TheCalabrias.com

Sorry folks, but as you have noticed, I’m now two weeks behind on my posts, and it is hard for us to believe we are already leaving next week. So here is a quick run down on all the activities: Sunday (07/15/2007) — The kids and I went to Rome to meet Huguette at the [...]

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If I had to summarize our experience of Florence in a single word, it would have to be “OVERWHELMING”. Florence’s City Centre must have the highest concentration of art per square meter in Italy. At every turn you make, you will come across some incredible piece of art. It is truly quite remarkable. To really [...]

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Cortona is very small, very hilly, and most of all very safe – which has been great for the kids. They are really enjoying being more independent and doing things on their own. In a way, it reminds me of many small Brazilian towns where everyone knows everyone, kids roam freely, many times playing soccer [...]

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We spend this week mostly around Cortona, and we had been fortunate to have several relatives come to visit. We have been joined by Roger & Bev; Tina, Jody & Joseph; and Carole & Family. We are having a great time! Since I’m starting to fall way behind on my posts, I won’t be able [...]

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Arrezo is the largest of the Tuscany towns we have visited so far, and despite its “city” status, it does not lack in personality. The city was heavily bombed during World War II, and one can definitely notice a more modern architecture. Nonetheless, I was equally impressed with its rebuilding and restoration efforts. Arezzo has [...]

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This past Saturday we visited another two beautiful walled cities: Pienza and Montepulciano. They were both very nice. Pienza was quite small and very quaint. It was the birth place of Pope Pius II of the Piccolomini family. Being the Pope, Pius renamed the town of Corsignano to Pienza, and he commissioned the architect Bernardo [...]

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Today, we joined the Art and Landscape Architecture students to a trip to Carrara. As I’m sure you know, Carrara is internationally famous for its many marble quarries, and it is especially renown for the high quality of its white marble pieces. Many of Michelangelo’s, Leonardo Da Vinci’s, and Bernini’s best known sculpture were done [...]

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The day after our arrival, we joined the program for a field trip to Assisi and Perugia, just about 1 ½ hour bus ride from Cortona. Assisi is a medieval town and the burial place for St. Francis. Its main site is the Basilica di San Francisco, which is quite impressive. Like many other buildings [...]

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It took three modes of transportation, but we made it. We flew from Atlanta to Rome (9h15m) – no delays; and we met Ashley at the airport train station, where we took a short 30 min ride to the Roma Termini (central station). We were supposed to take a train to Camucia, a small town [...]

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Hi folks! We’ve made it, and we have been pretty busy. Cortona is wonderful and we already took a filed trip to Assisi and Perugia, and of course, we have a ton of photos. I will post a more detailed account of the last few days and post the best photos in the next day [...]

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