The best part of the trip to Florence was the cultural aspect of a beautiful city full of interesting art pieces. The best sensation is that in school you have to study the paintings and sculptures by various artists, then when you get to Florence it is incredible observing all the original paintings. The most interesting place that I saw was "La Cattedrale di Santa Maria Del Fiore" designed by Filippo Brunelleschi with its great dimensions. The part of the cathedral that impressed me the most was the decorated facade, you could see every little detail that gave a spectacular effect to the gigantic church. I hope that the future 7th graders will experience the same curiosity and interest that I felt in visiting one of Italy' s top cities.
Ascanio 7Fa
For me, the trip to Florence was the best one so far. It was fun, but at the same time we learned many things. My favorite day was the second one, when we went to the Uffizzi, where we saw many beautiful Renaissance paintings including the "Nascita di Venere" and the "Primavera" both painted by the artist Sandro Botticelli. It was impressive to learn all the different techniques some artists used to paint. Next we went to the Accademia to see the famous "David" by Michelangelo. The magnificence of that great statue was fascinating and sketching it was harder than I thought.
I really enjoyed staying at the hotel, even if we weren't allowed to vist other rooms we could meet and play the gardens or sunbathe near the pool. There is always something to do, especially during the freetime. The teachers leave the students free to walk around in Florence to by souvenirs and presents for their family.
One of my favourite activities was climbing The Giotto tower. 824 steps are many, but it was woth it! The view of Florence from the top of the tower is breathtaking and it was fun to take pictures with our friends.
Claudia 7Fa
I think that my favorite place that we visited was the Accademia where the famous David was stored. I was impressed by the amazing detail that Michelangelo was able to put onto the hard chunk of marble. When I looked at the David, I could see his veins, and muscles, and when I looked at his huge expressive face, I saw what Michelangelo willed David to feel. This biblical figure's eyes were fierce and focused, body tensed, and ready to attack, slingshot and stone ready to strike.
I really liked climbing the Giotto tower in Florence, because most of the way, I couldn't see how high we were, so there was nothing to prepare me for the breathtaking view waiting for me at the top.
Overall, this Florence trip was the best field trip I've ever had! :)
Daniela 7Fa
I loved the trip to Florence, it was absolutely one of the best trips! Picking the best part is really hard, but I really enjoyed the 2nd Medici house. This house had a lot of amazing parts. It had been split into apartments so a lot of the work on the wall had been destroyed. I was really fascinated by the bedroom. Inside the bedroom there was an important story. A story with an important message, not to cheat on your husband. I thought it was fascinating.
I also enjoyed free time. We went around Florence in groups of 4-7. We went to buildings, shops and called our parents. It was fun to go around by ourself in Florence, no one decides what we are going to see. We also had chance to get to know people better. Of course there was a negative part about free time. For example we only had free time for about a hour, and I would liked to have it longer! Another negative part was that some people came late so we came late to appointments and had the lesson longer, came late for the other lesson, in the end almost coming to late to the bus, but we made it eventually!
Freja 7Fa
The best part of the Florence trip for me was mostly the free time because we could go to many places on our own and we had the freedom to do what ever we wanted.The best 2 museums we visited, I think were The Accademia and the science museum. I think the worst part of the trip was that we could not bring a digital camera or a phone and the alternative to those items was to bring a disposable camera and a phone card. I think overall the Florence trip was great.
Gabe 7Fa
The best part of our trip to Florence was when we had free time because in free time we could do what we wanted. Mr Mullane normally gave us free-time 2 or 3 times a day and in that time you could visit museums that you didn't have time to visit or go and get souvenirs in the shops.
Florence was beautiful and the best piece of art we saw was the David by Michelangelo and all the statues around him that were the Prisoners. The Prisoners were some rough sculptures of people that were trapped inside the stone, but in these sculptures there is a mystery, if the sculptures were meant to be rough or not! After all the part I enjoyed the most was: sleeping all toghether in a mini apartment!
