No matter how many times I have seen the Piazza dei Miracoli in Pisa, no matter how crowded with tourists, I am entranced again by its medieval majesty. We skipped going in; after the train ride to Pisa and the tour of the synagogue and the Jewish cemetery (behind you and to your left as you view this shot), there just wasn't enough time or strength. And besides, 15 € to climb the tower seemed steep (ouch!). But Rachel, Ilana, Haley, Samantha and I managed to catch a bit of rest on the grass, and I volunteered to put the tower back where it belonged. (See next photo.)
Thanks to Lilach, an Israeli who is a local medical student and works with the community, we got into the cemetery to see tombs dating from medieval to modern times, including those of Portuguese 17th century settlers and Holocaust survivors. Outside there are Hebrew names inscribed into the city wall: are they marking graves of poor people who couldn't afford regular plots?



Most of the kids left from Pisa for the week-end. On the train ride home, Samantha met the pitcher of Italy's baseball team. Or so he claimed! (And he was carrying a baseball!)

June 10 Everyone is in Rome

We're almost half through the program. Here is a question for you. Please identify this spot and link it to one of the texts we have read in class.

It's Sunday, and everyone is in Rome today (that is, except for me). Randall called to say the city has calmed down a little. AJ and Joseph apparently have good stories about what it was like yesterday, at the tail end of the demonstrations around the G-8 meeting and President Bush's visit to the Vatican. I'm looking forward to hearing about it. Apparently Rome is very hot today; but there is no way students should miss the Eternal City. What time did Ilana and Hayley get up to make it? Maybe next year, we'll plan a few days in Rome with lectures, not just touring.

Bologna and the rebuilt ghetto tomorrow. We meet at the main train station at 9 am. Please someone bring my ticket!!

June 7 Siena

A last-minute change of plans brought us to Siena today. Anna di Castro, a member of the community, was kind enough to come into town specially to give us a tour of the synagogue. I'll leave the details to students' blogs, concentrating myself on the restaurant we found afterwards: it's hidden in the Orto dei Pecci (Pecci Garden) just outside the main part of town. The facility dates back to the 14th century when the ravages of the plague left this area, originally intended as part of the city, unpopulated and gradually turned into gardens (orti). In modern times the valley was administered by the Psychiatric Hospital di San Niccolò and was used as a place for recovering patients to work on the land. Now a "social cooperative" called la Proposta maintains a working farm and restaurant staffed by people with social and physical handicaps. Among their goals is raising organic crops and establishing a medieval garden (without, therefore, tomatoes and potatoes which pre-Columbian Europe didn't have). Lunch was cheap and wonderful, the ambiance fantastic, and the afternoon relaxing. I recommend it to anyone visiting the city. You need reservations for dinner, but they were able to fit 9 of us in on short notice for lunch. Unfortunately, our group split up and not everyone actually came along.
Despite the language barrier, Joseph and Hayley made contact with a local Italian but concluded (sorry about this) that he was a jackass.

Street Scenes

One of my goals in the trip is that students leave with a sense of the fabric of life in Italy and in Florence in particular. Don't just look at buildings and old art: look at the people, at the relations between parents and children, and at the objects of daily life. (A French historian named Michel de Certeau would urge us to think about the "tactics" by which people avoid consuming things in the way that the dominant social ethic wants them to.) In other words, look for all the little things that make up the fabric of our existence and our very identity. What do you miss about America? What would an Italian miss if he or she were in the States instead of here?

Next year, if we do the course again, I will try to add at least a few hours a week of Italian language instruction. Nick commented on how frustrating it was not to be able to talk to people.

Work on your blogs. Tomorrow, we're going to Siena.

June 3 Sunday Tour of Florence

Holly gave us a quick get-acquainted tour of the city from the Piazza del Duomo down to the Piazza della Repubblica (we saw where the ghetto had been) through the Piazza della Signoria (who is that Medici on horseback?), across the Ponte Vecchio, and up to the Piazzale Michelangelo with its copy of the David and fantastic view of the city. Important details on where to shop, how to protect your pocketbook, and where there were good sandwiches and gelati.
L-R back row: Joseph, Ross, Randall, me, Adam, Nick; front row: Hayley, Ilana, Rachel, Anna, Lauren, Samantha, and Michael. All survived, though flipflops don't hold up all that well. Tomorrow, the synagogue.

Advance Preparation

One of the best things to do before coming to Florence (as well as Siena, Pisa, and Venice) is to decide on something you personally want to see, to read up on it, and prepare to understand it.


Let's say, for example, that you prefer sculpture to paintings and you'd like to see a really good collection. The Bargello Museum on Via del Proconsolo 4 is much less crowded than other museums in Florence (see photo above). Find out where it is located, what things are worth seeing, and add this information to your blog.

How about a museum devoted to everyday life in the city of Florence itself? Try the "Firenze com'era" museum on Via dell'Oriuolo 24 (tel. 055.2616545) that has maps and pictures of "Florence as it used to be." Included are images of the ghetto before it was destroyed.

Perhaps you've had enough of indoor museums and would like to spend an afternoon up in the hills walking around; Fiesole is a beautiful little town with its own attractions. Find out how to get there and what to see, and list it on your blog.

You can be even more specific: pick one statue or painting or bridge or church or monument that you found especially interesting, and read up about it before you come. Be prepared to share with the rest of us.

Welcome to the Course

Hi all, and welcome to our course.

Please make sure that you have set up a blog and have sent me your blog address.
You are required to post to your blog each week-day during our trip. (Friday blogs may, of course be posted on Sunday.) Use your blog to store pictures, report on what you have seen, describe people you met, list words, locate restaurants, etc., etc.

Write with two goals in mind. First, you are keeping an electronic travel diary, available to your family, friends, and anyone else. Try to interest your reader in your experiences. Second, you are writing reports (that are being graded) on what you are learning while giving me instant feedback about the course.

We will link the blogs so that everyone can read everyone else's.

Benvenuti al corso. ברוכים הבאים לקורס. Welcome to the course.