Arezzo!

On Friday at 11, I boarded a bus with 34 students and 1 Italian teacher.  By 5:30 pm, we were in Arezzo, in the middle of Tuscany.
I am still amazed at just how old things can be.  The streets we walked up and down were from the middle ages.  As I wandered through one of the old stone churches, I felt like I was in a movie ("Robin Hood" with Kevin Costner, to be exact).  There was a wall around the old part of the city, and on opposite ends of the center of town were a medieval fortress and Roman ruins.
The students participated in a "conference" which consisted of various city and state level Italian officials delivering speeches.  Because my Italian isn't quite good enough for listening to three hours of speeches by politicians, I snuck out of the conference and wandered around in the fog.  The weather wasn't great for pictures, so check out wikipedia if you want to see it (http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arezzo).
This area of Italy is known for textiles and food.  I paid WAY too much for a beautifully soft cashmere and silk scarf, and we were served three multi-course meals in two days.  I think we spent at least 10 hours eating.  Finger foods with cocktails, appetizers, first course, another first course, second course, dessert, and coffee was the order of every single meal.  It was all delicious and accompanied by local wines.  I did get some pictures of the food. . . here are most of the courses from Saturday's dinner.

Antipasta (this followed appetizers during cocktail hour)

Pasta--some kind of rolled pasta with cheese and mushroom spaghetti-type pasta

World's biggest t-bone steak, cheesy potatoes and an artichoke heart

Dessert with local sweet wine to complement it (sorry, no chocolate or gelato this time)

Espresso

Sunday we had to come back to Duino.  Though we were only gone for two and a half days, it felt like much longer.  The kids were well behaved--it seems I've lucked into another teaching job with some of the world's best students.
I can't wait to take Tom back to Tuscany!

The Tuscan hills (view from the bus)