Gregorio 7Fa
This year the 7th grade went to Florence and we had a very fun time. My favorite parts were going to the torture museum in San Gimigniano with Rosa, Vera, Max and Gabe. In this particular museum wax figures were exhibited killing and slaughtering men and women who were said to be witches and criminals. As we were leaving, Gabe opened a curtain to small but dark room, which we later found out, was a bathroom, anyway Gabe pulled open this curtain and Vera and I got so frightened that we started screaming and yelling at Gabe and Max! Florence was a lot of fun, even though I had been there before it was a lot more exciting and enjoyable being there with my class. The most exciting activity which 7F did as a group was walking up the Giotto tower and screaming to the people at the of the Duomo that it was Claudia's Birthday. In conclusion the Florence trip was a great success because it was well organized but enjoyable at the same time. I just can't wait till next years trip to Venice!
Isotta 7F
I think that the entire trip was fantastic and I don't know which one was my favorite part because it was all my favorite part; but if I must choose, I think that it would be being in Florence during our free time, and some of the things we did with the class. During our free time we would spend all our money on anything we found and the feeling of being independent in the streets was great. In the streets my friend and I had the great idea of reciting our Romeo and Juliet play for money, and even though it was embarrassing and everyone was laughing we had lots of fun, luckily some of our classmates had pity on us and gave us 30¢. I think that going up the Campanile Di Giotto was really fun too, and once we got up to the top of the Campanile the view was a outstanding, but even though it was hard to get up there, it was worthwhile. Many other, are the things that I found interesting and worth wile but this was my favorite part of the trip.
Tips for the trip, bring a:
Map, if you get lost
Lots of money, or they won't last much
Soccer ball, for your free time
Running shoes, you will walk a lot
snacks, or you'll get hungry
and anything else you could think of...
HAVE A GREAT TRIP!!!
Jose 7Fa
This year the 7th grade classes visited Florence, a city full of artistic beauty. We went in a beautiful agriturismo in the Tuscan hills where we stayed for 4 days and 3 nights. I think that the part I enjoyed the most about this wonderful trip was going to the Accademia where the famous statue of David is. There we got to sketch and observe the details that Michelangelo put on the statue, it's amazing how he turned one piece of marble into a masterpiece. As I observed the statue, I noticed the details that made the David look realistic. When I looked at the veins and muscles in his arms I saw that those details where there to represent how strong he was. His face showed concentration and his body was tense and ready to attack. But this wasn't the only thing I liked about this trip. For example climbing the Giotto tower was something that I loved. Of course it was a long way up but it was definatley worth it! The view from up there was amazing people would never believe how high it was. But trust me Florence is filled with beautiful places, so all summed up this trip was so far the best!
Lavinia 7F
My favourite part during the Florence trip was when, on the first day, I went to the torture museum in San Gimignano during my free time with Claudia, Julia, Nicolas, and Roberto. As we were going in, we saw the previous group of people from our class that was coming out of the torture museum, and their faces looked really scared, especially Max's, who told us to not go in. In the torture museum there were a lot of different torture machines used at the time and some real life statues to show how they worked, some were also very realistic, which made the whole museum kind of freaky. One of the statues had a man kneeling down while there was another man peeling his skin off, to make the whole experience more scary, in that same room there was one of those fake calm music's that there are during horror movies when something bad is going to happen. As we ran away from that room and up the stairs to the next floor, a metal collar (another torture machine) that was hanging from the wall touched Claudia's neck, making her basically strangle me because of fear.
