Italian exchange 2010

Friday was our first day out with a trip around Montepulciano. With great excitement we set off on what was going to be a fantastic week. We saw some of the passages underneath the city, the gates and we went to the square where part of New Moon was filmed. Being teenage girls a lot of us were extremely excited and some people took photos in the "New Moon Café". Accompanied by our exchanges we got to go to San Gimignano and Siena. I think we all found the worst part of the day was climbing the highest tower in San Gimignano however the beautiful view most definitely compensated for our tired legs! The duomo in Siena was beautiful and on Friday we had our first Italian ice cream with excitement all round! On our next day trip (Monday) we went to Pienza and the Bagni Vignoni. In Pienza we went around the cathedral where there is a huge crack in the floor! We also went to the city’s town hall and around the streets, getting extremely excited about the Via dell’ Amore and Via di baciare (the street of love and the street of kisses) and again it was a great photo opportunity. We also had an ice cream at 10 in the morning, not the healthiest of breakfasts! The Bagni Vignoni were wonderful, especially with the warm water, we were very lucky with the weather as it was nice and sunny for our trip there. Even the cold pool was warm! On Tuesday we thought we might get rained on however the weather was only cloudy as, we went to Chuisi to see the Etruscan tombs. These were a little scary and claustrophobic as

some of the staircases were dark, cramped and steep. However the insides of the tombs were well preserved and some of the frescos that we saw were very detailed. We went to the tombs of the monkey, the lions and Pellegrino, which is the name of the area in Italy. This was our final day trip and we went to Florence. We had a really great day today going round the Galleria dell’ Academia and the Boboli Gardens eating lunch and then going on to the shops. We went round all the shoe shops and raided the street stalls selling hoodies trying to find the best deal possible with some people trying bargaining. Unfortunately it didn’t work and the hoodies were paid for at the said price. We went to a great ice cream shop and had to juggle bags of shopping, coca cola and ice creams as we sat for a while in the Palazzo Vecchio and we also went to the duomo which was spectacular. We’d all like to thank the hard work that Signora Marchini put into the trip and thank her and Miss Allgrove for putting up with all of us for a week!

Holly Mozley Year 10

We were never short of entertainment in Italy, and while during the day we would roam the streets of Montepulciano and the close by cities, by night we would be with our exchanges having fun in bowling alleys or in the nearby park. Sunday was the best day as we went to the nearby shopping outlet. It was great as we had a look at some of the shops however, the best part was when we met up with everyone and just had a really good time while eating pancakes, going on slides and playing in the rain.

There were so many memorable memories made in Italy, however, bowling, the first night in the park and the last night at the restaurant were the best as they were the most fun. The saddest moment of the trip was when we were leaving as everyone was in tears. None of us wanted to leave but now we are all anticipating the time when our exchanges come here as we are sure that it will be just as fun only this time we can show them some of the things us British girls like to do in our free time and give them a real taste of London.

Janna Patel Year 10

Please see Gallery for more photos