the mountains and walks up the corso. We'll remember the climb to the third floor for Ms. Tozzi, Mr. Rovere, and Mr. Stephens's rooms. The bonds made in Mr. Capone, Ms. Verratti, Ms. De Bellis, and Mr. Simpson's classes. And Mr. Smith's life lessons in the morning after having a cappuccino and fresh orange juice.

Goodbye CCI 2012. Hope to see you all again soon.

Art & Photography Final Projects

Both the Art and Photography classes produced some seriously high quality work this summer. Below are samples of their projects, and a few images of the students during the creative process. Great job!!!

JFK by Emily

Emily's final project

Martin Luther King Jr. by Taylor

Taylor's final project

Twiggy by Tayla

Tayla at work

Tayla's final project

Jordan at "work"

Jordan's final project

Amelia at work

Amelia's final project

Firenze, San Gimignano, & Siena

The day after the highly successful Coffee House, we woke up early and headed to Florence, the city of the Renaissance. Our first stop was Piazzale Michelangelo for a panoramic view of the city. We quickly jumped back onto the bus and headed to our hotels. The boys stayed at the Adriatico and the girls at the Rivoli.

View from Piazzale Michelangelo

After dropping off our luggage we went on a walking tour of the town. We walked along the Arno River to toward Ponte Vecchio, then passed the Uffizi to Piazza della Signoria. There, we saw some of the most famous statues of the Renaissance including the Fountain of Neptune, Perseus with the Head of Medusa, and Donatello's Judith and Holofernes.

Piazza della Signoria

Fountain of Neptune by Ammannati

We grabbed a quick gelato and walked to the Duomo. The church took 140 years to complete and has the largest brick dome in the world.

Outside of the Duomo

From there, we walked to the Accademia to see Michelangelo's David, probably the most recognizable statue in existence.

David by Michelangelo

On Friday we woke up early, grabbed some breakfast, then headed to the Uffizi. "Uffizi" translates to "offices" and it was here that the Medici family governed the city state of Florence. Now, it houses the most important paintings of the Renaissance.

A terrace at the Uffizi

Primavera by Botticelli 

Birth of Venus by Botticelli

Madonna of the Goldfinch by Raphael

Later, we split up and had "tours by choice." These included Mr. Smith's tour of Museo Galileo, Ms. Tozzi's visit to the Boboli Garden, Mr. Stephens's walk through The Museum of Natural History, Mr. Simpson's ever popular Murder and Mayhem walking tour, and Mr. Rovere's climb up the Duomo. 

View from the top of the Duomo

View from the top of the Duomo

We had free time in the afternoon for more sightseeing, gelato eating, and shopping in the market.

On our last day, we left Florence and headed to San Gimignano, and then Siena. San Gimignano is famous for its towers, built by rivalling families to show off their wealth. We were allowed to climb to the top of one of these towers and had a magnificent view of the Tuscan landscape.

On to Siena... the city of the Palio. The Palio is a horse race that occurs twice in the summer. Ten of the seventeen contrade, or neighbourhoods, compete in this bareback competition. The race lasts for only 90 seconds as the riders circle the main piazza three times. It's not unusual for riders to be knocked off of their horses. Our first stop was to see the location of the race, and then we went on to see Siena's Duomo.

The Duomo in Siena was to be the largest church ever built. However, before it could be completed, the city was hit by the Black Death in the mid 14th century.

We got back to Lanciano by midnight. While it was nice to be back in town and off the bus, it was sad to think that this was our last trip and that our summer at CCI was coming to a close.

Agriturismo

On Monday we travelled to the Sachiappone Agriturismo. Agriturismi are small farms that have been converted into restaurants and B&Bs. At least 80% of the food that is served must be grown on the farm in order to be classified as an agriturismo and to receive subsidies from the Italian government.

Once we arrived, we were seated inside the farm house and prepared for a tasting.

We were served bread, drizzled with olive oil, with cheeses and prosciutto. We were also offered a small glass of red wine made from the most abundant grapes in the area, Montepulciano D'Abruzzo.

Cans of olive oil were waiting for us to take home.

After the tasting, we explored the farm.

 

We were given a history lesson on the area by one of the owners of the agriturismo while Mr. Budani translated. We learned that the farm had been taken by the Nazis in WWII and was used to store weapons. Like Ortona, this area was liberated by Canadian forces in 1943.

There is still evidence of the fight, as we saw bullet holes in one of the walls, and the marking "M5K," indicating the type of weapon stored in this particular building.

We had a little bit of time later on to snap some photos and enjoy a break from the rain.