Livia 7F
The trip to Florence will really leave you astonished. This year we went to make many interesting things like sketching the David, seeing torture museums and visiting the Medici Riccardi castle but the most interesting part was to climb the Giotto Tower. 414 stairs and no elevator (so bring running shoes) but is really worth it. From up there you can see all Florence and the people look like ants. Being in the streets was also very fun -even if expensive- but you could always find a way to pay less by faking that you were going to leave the store. The David in the accademia dell arte (Michelangelo's) was incredible. His details were outstanding (his veins and nails seem real) and his height was incredible. It will be very hard to sketch very well his body parts. The one in Palazzo Vecchio (Donatello's) was smaller and not as much outstanding but it was made with more expensive and luxurious materials and he looks at the head of Goliath with a position of victory (sort of bragging). In Conclusion I want to say that the trip was very fun but just remember to bring a lot of money.
Nicolas 7Fa
Colourful ornaments beautifully decorate the ancient walls of royal palaces,
Golden icons emphasise the sanctity of churches,
Potent torrents sprinkle the calm streets of a mythological world,
The magnificence of history surrounds the human mind.
During my Florence trip I was able to observe the artistic beauty of this wonderful Renaisance city. There were many things which were particularly appealing to my interest, sites which mostly regarded the historical view of the Tuscan capital. During the current school year are studies about the history of the Middle Ages and the Renaisance succesfully prepared us to the magnificence of the sites we visited during our school trip. However, in the course of my life, the memory of my visit to the Uffizi Gallery will symbolize this trip. I was particularly impressed in observing the change that art enquired with the passing of centuries, from the deep religious meaning of the middle ages, o the love of humanity of the Renssaince. I think that it was absolutely worth exploring the streets of florence, the jewel of Renessaince Italy.
Roberto 7F
This year (in 2009) the 7th grade took a field trip to Florence to study and investigate about the changes from the Medieval times to the Renaissance. We toured many parts of the great city and saw many things that will always remain in my memory. I have so many 'favorite' parts of the trip that I will surely not be able to write them all down now.
One of my favorite parts was in the torture museum in San Giminiano (where you really must go), where while being freaked out by the life-size wax dolls that much too visually illustrated the tortures, Gabe pulled a curtain open, and as we were all quite alarmed in that moment we started screaming! Not that there was any need, for it turned out to simply be a staff toilet. Quite a laugh, when looking back. Not to forget that in the torture museum I was at the end of the line going down the stairs, and due to my always overreacting (and the and the distressing music that some sadistic staff picked out) I jumped five feet in the air when a neck-cuff brushed unexpectedly on my shoulder. Silly old me. Another part of the trip that I really enjoyed was on the afternoon of the second day, when in a large group we went down to the fields near the agriturismo where we were staying (a very nice place) to watch the sunset. We ended up rolling in the grass, picking flowers, and very much enjoying the day.
All in all it was a fantastic trip, one -if not the- best I can remember. I really hope you have fun, but I don't have to, because I know you will! =]
By Rosa 7F
My favorite part of the Florence trip was the Torture Museum in San Gimignano on the first day. It was really scary, but that was what made it fun. I went there with Izzy, Rosa, Gabe, and Max. It showed all of the most common torture machines of history and it had even some life size statues to show how they worked. Fate wanted that in exactly that moment, in the next room there was a Goth person, so when we walked through the door, we saw them and started screaming like crazy. The funniest part in visiting that museum was at the end, Gabe opened a door with a small black curtain and there was the bathroom. Izzy and I started screaming and yelling at Max and Gabe and we immediately ran away. Another extremely funny thing that happened was in the Piazza del Duomo in Florence with Rosa, Izzy, José, Gabe, Max, and Nicolas. We acted on the streets our lines of Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet'. Some people looked at us and were interested others were laughing and making fun of us, but we didn't care. In conclusion the trip was the best one with the school I have ever had. It was well organized and we visited many beautiful museums, including the Uffizi, the Accademia, and the Bargello. One of the best parts was the apartment in the agriturismo in Impruneta that I share with Izzy, Rosa, and Julia. In conclusion, the best advice I would give to the next year's 7th graders is to not hesitate about having fun and enjoying every single moment of the trip. :P
By Vera 7F