Trabocco Tour

On Monday, after classes had ended, we travelled to the coast to visit a traditional trabocco.

Trabocco Punta Tufano

Trabocchi date back to the 1700s. They're complex structures made of pine logs, designed to allow fishermen to catch fish even in rough seas.

Trabocco Punta Tufano

A large net is suspended from the antennae of the trabocco. The fishermen would lower the antennae to drop the empty net into the water. When the timing was right, they would then raise it filled with their catch.

These days, the trabocchi are no longer used for fishing, but have been restored because of their historical importance. Some have been converted into restaurants.

When we got to the trabocco, the owner spoke to us about the history of the coast and these amazing fishing machines.

Two of the students translated for us.

Afterward we were served fresh bread, lemon infused olive oil, and orange marmalade on waffles.

The great weather and scenery soon turned the afternoon into a photo shoot!

Their Name Liveth For Evermore

by Arielle and Alexa

After half a school day on Saturday, we went into Ortona for an afternoon of history.

We started at a Canadian cemetery that held the graves of over 1,600 commonwealth soldiers who died during WWII at the Battle of Ortona.

While the majority were Canadian graves, there were also soldiers from the UK, New Zealand, South Africa, and even India.

The most shocking thing was the age of the soldiers, one of whom was only 16. It was awful, knowing that almost all of these soldiers had families and wives and children that they had left behind after dying for their country.

Price of Peace Monument

Price of Peace Monument

We later walked through the town of Ortona and then visited the Canadian War Museum.

The museum was filled with artefacts from the war such as bombs, uniforms, and beds, as well as pictures of soldiers in war and the chaos that war brought.

There were also remade sculptures of buildings that had collapsed from bombings.

While it was a solemn day, we felt the impact of war and left much more appreciative of the sacrifices made for us.