Day 4 European Discovery

Day 4

Volterra

(Tascany Area)

Tuesday, 14.6.2011

Breakfast at the hotel: Cold meats, cereal, coffee, orange juice.

Today's program in Rome will be very interactive! Head to the city center of Rome.

Continue your adventure with a City Quest including Piazza Navona, the Pantheon, the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain.

Another beautiful day in paradise. 80+ sunny, will be very hot again today. Same bus driver today, Roberto, look forward getting to know him better.

Last night was a great night. Wake up will be a bit later tomorrow, and curfew will be a little later as well tonight I believe.

Today I woke up at 6:00 or so. Went down to get hot water once again. Kids were great again. What a great group of kids we have. Sooooo lucky!!!

Everyone was up and ready to go today.

After breakfast we were off to our scavnger hunt in Piazza Navona. Kids went after being given directions: 8 groups of 4 or no more than 5., may shop if they choose a bit as well if they finish. There will be prizes awarded after the sheets are scored.

We had a meeting place, Spanish …..

I had myself set up to go with one of the groups of kids as they were one short, but the adults convinced me to go with them, should have stayed with the kids. We got lost, off track and had a difficult time getting back, were late. Now we will have to sing......

Servicemarks: This is a unique opportunity for the student ambassadors to get in direct contact with the Roman inhabitants – enjoy this People to People experience.

12:00 PM Relax over your lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe in Rome.

Lunch: Hamburger, french fries, ice cream. It was good to have something sort of American. :) God Bless America!!!!

Depart for the beautiful medieval town of Volterra.

Olive oil has long been produced in Tuscany. Learn how extra-virgin olive oil of the highest quality is made. Each phase of the production such as picking, washing, pressing, extraction, separation and preservation will be explained.

The Olive Oil factory was not what I had sort of expected, not sure what I really expected, maybe something a bit bigger.

A young lady translated what an older gentleman was telling us about the process of making the Olive oil. As the oil is being made the olives go through a number of machines as they the oil is being extracted from the olive. It was interesting to sort of see how this is done first hand. Although it wasn't production season so we didn't actually see the process done.

There is a season for harvest and this is done by hand or by machine. (video)

We had a chance to taste the olive oil after our talk, dipped bread in it, wonderful. The had a chance to buy olive oil, etc. to take back home. There is always a chance to buy.....:)

After this we loaded up the bus and headed on to Volterra, Italy where we will spend the night.

But, before we arrive in Volterra, we will stop in the country for a traditinal Italian dish for dinner. We drove out into the countryside which proved to be a bit challenging, even with Luigi, our GPS guide. We had a terrible time finding it, arrived late, quite a bit late, probably over an hour.

We had to turn the bus around a couple of times in an area where it would have been difficult to turn a car around in. (Video) It was sort of an adventure.

I thought dinner was great, sort of a chicken dish, I believe what some didn't like was that it had bones in it, a few. It was very much like dishes I had when I was growing up on the farm. Kids today don't experience dishes like that. We also had bread with it, as we do with almost every meal, lots of carbs. :)

After dinner Bernhard announced the winners of the scavenger hunt this morning.

7:00 PM Now, enjoy a traditional Italian dish at the Fattoria Lischeto located in the beautiful hills of Tuscany. It included water and sparkling water (carbonated water) bread, oil, salad and dessert, sort of dry cake.

After dinner Roger performed his song, a song he used to sing around a campfire as a boy scout. This was for being late getting back from Scavenger hunt. Then Bernhard sang his National Anthem for leaving his clipboard at a restaurant. He was on his way back to get it, oh, to late Bernhard. We already confiscated it.

The girsl reluctantly performed a skit.....questionable at best????? Could have been better. Sam's team were the winners... and that was the team I was going to be on. Bernhard bought keychainsfor the winners. Roger was given one for abstention from his original team..

We had a birthday and a little homesickness as well. Some are still recovering from the first few days of travel. Still catching up on sleep, etc.

Dinner: It was sort of a chicken dish with a brownie cake for dessert, with water...

Overnight at the Hotel Nazionale.

Tuscany

Renowned for its art, history, and beautiful landscape, Tuscany (“Toscana”) is a region where the past and the present merge in pleasant Harmony. Etruscan walls encircle hill towns such as San Gimignano, where streets are lined with medieval and Renaissance palaces. Tuscany's pastoral landscape is dotted with castles and fortified villages, reminders of the wars and battles fought during the Middle Ages. Later, cities such as Florence (“Firenze”), Pisa, and Siena enjoyed a great artistic period, and today, together with Lucca, Cortona, and Arezzo, they hold some of Italy's most significant art treasures. Popular beaches, a rich and rustic cuisine, and a range of excellent wines ensure Tuscany's continuing appeal for visitors to Italy.

Alabaster