Road Scholar provided us with a unique learning opportunity this afternoon: a lesson on the history and evolution of Italian chamber music and opera, not by an academic in a lecture hall, but rather by musicians of Florence’s premier orchestra in a beautiful 500-year-old residence. C’era bellissimo!
We slept in for a bit on Sunday morning after our long day in Siena on Saturday. In the afternoon, we returned to the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flowers complex (the Duomo) for a tour of the Baptistry and the Duomo Museum.
Going on only five hours of sleep after our late night Friday at the birthday/farewell party, we still made it to the Florence train station at 8:30 Saturday morning for a school-organized trip to Siena. As with all the other tours and programs organized by the language school, it was conducted entirely in Italian, which gave us plenty of practice in listening and speaking. Siena was stunning and the weather was perfect, so we were glad we didn’t decide to skip the tour!
Today schedule was packed, with a guided tour of the Duomo, another tour of the Medici Chapels, our weekly Road Scholar happy hour, and a long farewell dinner with some of our departing friends.
After school, we took a fast train from Florence to Bologna. We met up with Cheryl’s sister Suzy and brother-in-law Doug for a food tour of this culinary paradise with Giuseppe, a local guide.
Today we met Suzy and Doug for lunch and then toured the Florence Synagogue and Museum with them. World War II and the Holocaust wiped out most of the Jews of Florence, but since then the community has re-established itself.
This morning we had language class, then in the afternoon we attended a fascinating lecture about Italy’s political landscape, followed by a delicious dinner with Cheryl’s sister and brother-in-law.
Sunday morning, we checked out of our hotel in Volterra, and began the journey by bus back to Florence. On the way, we visited the medieval city of Certaldo, enjoyed a wine tasting and tour at Villa Le Corti in Chianti, and paid a visit to the Florence American Cemetery and Memorial.
On the second day of our Road Scholar weekend “field trip” to the beautiful medieval village of Volterra in western Tuscany, our group had a guided tour through the city, followed by a big lunch and some shopping in the afternoon.
Our Road Scholar trip included a weekend “class field trip” to Volterra, an ancient, walled mountaintop town in western Tuscany, south of Pisa. After class today, we traveled by private bus to the town, where we enjoyed an orientation walk through the medieval village and dinner as a group.