May 22: Risotto Anyone?

It has been a little difficult to post but when in Rome. We had another wonderful day. We started out the day visiting a vocational school that applied to Tara's profession. This school was remarkably well run with a focus on hospitality, service and culinary arts. I must admit I was very impressed by all facets of the school.

We then visited the historic town of Monferrato and its castle.

The Guggenheim museum situated in Vercelli, was also a stop on the tour. I was amazed at the rebuilding of its original look.

We then had our second rotary meeting in an amazing house in Vercelli. The meeting was amazing and I really enjoyed meeting the rotarians in Vercelli. They gave us an unbelievable tour of the villa and explained the history behind the rotary and also the villa we were situated in.

Lastly we walked around town and had an incredible experience. While we walked around we were forunate enough to get a private tour of an amazing church. We walked in at just the right time. The choir was practicing late at night. It felt rather magical and very much spiritual. Vercelli was quite the experience!

First vocational visit: Tim

Monday was my first vocational visit to an Italian High School. I really enjoyed meeting with a fellow teacher from Italy. We were able to talk and discuss similarities and differences in our fellow school systems.
Some things to note:
There are five years of high school in Italy
The federal government is becoming more involved in education
Technology is lacking in his particular school; old school methods still being used
There are two different schools: The other is called a classical school (Greek, Latin, other various subjects)

After our vocational visit we headed to the fort that protected Alessandria from threats. I was rather impressed for we had Italian High School students lead the tour. They did a great job!

Finally in the evening we had our first rotary presentation in front of a gracious audience.

For those of you who know me, you know I am passionate about food. So when the GSE team is in Italy, I will be blogging mostly about the food.

The first meal that we enjoyed in Alesandria was a classic. We started with a mushroom pizza. The crust was super thin and almost cracker-like. The sauce was thin and used sparingly. It was delicious.

This was our pizza maker. He did throw the crust into the air but I had a hard time getting a picture.

We ordered some risotto to share. We had an asparagus risotto and a mushroom risotto. Nancy had spaghetti with mussels and clams. They were all delicious. And of course we shared our first bottles of vino.

For dessert we had perfiteroles filled with chocolate mousse. After this meal, we needed a walk around the city. So that is what we did.

Day Three

Today it seemed that the GSE trip really started. This morning Tara and I had a vocational visit together. We went to Istituto Tecnico Commerciale “Leonardo Da Vinci.”  While there we met Flavia - a wonderful English teacher who had her students prepare a short presentation for us about their school.

This is a technical school for business and there are three areas of study: Marketing, Information Technology and Language. The students pick an area of study when they enter high school (7th grade) and only study the theories of this subject area. They don’t study the liberal arts such as science, math, history or any other traditional subjects

After our vocational visits we enjoyed lunch at a local wine bar owned and operated by three women, which was a big deal to our driver. We enjoyed a first course of gnocchi and orechiette and a last course of veal, cooked similar to roast beef.  The Italians eat very large meals.... Tara will be posting more about food since she is the expert!

gnocchi- by far the best thing I've had so far

Plazzo Ghilini, is a castle built in the 18th century that includes artifacts dating back to the 13th century.

Currently the castle houses the offices of the President of the Province and also the council chambers for the Province; it would be the equivalent of the State Capital in Richmond.

Then we went to the Cittadella - an 18th century fort used by Napoleon in the early 19th century and then again in the two World Wars.  We became prisoners for a short while!

Last, we went to our first Rotary Club meeting, where we had “appetizers;” which were more than enough for a full dinner; including meats, cheeses, tea sandwiches, stuffed cherry peppers and then a large serving of pasta.

exchanging banners with the Club President!

First Day(s).........



Beautiful scene of the Alps from my seat on the plane. Promptly after taking this picture, I went to sleep.





My hotel room! Not too big but enough for one (reminds me of my apt :)



Local architeture-this was the view from our dinner table last night. We ate a local pizzera in the city center.



Beautiful church (the first of many architectural pictures!)





Holy Gran Torino, we have arrived!

We made it! After some long traveling, we have arrived in Italy!

 All of us are running on fumes right now after about 10 hours spent on planes. We arrived in Turin at about 1:30 p.m. Our driver Roberto met us right outside the airport, talk about service, and drove us to our first destination Alessandria.

We are getting ready to meet with our host from the other side of the pond Bart. Trying to stay up right now is our biggest difficulty, we are trying to avoid that inevitable jet lag as much as possible.

             The girls are rather sneaky about taking pictures so I need to be more aware. Waiting for our last leg of the journey; Munich to Turin
.

                    "When in Rome do as the Romans do" Oh wait we were in Munich!  Germany is known for their pretzels so of course.....

 Absolutely amazing plane ride from Munich to Turin. Flying over the Alps was breathtaking!

     
 Of course we have to have our customary photo taken at the welcome to Turin sign at the airport.
                                                Come on now what else would you expect!

We’re leaving on a jet plane.....

The preparation has come to an end for the Rotary GSE trip district 7570 visiting district 2030, Northern Italy. We have completed our first flight, Roanoke to Dulles. We will then fly to Munich and finally to our end destination in Turin at noon tomorrow, or 6am EST. During this trip we are all excited to visit our individual vocations and enjoy the local culture.

We would like to thank all who made this opportunity possible, with a team of 5 there are too many to mention, but a special shout out goes to Ernie Bentley, the District GSE Chair and District Governor Janet Johnson. Also, each of our sponsoring Rotary Clubs: Front Royal, Staunton, Lexington Sunrise, Bridgewater, and Waynesboro