The Cero Family Visits Italy!

My mom, dad and brother visited Italy this past week. After spending a day in Rome we boarded a train and traveled to Florence, where we stayed over Easter. Unlike our first field trip, Florence was packed. The line to get into the Duomo was wrapped around the church, and the line to see Michelangelo’s David trailed down the street. On Sunday we went on a bike tour of Tuscany. We arrived at a 12th century castle and tasted wine from their vineyards and their olive oil (both were fantastic). We rode for 13 miles until the sun started to set. We came back to Rome on Monday and saw the typical tourist sites (my parents and brother continued to do this up until they left). Only about three more weeks until I see them again!

Weekend in Capri

This past weekend the class visited Capri (off the coast of Naples, Italy). The weather was beautiful and our time there was completely stress free (except for the cab ride in Naples... I thought we were going to die). We arrived in Capri Thursday evening by boat, dropped our luggage off at our four star hotel (!) and ate an excellent dinner in town. At night nearly everyone went down to the beach/ rocks to hang out and Chloe, Ryan and Wil jumped in the water (I give them credit... it was freezing). On Friday we broke into groups of 10: half of the class visited Casa Malaparte and the other half had a free day. I just so happened to be in the group that visited Curzio Malaparte's place of exhile. I found it extremely interesting that even after severe storms/ waves crashing against the house, the house still stands in near perfect condition (apparently the upkeep is approximately 100,000 Euros each year). We spent the day sketching, sunbathing on the roof of the house and dipping our feet in the surrounding water. On Saturday our group visited Anacapri. We went on an impromptu hike to the Blue Grotto and were able to go inside via boat. The water and light inside was phenomenal; unfortunately, the bulk of my photos didn't turn out. Next we went to Villa San Michele and then went on a hike to the top of one of the mountains (we were so high up that we were literally in the clouds). We ended the day by going shopping and getting custom made sandals. We finished our trip off by taking a cruise around the island this morning. Once again we couldn't have asked for better weather. Some of us braved the cold water and swam to see the White Grotto (amazing!) but after that we stayed on the boat for the duration of the trip. I'm definitely coming back here as soon as possible!

Ostia Antica

Yesterday the class took a field trip to Ostia Antica. Located at the mouth of the Tiber River, Ostia was used as ancient Rome's harbor city. Luckily the weather held up and everyone was able to explore the ruins. I personally enjoyed visiting the Garden Houses closest to the river... the remaining architecture and the greenery were beautiful.