Lunch with our friends

Our very first lunch in Venice was very nerve-racking. We were in Venice, somewhere, but we didn’t know where we were.

At each lunch during the week we each received 10 euro to use to buy food or drinks. We had about an hour with our partner to walk around and find a nice place to eat and maybe buy gelato.

The first time, I (Ludivine) was with Adele, first we tried to find a cheap restaurant to eat so that we could also afford a GELATO. The lunches are surprisingly cheap; for example, one sandwich could cost two euros. The best part about having lunch like that, at least for me, is that you have a little freedom and you can just talk as much as you want. When I (Eleonora) came to Venice I was expecting there to be no freedom; I was expecting that we would all have to sit down at a table together for lunch and dinner. But it was more fun than that, you had boundaries but that's it, we could eat what we wanted, with who we wanted, and if we didn’t want to we didn’t have to. But don’t worry, looking around museums built up an appetite for us and we did eat!

Ludivine Hakim and Eleonora Poulmenti

Must-See Sights of Venice

I think that if you talk to any of the students who have been on our trip to Venice, they will agree on the top sights to see. On the first day of our spring trip we went to San Marco square. It is the center of Venice and it holds the Basilica de San Marco where the body of San Marco still rests. We then went to the San Marco church tower. It is very tall and if you go up there you will probably see all of Venice, and it looks very beautiful! Later in out trip we went to the Rialto bridge which is over 400 years old and is one of the most beautiful bridges in Venice. It is a large tourist attraction. If you are headed to Venice, we recommend these sights on your trip. Add a few of the other major attractions, and mix in some quiet stops, and I’m sure you will have a wonderful trip to Venice, the city of romance.

Nikita Kryuchin, Grade 7 and Sage Farrell, Grade 8

At the Beach

I think everybody knows that Lido is know for it’s famous beach. Well, on our last enjoyable day all the girls went to have a nice swim in the cold, shallow and blue sea. After having breakfast Ms.Petra and Mr.Kevin took the girls to go swimming, the boys went to go shopping and some still had to get ready.

Slowly all the girls were heading to the beach, when we arrived at the beach everyone as quickly as we could, trampled into the shallow, cold water as quickly as possible to go swimming in the sea. Some of the girls didn’t go to swimming because they wanted to collect amazing and unique shells. At 9.45 we had to get out and dry ourselves off. We headed back to the hotel to have a quick wash before heading off to the train station. When we were heading back we saw the boys buying some presents for their families.

I really enjoyed my time and had so much fun in Venice. It was our last little bit of time in the Lido but everyone enjoyed themselves. I loved it and all the others did too.

Jill Giesner, Grade 7

We couldn’t believe it. Our dream came true! Because of Giovanni’s parents we were going on a gondola ride. It started out by going to a gondola factory, followed by a gondola museum and then we goto to go on a gondola ride! Oh I nearly forgot, a gondola is a black boat, made up of seven different types of wood. It is a shiny boat that can float on only 20cm of water!

We had been waiting the whole day when finally we were placed in a gondola. There were 5 gondolas each with about six people inside excluding the gondolier. The gondolier told us a little bit about Venice. He even sang when we asked him to! As the boat swiftly floated over the water, everyone was talking and enjoying the view. I found it fascinating how some doors touched the water, in other words, the water had reached such a high tide that it touched the buildings.

The gondolier made the boat rock and turn. The chairs were comfortable and decorated by a red pillow. The ride seemed to go by way too fast since before we knew it, we turned under the rialto bridge to park the gondola. I was amazed at how swift and without any problems the gondolier turned the boat. This was certainly an experience that no one would ever forget.

Feyona Lohr, Grade 7

The Gondola Factory

On the last full day in Venice Giovanni’s family had kindly offered us a visit to a gondola factory. This gondola factory is the only original hand making gondola factory in Venice. Once we arrived we met several workers that explained to us lots of important points about gondolas. While we listened to the head gondola maker, we learned that gondolas must be built to exact measurements. Those measurements are 11 meters long and 1.40 meters wide. Another fact about gondolas is that it takes about two months to make a gondola, which means they can only make about two gondolas a year because they construct them by hand using old methods. Gondolas are black because they have become a famous tourist attraction, and it’s the cheapest and easiest color to use. They weigh 350 kg each, and we learned that in Venice there are 423 men and 2 women gondaliers.

Kamalei von Meister and Nicklas Wolfe, Grade 6

The Peggy Guggenheim Collection

On Thursday, May 20th, we went to the Peggy Guggenheim museum. I learned lots of things there. For example, I learned that the avant-grand movements and periods represented included: Cubism, Futurism, European abstraction, Surrealism and early works of American Expressionism. The Peggy Guggenheim museum was very interesting, and my favorite painting was a painting painted by René Magritte called “Empire of Light”. It was oil on canvas. That painting was my favorite one.

There were lots of paintings in the museum by artists including Picasso, René Magritte, Jackson Pollock, and Peggine Guggenheim, the daughter of Peggy Guggenheim. Her mother inspired her to paint so in the museum there is one room dedicated only to her, filled with several of her paintings. Her paintings are really colorful! Her paintings make people think of happiness because all the colors are very happy and very bright!

After we went all around the museum we went to the gift shop and all of sixth grade students bought a postcard to remind us of the Peggy Guggenheim museum. This museum is probably the nicest museum in the

whole of Venice, and we all really enjoyed it!

Sveva Fossati, Grade 6