jmct714

Hi Ann,
This is off-topic (sorry), but I wanted to be sure to give you a great big thanks for your language school trip reports. I took a class in Rome a few weeks ago, and it was a fabulous experience. Your reports gave me the 'push' I needed to try it, and I loved it, so thank you! (I wrote a TR but it sunk like a stone, so not sure you saw)

I hope you have the chance to take the Bologna trip. There are some really great ideas here.

Thanks again!

annhig

jmct - i followed your screen-name through to the TR -it's great!

I am so pleased that something I wrote has borne fruit and that you had such a good time. the class sounded just right for you, so the instinct to go for a bigger school really paid off - I think that the better you get at a language, in a way the more difficult it is to find the right level.

I too hope that our Bologna trip comes off.

PalenQ

I too hope that our Bologna trip comes off.>

No balony! In Bologna's main train station there is a poignant memorial to several dozen folks killed in a domestic terrorists' bombing on Aug 2, 1980 - a huge crack in the wall of the former or maybe current too waiting room (chosen because it was so hot then this place was an air-conditioned refuge for hundreds) has been left and covered with glass as a memorial to those who died and their names and ages on the wall - a few young American backpackers died - such a senseless tragedy! And one reason there are no luggage lockers in many Italian train stations today!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bologna_massacre

sandralist

I agree with bilboburger that the Euganean hills are more a quirky lark as a driving loop between some unique art cities, a chance to seen some curious walled towns and maybe have a soak and grand Italian spa treatment -- but also to see a side of historic Italy off the beaten track, one that was quite highly developed and still is wealthy. But if you are looking for world class sights then Ravenna and Mantova are the outstanding destinations in reach of Bologna, and Parma and Modena too for food and art.

the wine is spelled Lambrusco

the memorial to the victims of the Bologna train station is in one of its present day waiting rooms and while there are no lockers in the station there is a manned left-luggage storage room

annw

The Sant'Apollinaire in Classe mosaic is indeed stunning. For one of my mosaic classes in Ravenna I made a copy of several flowers in the mosaic against that gorgeous green background.

We took a bus there from the town center but it's an easy drive as well and very well worth the effort. However, if you can only be in Ravenna for a day, it might be difficult to squeeze it in, and the others are clustered more closely -- especially San Vitale and the mausoleum of Galla Placidia, which is actually right by San Vitale.

annhig

annw - I'm thinking 2 nights in Bologna, then a night [or two?] in Ravenna, then picking up a car, so we would be able to go to Classe as our first stop. Thanks for all your ideas - yours too, sandralist and PalenQ.

trip still in the balance.......

annw

Ann, do you have hotel in Ravenna yet? Centrale Byron and Albergo Capello are right in the old center (taxi can drop you off from the train till you get your car; for mosaic classes I usually stay at Hotel Palazzo Galletti Abbiosi because it is convenient and well priced and about a 5-10 min. walk to the center, but some rooms are more guest house-like than hotel-like.

That would be great to see the site in Classe on your way out.

What I also like about staying over in Ravenna is that you get a nice sense of a town where the natives are about rather than mainly tourists; they stroll the main (car-less) streets, have appertivi and snacks at the good restaurants, and then dinner with solid regional cuisine.

Also even the street signs and trash cans have artistic touches - mosaic. The piazza del popolo includes cafes with outdoor tables with the older Italian gents holding court.

Often there is a festival -- music, mosaic -- of some sort going on.

Hope you enjoy it!

PalenQ

Interested in Pinochio - a small town just above Lucca, Colodi, is home to Pinochio - birth place and home of the man who created him and now the town treads of Pinochio - just in case...

-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AP-pKCGbmNI

annhig

Well, you may have gathered that I was considerably keener on this trip than DH was, and in the end he won out. i just couldn't persuade him, especially when our "window" for this trip got shortened to a few nights.

However, all is not lost. firstly, I'll certainly be going to this area somehow, even if I can't get DH to go with me.

AND we are still going away for a few days, to Valencia!

so many, many thanks to all of you who contributed your combined experience and wisdom, and if any of you are familiar with Valencia, I'll see you on my new thread!

PalenQ

AND we are still going away for a few days, to Valencia!>

Why not Benidorm?

annhig

well, it [Benidorm] has the reputation as being package tourist central in the UK, which doesn't enhance its appeal to us, AND it's Valencia that we particularly want to go to. [and have done for quite some time since I read eckscrunchy's 2011 TR - living in the sticks we like going to cities when we go on our hols].

Have you ever been to Benidorm, [or Valencia] Pal?

TDudette

I'm really looking forward to your TR, annhig!

PalenQ

I was just joking about Benidorm - a refuge of British lager louts - yes I went there just for the spectacle - so many outdoor pubs with bands and lots of young British drunks. Nothing there for me and I presume you - modern city with a nice beach and more pubs per turf than any place I've seen in Europe!

Valencia I really liked - a very old looking city - not at all like Madrid - the cathedral is neat as is the new walkways along the water front. You will love Valencia - hate 'Benny-dorm'!

Have a nice trip! Whenever it comes off!

PalenQ

You may also enjoy Alicante - just south of Valencia and if looking for a nice old town with nice beach sans the lager louts!

annhig

Pal - it is coming off at the end of this month - hurray!

looking at all the things there are to do in Valencia, I doubt we'll find time for Alicante. perhaps another time.

annhig

thanks for reviving this defunct thread, cestlagedor.

your valuable comments on Rome might be better expressed elsewhere as if you had read the thread, you would see that Rome was simply intended to be a place to fly home from, rather than a destination in itself. [I've spent 3 separate weeks there and DH doesn't like it, so it wasn't really on our agenda].